1 00:00:07,240 --> 00:00:10,810 - I'm Craig Melvin and this is "Dateline: Secrets Uncovered." 2 00:00:11,745 --> 00:00:13,413 - I can't even believe she would meet someone 3 00:00:13,446 --> 00:00:15,882 at a park at 3 A.M. 4 00:00:15,915 --> 00:00:18,551 I think she knew the second she got in his car 5 00:00:18,585 --> 00:00:20,420 that something was wrong. 6 00:00:20,453 --> 00:00:22,589 - A college student disappears. 7 00:00:26,926 --> 00:00:29,295 - A secret life uncovered. 8 00:00:29,329 --> 00:00:31,965 - She was on a dating site looking for sugar daddies. 9 00:00:31,998 --> 00:00:34,234 - Going into it blindly 10 00:00:34,267 --> 00:00:37,570 is not something I would recommend. 11 00:00:37,604 --> 00:00:39,839 - Chilling details revealed. 12 00:00:39,873 --> 00:00:41,241 - Is this guy dodging us? 13 00:00:41,274 --> 00:00:43,009 - He kind of selected her as his victim. 14 00:00:43,043 --> 00:00:45,045 - Correct. 15 00:00:45,078 --> 00:00:47,013 - Towards the bottom of the dig site, 16 00:00:47,047 --> 00:00:49,315 there was a damaged iPhone. 17 00:00:49,349 --> 00:00:51,084 - Looked like maybe clothing. 18 00:00:51,117 --> 00:00:54,554 It was just a sinking feeling, really. 19 00:00:54,587 --> 00:00:56,790 - I just replay this one night I had with her 20 00:00:56,823 --> 00:00:58,625 and I just wanna grab her and say, 21 00:00:58,658 --> 00:01:00,727 "Don't do it. Don't go." 22 00:01:00,760 --> 00:01:08,968 ** 23 00:01:09,069 --> 00:01:12,672 - Hello, and welcome to "Dateline: Secrets Uncovered." 24 00:01:12,706 --> 00:01:16,076 For parents, it is natural and scary 25 00:01:16,076 --> 00:01:18,445 to watch their children become independent. 26 00:01:18,478 --> 00:01:19,713 College student MacKenzie Lueck 27 00:01:19,746 --> 00:01:22,816 was striking her own path to adulthood 28 00:01:22,849 --> 00:01:25,719 and she knew what she wanted. 29 00:01:25,752 --> 00:01:28,088 But MacKenzie did not know 30 00:01:28,121 --> 00:01:29,789 what she was getting herself into 31 00:01:29,823 --> 00:01:34,094 until she disappeared into a secret underworld. 32 00:01:34,127 --> 00:01:36,629 The race was on to save her. 33 00:01:36,663 --> 00:01:39,933 Here's Keith Morrison with "The Waiting Car." 34 00:01:39,966 --> 00:01:44,437 ** 35 00:01:44,471 --> 00:01:48,808 - Our minds have a curious way of deceiving us. 36 00:01:48,842 --> 00:01:50,343 We sense something off. 37 00:01:50,377 --> 00:01:54,114 Something wrong. Even terrible. 38 00:01:54,147 --> 00:01:57,350 And yet, something in the brain wants to believe 39 00:01:57,384 --> 00:02:01,087 the worst didn't happen. 40 00:02:01,121 --> 00:02:04,791 Kennedy Stoner knows that feeling well. 41 00:02:04,824 --> 00:02:09,162 - I was kind of pushing away from my gut instinct. 42 00:02:09,195 --> 00:02:11,164 I'm not really sure why. 43 00:02:11,197 --> 00:02:15,201 I never imagined this ever happening 44 00:02:15,235 --> 00:02:16,469 to one of my friends. 45 00:02:16,503 --> 00:02:18,371 - I wouldn't think you'd want to imagine it, right? 46 00:02:18,405 --> 00:02:20,073 - No, or anyone that I know. 47 00:02:20,073 --> 00:02:24,544 Or-- So, my mind didn't go there. 48 00:02:24,577 --> 00:02:26,846 - So, she told herself it would be fine 49 00:02:26,880 --> 00:02:28,448 as she reached out from her home 50 00:02:28,481 --> 00:02:30,684 here in Salt Lake City, Utah. 51 00:02:30,717 --> 00:02:34,087 Messages to her friend MacKenzie Lueck. 52 00:02:34,120 --> 00:02:37,557 - I saw that she wasn't opening my Snapchats. 53 00:02:37,590 --> 00:02:40,827 And I had texted her and I didn't get a text back. 54 00:02:40,860 --> 00:02:43,963 And this is stupid, but I was kind of wondering 55 00:02:43,997 --> 00:02:46,900 if she was mad at me for something. 56 00:02:46,933 --> 00:02:49,836 - The mind wants a simple explanation. 57 00:02:49,869 --> 00:02:52,739 After all, she knew her best friend was grieving. 58 00:02:52,772 --> 00:02:54,808 MacKenzie's grandmother had recently passed away 59 00:02:54,841 --> 00:02:56,609 in California. 60 00:02:56,643 --> 00:02:58,545 - I know she was heartbroken over that 61 00:02:58,578 --> 00:03:00,113 and so was the rest of her family 62 00:03:00,146 --> 00:03:01,948 because they're all very close. 63 00:03:02,048 --> 00:03:03,249 - And she went to the funeral. 64 00:03:03,283 --> 00:03:06,619 - She did. She left Utah. She went to the funeral. 65 00:03:06,653 --> 00:03:08,054 So, I was thinking maybe she just, like, 66 00:03:08,054 --> 00:03:11,057 took a few days off social media or something. 67 00:03:12,492 --> 00:03:17,063 - MacKenzie's parents, though, hadn't heard from her either. 68 00:03:17,063 --> 00:03:19,432 After 3 days of escalating fear, 69 00:03:19,466 --> 00:03:23,103 MacKenzie's dad made that most dreadful phone call 70 00:03:23,136 --> 00:03:25,238 to the Salt Lake City Police Department. 71 00:03:40,153 --> 00:03:44,190 - The story MacKenzie's dad told was this. 72 00:03:44,224 --> 00:03:47,927 On the night of Sunday, June 16, 2019, 73 00:03:47,961 --> 00:03:51,831 MacKenzie had boarded a flight from Los Angeles back to Utah, 74 00:03:51,865 --> 00:03:56,736 arriving in Salt Lake City around 1:35 A.M., Monday. 75 00:03:56,770 --> 00:04:00,306 At 2:01 A.M., she texted her mom 76 00:04:00,340 --> 00:04:03,143 to say she landed safely. 77 00:04:03,176 --> 00:04:06,813 After that, three days of silence. 78 00:04:08,248 --> 00:04:10,150 Two patrol officers went straight away 79 00:04:10,183 --> 00:04:12,218 to MacKenzie's townhouse. 80 00:04:12,252 --> 00:04:15,355 Her car was in the driveway. That was a good sign. 81 00:04:15,388 --> 00:04:17,924 [knocking] Repeated knocks at the door, 82 00:04:17,957 --> 00:04:21,061 however, went unanswered. 83 00:04:21,061 --> 00:04:25,398 Peering through a window, the officers saw nothing. 84 00:04:25,432 --> 00:04:28,134 Not a soul around. 85 00:04:28,168 --> 00:04:31,538 They called MacKenzie's dad to report the news. 86 00:04:31,571 --> 00:04:34,641 And next, the officers phoned MacKenzie's friends, 87 00:04:34,674 --> 00:04:37,077 and boss, and professors. 88 00:04:37,077 --> 00:04:39,746 None of them had seen her. 89 00:04:39,779 --> 00:04:41,448 All reasons why, 90 00:04:41,481 --> 00:04:44,250 by the end of this unsettling day, 91 00:04:44,284 --> 00:04:46,453 MacKenzie's case was referred to a place 92 00:04:46,486 --> 00:04:49,356 that sounded very serious indeed. 93 00:04:49,389 --> 00:04:52,125 The Salt Lake City Police Department's 94 00:04:52,158 --> 00:04:54,728 homicide squad. 95 00:04:54,761 --> 00:04:56,429 - We get a lot of missing persons cases 96 00:04:56,463 --> 00:04:58,665 in Salt Lake City. 97 00:04:58,698 --> 00:05:01,935 - Lieutenant Todd Mitchell was the unit's chief detective. 98 00:05:02,035 --> 00:05:04,270 - So, I try my best to sift through those 99 00:05:04,304 --> 00:05:07,407 and find the-the ones that kind of raise the hair 100 00:05:07,440 --> 00:05:09,342 on the back of your neck, for lack of a better term. 101 00:05:09,376 --> 00:05:11,311 And this raised the hair on the back of my neck. 102 00:05:11,344 --> 00:05:12,712 So, that's why we decided, 103 00:05:12,746 --> 00:05:14,481 yeah, we need to take action now 104 00:05:14,514 --> 00:05:18,818 and-and at least start a-an initial investigation into it. 105 00:05:18,852 --> 00:05:22,422 - Truth be told, most reports are easily resolved. 106 00:05:22,455 --> 00:05:25,125 The missing person may have simply lost their phone 107 00:05:25,158 --> 00:05:26,960 or just decided to take a break 108 00:05:27,060 --> 00:05:29,429 from some family drama. 109 00:05:29,462 --> 00:05:32,465 But that didn't appear to be the case with MacKenzie. 110 00:05:32,499 --> 00:05:35,568 The relationship she had with her mom and dad 111 00:05:35,602 --> 00:05:37,871 would be the envy of most parents. 112 00:05:37,904 --> 00:05:39,139 - They were always contacting each other. 113 00:05:39,172 --> 00:05:40,974 They'd send little silly texts back and forth 114 00:05:41,074 --> 00:05:42,742 on a daily basis. 115 00:05:42,776 --> 00:05:45,345 - Detective Nate Wiley and Tiffany Sayes 116 00:05:45,378 --> 00:05:47,747 led the missing persons investigation, 117 00:05:47,781 --> 00:05:51,418 even though their specialty was murder. 