Jogger's Husband Lied to Family, Police

SALT LAKE CITY – The family of a missing woman's husband said they were "distressed" over recent revelations that he may have lied to them and to police following his wife's disappearance.

Mark Hacking's father, Doug, said in a hastily called press conference Wednesday evening, "We were of the impression that he had graduated from the University of Utah recently, and just found out a few minutes ago that he never applied to medical school in North Carolina."

Lori Kay Hacking (search), five weeks pregnant, disappeared earlier this week apparently after going for a jog near her Salt Lake home. Previous reports indicated that Mark Hacking told police that the couple were planning to move to Chapel Hill, N.C., where he was to attend medical school.

But on Wednesday, officials at the University of North Carolina (search) said that Mark Hacking was not registered at the medical school there — nor had he even applied for admission. A spokesman for nearby Duke University was unable to say whether Hacking was registered at its medical school.

And according to the University of Utah, Mark Hacking was enrolled from spring 1999 to fall 2002. He was majoring in intermediate psychology, but he never graduated.

"We do need to talk to Mark about that," Doug Hacking said at the press conference. "I have no explanation for this new development. I just can't understand it."

Family members were only informed by police prior to the news conference after The Associated Press reported the discrepancies.

"The police have been aware of that since yesterday and did not share that with us," Doug Hacking said.

It was information police didn't think that the family needed to know, and may not mean anything, Salt Lake City Detective Dwayne Baird said.

"It only means he's not enrolled in medical school," Baird said.

Doug Hacking said that he had discussed his son's plans with him frequently, and was even going to drive out to the couple next week to help with the move. He said the couple had already been out to North Carolina and found an apartment, and had begun to pack their belongings.

But Doug Hacking was hesitant to jump to any conclusions about his son's possible involvement in Lori Hacking's disappearance.

"It's a piece of information that's new to us, and shocking to us," Doug Hacking said. "We are distressed a great deal, but it may not have anything to do with [what happened to] Lori."

"We would like to continue doing what we can to find her."

The family of Lori Hacking, seated next to their in-laws, implored the public to keep up the search.

"Lori is still missing," said Lori Hacking's mother, Thelma Soares. "There is nothing more important at this time than bringing her back. We'll work the other stuff out, but help us find her," she said, tearfully.

It was unclear where Mark Hacking was at the time of the press conference. Baird said he could not confirm a report by a local TV news station that Mark Hacking has been admitted to the University Hospital's psychiatric ward. The station said it did not know what his condition was, but his family said he's been sequestered.

Yellow tape marked "Do Not Cross" blocked the doorway of the Hackings' apartment, where he serves as the building manager. No one answered the door Wednesday afternoon, but a message on a dry erase board directed inquiries about Lori Hacking to another apartment. An unidentified man there said Hacking had not been there since his wife disappeared.

Lori Hacking had learned just last week she was expecting a child, but her parents apparently discovered the news on Monday when she disappeared.

Hacking went out about 5:30 a.m. Monday, heading from her Salt Lake City (search) home to nearby City Creek Canyon and Memory Grove park for a run. Police have not named any suspects in the disappearance, but have taken items from the couple's apartment and impounded both their cars. Mark Hacking also has been interviewed by police.

While 1,200 people helped search for Lori Hacking on Tuesday, that was scaled back Wednesday as about 150 volunteers took fliers door-to-door.

Among those who have assisted in the search were relatives of Elizabeth Smart (search), the girl who vanished from her home in 2002 and was found nine months later in a Salt Lake suburb.

The police department is calling the disappearance officially a missing person case with suspicious circumstances, Detective Kevin Joiner said. No one is being considered a suspect, but no one has been ruled out, he said.

Police also have removed items from the couple's apartment near the University of Utah. Neither Joiner nor Baird would say what, if anything, was taken from the apartment, but television news footage showed paper bags, boxes and a box spring being removed.

Police impounded a large trash bin, but Baird would not confirm reports that police were looking at a mattress found inside the bin. Neither spokesman would say where the bin was located, but Joiner said it was "somewhere between Memory Grove and the apartment."

Lori Hacking's parents said they assume she has been abducted and pleaded for her safe return on local and national news shows Wednesday.

"I can't understand why anyone would do this terrible, hurtful, evil thing to Lori," her father, Eraldo Soares, told KUTV. "Please let her go. Lori, if you can hear this, please do everything you can to rid yourself of this evil person."

Her mother, Thelma Soares, said they were trying to get Lori Hacking's face before the public, all over the country. "We need to find her, and we need all the eyes we can get."

Hacking left her Salt Lake home around daybreak Monday for a run. After she failed to show up at work later, her husband called police, Baird said.

Mark Hacking works the night shift at a psychiatric hospital and has said that he usually sleeps when his wife goes running. She normally returns home about 6:30 a.m. to shower and get ready for work. He said she normally would wake him up to drive her to work.

A witness told police Monday that she saw a woman matching Hacking's description stretching at the park's entrance between 5:50 and 6 a.m.

Doug Hacking had said the couple were not having any marital problems. Mark and Lori Hacking have been married almost five years.

FOX News' Carol McKinley and The Associated Press contributed to this report.