From Deseret News archives:

Bloodied knife is found at Hackings'

Police mum on reports of a blade with blood, hair

Published: Monday, July 26, 2004 10:00 a.m. MDT
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After viewing the video, Baird said it appeared to him that the red substance was on the packaging surrounding the box spring and not the bedding itself. He declined to offer a guess as to what that substance might be.

Friday afternoon a forensics team was sent to a house across the street from the Hackings' apartment at 127 S. Lincoln (945 East) where a foul smelling brown substance was found in a garbage can.

Baird also confirmed Saturday that investigators have used cadaver dogs in their search for Lori but did not have details on when or where they were used.

'Person of interest'

Detectives are only calling Mark Hacking a "person of interest" in the case and not a suspect. He became a person of interest after it was discovered that Hacking had deceived his family for two years, leading them to believe he graduated from the University of Utah and was accepted to medical school in North Carolina.

"Because of the deception we have to look at all aspects of what he has done," Baird said.

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Also Saturday, police initially thought they may have had a break in the case when a hiker found the body of a badly decomposed person in the foothills above the Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah. But Baird said the body was that of a male, not Hacking. It was found near a transient camp and had been there an estimated two to three weeks.

Thelma Soares said she spoke with Mark Hacking Friday. Although she said much of their conversation was private, she revealed that they embraced and she told Mark that her love for him was not conditional on him becoming a doctor.

Despite the numerous questions surrounding Mark Hacking, both the Hacking and Soares families urged the community Saturday to continue concentrating on Lori. Thelma Soares encouraged mountain biking and hiking groups to keep their eyes open while they were out recreating.

More than 20 pages of leads were developed on the first day of the search alone, she said.

"One of these leads will help us find Lori, wherever she is," Thelma Soares said.

During just the first hour of the search effort Saturday, while the parade was in progress, more than 60 people showed up to assist in the search.

"I don't care about the holiday," said Karen Balsex, who showed up early to search. "The holiday is nothing compared to a human being."

By the end of the day, about 320 volunteers had participated, with dozens more picking up fliers for distribution. The number was down from Friday's total of about 600.

Steve Goodrich of Lindon said he was in Salt Lake City to watch a relative run in the marathon and thought it would be a good time to spend a couple of hours searching.

Volunteers could also be found passing out fliers and buttons with Lori's picture on it to people along the Days of '47 parade route. Lance Hacking said more than 35 cases of bottled water, each bottle with a picture of Lori Hacking pasted on it, were distributed at the parades in Salt Lake City, Bountiful and Spanish Fork.


Contributing: Amelia Nielson-Stowell and Deborah Bulkeley; E-mail: jdobner@desnews.com; preavy@desnews.com

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Mark and Lori Hacking

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