118 00:05:51,451 --> 00:05:54,087 - I mean, in a usual homicide investigation, we start-- 119 00:05:54,087 --> 00:05:56,456 there's a dead body. We're starting with something. 120 00:05:56,489 --> 00:05:58,892 We have a-a victim and we're moving backwards. 121 00:05:58,925 --> 00:06:02,896 In this case, we started with nothing. 122 00:06:02,929 --> 00:06:04,364 - First action Sayes and Wiley took 123 00:06:04,397 --> 00:06:06,099 was to pull the Salt Lake City Airport 124 00:06:06,132 --> 00:06:07,467 surveillance camera footage 125 00:06:07,500 --> 00:06:10,036 from the night of MacKenzie's disappearance. 126 00:06:10,036 --> 00:06:13,039 And sure enough, there she was. 127 00:06:13,073 --> 00:06:14,274 - So, it was nothin' out of the ordinary. 128 00:06:14,307 --> 00:06:17,177 We're able to see her come off the-the terminal 129 00:06:17,210 --> 00:06:19,679 and we followed her all the way down to the baggage claim 130 00:06:19,713 --> 00:06:22,048 to where she picked up her luggage. 131 00:06:22,082 --> 00:06:24,551 - Seemed perfectly normal, fine, causal? 132 00:06:24,584 --> 00:06:26,453 - Yes. Nothing out of the ordinary 133 00:06:26,486 --> 00:06:28,421 that we could see at all. 134 00:06:28,455 --> 00:06:31,091 - The last clip shows MacKenzie, 135 00:06:31,124 --> 00:06:33,059 like so many other passengers, 136 00:06:33,059 --> 00:06:37,364 casually getting into a car outside baggage claim. 137 00:06:37,397 --> 00:06:40,200 But the identity of the driver? 138 00:06:40,233 --> 00:06:41,868 A mystery. 139 00:06:41,901 --> 00:06:43,403 News of the police investigation 140 00:06:43,436 --> 00:06:46,106 quickly spread among MacKenzie's friends. 141 00:06:46,139 --> 00:06:48,174 - The second that I heard about that, 142 00:06:48,208 --> 00:06:52,612 my stomach dropped. 143 00:06:52,645 --> 00:06:55,915 - So, Kennedy launched her own investigation. 144 00:06:55,949 --> 00:06:57,951 - I went on Facebook. 145 00:06:57,984 --> 00:07:00,286 I dropped pictures of us together 146 00:07:00,320 --> 00:07:01,554 and I said, "She's missing." 147 00:07:01,588 --> 00:07:03,623 Like, "If you know anything, reach out to me. 148 00:07:03,656 --> 00:07:05,258 "Reach out to police." 149 00:07:05,291 --> 00:07:07,527 - I thought she was still in California 150 00:07:07,560 --> 00:07:11,398 until I saw Kennedy's message on Facebook. 151 00:07:11,431 --> 00:07:14,701 - Ashley Fine, another of MacKenzie's college friends, 152 00:07:14,734 --> 00:07:16,870 put up her own Facebook post. 153 00:07:16,903 --> 00:07:19,072 - And I tagged her in it. 154 00:07:19,105 --> 00:07:21,441 And because I tagged her Facebook, 155 00:07:21,474 --> 00:07:23,143 some of her other family members 156 00:07:23,176 --> 00:07:24,644 reached out to me immediately. 157 00:07:24,678 --> 00:07:25,745 - What family members? 158 00:07:25,779 --> 00:07:27,180 - Um, some of her distant cousins. 159 00:07:27,213 --> 00:07:29,816 - Okay. - One who lives here in Utah. 160 00:07:29,849 --> 00:07:32,519 And we started talking and messaging. 161 00:07:32,552 --> 00:07:35,388 And I said, "You know, I have a feeling 162 00:07:35,422 --> 00:07:38,625 "that she took a Lyft share. 163 00:07:38,658 --> 00:07:41,127 "I feel really strong that she did that." 164 00:07:41,161 --> 00:07:42,929 - So, you're worried that something may have happened-- 165 00:07:42,962 --> 00:07:44,931 - Definitely. Definitely. - In that car? 166 00:07:44,964 --> 00:07:48,601 On their own, Ashley and this cousin called Lyft 167 00:07:48,635 --> 00:07:51,204 and Uber to see if either one of them 168 00:07:51,237 --> 00:07:53,940 had picked up MacKenzie at the airport. 169 00:07:53,973 --> 00:07:55,775 - And that's really when this began, 170 00:07:55,809 --> 00:08:01,381 because somehow, they let it slip. Lyft did. 171 00:08:01,414 --> 00:08:03,550 That she got in a Lyft that night. 172 00:08:03,583 --> 00:08:05,018 - What did you do at that point? 173 00:08:05,018 --> 00:08:08,221 - We contacted law enforcement about the Lyft. 174 00:08:08,254 --> 00:08:12,192 - A big break for Sayes and Wiley 175 00:08:12,225 --> 00:08:13,893 because it gave them probable cause 176 00:08:13,927 --> 00:08:16,796 to serve Lyft with a search warrant. 177 00:08:16,830 --> 00:08:18,465 - And find out where her destination was, 178 00:08:18,498 --> 00:08:20,734 where she was dropped off, what time she was picked up. 179 00:08:20,767 --> 00:08:22,035 - Where did she go? 180 00:08:22,068 --> 00:08:25,105 - So, we were able to get the destination from the airport 181 00:08:25,138 --> 00:08:28,041 all the way up to a North Salt Lake address 182 00:08:28,074 --> 00:08:30,410 and she was dropped off at Hatch Park. 183 00:08:30,443 --> 00:08:33,847 Up in North Salt Lake, just before 3 A.M. 184 00:08:33,880 --> 00:08:37,150 - A park? At 3 A.M.? 185 00:08:37,183 --> 00:08:40,420 Why would MacKenzie come here? 186 00:08:40,453 --> 00:08:42,389 And just as important, 187 00:08:42,422 --> 00:08:46,059 why would a driver leave a young woman alone, 188 00:08:46,092 --> 00:08:47,394 burdened with luggage, 189 00:08:47,427 --> 00:08:50,497 at a park in the middle of the night? 190 00:08:50,530 --> 00:08:53,466 Who would do such a thing? 191 00:08:53,500 --> 00:08:57,303 It was Detective Sayes' job to track down the driver. 192 00:08:57,337 --> 00:09:01,274 Who, she discovered, was not so easy to find. 193 00:09:01,307 --> 00:09:03,009 - We were like, is this guy dodging us? 194 00:09:06,680 --> 00:09:09,249 - MacKenzie's friends have a terrifying theory 195 00:09:09,282 --> 00:09:11,117 about why she's missing. 196 00:09:11,151 --> 00:09:14,187 - I assumed that the Lyft driver abducted her. 197 00:09:14,220 --> 00:09:16,022 - We wanted to know if he was in fact 198 00:09:16,022 --> 00:09:17,590 going to be a suspect or not. 199 00:09:17,624 --> 00:09:19,626 - And here's one reason why. 200 00:09:19,659 --> 00:09:24,330 - Her last text message that we recovered was at 2:58, 201 00:09:24,364 --> 00:09:27,600 prior to her arriving at the Hatch Park location. 202 00:09:27,634 --> 00:09:33,039 And that was the last activity ever we had on her phone. 203 00:09:39,079 --> 00:09:43,483 ** 204 00:09:44,451 --> 00:09:48,355 - Before MacKenzie Lueck disappeared in June 2019, 205 00:09:48,388 --> 00:09:50,423 a disturbing story had gone national. 206 00:09:50,457 --> 00:09:52,525 Several stories, actually, 207 00:09:52,559 --> 00:09:56,629 about women being assaulted while using Lyft or Uber. 208 00:09:56,663 --> 00:09:58,898 - At least 14 women have now filed a lawsuit 209 00:09:58,932 --> 00:10:00,233 against the rideshare giant. 210 00:10:01,167 --> 00:10:03,169 - And perhaps no surprise, 211 00:10:03,203 --> 00:10:04,537 MacKenzie's friend Ashley Fine 212 00:10:04,571 --> 00:10:08,174 imagined something like that, or worse. 213 00:10:08,208 --> 00:10:10,977 - I assumed that the Lyft driver abducted her 214 00:10:11,011 --> 00:10:13,213 or maybe they were in a car accident 215 00:10:13,246 --> 00:10:16,649 and their car had driven off the road. 216 00:10:16,683 --> 00:10:20,220 - The detectives thought that was a possibility, too. 217 00:10:20,253 --> 00:10:21,888 So, they wanted very much to find 218 00:10:21,921 --> 00:10:23,656 that elusive Lyft driver 219 00:10:23,690 --> 00:10:26,593 who gave MacKenzie a ride the night she vanished. 220 00:10:26,626 --> 00:10:28,361 - We wanted to know if he was in fact 221 00:10:28,395 --> 00:10:30,797 going to be a suspect or not. 222 00:10:30,830 --> 00:10:34,434 - He was, though, nowhere to be found. 223 00:10:34,467 --> 00:10:35,669 Just as odd? 224 00:10:35,702 --> 00:10:38,204 MacKenzie's phone, the detectives learned, 225 00:10:38,238 --> 00:10:39,472 was turned off 226 00:10:39,506 --> 00:10:43,009 just as her Lyft ride came to an end. 227 00:10:43,043 --> 00:10:48,114 - Her last text message that we recovered was at 2:58, 228 00:10:48,148 --> 00:10:51,718 prior to her arriving at the Hatch Park location. 229 00:10:51,751 --> 00:10:52,652 - Mmm-hmm? 230 00:10:52,686 --> 00:10:56,056 - And that was the last activity ever 231 00:10:56,089 --> 00:10:58,091 we had on her phone. 232 00:10:58,124 --> 00:11:01,061 - On the morning of Saturday, June 22, 233 00:11:01,061 --> 00:11:03,263 Six days after MacKenzie went missing, 234 00:11:03,296 --> 00:11:05,899 Detective Tiffany Sayes finally tracked down 235 00:11:05,932 --> 00:11:08,134 MacKenzie's Lyft driver. 