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Cops Probe Missing University Of Utah Student's Dating Life After She Was Last Seen Getting Into Mystery Car In Park
Friends have suggested Mackenzie Lueck may have been using dating apps and might have been interested in older men.
Investigators are digging into missing University of Utah student
Lueck’s dating life and possible use of dating apps, authorities said.
“In regards to her online activity, we are aware of this aspect and continue to look into all facets of her life for leads into her disappearance,” Assistant Police Chief Tim Doubt said in a press conference Tuesday.
Friends of the 23-year-old have reportedly suggested that she may have been dating several people and may have been interested in older men.
Doubt told reporters Tuesday that authorities were “aware of that” and were “following up on all of that,” but declined to say whether investigators had been in contact with anyone she may have been dating before her disappearance.
In an interview on “Outnumbered Overtime” Lueck’s friend and sorority sister Kennedy Stoner said she wasn’t aware of any specifics regarding Lueck’s dating life, Fox News reports.
“I cannot confirm that she was on dating apps,” she said. “As far as I know, the detectives are doing everything that they can. But I have no comment on that as of right now.”
Lueck disappeared in the early morning hours of June 17 after flying into the Salt Lake City International Airport. Lueck got off the plane just after 2 a.m. and is seen in new surveillance footage and images walking through the airport wearing a white hooded sweater or sweatshirt and black pants. Lueck can also be seen picking up a brown suitcase from the baggage claim.
“This is the last known footage we have of her,” Doubt said.
Investigators don’t believe she talked to anyone at the airport and said she later took a Lyft to a North Salt Lake park. The Lyft driver, who is cooperating with authorities and went on to pick up other riders immediately after the fare, saw Lueck getting into another vehicle at the park.
Police are now trying to determine who that person may have been and are asking anyone with information about who Lueck may have met to come forward.
“The description we have is vague,” Doubt said. “It could have been a male or a female.”
Investigators are hoping the public may be able to answer other questions surrounding the case including whether Lueck may have had an alternate phone or used social media sites that may not be widely known.
“After discussions with her family and friends we see no indications that she’s gone off the grid before,” he said. “This kind of behavior is uncharacteristic for her, according to them.”
Doubt said police have not been able to find any evidence to suggest Lueck met with foul play, other than the uncharacteristic nature of the disappearance.
“Mackenzie, in the case you just want to be left alone please let us know that you are safe,” he said.
Stoner said she last communicated with her friend over the weekend before she went missing.
"I know [the funeral] was a very traumatic event for her," she said. "She was close with her grandma. She’s close with all of her family. And so, I had texted with her over that weekend, just letting her know that I was there for her, and if there was anything that I could do. But after that, I haven’t heard [anything]."
The disappearance remains a “very high priority” for police and investigators have already served several search warrants in the case although Doubt declined to provide any specifics about where the warrants were issued.
Anyone with information about Lueck’s disappearance is urged to contact authorities.
