Found Deceased UT - MacKenzie "Kenzie" Lueck, 23, Salt Lake City, 17 June 2019 #5

[Tealgrove]

A couple of thoughts this morning.

1. I initially thought that it was odd that her parents had not gone to SLC. Now, I don't really think it's odd. Maybe LE told them to stay as there was really nothing they could do. There are no searches to be present at or help organize because no one even knows where to search. It is clear to me (maybe not others), but wherever ML is, she's not in the park. She is lone gone from there so where do you start? What's the point of her parents being there? What are they going to do? I'm not second guessing this anymore.

2. Occam's Razor. What is the most simple explanation of what happened without all the sensationalism of whatever type of relationships ML preferred? To me, a date went bad. Probably very bad. The last person to see ML was the driver of the other vehicle. He/She has not come forward therefore that puts that person front and center in the disappearance. That person is most likely involved and responsible. The why's and the how's will hopefully be answered somehow at sometime I hope but right now we are going to have to wait.

3. ML's phone and social media information will lead LE where they need to go. Until LE has all that information, they won't be knocking on doors or doing searches. They desperately need the digital and cellular information to move forward unless friends and/or family know more than what is being reported and are helping LE fill in the gaps. BTW, I believe they do know more about ML's behaviour and relationships, quirks, etc.

At his juncture, it's all about social media and cell phone info unless a really good tip comes rolling in.

MOO

 

[MuddyTires]

IMHO, this case is wrong on so many levels and until there is more information released, it will remain that way.

What do you mean?

 

[PommyMommy]

Good morning! Was it in the PC or somewhere else that states she was wearing a shirt with a peace sign or something to that affect on it? I tried to go back and look, but I know how quick you are at finding / remembering these details lol
I may be thinking about another case... do you recall? TIA

SLCPD Press Release, NamUs and a number of articles. Stand by for link...

ETA Link:

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

Clothing Black leggings, white t-shirt (peace sign on shirt)
Footwear Rainbow sandals

 

[Utahmomof4]

Questions:

1) Do we know who took her to SLC airport?
2) Do we know who took her to LAX?
3) Do we know where she stayed in CA?

 

[Gardenista]

Questions:

1) Do we know who took her to SLC airport?
2) Do we know who took her to LAX?
3) Do we know where she stayed in CA?

And: Do we know who she stayed with in CA?

Wondering if her Seeking Arrangements was also set up for CA.

 

[thebedbug]

Three days. I still cannot wrap my mind around how this girl lives with roommates and seems well liked by a lot of people but nobody noticed or was concerned that she didn’t turn up?

The only answer I can come up with is that sometimes you have friends and roommates that you're very close with and share almost everything.... and other times you have friends/roommates that you're friends with - but there is always a bit of separation. I've definitely had roommates/friends that I might know were going home for a weekend and I could see myself thinking they were coming back by Monday or so... but if they didn't, I'd just assume something else came up... and probably wouldn't even be concerned by an unanswered text for a few days. If she had a reputation of kind of just going around on her own schedule and not always keeping people up to date with what she was doing... the first few days of her being missing just didn't raise the same alarms they might've with someone else.

At that age, I also frequently would go a week or more without talking to my parents... especially if I'd just seen them.

 

[Jcscham]

Jason Nguyen on Twitter

ABC4 News did a story this morning saying they have gone through her phone records and bank account and this hasn't as of yet given them any leads in the case. They also said the cameras in and around the park, even the working ones, did not help them identify the make and model of the vehicle.

They are asking that anyone that may know the following information contact the SLCPD tip line:

-Make or model of the vehicle she was picked up in.
-Name or description of the person who picked her up.
-Any of her social media accounts they may not be aware of.

They have served warrants on many of her accounts already but they have yet to yield any valuable information.

 

[OldCop]

Her flight landed at 1:58 AM and the gate arrival time was 2:05 AM. Should be Southwest Airlines 3235.
Southwest (WN) #3235 ✈ 16-Jun-2019 ✈ KLAX - KSLC ✈ FlightAware

There’s been a lot of speculation as to why ML was not picked up at the airport and had to use Lyft. It may be that someone was going to pick her up but when her flight was delayed, ML did not know exactly how long the delay would be and she texted them not to come rather than having them wait around the airport in the early morning hours. Once she landed, she may have volunteered to meet that someone halfway to make up for the lost time.