236 00:11:08,168 --> 00:11:10,170 - He says there wasn't a lot of conversation 237 00:11:10,203 --> 00:11:11,538 going on in the car. 238 00:11:11,571 --> 00:11:13,840 He did recall her being on her phone, 239 00:11:13,873 --> 00:11:16,543 um, but he didn't know who she was talking to. 240 00:11:16,576 --> 00:11:18,578 - Was he fully cooperative? Did he seem-- 241 00:11:18,611 --> 00:11:20,146 - Oh, yes. Definitely. - Like he wanted to help you? 242 00:11:20,180 --> 00:11:22,949 - He did. He didn't-- He didn't seem... 243 00:11:22,982 --> 00:11:25,785 ...like he had anything to do with this at all. 244 00:11:25,819 --> 00:11:28,688 - Because he had an alibi. 245 00:11:28,722 --> 00:11:31,091 A very good one, actually. 246 00:11:31,124 --> 00:11:32,826 As soon as he dropped MacKenzie off, 247 00:11:32,859 --> 00:11:34,894 surveillance footage at a nearby intersection 248 00:11:34,928 --> 00:11:38,331 captured him leaving to pick up another fare. 249 00:11:38,365 --> 00:11:40,266 The date, time, and location 250 00:11:40,300 --> 00:11:43,937 all confirmed by the tracking software on his Lyft app. 251 00:11:43,970 --> 00:11:46,873 - And he continued that through the night. And so-- 252 00:11:46,906 --> 00:11:48,641 - So, you could eliminate him pretty easily, 253 00:11:48,675 --> 00:11:50,710 based on the fact that he was elsewhere. 254 00:11:50,744 --> 00:11:53,113 - Very quickly, yes. - She was smiling. 255 00:11:53,113 --> 00:11:56,850 Um, she was in-- uh, in good spirits. 256 00:11:56,883 --> 00:11:59,119 - MacKenzie's Lyft driver, Heath Canada, 257 00:11:59,152 --> 00:12:01,654 told police and later, us, 258 00:12:01,688 --> 00:12:04,924 he remembered the weird drop-off location. 259 00:12:04,958 --> 00:12:09,062 Even MacKenzie commented on that, he said. 260 00:12:09,062 --> 00:12:12,399 - Saying how it was odd to be dropped off 261 00:12:12,432 --> 00:12:14,801 in the middle of the night at a park. 262 00:12:14,834 --> 00:12:16,603 - Canada, though, said he wasn't too worried 263 00:12:16,636 --> 00:12:19,539 because someone with a car 264 00:12:19,572 --> 00:12:21,841 was there waiting for MacKenzie. 265 00:12:21,875 --> 00:12:24,077 - I unloaded, um, her luggage. 266 00:12:24,077 --> 00:12:27,981 Said goodbye and drove away. 267 00:12:28,081 --> 00:12:31,351 - So, who was that someone in the waiting car? 268 00:12:31,384 --> 00:12:33,987 The detectives were hoping they could identify him 269 00:12:34,087 --> 00:12:37,957 or her through MacKenzie's phone records. 270 00:12:37,991 --> 00:12:42,529 And she had been texting a number with a 206 area code 271 00:12:42,562 --> 00:12:45,532 right up to the point her phone went dead. 272 00:12:45,565 --> 00:12:48,935 - So, we were able to actually take that number 273 00:12:48,968 --> 00:12:50,770 and run it through our little databases 274 00:12:50,804 --> 00:12:53,606 and it came back as absolutely nothing. 275 00:12:53,640 --> 00:12:56,609 Didn't come back to anybody. 276 00:12:56,643 --> 00:13:00,246 - Had to be some type of burner phone, they thought. 277 00:13:00,280 --> 00:13:03,183 So, whoever that was did not want anyone to know, 278 00:13:03,216 --> 00:13:05,352 uh, anyone in any official capacity, 279 00:13:05,385 --> 00:13:06,720 to know who it was. 280 00:13:06,753 --> 00:13:09,923 - Yeah, it was pretty obvious at that point. 281 00:13:09,956 --> 00:13:11,691 - But according to the Lyft driver, 282 00:13:11,725 --> 00:13:13,293 whoever met MacKenzie at the park 283 00:13:13,326 --> 00:13:17,497 made no effort to conceal their identity from her. 284 00:13:17,530 --> 00:13:19,132 To the contrary. 285 00:13:19,165 --> 00:13:22,502 - They seemed to know each other, um, really well, 286 00:13:22,535 --> 00:13:25,271 'cause I-I think all I heard was, 287 00:13:25,305 --> 00:13:26,339 "How are you doing? How was your trip?" 288 00:13:26,373 --> 00:13:27,707 Just kind of basic, uh, greetings. 289 00:13:27,741 --> 00:13:30,343 The situation seemed real-- very safe. 290 00:13:30,377 --> 00:13:32,912 Uh, she, uh, obviously knew the person 291 00:13:32,946 --> 00:13:36,149 that she was, um, getting in-- um, into the car with. 292 00:13:36,182 --> 00:13:39,085 - That MacKenzie had caught a ride with someone she knew 293 00:13:39,085 --> 00:13:42,856 was both good and bad news. 294 00:13:42,889 --> 00:13:44,691 The good news, of course, was it meant 295 00:13:44,724 --> 00:13:48,094 maybe MacKenzie just went off with a friend somewhere. 296 00:13:48,094 --> 00:13:49,896 The bad news? 297 00:13:49,929 --> 00:13:51,931 Because there was now no proof of a crime, 298 00:13:51,965 --> 00:13:53,566 the detectives had lost their power 299 00:13:53,600 --> 00:13:56,102 to get any additional search warrants. 300 00:13:56,136 --> 00:13:59,773 - We had lost our-- what we call "probable cause" 301 00:13:59,806 --> 00:14:01,207 that a crime had been committed. 302 00:14:01,241 --> 00:14:02,409 And so-- - Just like that? 303 00:14:02,442 --> 00:14:04,277 - Just-Just like that. - Because of this supposedly-- 304 00:14:04,310 --> 00:14:06,046 just because of what the Lyft driver said, 305 00:14:06,046 --> 00:14:08,515 suddenly, you can't be getting warrants for things. 306 00:14:08,548 --> 00:14:09,816 - Correct. 307 00:14:09,849 --> 00:14:11,951 And so, that was a hard part and it really slowed down 308 00:14:12,052 --> 00:14:13,286 the investigation at that point, 309 00:14:13,319 --> 00:14:16,256 because we didn't have a crime to attach to it. 310 00:14:16,289 --> 00:14:20,360 It was still now just a missing persons investigation. 311 00:14:20,393 --> 00:14:22,195 - Without a warrant, the detectives were blocked 312 00:14:22,228 --> 00:14:23,797 from getting detailed phone records, 313 00:14:23,830 --> 00:14:25,532 which, theoretically, 314 00:14:25,565 --> 00:14:29,336 would have shown who MacKenzie was texting. 315 00:14:29,369 --> 00:14:34,341 So, who was this friend MacKenzie met at the park? 316 00:14:34,374 --> 00:14:37,210 And where did they go? 317 00:14:37,243 --> 00:14:38,812 - MacKenzie's phone is off, 318 00:14:38,845 --> 00:14:41,614 but investigators have other ways 319 00:14:41,648 --> 00:14:43,883 to follow her digital footprints. 320 00:14:46,086 --> 00:14:48,521 One place MacKenzie wasn't missing 321 00:14:48,555 --> 00:14:49,856 was on social media. 322 00:14:49,889 --> 00:14:51,224 - Different people stating, 323 00:14:51,257 --> 00:14:52,726 "Hey, I'm looking at her site right now. 324 00:14:52,759 --> 00:14:54,961 "It's showing that she's actively online." 325 00:14:54,994 --> 00:14:57,364 - Her bank account was active, too. 326 00:14:57,397 --> 00:14:59,132 - So, we were hopeful that there would be 327 00:14:59,165 --> 00:15:02,569 further transactions on there, so that we could find her. 328 00:15:09,275 --> 00:15:15,048 ** 329 00:15:15,515 --> 00:15:17,917 - So many questions. 330 00:15:17,951 --> 00:15:21,755 Why did MacKenzie go to a park eight miles from home, 331 00:15:21,788 --> 00:15:24,257 at 3 A.M. no less? 332 00:15:24,290 --> 00:15:26,192 Who did she meet? 333 00:15:26,226 --> 00:15:30,063 It made no sense, thought her friend Ashley Fine. 334 00:15:30,096 --> 00:15:31,865 - I can't even believe she would meet someone 335 00:15:31,898 --> 00:15:35,068 at a park at 3 A.M. It's just so unlike her. 336 00:15:35,068 --> 00:15:37,937 - It is? - So unlike her. 337 00:15:37,971 --> 00:15:39,539 - Because MacKenzie, 338 00:15:39,572 --> 00:15:41,608 like most of her sorority sisters, 339 00:15:41,641 --> 00:15:43,710 had talked a lot about safety. 340 00:15:43,743 --> 00:15:46,746 - I mean, I've been out with her a lot of times. 341 00:15:46,780 --> 00:15:48,314 - Yeah? 342 00:15:48,348 --> 00:15:50,550 - And she's always been extremely safe. 343 00:15:50,583 --> 00:15:52,852 She's texted me after going out at night 344 00:15:52,886 --> 00:15:54,921 and said, "Hey, did you make it home? 345 00:15:54,954 --> 00:15:56,222 "Are you okay?" 346 00:15:56,256 --> 00:15:58,458 - You would exchange things just to keep each other safe? 347 00:15:58,491 --> 00:16:00,393 - Mmm-hmm. Yes. 348 00:16:00,427 --> 00:16:04,164 - Ashley had met MacKenzie almost four years earlier. 