The Ted Bundy case has been linked to another 1974 killing after Utah investigators matched DNA evidence found on 17-year-old Melissa Anne Smith’s body to the serial killer, Summit County Sheriff Kacey Bates said on October 27, 2026.

Key Takeaways

  • Detectives matched evidence from Smith’s body to a DNA profile linked to Bundy.
  • The same profile had been used earlier in 2026 to link Bundy to the killing of Laura Ann Aime.
  • Bundy was executed in Florida in 1989.

DNA evidence in the Ted Bundy case

Smith’s body was found on a hillside in Summit Park, Utah, in October 1974. Authorities said the DNA profile used to identify Bundy as her killer had been forwarded to the Summit County Sheriff’s Office after investigators used it to solve another Utah cold case.

In April 2026, Utah law enforcement announced that DNA testing had linked Bundy to the killing of 17-year-old Laura Ann Aime. She disappeared on Halloween night in 1974, and her body was found about a month later beside a highway.

Bundy had long been a suspect in Aime’s death, but authorities did not have enough evidence to charge him while he was alive. Advances in forensic technology allowed investigators to extract a matching DNA profile from preserved evidence.

Bundy’s crimes and execution

The deaths linked to Bundy began in Washington state in 1974. He went on to kill in several states, and at least 30 women and girls were killed during his years of violence. Some other victims survived.

Bundy was convicted in 1976 of kidnapping and assaulting Carol DaRonch, who escaped from his car. He later escaped custody twice before being arrested again in Florida.

He was executed by electric chair on January 24, 1989. In his final days, he confessed to a series of crimes, including some previously unknown to police; not all of those cases have been confirmed.

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