 

[yellowmoose]

Questions:

1) Do we know who took her to SLC airport?
2) Do we know who took her to LAX?
3) Do we know where she stayed in CA?

1. Her car is at home so presumably a friend or Uber/Lyft.

2. I don't think we have any mention of who took her to LAX. Good question.

3. I don't know where she stayed in CA either. I assume she stayed with her family because of her grandmother's funeral. But there has also been speculation that she was at the Ritz (no factual info to back that up at this point that I've seen however).

 

[tacostacostacos]

I'll preface this by saying this is JMO and none of it was shared with the purpose of being in violation of TOS or rules. Please let me know if there are issues.

(an

I find it odd that the parents are not going to UT. I also find it odd that the parents haven’t made any plea for her. Makes me think they strongly feel she is ok and chose to be out of touch. Since the beginning, I’ve wondered why she wouldn’t have texted that she got home safely once she was actually home. I know it is common to text or call someone once you land at a location, but she was then starting probably the most dangerous part of her night as a single girl riding home with a stranger. If she were my daughter, I’d want her to text again when she got home. All of this together makes me wonder if maybe there was an argument with the parents prior to heading back to UT. It would make it more understandable as to why the parents wouldn’t expect to hear from her during week and why they might feel she isn’t in UT anymore.

I don't find it odd but I do find it interesting, because I agree. Her parents don't seem very concerned and maybe that is in itself a clue (of course they could be freaking out and just not doing so publicly). But they know their daughter, presumably. Maybe they know she was ready to run off and do something else with her life. Have you ever been around people who express a desire to do that? Even off-handedly, they'll say "I wish I didn't have to work and could just be independently wealthy and live on the beach" or something. Well, maybe she's one of those people but she meant it.

My initial reaction to hearing that her parents were not headed to Salt Lake struck me as quite odd. However, as I've thought more about it it makes quite a bit of sense to stay where they are. Here's why I think that:
1. They have jobs.
While we would hope the employers would be sensitive in a situation like this, you never know. They may also feel that working can help distract them while police investigate. Maybe they are limited in time off and given the recent familial circumstances regarding the family death no time is available.
2. They have children living at their home.
Would the whole family go? If just the parents went who would watch the children? What would they actually do once they got to Utah?
3. They may be hoping that she or someone involved will try to contact them at their home in some form.
Could a ransom request be coming? Is there a reason to believe she may be delivered back to her home?
4. They don't feel they can contribute much in the way of being present in Salt Lake City. Perhaps they asked the police and for reasons not disclosed to the rest of us (they don't believe her to be in Utah? They don't think she would want to talk to her family? etc.) the police told the there really is nothing they can do and coming to Utah would mean hanging around the station all day waiting for information.

I asked my own parents what they would do if this had happened to me. They both said that unless they were encouraged to by LE, they would probably stay where they are. "There would be nothing for us to do and sitting around would drive me crazy."

I'm inclined to believe that they were on good terms. Afterall, her dad was the one to file the missing persons report. I don't know numbers but I know news reports of people with children under 18 whose parents aren't even willing to do that.

As for it taking 3-4 days to file the report? As a somewhat recent graduate of college out of state I talked to someone in my family (parent/sibling) almost everyday. However, I know there were times when I knew I would have a busy week (i.e. midterms, lots of assignments) and I would say (usually to my mother) "Hey I've got a lot going on this week so I probably won't talk to you until this weekend or after I finish all this". I don't find the fact that she wasn't in communication with her parents for a few days surprising at all.

Roommates:
I had just about every roommate situation possible. Some waited for me to get home from campus late at night (or even the airport since I always took the latest flight trying to maximize time spent at home). My room roommate once went on a 2 week vacation out of the country and it wasn't until day 12 that another roommate in the apartment asked where she was. Sometimes roommates are the best of friends and sometimes it is whoever will buy the contract. My finding was that during summertime it was more who could buy the contract since not everyone stays during that time.


Obviously this is speculation, but in my mind it is understandable why her parents have not made the decision to travel to Utah (that we know of). Just my own thinking here.