349 00:16:04,197 --> 00:16:05,665 - She was a little bit shier 350 00:16:05,699 --> 00:16:07,434 than people would think she would be. 351 00:16:07,467 --> 00:16:08,601 - Mmm. 352 00:16:08,635 --> 00:16:10,303 - But once you got to know her, 353 00:16:10,337 --> 00:16:13,039 she had a big personality. She could make anyone laugh. 354 00:16:13,073 --> 00:16:17,177 - Kennedy Stoner also met MacKenzie in college. 355 00:16:17,210 --> 00:16:18,411 - Her family doesn't live here. 356 00:16:18,445 --> 00:16:19,412 - Mmm-hmm. 357 00:16:19,446 --> 00:16:21,114 - So, she was all on her own here. 358 00:16:21,147 --> 00:16:23,817 So, she had a job. She was going to school. 359 00:16:23,850 --> 00:16:25,285 She was, like, checking off everything 360 00:16:25,318 --> 00:16:27,387 that a responsible adult 361 00:16:27,420 --> 00:16:31,925 would have on their checklist, I guess. 362 00:16:31,958 --> 00:16:33,960 - MacKenzie grew up near Los Angeles. 363 00:16:34,060 --> 00:16:36,262 El Segundo, California. 364 00:16:36,296 --> 00:16:39,065 And she was raised in the Church of Latter-Day Saints, 365 00:16:39,099 --> 00:16:41,301 but when she came to the University of Utah 366 00:16:41,334 --> 00:16:44,637 to study Kinesiology, according to Ashley, 367 00:16:44,671 --> 00:16:48,475 MacKenzie didn't exactly remain devout. 368 00:16:48,508 --> 00:16:52,245 - I know she was registered here at a ward in Salt Lake City, 369 00:16:52,278 --> 00:16:54,681 but I heard that she was never active 370 00:16:54,714 --> 00:16:56,082 and that makes sense to me, 371 00:16:56,082 --> 00:16:58,952 because I think she wanted to find her own path. 372 00:16:58,985 --> 00:17:01,287 - You saw her changing. - Mmm-hmm. 373 00:17:01,321 --> 00:17:03,790 - In recent times, didn't you? - Mm-hmm. 374 00:17:03,823 --> 00:17:05,058 - In what ways? 375 00:17:05,091 --> 00:17:09,763 - I think she was trying to almost gain confidence 376 00:17:09,796 --> 00:17:11,398 and security in herself. 377 00:17:11,431 --> 00:17:13,066 She'd always write herself, like, notes 378 00:17:13,099 --> 00:17:16,336 saying how she wanted to feel more confident 379 00:17:16,369 --> 00:17:20,273 because I think she realized she was really shy 380 00:17:20,306 --> 00:17:22,876 and she wanted to be more outgoing and meet people. 381 00:17:22,909 --> 00:17:25,645 And she wanted to explore dating 382 00:17:25,679 --> 00:17:29,749 and-and, um, and it might not be how everyone else 383 00:17:29,783 --> 00:17:32,485 thinks that dating should be. 384 00:17:32,519 --> 00:17:34,487 - What Ashley is getting at 385 00:17:34,521 --> 00:17:38,558 is that MacKenzie was active on dating sites. 386 00:17:38,591 --> 00:17:41,394 So much so that by Saturday June 22, 387 00:17:41,428 --> 00:17:44,097 the sixth day after MacKenzie's disappearance, 388 00:17:44,130 --> 00:17:46,299 detectives had received several phone calls 389 00:17:46,332 --> 00:17:50,203 from some of the men MacKenzie met online. 390 00:17:50,236 --> 00:17:54,107 Mainly to say they had nothing to do with her disappearance. 391 00:17:54,140 --> 00:17:56,509 - I mean, nowadays, that's how people meet people. 392 00:17:56,543 --> 00:17:59,079 So, while it was of significance 393 00:17:59,079 --> 00:18:02,148 because it gave us, you know, one more thing to look at, 394 00:18:02,182 --> 00:18:07,253 it wasn't this, you know, big, huge red flag either. 395 00:18:07,287 --> 00:18:09,189 - So, was MacKenzie off on a lark 396 00:18:09,222 --> 00:18:11,257 with a guy she met online? 397 00:18:11,291 --> 00:18:12,726 A hookup she wanted to keep secret 398 00:18:12,759 --> 00:18:16,229 from her devoutly-religious parents? 399 00:18:16,262 --> 00:18:19,032 Well, that certainly seemed far more likely 400 00:18:19,032 --> 00:18:22,035 than some sort of kidnapping scenario. 401 00:18:22,035 --> 00:18:24,170 - She could've gone camping or have gone with a friend 402 00:18:24,204 --> 00:18:25,638 where they would lose cell service 403 00:18:25,672 --> 00:18:28,375 and it wouldn't be out of the ordinary. 404 00:18:28,408 --> 00:18:29,709 - But once I did some checking around, 405 00:18:29,743 --> 00:18:32,912 that camping idea seemed a lot less likely. 406 00:18:32,946 --> 00:18:35,181 Why? Standard procedure. 407 00:18:35,215 --> 00:18:37,684 They looked up airline flight records 408 00:18:37,717 --> 00:18:40,286 and discovered MacKenzie had been booked on a flight 409 00:18:40,320 --> 00:18:45,592 out of town, to Las Vegas. So, maybe she was there. 410 00:18:45,625 --> 00:18:48,428 And meanwhile, the detectives began to see activity 411 00:18:48,461 --> 00:18:51,598 on her bank account. And something else. 412 00:18:51,631 --> 00:18:52,766 - Different people stating, 413 00:18:52,799 --> 00:18:54,634 "Hey, I'm looking at her site right now, 414 00:18:54,668 --> 00:18:57,337 "it's showing that she's actively online." 415 00:18:57,370 --> 00:19:00,774 - So, maybe she was just fine. Ignoring the fuss. 416 00:19:00,807 --> 00:19:04,711 Or zoned out and entirely unaware of it. 417 00:19:04,744 --> 00:19:06,579 - And so, we were hopeful. - Sure. 418 00:19:06,613 --> 00:19:08,481 - 'Cause, when people go missing, 419 00:19:08,515 --> 00:19:10,483 even if it's on their own accord, 420 00:19:10,517 --> 00:19:12,152 they're still going to be making transactions 421 00:19:12,185 --> 00:19:14,654 or paying for stuff. 422 00:19:14,688 --> 00:19:15,822 And so, we were hopeful 423 00:19:15,855 --> 00:19:18,224 that there would be further transactions on there, 424 00:19:18,258 --> 00:19:21,127 so that we could find her. 425 00:19:21,161 --> 00:19:22,796 - Not far from the police station, 426 00:19:22,829 --> 00:19:25,432 Kennedy and Ashley hosted a rally 427 00:19:25,465 --> 00:19:28,468 to make sure everyone in Salt Lake City knew 428 00:19:28,501 --> 00:19:30,136 to be looking for MacKenzie. 429 00:19:30,170 --> 00:19:31,471 - Hey, guys. This girl's missing 430 00:19:31,504 --> 00:19:33,106 and we're looking for her. She could be in danger. 431 00:19:33,139 --> 00:19:35,208 We think she's in danger. 432 00:19:35,241 --> 00:19:37,844 - But, was she? 433 00:19:37,877 --> 00:19:39,346 On Sunday, June 23, 434 00:19:39,379 --> 00:19:42,682 detectives learned MacKenzie had a flight booked 435 00:19:42,716 --> 00:19:45,318 for that very day, traveling from Las Vegas 436 00:19:45,352 --> 00:19:49,522 to Los Angeles to attend a friend's wedding. 437 00:19:49,556 --> 00:19:51,224 - And she wouldn't miss that. 438 00:19:51,257 --> 00:19:54,127 So, we contacted, uh, LAPD 439 00:19:54,160 --> 00:19:59,065 and they had officers waiting for that flight to land. 440 00:19:59,099 --> 00:20:00,667 - They waited by the jetway 441 00:20:00,700 --> 00:20:03,703 for all the passengers to de-plane. 442 00:20:03,737 --> 00:20:06,639 MacKenzie was not among them. 443 00:20:06,673 --> 00:20:08,708 Then, they learned this. 444 00:20:08,742 --> 00:20:10,010 It wasn't MacKenzie 445 00:20:10,043 --> 00:20:12,946 who'd been logging into her social media accounts. 446 00:20:12,979 --> 00:20:16,249 That had been her friends. 447 00:20:16,282 --> 00:20:19,019 - They'd obtained her email and password. 448 00:20:19,052 --> 00:20:19,919 And they weren't doing it 449 00:20:19,953 --> 00:20:21,888 to try to ruin things or anything. 450 00:20:21,921 --> 00:20:23,023 They were tryin' to go on there 451 00:20:23,056 --> 00:20:25,025 to monitor the sites as well, 452 00:20:25,058 --> 00:20:27,927 to see if any information could come up. 453 00:20:27,961 --> 00:20:30,797 - And the activity on MacKenzie's bank account? 454 00:20:30,830 --> 00:20:33,767 - It was the Lyft transaction on the 17th, 455 00:20:33,800 --> 00:20:39,072 and then an automatic payroll deposit from her work. 456 00:20:39,105 --> 00:20:45,612 - And then, the detectives got a tip from this guy. 457 00:20:45,645 --> 00:20:47,347 Who, just maybe, 458 00:20:47,380 --> 00:20:50,884 could bring all those blurry details into sharp focus. 459 00:20:53,720 --> 00:20:56,489 - I got on the computer and within an hour, 460 00:20:56,523 --> 00:20:59,092 two hours, I had found her profile. 461 00:20:59,125 --> 00:21:01,928 - I didn't know anything about her being on that site. 462 00:21:01,961 --> 00:21:04,064 - The world of sugar babies. 