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By Jennifer Radcliffe
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More than 50 years after hunters discovered the body of 17-year-old Melissa Ann Smith in the woods outside Salt Lake City, Utah, authorities say advances in DNA testing have allowed them to tie her death to Ted Bundy—one of the most notorious serial killers in U.S. history—closing one of the state's oldest cold cases.
Officials from multiple Utah law enforcement agencies announced Tuesday that forensic evidence discovered during the investigation of the death of Utah teenager Laura Ann Aime led investigators to conclude that the notorious serial killer was responsible for Smith's 1974 murder.
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Both cases were solved using newer technology capable of separating mixed DNA samples, authorities said.
"This DNA evidence, when considered alongside evidence related to pattern, motive, means and opportunity, established that Ted Bundy was responsible for Melissa Ann Smith's murder," Summit County Sheriff Casey Bates said during a news conference Tuesday.
This pushes Bundy's body count to 32, after he had confessed to 30. Utah officials said they are still working to link the death of Nancy Wilcox to Bundy.
Who Was Ted Bundy?
Bundy was an American serial killer who murdered young women and girls during the 1970s across several U.S. states, including Washington, Utah, Colorado and Florida. He was known for seeming educated, affable and trustworthy, often using deception to ensnare his victims. In 1977, he escaped from police custody twice before getting recaptured.
In Florida, he committed the infamous 1978 attacks at Florida State University's Chi Omega sorority house. Bundy was convicted of multiple murders and sentenced to death.
Bundy's reign of terror has been the subject of several films, documentaries, books and criminology studies over the decades.
At age 42, he was executed on January 24, 1989, in Florida's electric chair.
Who Were Ted Bundy's Known Victims?
Bundy became one of America's most feared serial killers, often targeting young women and college students, approaching victims in public places and sometimes pretending to be injured to gain their trust.
Investigators linked him to killings in Washington, Utah, Colorado, Idaho, Oregon and Florida.
His brutal crimes attracted national attention, and Bundy frequently evaded authorities. By the time he was arrested for the final time in 1978, fear of the killer had spread across much of the country.
Bundy confessed to 30 murders before he was executed, although investigators have long suspected the true number of victims was higher.
Among his known victims were Washington women Lynda Ann Healy, Georgann Hawkins, Janice Ott and Denise Naslund; Utah teenagers Laura Ann Aime and Debra Kent; Colorado woman Caryn Campbell; and Florida victims Margaret Bowman, Lisa Levy and 12-year-old Kimberly Leach.
Investigators said Smith likely isn't the final death that will be attributed to Bundy.
Officials on Tuesday referenced the case of Wilcox, a 16-year-old Utah girl who disappeared in October 1974 and has long been suspected as a Bundy victim.
"That does not close the book on Ted Bundy," an investigator said during the news conference, adding that authorities intend to continue working the Wilcox case.
How Investigators Solved the Smith Case
Smith's body was discovered by hunters on October 27, 1974—exactly 52 years ago Tuesday—in a wooded area near the Summit County-Salt Lake County border. While Bundy had long been considered a likely suspect, authorities never officially identified a killer and the case remained open.
The breakthrough stemmed from another Utah cold case. Earlier this year, investigators announced that DNA evidence had linked Bundy to the murder of Aime, age 17, whose body was found in Utah County in November 1974.
According to investigators, the Utah State Crime Lab developed a DNA profile from biological evidence recovered in the Aime case and matched it to Bundy's known DNA profile.
Crime lab analysts matched a Y-STR DNA profile developed from evidence in the Aime case with a Y-STR profile previously obtained from evidence collected during the Smith investigation.
Rebecca Kitchen of the Utah State Crime Lab explained that the Y-STR profile traces DNA passed through the male lineage and gave investigators a way to compare evidence across the two cases after Bundy had already been identified through the Aime investigation.
Investigators said the DNA findings, combined with decades of case evidence and investigative work, ultimately led prosecutors and law enforcement officials to formally close the case.
"We don't ever destroy that evidence," Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera said. "For this very reason."
Rivera said investigators owed victims' families more than assumptions, even though Bundy was long suspected in the death.
"It's super important for law enforcement to do their due diligence to solve a case," she said. "We owe that to the families of these cold cases."
Officials said Smith's surviving relatives were notified before Tuesday's announcement. Authorities said family members declined to participate publicly but were grateful the case had finally been resolved.
"Before these developments, there was never much doubt in my mind that Ted Bundy was responsible for Melissa Smith's murder, but the DNA evidence removes any remaining uncertainty," Jessica Jurewicz-Woods, who runs a website focused on Bundy and his victims, told Newsweek. "Although Bundy never directly confessed to killing Smith before his execution and reportedly said he couldn't 'place the names' of Smith or Laura Aime, the circumstances of her disappearance and murder were consistent with many of his known crimes."
Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here. Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Gabe Whisnant and Edward T. Cummins
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