Ayoola 'AJ' Ajayi, 31, has been accused of murdering Mackenzie Lueck and burning her body in his Salt Lake City backyard

A man has been charged with the murder of missing University of Utah student Mackenzie Lueck, authorities confirmed on Friday.

Former Army IT specialist, Ayoola 'AJ' Ajayi, 31, was pictured being taken into custody by a number of armed SWAT officers outside his 1028 S West Temple home this morning.

Shortly afterwards, investigators charged him with the murder of Lueck, 23, who disappeared on June 17 after taking a Lyft from the airport to a park located miles away from her apartment in Salt Lake.

Investigators conducted a 19-hour search of a Ajayi's home in a middle class neighborhood on Salt Lake City's west side in the early hours of Thursday, identifying him as a 'person of interest'.

Salt Lake City Police Chief Mike Brown revealed in a press conference on Friday afternoon that an excavation of the property's garden discovered burned 'female human tissue', which forensic experts later matched to Lueck's DNA.

A number of the 23-year-old's personal possessions were also found among the charred remains.

On Friday afternoon, a number of armed officers were pictured taking man into custody outside a home on 1000 South, Temple West

The Salt Lake City Police department declined to confirm the man's identity to DailyMail.com, but the individual photographed matches the description of Ajayi

Ajayi was employed by the Army as an Information Technology Specialist for nearly two years before leaving in June 2016, according to his LinkedIn

According to Brown, Teresa Draheim, a neighbour of Ajayi's, had observed the suspect burning something in his backyard with gasoline on June 17 and 18, just hours after Lueck was last seen alive.

Police confirmed that Lueck's remains and personal items were found in a 'burned area' in the back yard.

Ajayi was taken into custody at 9:20am on Friday morning, where he will be charged with aggravated murder, kidnapping and desecration of a body.

Police say he met with Lueck at Hatch Park in the early hours of the morning on June 17, believing them to have met online, referencing an ‘online profile’ but failing to specify which site.

RIGHT NOW: A large police presence at 1000 S West Temple where one man has been arrested. Salt Lake City police saying they have taken one person into custody regarding the Mackenzie Lueck case. LIVE COVERAGE: https://t.co/hBAV91O7Cu pic.twitter.com/tdIlP9x1Fb — KSL 5 TV (@KSL5TV) June 28, 2019

Lueck’s last communications were ‘with the arrested person’, Chief Brown said. The defendant and the victim’s phones both pinged in Hatch Park at 3am ‘within a minute’ of one another.

Police say Lueck’s phone shared no further data or locations services from that moment onwards.

Ajayi is said to have admitted corresponding with Lueck via text on June 16, but denied any further contact afterwards and said he never arranged to meet the slain sorority girl.

He allegedly told police he has no idea what she looks like, but investigators say they have found photos of Lueck on his phone, including pictures of her 'online profile'.

Police dig in the backyard of a house in the Fairpark neighborhood of Salt Lake City in the search for missing student Mackenzie Lueck. They found charred human tissue belonging to Lueck

Chief Brown described the moment he informed Lueck's family that her remains had been found as the 'hardest phone call I've ever had to make.'

He described the victim's family as being 'heartbroken and devastated', passing on their messages of thanks to the members of the Salt Lake City Police Department and members of the public who have helped with their search for MacKenzie.

'We will continue to look into this situation to see if [Ajayi] had any help, or if he acted alone,' Brown concluded.

Less than an hour before his arrest, local contractor Brian Wolf revealed to Fox News that Ajayi reached out to him in April and asked him to build a ‘soundproof’ room in the basement of his home.

‘He slowly added on other requests, like building a secret door and adding hooks to the wall,' Wolf told the news site, adding how the individual asked to come to the property and give him an estimation.

Wolf added that the person, who police have not identified, said he wanted construction done as soon as possible, ‘before his girlfriend got back into town.’

Wolf said he was ‘weirded out’ by the job offer, telling the man he was too busy to undertake the project.

Shocked friends of missing University of Utah student Mackenzie Lueck claimed they spotted activity on her Instagram on Wednesday. Police confirmed she was murdered on June 17

Ajayi was employed by the Army as an Information Technology Specialist for nearly two years before leaving in June 2016, according to his LinkedIn profile.

He currently works at Dell as a Senior Technical Support Analyst and has so for the past 10 months

Born in Nigeria, Ajayi appears to have briefly explored a career in modelling, according to a profile on ModelMangement.com.