463 00:21:04,097 --> 00:21:05,198 - I think we're living in a culture 464 00:21:05,231 --> 00:21:08,702 where it's much more accepted and embraced 465 00:21:08,735 --> 00:21:10,103 for women to be upfront 466 00:21:10,136 --> 00:21:11,771 about what they need and want. 467 00:21:11,805 --> 00:21:14,941 - Did MacKenzie know what she was getting into? 468 00:21:14,974 --> 00:21:17,110 - A lot of people who go into it 469 00:21:17,143 --> 00:21:19,479 are, like, seriously so blind 470 00:21:19,512 --> 00:21:22,315 to like, the whole reality of what it is. 471 00:21:29,189 --> 00:21:32,726 ** 472 00:21:33,727 --> 00:21:36,162 - Welcome back to "Dateline: Secrets Uncovered." 473 00:21:36,196 --> 00:21:37,997 I'm Craig Melvin. 474 00:21:38,098 --> 00:21:40,000 College student MacKenzie Lueck vanished 475 00:21:40,100 --> 00:21:44,404 after secretly meeting someone at a park at 3 A.M. 476 00:21:44,437 --> 00:21:47,741 Why rendezvous there at that odd hour? 477 00:21:47,774 --> 00:21:51,211 Now, a tipster was about to share troubling details 478 00:21:51,244 --> 00:21:53,113 of his encounter with MacKenzie 479 00:21:53,146 --> 00:21:55,582 shortly before she went missing. 480 00:21:55,615 --> 00:22:00,620 Back to Keith Morrison with "The Waiting Car." 481 00:22:00,653 --> 00:22:04,124 - It was a few weeks before MacKenzie Lueck vanished. 482 00:22:04,157 --> 00:22:10,296 A chance meeting at a bar with this man, Rob Joseph. 483 00:22:10,330 --> 00:22:12,532 - She just seemed like a very bright, 484 00:22:12,565 --> 00:22:13,566 uh, bubbly girl. Um, friendly. 485 00:22:16,670 --> 00:22:19,339 - They talked for more than an hour, said Rob. 486 00:22:19,372 --> 00:22:22,308 Or she did while he listened. 487 00:22:22,342 --> 00:22:24,544 Rob is an ex- Salt Lake City cop. 488 00:22:24,577 --> 00:22:26,079 Private eye now. 489 00:22:26,079 --> 00:22:28,481 Which, of course, he told her. 490 00:22:28,515 --> 00:22:31,217 - If you mention you're an ex-cop and you're a PI, 491 00:22:31,251 --> 00:22:33,086 everybody all of a sudden wants to tell you 492 00:22:33,119 --> 00:22:34,387 their dark secrets, you know? 493 00:22:34,421 --> 00:22:36,489 Or-Or risky behaviors. 494 00:22:36,523 --> 00:22:38,758 - Is that what happen-- is that how people react, truly? 495 00:22:38,792 --> 00:22:40,093 - Oh, yeah. 496 00:22:40,093 --> 00:22:41,828 You'd be surprised that people just wanna tell you things 497 00:22:41,861 --> 00:22:44,597 that you don't wanna hear. 498 00:22:44,631 --> 00:22:45,699 - Anyway. 499 00:22:45,732 --> 00:22:48,802 He only saw MacKenzie that one time, he said. 500 00:22:48,835 --> 00:22:50,670 Didn't get her phone number and-- 501 00:22:50,704 --> 00:22:52,772 - And I didn't offer my number. 502 00:22:52,806 --> 00:22:55,008 I generally don't give out my number. 503 00:22:55,108 --> 00:22:57,110 - And that was that, he said. 504 00:22:57,110 --> 00:22:59,412 He didn't expect to see her again. 505 00:22:59,446 --> 00:23:03,416 But just 3 weeks later, MacKenzie was missing. 506 00:23:03,450 --> 00:23:06,553 And Rob said the friend who was with him at the bar 507 00:23:06,586 --> 00:23:09,055 that night made the connection. 508 00:23:09,089 --> 00:23:10,890 - He just mentioned to me casually, 509 00:23:10,924 --> 00:23:13,059 "Hey, you know that girl we met at the bar, uh, 510 00:23:13,093 --> 00:23:14,894 "that's the girl that went missing." 511 00:23:14,928 --> 00:23:19,232 - Of course, Rob remembered the friendly college student. 512 00:23:19,265 --> 00:23:22,602 And the secret she revealed to him that night. 513 00:23:22,635 --> 00:23:25,705 - I don't know whether she was seeking approval 514 00:23:25,739 --> 00:23:29,075 or just advice or recommendations and-- 515 00:23:29,109 --> 00:23:30,143 - How did she put it? 516 00:23:30,176 --> 00:23:31,711 - Uh, she just said she was on a dating site 517 00:23:31,745 --> 00:23:33,980 and looking for sugar daddies. 518 00:23:34,080 --> 00:23:35,648 And I asked her which one and she said, 519 00:23:35,682 --> 00:23:36,983 "Seeking Arrangements." 520 00:23:37,083 --> 00:23:39,185 - Seeking Arrangement. 521 00:23:39,219 --> 00:23:40,987 A website designed to connect young women 522 00:23:41,087 --> 00:23:43,490 with prosperous older men. 523 00:23:43,523 --> 00:23:46,259 Rob knew a lot about dating sites. 524 00:23:46,292 --> 00:23:48,194 He's a PI, remember. 525 00:23:48,228 --> 00:23:50,430 And he figured if MacKenzie was missing, 526 00:23:50,463 --> 00:23:53,667 that might just have something to do with it. 527 00:23:53,700 --> 00:23:55,669 - I went straight home, got on the computer, 528 00:23:55,702 --> 00:23:57,504 and got on to Seeking Arrangements. 529 00:23:57,537 --> 00:24:01,708 And within an hour, 2 hours, I had found her profile. 530 00:24:03,543 --> 00:24:07,714 - There she was, beachbaby96. 531 00:24:07,747 --> 00:24:10,283 - What was interesting about her profile 532 00:24:10,316 --> 00:24:11,785 was it was just very authentic and honest. 533 00:24:11,818 --> 00:24:14,120 Uh, she wasn't really hiding who she was. 534 00:24:14,154 --> 00:24:16,122 She was pretty specific about, you know, 535 00:24:16,156 --> 00:24:19,325 she's a 23-year-old grad student at the U, 536 00:24:19,359 --> 00:24:21,461 studying kinesiology. California girl. 537 00:24:21,494 --> 00:24:22,929 You know, likes to drink wine. 538 00:24:22,962 --> 00:24:24,798 Likes to go out. Likes to travel. 539 00:24:24,831 --> 00:24:27,867 Looking for somebody to, you know, do that with. 540 00:24:27,901 --> 00:24:29,803 - A little more PG than some of them, maybe? 541 00:24:29,836 --> 00:24:31,404 - Yeah. 542 00:24:31,438 --> 00:24:33,807 - Soon as he found it, he sent a screen grab 543 00:24:33,840 --> 00:24:34,774 of MacKenzie's profile 544 00:24:34,808 --> 00:24:37,477 to the Salt Lake City Police Department. 545 00:24:37,510 --> 00:24:39,646 - This was definitely another avenue that we had to look at 546 00:24:39,679 --> 00:24:42,082 and, you know, track down anybody 547 00:24:42,082 --> 00:24:44,084 that might have been in contact with her. 548 00:24:44,084 --> 00:24:48,088 - MacKenzie, it appeared, had compartmentalized information 549 00:24:48,088 --> 00:24:49,723 about her life. 550 00:24:49,756 --> 00:24:52,792 The plane ticket to Las Vegas, for instance, had been paid for 551 00:24:52,826 --> 00:24:55,395 by a man she met through Seeking Arrangement. 552 00:24:55,428 --> 00:24:59,566 And a $300 deposit to one of MacKenzie's back accounts? 553 00:24:59,599 --> 00:25:03,470 - That was from one of her other dates 554 00:25:03,503 --> 00:25:07,040 that she had been on that she'd received a-a payment from. 555 00:25:07,040 --> 00:25:11,044 And that was prior to her going over to her, uh, 556 00:25:11,044 --> 00:25:12,479 grandmother's funeral. 557 00:25:12,512 --> 00:25:16,316 - Her friend Ashley said she didn't have a clue. 558 00:25:16,349 --> 00:25:19,119 - I didn't know anything about her being on that site. 559 00:25:19,152 --> 00:25:20,720 - She didn't talk about it. 560 00:25:20,754 --> 00:25:22,822 It wasn't a-- like a subject of conversation. 561 00:25:22,856 --> 00:25:24,290 - Not with me. 562 00:25:24,324 --> 00:25:26,659 - MacKenzie's friend Kennedy wanted to avoid 563 00:25:26,693 --> 00:25:28,428 the subject altogether. 564 00:25:28,461 --> 00:25:31,164 But she acknowledged that Seeking Arrangement 565 00:25:31,197 --> 00:25:33,600 is well-known on campus. 566 00:25:33,633 --> 00:25:38,705 - This site is not unfamiliar to a lot of women in college. 567 00:25:38,738 --> 00:25:39,539 - Everybody knows about it. 568 00:25:39,572 --> 00:25:42,075 - Everybody knows of this site. 569 00:25:42,075 --> 00:25:44,978 - Seeking Arrangement was founded in 2006 570 00:25:45,078 --> 00:25:50,083 by a self-proclaimed nerd and MIT grad named Brandon Wade. 571 00:25:50,083 --> 00:25:52,085 He declined our interview request, 572 00:25:52,085 --> 00:25:55,955 but in this 2016 "Today Show" story, 573 00:25:55,989 --> 00:25:59,092 Wade said he came up with the idea as a way 574 00:25:59,092 --> 00:26:00,894 to meet young women. 575 00:26:00,927 --> 00:26:04,364 - The average sugar baby is roughly 27-years-old. 576 00:26:04,397 --> 00:26:06,332 Fifty percent of them are college students. 577 00:26:06,366 --> 00:26:08,668 They're ambitious. They're beautiful. 