 

[Utahmomof4]

More questions:

1) Have they checked footage at LAX?
2) Who dropped her off there?
3) Did she eat at a bar or sit and talk with someone?
4) Was she wearing the same clothing as SLC airport footage?

 

[poppydarling]

Was really hoping to come on today to some good news. Here’s to hoping things start to shake out and we have a found Kenzie.

 

[yellowmoose]

I'll preface this by saying this is JMO and none of it was shared with the purpose of being in violation of TOS or rules. Please let me know if there are issues.

(an



My initial reaction to hearing that her parents were not headed to Salt Lake struck me as quite odd. However, as I've thought more about it it makes quite a bit of sense to stay where they are. Here's why I think that:
1. They have jobs.
While we would hope the employers would be sensitive in a situation like this, you never know. They may also feel that working can help distract them while police investigate. Maybe they are limited in time off and given the recent familial circumstances regarding the family death no time is available.
2. They have children living at their home.
Would the whole family go? If just the parents went who would watch the children? What would they actually do once they got to Utah?
3. They may be hoping that she or someone involved will try to contact them at their home in some form.
Could a ransom request be coming? Is there a reason to believe she may be delivered back to her home?
4. They don't feel they can contribute much in the way of being present in Salt Lake City. Perhaps they asked the police and for reasons not disclosed to the rest of us (they don't believe her to be in Utah? They don't think she would want to talk to her family? etc.) the police told the there really is nothing they can do and coming to Utah would mean hanging around the station all day waiting for information.

I asked my own parents what they would do if this had happened to me. They both said that unless they were encouraged to by LE, they would probably stay where they are. "There would be nothing for us to do and sitting around would drive me crazy."

I'm inclined to believe that they were on good terms. Afterall, her dad was the one to file the missing persons report. I don't know numbers but I know news reports of people with children under 18 whose parents aren't even willing to do that.

As for it taking 3-4 days to file the report? As a somewhat recent graduate of college out of state I talked to someone in my family (parent/sibling) almost everyday. However, I know there were times when I knew I would have a busy week (i.e. midterms, lots of assignments) and I would say (usually to my mother) "Hey I've got a lot going on this week so I probably won't talk to you until this weekend or after I finish all this". I don't find the fact that she wasn't in communication with her parents for a few days surprising at all.

Roommates:
I had just about every roommate situation possible. Some waited for me to get home from campus late at night (or even the airport since I always took the latest flight trying to maximize time spent at home). My room roommate once went on a 2 week vacation out of the country and it wasn't until day 12 that another roommate in the apartment asked where she was. Sometimes roommates are the best of friends and sometimes it is whoever will buy the contract. My finding was that during summertime it was more who could buy the contract since not everyone stays during that time.


Obviously this is speculation, but in my mind it is understandable why her parents have not made the decision to travel to Utah (that we know of). Just my own thinking here.

Hey @tacostacostacos! Nice to see another potential friend here. I think you make really good points about her family. There are so many factors as to why they're probably not in SLC and the children and jobs are the ones that stand out to me the most. Also, I don't know how much they would feel they could really do here. No organized searches or anything so it probably wouldn't make much of a difference whether here or there.

 

[doyoulovemepfg]

I've been focusing on a different case for the last day or so, so pardon me if these questions were already answered:

Do we know if KL was in any non-SD/SB relationships at the time of her disappearance, or was she only looking for a SD?
Where was she staying when she was in California, and with whom? Did she have a SD located in the LA area?
What was the nature of the "mutually beneficial" SD/SB relationships KL was allegedly in? W/married men, etc?

 

[SoCalGirl]

Her phone or SM/ Dating apps would have to (hopefully) give some leads. I’m thinking it’s possible her plane arrived late. 1:35am is later than any plane I could find coming from California. I checked LAX, San Diego, Orange County and Burbank. All closest airports to her parents. They all have flights to SLC, the latest arriving near or just after midnight. Scheduling a Lyft and arranging a pickup at the park has to have some digital trail. Especially if she did arrive at the airport later than scheduled. Jmo.

The flight from LAX landed 30 minutes late and you may be looking at Pacific time instead of Mountain time, when it actually landed.

