The suspect in the presumed murder of University of Utah student Mackenzie Lueck allegedly burned her remains and her personal possessions in his yard in Salt Lake City.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, 31-year-old Ayoola Ajayi is facing multiple charges, including murder, in the presumed death of Lueck, 23, who vanished after taking a Lyft from the Salt Lake City airport to Hatch Park in the early morning hours of June 17, when police say she then got into a car with Ajayi, who she had been communicating with just before she vanished.
On Wednesday, police raided Ajayi’s home at 547 N. 1000 West street in Salt Lake City, where they reportedly confiscated multiple items of evidence, including boxes of ammunition and a pitchfork. Detectives also dug up the yard where they reportedly found burned personal items belonging to Lueck, and tissue of a human female.
Detectives found charred items consistent with Mackenzie Lueck's personal items, as well as DNA evidence at the home of suspect Ayoola Ajayi. https://t.co/fXxtT9OTzm
— KSL 5 TV (@KSL5TV) June 28, 2019
Salt Lake City Police Chief Mike Brown said at a news conference Friday that DNA testing on the tissue found is a match for Lueck. As CBS News reports, Ajayi’s neighbors said that they observed him “burning something in his backyard with the use of gas on June 17 and June 18.”
Police did not say at the press conference how they believe Lueck was killed, and he reportedly denied ever meeting Lueck in person, though he admitted to corresponding with her on June 16. Digital forensic evidence collected by investigators disputes this claim, as Brown said that Lueck’s last messages on her phone were between herself and the suspect, and that both Leuck and the suspect’s phones pinged at Hatch Park at the same time.
KUTV reports that Ajayi previously lived at an apartment across the street from Hatch Park, but was evicted in 2016.
[Feature image: Handout/Facebook]