578 00:26:08,702 --> 00:26:10,437 Um, and they're on the website 579 00:26:10,470 --> 00:26:12,472 because they want to find somebody who's successful 580 00:26:12,505 --> 00:26:15,442 who's going to actually help them or spoil them. 581 00:26:15,475 --> 00:26:16,643 - I think we're living in a culture 582 00:26:16,676 --> 00:26:20,413 where it's much more accepted and embraced for women 583 00:26:20,447 --> 00:26:23,416 to be up front about what they need and want. 584 00:26:23,450 --> 00:26:27,520 - Journalist Maryella Mastoff writes about sex and culture 585 00:26:27,554 --> 00:26:31,624 and sees sugaring as a form of female empowerment. 586 00:26:31,658 --> 00:26:35,662 - And to hold power in a way that's open, 587 00:26:35,695 --> 00:26:39,632 that is less stigmatized than it has been in the past. 588 00:26:39,666 --> 00:26:40,633 - Mmm-hmm. 589 00:26:40,667 --> 00:26:42,902 So, they would see this as holding power? 590 00:26:42,936 --> 00:26:44,637 - I see it as very powerful, yes. 591 00:26:44,671 --> 00:26:46,940 - How-- Explain that a little bit. 592 00:26:46,973 --> 00:26:49,709 - Anytime you go into a relationship of any kind 593 00:26:49,743 --> 00:26:52,612 saying "This is what I need and if you can't give me this, 594 00:26:52,645 --> 00:26:56,282 "I'm going to move on," is a powerful thing to say. 595 00:26:56,316 --> 00:26:57,884 - There is some debate about this. 596 00:26:57,917 --> 00:27:00,086 Whether it actually empowers young women 597 00:27:00,120 --> 00:27:02,789 or exploits the innocent. 598 00:27:02,822 --> 00:27:05,358 - I mean... [sighing] 599 00:27:05,392 --> 00:27:09,195 a lot of people who go into it are, like, 600 00:27:09,229 --> 00:27:12,032 seriously so blind to, like, the whole reality 601 00:27:12,032 --> 00:27:13,933 of what it is, you know? 602 00:27:14,034 --> 00:27:16,536 - Like MacKenzie, Tasia Larkin 603 00:27:16,569 --> 00:27:20,140 from Salt Lake City had a Seeking Arrangement profile. 604 00:27:20,173 --> 00:27:23,643 But unlike MacKenzie, Tasia told us she was anything 605 00:27:23,677 --> 00:27:27,080 but a newbie when we spoke to her in 2019. 606 00:27:27,113 --> 00:27:30,216 At the time, the 20-something had been 607 00:27:30,250 --> 00:27:32,352 with a sugar daddy for 6 months. 608 00:27:32,385 --> 00:27:34,154 He was 63. 609 00:27:34,187 --> 00:27:37,057 - Do you mind telling me how much he pays you? 610 00:27:37,090 --> 00:27:40,960 - My allowance is $1200 a month. 611 00:27:41,061 --> 00:27:42,929 Tasia told us it took her a long time 612 00:27:42,962 --> 00:27:45,065 to find an arrangement. 613 00:27:45,065 --> 00:27:50,537 - You have to fish through all of those guys who, like, 614 00:27:50,570 --> 00:27:52,639 literally, they're like, "Let's meet up at a hotel, 615 00:27:52,672 --> 00:27:54,374 "have sex, and I'll give you money." 616 00:27:54,407 --> 00:27:57,344 And I'm like, "That's a prostitute." 617 00:27:57,377 --> 00:28:01,047 - Shades of gray can be confusing for anybody, 618 00:28:01,081 --> 00:28:02,382 said Tasia. 619 00:28:02,415 --> 00:28:05,051 Let alone a novice on Seeking Arrangement. 620 00:28:05,085 --> 00:28:07,420 - I've seen girls who have had sugar daddies. 621 00:28:07,454 --> 00:28:09,889 They're not even the same person after it. 622 00:28:09,923 --> 00:28:14,861 - Do you read, um, MacKenzie's, uh, profile? 623 00:28:14,894 --> 00:28:16,029 - Yes, I did. 624 00:28:16,062 --> 00:28:18,064 - She came from a very sheltered sort of upbringing. 625 00:28:18,098 --> 00:28:21,234 Would that have made it more dangerous for her? 626 00:28:21,267 --> 00:28:23,036 - Oh, most definitely. 627 00:28:23,036 --> 00:28:23,603 - Yeah? 628 00:28:23,636 --> 00:28:25,538 - Going into it blindly 629 00:28:25,572 --> 00:28:29,776 is not something I would recommend. 630 00:28:29,809 --> 00:28:30,810 - No. 631 00:28:30,844 --> 00:28:32,245 - Like, at all. 632 00:28:32,278 --> 00:28:33,580 - Welcome to "Let's Talk Sugar." 633 00:28:33,613 --> 00:28:36,349 This episode is all about getting ready 634 00:28:36,383 --> 00:28:37,951 for your sugar date. 635 00:28:38,051 --> 00:28:40,053 - Seeking Arrangement does make what they call 636 00:28:40,053 --> 00:28:43,490 "Let's talk sugar" videos that offer up advice 637 00:28:43,523 --> 00:28:45,258 to novice sugar babies, 638 00:28:45,291 --> 00:28:48,495 giving tips on everything from how to ask for an allowance 639 00:28:48,528 --> 00:28:51,064 to what to pack in your purse. 640 00:28:51,097 --> 00:28:54,601 Perfume, they say, and pepper spray. 641 00:28:54,634 --> 00:28:56,970 - Not that you'll need it on your date, 642 00:28:57,070 --> 00:29:00,407 but going out looking hot is always a risk. 643 00:29:00,440 --> 00:29:02,642 - Did MacKenzie watch the videos? 644 00:29:02,676 --> 00:29:04,277 We don't know. 645 00:29:04,310 --> 00:29:06,880 But one of her decisions, said Tasia, 646 00:29:06,913 --> 00:29:10,016 betrayed her lack of experience. 647 00:29:10,050 --> 00:29:13,253 - Why would you meet in the middle of the night 648 00:29:13,286 --> 00:29:15,021 in a park? 649 00:29:15,055 --> 00:29:17,424 - And there was something else. 650 00:29:17,457 --> 00:29:19,793 Whether MacKenzie did it or the person she met, 651 00:29:19,826 --> 00:29:21,594 we don't know. 652 00:29:21,628 --> 00:29:23,863 But remember, right after the Lyft driver 653 00:29:23,897 --> 00:29:25,298 dropped her off at the park, 654 00:29:25,331 --> 00:29:29,235 someone turned off MacKenzie's cell phone, 655 00:29:29,269 --> 00:29:30,904 which happens to be contrary 656 00:29:30,937 --> 00:29:34,040 to Seeking Arrangement's most important rule. 657 00:29:34,040 --> 00:29:36,309 - You never want to get stuck phoneless. 658 00:29:36,343 --> 00:29:37,877 That's your lifeline. 659 00:29:39,646 --> 00:29:41,715 - Before her electronic lifeline goes silent, 660 00:29:41,748 --> 00:29:44,451 MacKenzie is busy texting. 661 00:29:44,484 --> 00:29:48,121 Investigators are determined to follow those cyber clues 662 00:29:48,154 --> 00:29:50,623 wherever they may lead. 663 00:29:52,058 --> 00:29:54,861 - We've got an IP address that comes back to his residence. 664 00:29:54,894 --> 00:29:56,629 - Tracking text messages. 665 00:29:56,663 --> 00:29:59,065 - He said, "Well, I have an open Wi-Fi 666 00:29:59,065 --> 00:30:00,967 "because I run an Airbnb business. 667 00:30:01,001 --> 00:30:04,337 "And so, it could be anybody from here." 668 00:30:04,371 --> 00:30:06,339 - Did he run an Airbnb business? 669 00:30:06,373 --> 00:30:09,075 - And a tip from a concerned neighbor. 670 00:30:09,109 --> 00:30:12,879 - She described it as just being a really offensively smoky 671 00:30:12,912 --> 00:30:14,647 and very odorous. 672 00:30:14,681 --> 00:30:16,750 - What was it like for you when this discovery was made? 673 00:30:16,783 --> 00:30:18,952 - It was just a sinking feeling, really. 674 00:30:25,225 --> 00:30:31,464 ** 675 00:30:32,599 --> 00:30:36,336 - Detectives in Salt Lake City were trying to find out if 676 00:30:36,369 --> 00:30:42,308 MacKenzie Lueck's disappearance was voluntary or not. 677 00:30:42,342 --> 00:30:43,743 Remember the flight she was supposed to be on 678 00:30:43,777 --> 00:30:45,578 to Los Angeles? 679 00:30:45,612 --> 00:30:49,282 They found out it had been paid for by a sugar daddy. 680 00:30:49,315 --> 00:30:52,919 But remember, MacKenzie wasn't on that flight. 681 00:30:52,952 --> 00:30:57,023 And they found out she wasn't on the one to Vegas, either. 682 00:30:57,057 --> 00:31:00,093 - It was at that point that we were able to say, okay, 683 00:31:00,126 --> 00:31:03,063 we've got enough here that we build our probable cause back up 684 00:31:03,096 --> 00:31:05,432 and really kick in and start serving 685 00:31:05,465 --> 00:31:07,100 some search warrants again. 686 00:31:07,133 --> 00:31:11,104 - And off the detectives went, in search of the mystery person 687 00:31:11,137 --> 00:31:14,140 MacKenzie was texting the night she vanished. 688 00:31:14,174 --> 00:31:16,509 - With a 206 area code. 689 00:31:16,543 --> 00:31:20,680 Conversations going well before she left LA 690 00:31:20,714 --> 00:31:26,219 to all the way to where she ended up in Hatch Park. 691 00:31:26,252 --> 00:31:29,089 - That digital trail eventually led them to a Wi-Fi router 692 00:31:29,122 --> 00:31:31,758 at this Salt Lake City house, 693 00:31:31,791 --> 00:31:35,261 owned by a man named Ayoola Ajayi. 