(Newser) – Friends and relatives say they are extremely worried about Mackenzie Lueck, a 23-year-old University of Utah student who hasn't been seen since the early hours of Monday, June 17. Police say Lueck, who had flown home to southern California for her grandmother's funeral, texted her mother to say she had arrived safely back in Salt Lake City and hasn't been heard from since, ABC7 reports. Police say that after landing around 1am, Lueck took a Lyft from the airport to an address in North Salt Lake, about 20 miles from her home. Friends say they aren't sure why Lueck would have traveled to the area in the middle of the night—unless she was meeting somebody.

Lueck's phone has been off since she disappeared. She has missed work, midterm exams. and a family wedding. Friends, who passed out missing-person flyers over the weekend, say it is totally out of character for Lueck to miss exams—and to not come home to her beloved pet cat, the Salt Lake Tribune reports. "We don’t believe she would miss a midterm because she was stressed," Kennedy Stoner, who says she is Lueck's best friend, told reporters Sunday. "I am positive something is wrong," she said. "I don’t believe she would go off and not contact one person." Lyft says it is cooperating with police. The company says there were no irregularities on the route and the driver picked up more passengers immediately after dropping Lueck off. (Read more Utah stories.)

