SALT LAKE CITY, UT. (THECOUNT) — The charred remains of MacKenzie Lueck were found on the premises of Ayoola Ajayi, directly implicated him in her kidnapping and gruesome death.
Ajayi was identified as the man arrested on suspicion of the kidnapping and aggravated murder of MacKenzie Lueck, a Southern California college student who had gone missing in Utah, authorities announced Friday.
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At a morning news conference, Salt Lake City Police Chief Mike Brown named 31-year-old Ayoola Ajayi as the suspect in custody. Ajayi had previously been considered a person of interest in the case.
A search warrant was served Wednesday at the suspect’s home, where investigators said multiple items of evidence were discovered and reviewed by detectives, reports KABC.
Salt Lake City police announced they have taken a person into custody in connection with the disappearance of University of Utah student Mackenzie Lueck, FoxNews is reporting Friday morning.
Lueck, 23, was last seen meeting an unknown individual around 3 a.m. on June 17 near a park in Salt Lake City after being dropped off by a Lyft driver. Police this week searched a home there and later identified its owner as a “person of interest” in her disappearance. They also dug up holes in its backyard and removed items from the property for further forensic investigation.
A contractor in Utah told Fox News exclusively on Friday that the person of interest that police have identified in the search for missing University of Utah student Mackenzie Lueck asked him to build a secret, soundproofed room with hooks on its walls in the basement of his home.
Brian Wolf, a local contractor, told Fox News that the individual who owned that home reached out to him in April and asked him to build a “soundproof” room there.
“He slowly added on other requests, like building a secret door and adding hooks to the wall,” Wolf said, explaining how the individual asked him to come to the home and give him an estimate for the potential project.
Wolf added that the person, who police have not identified, said he wanted construction done as soon as possible, “before his girlfriend got back into town.”
The contractor, who owns a home repair business in Utah, said he was “weirded out” by the whole scenario and turned down the job offer, telling the individual he was too busy.
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