A scholarship fund established in memory of Lori Hacking had a balance of about $132,000 Friday — and officials from the University of Utah's David Eccles School of Business believe that discovery of the missing woman's remains may bring another surge in donations.

The fund was established in August by Hacking's mother, Thelma Soares, with $12,500 donated to help cover the costs of the volunteer search effort launched when Lori was reported missing July 19.

Hacking's husband, Mark Hacking, had told Salt Lake police his wife had never returned from her morning jog. He later allegedly confessed to his brothers that he had shot his wife as she slept and then left her body in a Dumpster.

He now faces first-degree felony murder charges and is in the Salt Lake County Jail. Bound over for trial last week, Mark Hacking is expected to enter a plea to the charges in 3rd District Court Oct. 28.

Police located Lori Hacking's decomposed remains at a west Salt Lake City landfill on Friday, 33 days after they first began looking for her there.

Contributions to the Lori Kay Soares Hacking scholarship fund received a significant boost in September when Soares appeared on the "Oprah Winfrey Show." Winfrey herself donated $50,000 and viewers followed suit, adding another $60,000 in donations over the next few days. Online contributions, most of which averaged about $25, came in at a rate of four per minute in the hour following the Oprah broadcast, Eccles school dean Jack Brittain told the Deseret Morning News a few days after the broadcast.

On Friday business school staff prepared for another influx of funds.

"With this news we're probably going to have another big wave (of contributions)," Brittain said. "And we're going to have fully funded two scholarships."

Lori Hacking graduated cum laude from the Eccles school in December 1999. Her memorial scholarship is targeted for women who are trying to complete their education despite considerable odds and life challenges. Awarded in the junior year of study, the scholarship will fund the remainder of the recipient's undergraduate education, Brittain said.

Soares will sit on the committee that selects the recipient, he added.

Midday Friday as news of the landfill discovery spread. Brittain said he sent a note to Soares.

"Definitely our thoughts are very much with (the family)," he said. "I'm not a highly religious person, but I've been saying a prayer every single day that they would find this body for Thelma. I want (the family) to be able to have closure."

Getting Lori Hacking's scholarship endowed may also help Soares heal, Brittain added.

"We really have come to know and truly love Thelma," he said. "We really want to be part of her moving on, finding comfort and something positive out of all of this."

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E-mail: jdobner@desnews.com