The body of murdered University of Utah student Mackenzie Leuck was recovered 80 miles north of Salt Lake City, police said in a news conference Friday.
Salt Lake City Police Chief Mike Brown said the remains of the 22-year-old college student were recovered Wednesday in Logan Canyon.
“In the wake of this tragic, tragic incident, I am relieved and grief-stricken to report that we have recovered Mackenzie Lueck,” Brown said.
The announcement comes a week after 31-year-old Ayolla Ajayi was arrested in her killing.
Ajayi was charged with aggravated murder in the “tragic and horrific” killing of Lueck after authorities said the investigation uncovered a fresh dig area, charred female human tissue and items belonging to Lueck in Ajayi’s backyard.
“After an exhaustive week of investigation, we are filing charges of aggravated murder, aggravated kidnapping, obstruction of justice and desecration of a body in the homicide of Mackenzie Lueck,” Brown said last week.
“I will not be saying the killer’s name again,” he added, noting that the crimes were “tragic and horrific”.
Lueck, 23, disappeared after meeting an unknown individual around 3 a.m. on June 17 near a park in Salt Lake City, where she had been dropped off by a Lyft driver, according to police. Brown said Ajayi was the last person Lueck was communicating with before her disappearance and that phone records indicated they were both in the area around 3 a.m.
Brian Wolf, a Utah handyman, revealed on national media last month that the suspect in Lueck’s murder recently asked him to build a secret, soundproof room in his basement, complete with hooks on the walls. Wolf said Ajayi asked him about “building this weird room” in a small space in the basement and said some of the requests had set off alarms.
In an incident in 2012, Ajayi was banned from the Utah State University campus after being arrested by campus police for alleged possession of stolen property, according to KSTY. Investigators alleged Ajayi lied about his status at school, and said he had a girlfriend who lived on campus. Officials, however, reportedly believed Ajayi was homeless and was using campus facilities.
Utah State University’s main campus is located in Logan, about 2 miles outside Logan Canyon.
