Lori laid to rest as the tears flow

OREM — Spotting Salt Lake City Police Sgt. J.R. Nelson among the line of police officers that flanked the grave site of Lori Kay Soares Hacking, her mother reached out and clasped the burly, red-moustached officer in a hug.

"Thank you," Thelma Soares said through her tears.

Nelson is the officer credited with finding Hacking's remains in a west Salt Lake landfill Oct. 1. It was something Soares had prayed and fasted for since her daughter was first reported missing July 19.

Lori Hacking's remains were buried Saturday morning in a private ceremony at the Orem City Cemetery.

Prosecutors say her husband, Mark Hacking, shot and killed his wife as she slept after the 27-year-old stockbroker's assistant had learned her husband lied about his acceptance to medical school.

Mark Hacking, 28, who is charged with first-degree felony murder in connection with his wife's death, has allegedly confessed the killing to his brothers, telling them he shot Lori with a .22 caliber rifle and then left her body in a Dumpster near the University of Utah. He is in the Salt Lake County Jail on $1 million bail. An arraignment on the charges is scheduled for Oct. 29.

Salt Lake City police spent more than 30 days sifting through some 4,600 tons of garbage looking for Lori's remains — first with cadaver dogs and later by officers with pitchforks.

"When I pulled this pile apart . . . it was a millisecond when it went from being another bag of barbershop hair to possibly a wig to definitely human remains," an emotional Nelson said after the ceremony Saturday. "It was overwhelming, the relief . . . to be able to find her and to bring the closure to this family.

"And relief for the officers, " Nelson continued. "That morning, I can tell you I didn't know if I could last another week out there. I was physically and emotionally drained going through the debris."

All of the officers who participated in the search were praised as heroes during the graveside ceremony by Paul Soares, Lori's elder brother.

"You dedicated and brave officers who performed your terrible task without ever giving up day after day after day," Paul Soares said, reading from a written statement. "How can we possibly thank you for giving us this sacred gift?"

The Soares family presented each officer with a poem about Lori written by her high school friends, which Paul Soares said was a way for the family to introduce Lori more personally.

It was clear from the tears on the cheeks of searchers, however, that an emotional connection to Lori and her family already had been made. Perhaps, one officer said, it was because of the unusual and serious nature of the landfill mission.