Listing his height as six-foot-one, Ajayi goes on to describe himself as ‘tall, buffed, funny,’ as well as ‘a victim, Romantic, Violent and character actor [sic].’

Just last year, Ajayi self-published a book titled ‘Forge Identity’, which details the story of a young boy witnessing two brutal murders, in which neighbor and a friend were both ‘burned alive in front of him’.

Just last year, Ajayi self-published a book titled ‘Forge Identity’, which details the story of a young boy witnessing two brutal murders, in which neighbor and a friend were both ‘burned alive in front of him’

‘Ezekiel was almost 15 when he witnessed a gruesome murder. An angry mob burned his neighbor alive in the street and the man died at his feet,’ a synopsis of the book reads.

‘Sadly, it was not the last time he witnessed such horror. With his well respected father as guide and mentor, Ezekiel saw this death, then a death much closer to home when a loved one was killed in the same brutal, terrifying way 50 feet from him, and he could do nothing to stop it.’

The book claims to be ‘inspired from true events’.

The arrest comes just hours after shocked friends of Mackenzie Lueck revealed they spotted activity on her personal Instagram account.

Lueck appeared to like a page called 'fatherless', around noon on Wednesday.

Her friends took screen grabs of the activity and shared it with police.

They noticed her personal Instagram account liked a page called 'fatherless' at around noon

The account, which claims to be for people with 'daddy issues' appears to collect very sexual photos and memes and invite its 47,000 followers to share stories and tag friends

DailyMail.com previously revealed that Lueck claims to be a 'sugar baby' seeking men over the age of 35 online. Her Instagram bio includes the hash-tag #callherdaddy

Ajayi was taken into custody at 9:20am on Friday morning, where he will be charged with aggravated murder, kidnapping and desecration of a body in relation to Mackenzie's death

Police said that they had collected bags of evidence from the home. Ajayi lists a private room inside the home on AirBnb for up to $40 a night

Police investigators remove multiple bags of evidence during their search of Ajayi's home

Police investigators carry in multiple rakes and shovels into the backyard of a home belonging to a person of interest in Lueck's disappearance

Salt Lake City Police Chief Mike Brown said on Thursday the male person of interest is not in custody

The account, which claims to be for people with 'daddy issues' appears to collect very sexual photos and memes and invite its 47,000 followers to share stories and tag friends.

DailyMail.com previously revealed that Lueck claimed to be a 'sugar baby' seeking men over the age of 35 online. Her Instagram bio includes the hashtag '#callherdaddy'.

The college senior's social media accounts reveal that she considered herself a sugar baby, and boasted about having at least two unidentified sugar daddies which she found through online sites Seeking Arrangement and Tinder.

DailyMail.com obtained screenshots of Lueck's posts made nearly three months ago in a private Facebook group where Lueck gave advice on how she finds sugar daddies - wealthy older men who lavish younger women with gifts and money in return for company or sexual favors.

Officials were searching for a mattress and box spring that Ajayi had given away for free on resale website LetGo five days ago. Pictured: The mattress Ajayi posted to give away

He currently works at Dell as a Senior Technical Support Analyst for the past 10 months

The sorority member disappeared after taking a Lyft car on June 17 from the airport to a park located miles from her apartment

On Tuesday Salt Lake City Police shared these images of Lueck after she got off her plane at Salt Lake City International Airport at 2.09am. She was returning to Utah after spending the weekend in LA to attend her grandmother's funeral

She was last seen with her hair in a bun, wearing a white hooded sweater, black pants, and sandals. She carried a large blue handbag with her, a small black backpack on her back and a wheeled brown suitcase

DailyMail.com can reveal that Lueck was a self-proclaimed sugar baby, using sites Seeking Arrangement and Tinder to find men over 35 years old

About three months ago Lueck wrote these comments in a private Facebook group offering advice on how to be a sugar baby, 'Try tinder and be blunt about it. Mine says ''I want a SD/SB relationship with a real connection'''

'Try tinder and be blunt about it. Mine says ''I want a SD/SB relationship with a real connection.'' If [they] don't know what a SD/SB is, tell them bluntly sugar daddy and sugar baby. But if they don't know, they aren't really worth your time,' Lueck's comment reads.

'Set your age preferences from 35+. You'll have the most luck there. Private message me, if you have more questions! I have experience.'

In another message Lueck revealed she has two sugar daddies and which sites she uses to obtain them.

'I have some experience on seeking arrangements, online only, tinder, and currently have two lol.'