SALT LAKE CITY—Authorities investigating the killing of Utah college student Mackenzie Lueck have searched dating sites for her and a man charged in her death, court documents show.
Police seeking evidence against tech worker Ayoola Ajayi searched the site Seeking Arrangement, which bills itself as a way for wealthy “sugar daddies” to meet women known as “sugar babies,” according to the documents filed on Friday, July 26.
Authorities also searched Tinder, Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook, but the documents don’t detail what evidence might have been found.
Police and prosecutors have not said how Ajayi and Lueck were connected or disclosed a motive for the killing. They would not comment Tuesday.
An attorney for Ajayi, 31, did not immediately return a call seeking comment. Ajayi has not yet entered a plea.
Last Communication
Lueck disappeared on June 17, after she returned from a trip home for her grandmother’s funeral and took a Lyft ride from the airport to a park north of Salt Lake City. She was last seen apparently willingly meeting someone there at about 3 a.m.
Her text conversation with Ajayi was her last communication and phone location data shows them both at the park within a minute of each other, Salt Lake City Police Chief Mike Brown said.
“This was the same time as Mackenzie’s phone stopped receiving any further data or location services,” he said.
Ajayi declined to say whether or how exactly they knew each other. He has acknowledged texting with Lueck around 6 p.m. on June 16, but denied talking to her later, knowing what she looked like or having seen any online profile for her—despite having several photos, including a profile picture, Brown said.
Police say Lueck’s body was found with her arms bound behind her in a canyon 85 miles from Ajayi’s home in Salt Lake City.
Background
Ajayi has worked in information technology for several companies including Dell and Goldman Sachs, according to his LinkedIn page.
Goldman Sachs confirmed he worked as a contract employee for less than a year at the Salt Lake City office ending in August 2018. Dell said Ajayi had worked there but didn’t provide his dates of employment.
Lueck was a part-time senior at the University of Utah studying kinesiology and pre-nursing, and was expected to graduate in Spring 2020. She had been a student since 2014 and had an off-campus apartment.
She is from El Segundo in the Los Angeles area and flew to California for a funeral before returning to Salt Lake City, police said.
Her family reported her missing on June 20 and became more concerned after she missed a planned flight back to Los Angeles last weekend.
Lueck’s uncle, who did not provide his name at the police press conference, held back tears as he read a statement from her family thanking the investigators for their work.
“They’re also grateful to her community, her friends and others around the nation who have supported this investigation,” he said.
She was a bubbly, nurturing person who helped others and took care of animals like guinea pigs, hedgehogs and cats, friends have said. They did not respond to requests for comment after the arrest was announced.
