By Fatma Younis
Utah authorities have used advanced DNA technology to link serial killer Ted Bundy to the 1974 murder of 17-year-old Melissa Ann Smith, whose body was discovered by hunters on October 27, 1974. Smith, the daughter of a local police chief, showed signs of rape and torture.
DNA breakthrough identifies victim
In April, Utah officials identified another teenager, Laura Ann Aime, as a Bundy victim. Evidence from that case helped solve Smith’s murder. At a press conference Tuesday, Utah County Sgt. Mike Reynolds said more Bundy cases in the state are still under examination. “With every case closure may we stomp the memory of Ted Bundy out,” he said.
Bundy’s Utah killings
Before his execution in 1989, Bundy confessed to killing two other teenage girls in Utah. He has been linked to at least 30 murders across the United States. Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera said the case offers hope to other cold-case victims, noting that forensic advances allow repeated re-examination of old evidence. She praised detectives for preserving evidence for decades.
Ongoing cold case investigations
The director of the Utah Bureau of Forensic Services reported in April that the state has 444 unsolved death investigations, including 258 homicides. Bundy began his killing spree in the Pacific Northwest, often luring women with charm or a feigned injury before abducting and murdering them. He escaped custody twice in the late 1970s before his final capture in 1978.