694 00:31:35,295 --> 00:31:36,429 AJ. 695 00:31:36,463 --> 00:31:38,365 Ex-national guard. 696 00:31:38,398 --> 00:31:41,835 Successful tech worker. Part-time model. 697 00:31:41,868 --> 00:31:43,770 Police knocked on AJ's door. 698 00:31:43,803 --> 00:31:47,874 Talked with him and found he was friendly. Helpful. 699 00:31:47,907 --> 00:31:49,642 Sure, he said, he had girlfriends. 700 00:31:49,676 --> 00:31:51,344 But MacKenzie? 701 00:31:51,378 --> 00:31:53,213 They showed him a photo, and he... 702 00:31:53,246 --> 00:31:55,115 - Told them he'd never seen that lady before. 703 00:31:55,115 --> 00:31:58,918 - So, why, then, the police asked, 704 00:31:58,952 --> 00:32:04,057 did MacKenzie get texts routed through AJ's home Wi-Fi system? 705 00:32:04,090 --> 00:32:06,259 - He said, "Well, I have an open Wi-Fi 706 00:32:06,292 --> 00:32:08,862 "because I run an Airbnb business. 707 00:32:08,895 --> 00:32:11,798 "And so, it could be anybody from here." 708 00:32:11,831 --> 00:32:13,700 - Did he run an Airbnb business? 709 00:32:13,733 --> 00:32:14,668 - He did. 710 00:32:14,701 --> 00:32:16,369 He rented out the two bedrooms down 711 00:32:16,403 --> 00:32:19,606 in his basement for Airbnb. 712 00:32:19,639 --> 00:32:21,107 - They looked around. 713 00:32:21,141 --> 00:32:22,942 Saw nothing amiss. 714 00:32:22,976 --> 00:32:25,812 And left. 715 00:32:25,845 --> 00:32:30,083 And then, that same evening, AJ stopped by the police station 716 00:32:30,083 --> 00:32:31,985 to say he'd discovered something. 717 00:32:32,085 --> 00:32:35,388 Turned out he had texted with MacKenzie Lueck 718 00:32:35,422 --> 00:32:36,589 the night she'd disappeared. 719 00:32:36,623 --> 00:32:39,592 He'd forgotten, he said, because MacKenzie was the one 720 00:32:39,626 --> 00:32:43,163 who reached out to him, without identifying herself. 721 00:32:43,196 --> 00:32:47,834 Maybe, he said, she'd seen his Seeking Arrangement profile. 722 00:32:55,842 --> 00:32:58,812 Said he had no idea who it was. 723 00:33:12,125 --> 00:33:13,927 But she'd blew him off, he said. 724 00:33:13,960 --> 00:33:15,495 Ghosted him. 725 00:33:15,528 --> 00:33:17,063 So, he forgot all about her. 726 00:33:17,063 --> 00:33:21,835 But he told that story with so much confidence. 727 00:33:21,868 --> 00:33:24,070 Too much, maybe? 728 00:33:24,070 --> 00:33:25,372 - We had two different things now. 729 00:33:25,405 --> 00:33:28,074 We've got an IP address that comes back to his residence, 730 00:33:28,108 --> 00:33:33,313 and now we know he slowly had contact with her. 731 00:33:33,346 --> 00:33:36,783 - Except there was no proof MacKenzie had been abducted 732 00:33:36,816 --> 00:33:39,552 by AJ or anyone else, for that matter. 733 00:33:39,586 --> 00:33:42,188 So, he was free to leave. 734 00:33:42,222 --> 00:33:44,724 But before doing so, he gave the detectives 735 00:33:44,758 --> 00:33:46,092 his cell phone number, 736 00:33:46,092 --> 00:33:49,195 just in case they needed to get hold of him. 737 00:33:49,229 --> 00:33:52,599 A cell number actually registered in his name. 738 00:33:52,632 --> 00:33:54,801 Remember, police didn't have that before. 739 00:33:54,834 --> 00:33:57,704 They just had that bogus 206 number 740 00:33:57,737 --> 00:33:59,806 used by the texting app. 741 00:33:59,839 --> 00:34:02,909 So now, with AJ's personal cell number, 742 00:34:02,942 --> 00:34:05,612 they could get a search warrant for his call records 743 00:34:05,645 --> 00:34:09,149 and tracking data. And 2 days later-- 744 00:34:09,182 --> 00:34:11,651 - We got the confirmation back from the FBI 745 00:34:11,685 --> 00:34:14,421 that MacKenzie's records were showing her going 746 00:34:14,454 --> 00:34:18,058 from the airport to Hatch Park and AJ's records 747 00:34:18,091 --> 00:34:19,893 were showing going from his residence 748 00:34:19,926 --> 00:34:21,461 and also meeting up at Hatch Park 749 00:34:21,494 --> 00:34:23,663 at the exact same time. 750 00:34:23,697 --> 00:34:27,267 - And that was enough to get a warrant to search AJ's home, 751 00:34:27,300 --> 00:34:30,136 where investigators noticed a mattress was missing 752 00:34:30,170 --> 00:34:31,438 from the bedroom. 753 00:34:31,471 --> 00:34:33,606 And there was the strong smell of bleach. 754 00:34:33,640 --> 00:34:35,875 They also spoke with a concerned neighbor-- 755 00:34:35,909 --> 00:34:38,078 her face blurred in this police video-- 756 00:34:38,078 --> 00:34:40,080 who wanted the police to know that AJ, 757 00:34:40,080 --> 00:34:44,517 the week before, had started an illegal backyard trash fire. 758 00:34:44,551 --> 00:34:48,588 - And she described it just being a really offensively smoky 759 00:34:48,621 --> 00:34:52,892 and very-very odorous. 760 00:34:52,926 --> 00:34:55,695 - Debris even flew into the neighbor's yard. 761 00:34:55,729 --> 00:34:59,366 - It looked like maybe they were clothing. 762 00:34:59,399 --> 00:35:02,235 Pieces of like, maybe fake leather, vinyl, something. 763 00:35:02,268 --> 00:35:03,837 We weren't sure what it was. 764 00:35:03,870 --> 00:35:05,939 - What was it like for you when this discovery was made? 765 00:35:06,039 --> 00:35:07,140 - I don't know how to describe it. 766 00:35:07,173 --> 00:35:09,075 I mean, it was just a sinking feeling, really. 767 00:35:09,109 --> 00:35:12,078 I mean, we-- it's like we wanna know what happened, 768 00:35:12,112 --> 00:35:14,047 but we also don't wanna know what happened. 769 00:35:14,080 --> 00:35:15,348 Because if it's what we think happened, 770 00:35:15,382 --> 00:35:17,450 then we don't wanna know that happened. 771 00:35:17,484 --> 00:35:19,052 If that makes sense. 772 00:35:22,188 --> 00:35:23,089 - That was probably the hardest part 773 00:35:23,123 --> 00:35:25,458 in the investigation is watching him 774 00:35:25,492 --> 00:35:27,460 walk out the door that night. 775 00:35:27,494 --> 00:35:31,264 - Hard for detectives, but it gave MacKenzie's friends 776 00:35:31,297 --> 00:35:33,066 reason to hope. 777 00:35:33,066 --> 00:35:35,835 - Maybe MacKenzie was still alive and he was hiding her, 778 00:35:35,869 --> 00:35:38,538 because the police let him go. 779 00:35:38,571 --> 00:35:41,574 - I mean, you look at his profile pages on these sites 780 00:35:41,608 --> 00:35:43,910 and he comes across as a gentleman. 781 00:35:43,943 --> 00:35:46,846 - When "Dateline: Secrets Uncovered" continues. 782 00:35:50,150 --> 00:35:55,221 ** 783 00:35:55,255 --> 00:35:56,523 Welcome back. 784 00:35:56,556 --> 00:36:01,161 MacKenzie Lueck was secretly texting a man who went by AJ. 785 00:36:01,194 --> 00:36:03,863 While AJ told police he never met MacKenzie, 786 00:36:03,897 --> 00:36:06,599 cell phone tracking data placed them together 787 00:36:06,633 --> 00:36:09,836 at the very hour she vanished. 788 00:36:09,869 --> 00:36:11,838 Investigators had a suspect in their sights, 789 00:36:11,871 --> 00:36:15,575 but still no idea where to find MacKenzie. 790 00:36:15,608 --> 00:36:19,546 Now, with the conclusion of "The Waiting Car," 791 00:36:19,579 --> 00:36:23,249 here's Keith Morrison. 792 00:36:23,283 --> 00:36:24,918 - Police looking for MacKenzie Lueck 793 00:36:24,951 --> 00:36:29,055 had heard a disturbing story from a neighbor 794 00:36:29,089 --> 00:36:33,593 who said Ayoola Ajayi had set a suspicious fire. 795 00:36:33,626 --> 00:36:38,398 The neighbor had found debris in her backyard. 796 00:36:38,431 --> 00:36:41,301 So, they looked in AJ's backyard 797 00:36:41,334 --> 00:36:43,770 and found something else disturbing. 798 00:36:43,803 --> 00:36:46,973 A freshly-dug patch of soil. 799 00:36:49,976 --> 00:36:52,278 They called in a cadaver dog which gave 800 00:36:52,312 --> 00:36:57,117 the unmistakable signal-- human remains. 801 00:36:57,150 --> 00:37:00,487 AJ, who'd been calmly watching it all from his driveway, 802 00:37:00,520 --> 00:37:03,923 was taken into custody. 803 00:37:04,024 --> 00:37:06,226 - We have him 10-82. 804 00:37:06,259 --> 00:37:09,129 - A team from the crime lab spent the night 805 00:37:09,162 --> 00:37:11,431 digging up the backyard. 