Investigators found “multiple items of evidence” while searching a Salt Lake City home in connection with the disappearance of missing college student Mackenzie Lueck, according to police.
Authorities have spoken with the owner of the residence in the Fairpark neighborhood, Salt Lake City Police Chief Mike Brown told reporters Thursday. Brown did not identify the homeowner, who is not in police custody.
Lueck, a 23-year-old senior at the University of Utah, has been missing since the morning of June 17, when she was dropped off by a Lyft in a park where she met another individual, according to police.
Investigators are looking for a mattress and box spring that were given away from the Fairpark home last week, Brown said. He asked that whoever took them contact the Salt Lake City Police Department.
Brown added investigators are examining the case’s “digital footprint.”
“This is a digital forensic investigation,” he said. “This is covering computers, cellphones, IP addresses, URLs, texting apps.”
Brown said he had spoken to Lueck’s father and could “feel the heartache and the pain and the suffering in his voice as we spoke.”
“And my commitment to Greg was we would do everything within our power, the Salt Lake City Police Department, to bring Mackenzie home,” Brown said. “And that is our charge and that we are committed to do.”
Salt Lake City Police Detective Greg Wilking told CNN that investigators are also looking into reports that the homeowner recently burned items in his back yard.
Lueck had flown into the Salt Lake City International Airport after attending a family funeral in California and left the airport’s departure area sometime after 2 a.m.
Images taken from the airport’s surveillance footage show Lueck walking through the airport and rolling her luggage past a baggage carousel.
According to police, Lueck then took a Lyft to Hatch Park in North Salt Lake City. The Lyft driver dropped her off and went to pick up other riders.
“Mackenzie was met at Hatch Park by an individual in a vehicle,” Salt Lake City Police Assistant Chief Tim Doubt told reporters Monday. “The Lyft driver left Mackenzie at the park with that person and stated that Mackenzie did not appear to be in any type of distress.”
Police cannot confirm the make or model of the car. The identity of the driver remains unknown, Doubt said.
Lyft confirmed that Lueck’s route showed no irregularities and ended at the destination she entered. The driver continued providing rides immediately after dropping her off, the rideshare company said. “We are actively assisting law enforcement with their investigation.”
Lueck missed a flight to Los Angeles the morning of June 23 and a midterm exam. Her sorority sister Ashley Fine told KSL that was out of character because Lueck is “extremely dedicated.”
“She would never miss her midterms or anything like that,” Fine said.
