Utah authorities are connecting serial killer Ted Bundy to another 1970s homicide
DNA evidence linked Bundy to the cold case, and investigators said the 50-year-old homicide is now closed.
- On Tuesday, October 27, 2026, Summit County Sheriff Kacey Bates announced that forensic evidence definitively linked serial killer Ted Bundy to the 1974 murder of 17-year-old Melissa Ann Smith, officially closing the decades-old cold case investigation.
- Investigators achieved this breakthrough by comparing Y-STR DNA profiles from Smith's remains with evidence from the 1974 murder of Laura Ann Aime, another Bundy victim whose case Utah County authorities resolved last April.
- Summit County Attorney Margaret Olson stated the evidence established Bundy's "pattern, motive, means and opportunity," with forensic advances and evidence preservation proving critical after 52 years.
- Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera emphasized preserving evidence for cold cases, while Detective Ben Pender noted solving Smith's homicide "does not close the book on Ted Bundy" as investigations continue.
- Authorities are currently working to determine if Bundy is responsible for other unsolved 1970s cases in Utah, including the 1974 disappearance of 16-year-old Nancy Wilcox under active investigation.
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312 Articles
Utah investigators have confirmed, using advanced DNA testing, that the 17-year-old daughter of a local police chief was murdered in 1974 by notorious serial killer Ted Bundy.
A new victim of the famous American serial killer Ted Bundy was identified after 52 years
The notorious American serial killer Ted Bundy also murdered 17-year-old Melissa Ann Smith in 1974. Police and the justice system have concluded this based on new DNA techniques and years of investigation. More than 30 murders have already been attributed to Bundy, and investigations into other 'cold cases' are still ongoing.
At least 30 women and girls killed Ted Bundy. Now he could also be attributed to the murder of a police daughter in Utah in 1974.
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