Body of student is found

The remains of missing University of Utah student MacKenzie Lueck were found in a canyon north of Salt Lake City almost three weeks after she vanished, police said Friday.

Salt Lake City Police Chief Mike Brown said he was “relieved and grief-stricken” to announce the news after first making a “devastating call” to her family.

“Despite their grief,” Brown said of Lueck’s family, “we hope this will help them find some closure and justice for MacKenzie.”

Lueck, 23, was last seen alive early on June 17 when she took a Lyft ride to a park in North Salt Lake City.

Her body was recovered Wednesday about 90 miles north of Salt Lake City in Logan Canyon and subsequently identified through forensics, Brown said.

The confirmation came after authorities arrested 31year-old Ayoola A. Ajayi last week in connection with Lueck’s disappearance. He was the last person known to have communicated with her, investigators said.

Neighbors reportedly saw Ajayi using gasoline to burn something in his backyard around the time Lueck went missing, Brown said last week.

Testing of charred materials in his backyard turned up Lueck’s DNA, authorities said.

Ajayi, who previously wrote a book about an angry mob burning someone alive, was being held without bail Friday on suspicion of aggravated murder, aggravated kidnapping, obstruction of justice and desecration of a body.

Ajayi admitted texting Lueck June 16, but he denied ever meeting her or knowing what she looked like even though he had several photos of her on his phone, the chief said at the time of Ajayi’s arrest.

He’s expected to face formal charges next week, prosecutors said.