806 00:37:11,464 --> 00:37:12,732 - They found more burnt clothing. 807 00:37:12,766 --> 00:37:14,601 Purses or backpacks. 808 00:37:14,634 --> 00:37:18,138 And then, down towards the bottom of the-the dig site, 809 00:37:18,171 --> 00:37:21,775 there was a very burnt and damaged iPhone. 810 00:37:21,808 --> 00:37:26,179 And the medical examiner identified human tissue. 811 00:37:26,212 --> 00:37:28,181 - Just fragments, mind you. 812 00:37:28,214 --> 00:37:32,819 They couldn't be certain who or even what they had exactly. 813 00:37:32,852 --> 00:37:36,756 - We had these tissue samples or pieces. 814 00:37:36,790 --> 00:37:40,160 And so, in order to charge somebody or arrest 'em, 815 00:37:40,193 --> 00:37:41,828 that needed to be confirmed 816 00:37:41,861 --> 00:37:44,531 and we knew that was gonna take time. 817 00:37:44,564 --> 00:37:47,934 - So, without solid proof a murder had been committed, 818 00:37:47,967 --> 00:37:51,604 they once again, reluctantly, let AJ go. 819 00:37:51,638 --> 00:37:54,574 - That was probably the hardest part 820 00:37:54,607 --> 00:37:55,909 in the investigation is watchin' him 821 00:37:55,942 --> 00:37:58,878 walk out the door that night. 822 00:37:58,912 --> 00:38:00,814 - MacKenzie's friends heard he was released 823 00:38:00,847 --> 00:38:03,416 and they took it as a sign of hope. 824 00:38:03,450 --> 00:38:05,151 - That maybe MacKenzie was still alive 825 00:38:05,185 --> 00:38:06,686 and he was hiding her, 826 00:38:06,720 --> 00:38:10,724 because the police let him go the next day. 827 00:38:12,025 --> 00:38:14,594 - Then, at daybreak, detectives got a call 828 00:38:14,627 --> 00:38:17,797 from the state crime lab about the remains 829 00:38:17,831 --> 00:38:20,433 found in the backyard. 830 00:38:20,467 --> 00:38:23,036 - They were able to identify that as being consistent 831 00:38:23,069 --> 00:38:25,238 with MacKenzie. 832 00:38:25,271 --> 00:38:26,940 - The SWAT team took AJ into custody 833 00:38:27,040 --> 00:38:28,842 and police called a press conference 834 00:38:28,875 --> 00:38:30,343 to announce his arrest. 835 00:38:30,377 --> 00:38:33,213 - We are filing charges of aggravated murder 836 00:38:33,246 --> 00:38:36,616 in the homicide of MacKenzie Lueck. 837 00:38:36,649 --> 00:38:39,252 - Kennedy was watching on her cell phone. 838 00:38:39,285 --> 00:38:42,055 - I-I almost blacked out or something. 839 00:38:42,088 --> 00:38:44,424 I dropped my purse, my phone, 840 00:38:44,457 --> 00:38:47,827 and I dropped to the ground on the street. 841 00:38:47,861 --> 00:38:50,296 And I was just bawling. 842 00:38:50,330 --> 00:38:53,266 I just couldn't even believe it. 843 00:38:53,299 --> 00:38:56,102 I still can't believe it. 844 00:38:56,136 --> 00:38:58,838 - But the detective work was not done. 845 00:38:58,872 --> 00:39:01,574 Although they found human tissue in the firepit 846 00:39:01,608 --> 00:39:05,011 and linked it to MacKenzie, they had not found her body. 847 00:39:05,045 --> 00:39:07,814 So, the investigation continued. 848 00:39:07,847 --> 00:39:09,482 And once again, 849 00:39:09,516 --> 00:39:12,886 AJ's personal cell phone gave them away. 850 00:39:14,220 --> 00:39:17,090 Remember when he first spoke to police about MacKenzie? 851 00:39:17,123 --> 00:39:21,261 Well, the very next day his cell phone pinged 852 00:39:21,294 --> 00:39:24,564 its way up into these mountains. 853 00:39:24,597 --> 00:39:27,701 - About 2 hours north of here, up to Logan City. 854 00:39:27,734 --> 00:39:31,571 And then goes partially up to the canyon. 855 00:39:31,604 --> 00:39:33,940 And then returns back to Salt Lake City 856 00:39:34,040 --> 00:39:35,208 a couple hours later. 857 00:39:35,241 --> 00:39:37,043 So, that was odd to us. 858 00:39:37,043 --> 00:39:41,081 - Had he, a nervous killer, exhumed her body 859 00:39:41,114 --> 00:39:45,752 from that backyard fire pit to rebury her up here? 860 00:39:45,785 --> 00:39:48,722 They set off to search Logan Canyon. 861 00:39:48,755 --> 00:39:50,623 - And it took us a better part of the day 862 00:39:50,657 --> 00:39:53,193 until we-we found her. 863 00:39:53,226 --> 00:39:55,061 - That's gotta be another tough part of your job. 864 00:39:55,095 --> 00:39:56,463 - It was horrific. 865 00:39:56,496 --> 00:40:00,667 It was a-a sight that none of us wanted to see. 866 00:40:00,700 --> 00:40:04,604 - The search for MacKenzie was over. 867 00:40:04,637 --> 00:40:07,374 But the investigation was not. 868 00:40:07,407 --> 00:40:10,577 In the weeks following, a woman came forward to say 869 00:40:10,610 --> 00:40:14,814 she'd been sexually assaulted by AJ a year earlier. 870 00:40:14,848 --> 00:40:16,983 - At AJ's residence, the same residence 871 00:40:17,017 --> 00:40:18,685 where MacKenzie was killed. 872 00:40:18,718 --> 00:40:21,454 - She said she met him through a dating app. 873 00:40:21,488 --> 00:40:23,256 A religious one. 874 00:40:23,289 --> 00:40:25,492 AJ was charged with aggravated kidnapping 875 00:40:25,525 --> 00:40:28,528 and forceable sexual abuse in that case. 876 00:40:28,561 --> 00:40:31,031 The evidence was tightening around him. 877 00:40:31,064 --> 00:40:35,402 Evidence of what he did to MacKenzie was growing. 878 00:40:35,435 --> 00:40:39,439 And finally, October 7, 2020, 879 00:40:39,472 --> 00:40:44,377 Ayoola Ajayi pleaded guilty to murdering MacKenzie Lueck. 880 00:40:44,411 --> 00:40:46,646 And as part of his plea deal, 881 00:40:46,680 --> 00:40:50,116 he admitted he thought about killing MacKenzie 882 00:40:50,150 --> 00:40:53,319 and then he planned the killing of MacKenzie. 883 00:40:53,353 --> 00:40:57,090 A thoroughly pre-meditated murder. 884 00:40:57,123 --> 00:40:59,325 - That he knew that he was going to murder MacKenzie 885 00:40:59,359 --> 00:41:03,630 before-before she even touched down at the airport. 886 00:41:03,663 --> 00:41:05,498 - He kind of selected her as his victim. 887 00:41:05,532 --> 00:41:06,866 - Correct. 888 00:41:06,900 --> 00:41:11,571 - Was there any explanation at all of what his motivation was 889 00:41:11,604 --> 00:41:13,406 to do that? - None. 890 00:41:13,440 --> 00:41:17,911 He never offered any reasoning of why. 891 00:41:17,944 --> 00:41:20,313 Or even how. 892 00:41:20,347 --> 00:41:23,616 - Ajayi also pleaded guilty to sexually abusing 893 00:41:23,650 --> 00:41:25,752 his first victim. 894 00:41:25,785 --> 00:41:29,789 He was sentenced to life without parole. 895 00:41:29,823 --> 00:41:32,392 Oh, and one more thing, said the detectives. 896 00:41:32,425 --> 00:41:35,762 He was active on the Seeking Arrangement site 897 00:41:35,795 --> 00:41:39,332 right up until he was arrested. 898 00:41:39,366 --> 00:41:41,601 - Even after we had made contact with him, 899 00:41:41,634 --> 00:41:43,870 he was still on that page, 900 00:41:43,903 --> 00:41:47,540 still trying to get a date. 901 00:41:47,574 --> 00:41:49,709 - We don't know why, you know? 902 00:41:49,743 --> 00:41:52,612 Some selfish jerk used his position on a-- 903 00:41:52,645 --> 00:41:54,547 on a dating website 904 00:41:54,581 --> 00:41:59,219 to somehow ensnare this bright, pretty woman 905 00:41:59,252 --> 00:42:01,354 and for what? 906 00:42:01,388 --> 00:42:03,857 - I mean, you look at his profile pages on these sites 907 00:42:03,890 --> 00:42:06,059 and he comes across as a gentleman. 908 00:42:06,059 --> 00:42:08,094 Somebody that he truly isn't. 909 00:42:08,128 --> 00:42:09,629 And that's the whole cautionary tale 910 00:42:09,662 --> 00:42:11,064 is you never know, 911 00:42:11,064 --> 00:42:15,435 are they actually who they say they are. 912 00:42:15,468 --> 00:42:18,872 - Always, she'd been surrounded by people who loved her. 913 00:42:18,905 --> 00:42:21,808 Worried about her. Cared about her. 914 00:42:21,841 --> 00:42:25,345 MacKenzie Lueck was an innocent. 915 00:42:25,378 --> 00:42:27,781 Setting out, if only for a moment, 916 00:42:27,814 --> 00:42:30,517 to explore new possibilities. 917 00:42:30,550 --> 00:42:33,953 Unaware that in the world she was entering, 918 00:42:33,987 --> 00:42:37,424 the innocent can also be prey. 919 00:42:40,860 --> 00:42:41,961 - That's all for this edition 920 00:42:41,995 --> 00:42:43,863 of "Dateline: Secrets Uncovered." 921 00:42:43,897 --> 00:42:46,800 I'm Craig Melvin. Thank you for watching.