Slaycation: True Crimes, Murders, and Twisted Vacations · Kim Davis, Adam "Tex" Davis, Jerry Kolber; True Crime Podcast

A Deadly Chapter in the Book of Mormon

·1 hr 11 min·4 clips

Neighbors smelled a gasoline fire behind AJ’s garage, then police found charred human remains in the burn area.

1. Slaycation: True Crimes, Murders, and Twisted Vacations focuses on Mackenzie Lueck’s disappearance in North Salt Lake, Utah, after a late-night return to Salt Lake City. 2. Hosts Adam Tex-Davis, Kim Davis, and Jerry Culber frame the case together, with Jerry handling research and Adam interrupting as the listener proxy. 3. The episode asks how a University of Utah student with a full schedule could vanish after a 1:35 a.m. airport arrival. 4. Mackenzie Speth Lueck was born on March 8, 1996, in El Segundo, California, and she grew up in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 5. She swam competitively at El Segundo High School and later moved to Salt Lake City in 2014 to attend the University of Utah. 6. At the university, Mackenzie studied kinesiology with pre-nursing and a health minor, while also considering medical school. 7. She worked at a biological testing company in Salt Lake, balancing long shifts with her course load and a plan to graduate in May 2020. 8. Outside class, Mackenzie joined Alpha Chi Omega and was described as energetic, generous, and the life of the party. 9. A friend’s graduation-cap decorating story is used to show how Mackenzie stayed up late helping other people feel celebrated. 10. The episode’s first hard turn comes after Mackenzie flies to Los Angeles for her grandmother’s funeral and returns to Salt Lake City on June 17, 2019. 11. Her airport arrival at about 1:35 a.m. is followed by a Lyft ride, and her family only starts raising alarms after she stops answering calls and texts. 12. Lyft driver Mike Canada tells investigators he dropped her at Hatch Park in North Salt Lake and left her near a waiting Subaru. 13. Airport video shows Mackenzie retrieving her luggage and walking alone to the rideshare, while her Lyft account confirms the odd destination request. 14. Investigators then trace Mackenzie to a private Facebook group and dating apps, including Tinder and Seeking Arrangement. 15. The episode notes that investigators found plane tickets paid for by men and a $300 deposit, which led them to focus on Ayula AJ. 16. AJ is described as a Nigerian-born IT specialist who emigrated in 2009, later worked for Dell and Goldman Sachs, and rented out his Fair Park basement on Airbnb. 17. The discussion turns to disturbing background details: Tanisha Jenkins said AJ isolated her and threatened kidnapping and murder, and a 2004 rape investigation in North Logan never led to charges. 18. The hosts also cite his self-published 2018 novel, Forge Identity, plus a contractor’s report about a secret soundproof basement room with a thumbprint lock and wall hooks. 19. The tone is conversational and reactive, with frequent side comments, clarifications, and repeated checks on timeline details as the case escalates. 20. Listeners who like Utah true crime, digital forensics, and case timelines will get the most from it; listeners wanting a tight, minimal narration may skip it.

As heard by us

Messy banter sets the tone, but the paper trail and investigators' focus keep the case grounded.

Slaycation opens in a messy, conversational register, with the hosts working through Wasatch pronunciation before settling into the missing-person case. That looseness gives the episode its pulse.

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Why you'd press play

You want true crime that starts as table noise and then hardens into a burner-phone trail.

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