Salt Lake City Police Department Arrested Ayoola 'AJ' Ajayi
Salt Lake City Authorities have arrested Ayoola 'AJ' Ajayi, 31, a former IT specialist, around 1028 S. West Temple in connection with the missing University of Utah nursing student, Mackenzie Lueck, 23, who went missing on June 17, 2019
Contractor, Brian Wolf, reported to authorities that Ajayi had requested to build a soundproof room with hooks on the wall along with secret doors in his basement. He had asked to rush the project to get done before his girlfriend got back in town. Wolf was suspicious and declined the project.
Teresa Draheim, a neighbor, told FOX59, that Ajayi was burning something in his yard on June 17 and 18. She said that there was a smell of gasoline.
Authorities dug around in the backyard of Ajayi's home for 19 hours, which he owned, to further investigate. So far, Salt Lake City Police Chief Mike Brown revealed that several charred items, including female human tissue and personal items belonging to Lueck were found around Ajayi's home.
Authorities are looking for a mattress and box spring that an account with Ajayi's name posted on LetGo a few days earlier. Authorities also found that Ajayi had a room inside of his home that was listed on Airbnb for about $40 a night.
Mackenzie Lueck, a nursing student, and sorority member disappeared after she arrived back in Salt Lake City from El Segundo, California (she was there for a funeral). She was last seen by a Lyft driver who dropped her off in the middle of the night at Hatch Park in North Salt Lake. She was seen by the Lyft driver getting into a car with an unknown person. The park was located about 8 miles away from her apartment, and 5 miles away from Ajayi's home. Authorities found that Lueck was a "sugar baby" who was interested in dating wealthy men who were over the age of 35 on Tinder and Seeking Arrangement.
Ayoola 'AJ' Ajayi had no criminal history in Utah except for a few traffic tickets. Ajayi attended Utah State University, around 2009, 2010, 2015 and 2016, but never earned a degree. He also was a former Army National Guard but was discharged for failure to meet medical procurement standards. Ajayi wrote an e-book called "Forge Identity" on Amazon, where he writes that he was born in Africa and was a salesman and entrepreneur. Ajayi was currently working at Dell as a Senior Technical Support Analyst.
Ayoola 'AJ' Ajayi is expected to be charged with aggravated murder, aggravated kidnapping and desecration of a body.