Serial killer Ted Bundy linked to murder of another Utah teen through DNA testing, prosecutor says

DNA links serial killer Ted Bundy in the death of a Utah teenager, authorities announced Tuesday, more than 50 years after her body was discovered by a hunter.

Bundy has been dead since 1989, but the number of his confirmed victims continues to grow thanks to advances in DNA testing. He killed at least 30 women and girls in several states in the 1970s, and many more escaped or survived with their injuries.

Investigators are convinced that Bundy is responsible for the 1974 murder of 17-year-old Melissa Ann Smith, a death that has long been listed as an unsolved case, Summit County Prosecutor Margaret Olson said at a news conference.

Besides the DNA evidence, Smith’s death had the hallmarks of Bundy’s “pattern, motive, means and opportunity,” Olson said.

Investigators were able to close the cold case by establishing crucial DNA links between Smith and Laura Aimeanother Bundy victim whose case was resolved last April in Utah County.

A very similar DNA profile linked to Bundy was found in evidence obtained during the autopsy of Smith, Utah County Sgt. Mike Reynolds said.

“This case demonstrates the importance of preserving evidence,” said Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera.

Authorities have been in contact with Smith’s next of kin, none of whom still live in the area.

“With every closure of a case, may we erase the memory of Ted Bundy,” Reynolds said.

Bundy was executed in 1989 by electric chair in Florida for the 1978 murders of two women at the Chi Omega sorority at Florida State University.

Bundy killed at least 30 women and girls in several states in the 1970s, and many more escaped or survived with injuries.

Bundy was one of the nation’s most prolific serial killers, with at least 30 deaths of women and girls linked to him in several states in the 1970s. In 2011A vial of Bundy’s blood – taken in 1978 when Bundy was arrested for the death of a 12-year-old girl – was found in Florida. The complete DNA profile was entered into the FBI’s national database, giving investigators a chance to solve potential cases linked to Bundy.

His murders – occurring in sorority houses, parks and elsewhere – sent the nation into turmoil. Bundy’s arrest sparked widespread fascination, in part because many considered him charming and handsome.

Bundy gave a series of confessions during his final days, including to some crimes previously unknown to police. Not all of these cases have been confirmed.

It’s unclear when Bundy began his attacks, but in 1974, young women — many of them college students — began disappearing in Washington state. Authorities were still investigating the cases when Bundy moved to Salt Lake City in September and began killing people in Utah, Idaho and Colorado.

Nancy Wilcox, a 16-year-old cheerleader from Salt Lake County, was believed to have been one of Bundy’s first victims in Utah, according to historian Linda Sillitoe. Wilcox disappeared on October 2. Melissa Smith, a high school student, disappeared towards the end of the same month. Deer hunters found his bludgeoned body, Sillitoe said.