 

[Gigi3]

SLCPD Press Release, NamUs and a number of articles. Stand by for link...

ETA Link:

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

Clothing Black leggings, white t-shirt (peace sign on shirt)
Footwear Rainbow sandals

Thank you, Pommy! I knew you would be on it! So, I know much has been said of the pictures from the airport, but I couldn’t tell one way or another what type of shirt she had on. If the peace sign on shirt is correct, then that likely means they have even better pictures/videos of her or the Lyft driver remembers that detail. If it’s the Lyft driver, maybe just maybe he also remembers more detail about the mystery person and they are withholding that information. I’m hoping anyway! JMO!

 

[GordianKnot]

In thread #3 it is said that ML’s family mentioned in an interview that they have decided to stay in CA at this time because they think she is no longer in UT.
ML was not reported missing for 3 days once she landed in UT. IMO whoever she met in the park had plenty of time to drive or fly her anywhere . Maybe after her grandmas death she felt she didn’t want to continue school and wanted a change and hinted at this to her family . Maybe the person she met promised to help her start a new life elsewhere. JMO.

BBM:
I completely missed this.
Does anyone have a link to that interview handy?

If parents actually stated the reason they haven't come to UT is they don't think she's there any longer, that's an indication that family believes she took off voluntarily.

If ML's parents actually believe that, it's likely based on some information family knows and has shared with LE, but not the public.

It would also explain LE's continued emphasis on speaking to ML directly in their pcs.

JMO.

 

[SuperTmo]

The only answer I can come up with is that sometimes you have friends and roommates that you're very close with and share almost everything.... and other times you have friends/roommates that you're friends with - but there is always a bit of separation. I've definitely had roommates/friends that I might know were going home for a weekend and I could see myself thinking they were coming back by Monday or so... but if they didn't, I'd just assume something else came up... and probably wouldn't even be concerned by an unanswered text for a few days. If she had a reputation of kind of just going around on her own schedule and not always keeping people up to date with what she was doing... the first few days of her being missing just didn't raise the same alarms they might've with someone else.

At that age, I also frequently would go a week or more without talking to my parents... especially if I'd just seen them.

I don’t think it’s odd that she didn’t talk to her parents but I cannot imagine a scenario where a Sorority girl is living with her girlfriends and none of them realizing she was gone, unless they are all just incredibly busy, maybe. But someone was taking care of the cat, and they didn’t think it was weird she never came back? I would bet that she was in regular contact with several friends while she was gone.

Maybe she has a history of being a bit of a flake and not coming home? I don’t know. But she had a job and they didn’t raise the alarm about her being missing from work? I think about Mollie Tibbets and how the warning bells went off so soon. I guess I just don’t get how this could happen.

Who eventually reported her missing?

 

[thebedbug]

Jason Nguyen on Twitter

ABC4 News did a story this morning saying they have gone through her phone records and bank account and this hasn't as of yet given them any leads in the case. They also said the cameras in and around the park, even the working ones, did not help them identify the make and model of the vehicle.

They are asking that anyone that may know the following information contact the SLCPD tip line:

-Make or model of the vehicle she was picked up in.
-Name or description of the person who picked her up.
-Any of her social media accounts they may not be aware of.

They have served warrants on many of her accounts already but they have yet to yield any valuable information.

This part is hard to believe, unless they just haven't found the right account.

By this time, you'd think other people that have had 'contact' with her would have quietly stepped forward to provide info on the logistics (where'd they meet/how'd they communicate/what were the conditions). I can't believe that from the time she landed, until the time she got in the Lyft, that she wasn't in contact with the person in the park.

 

[zecats]

Her flight landed at 1:58 AM and the gate arrival time was 2:05 AM. Should be Southwest Airlines 3235.
Southwest (WN) #3235 ✈ 16-Jun-2019 ✈ KLAX - KSLC ✈ FlightAware

Thanks. I was using flights in general. I didn’t know about “Flight Aware.” I see it was a bit late arriving (and taking off), so she would have know at departure that it would arrive late. Lyft is probably scheduled real time, if it’s like Uber. May be a way to prebook. I cannot imagine there was no communication between her and the driver at the park. Jmo