Park City, UT
DNA links serial killer Ted Bundy to the death of a Utah teenager, authorities said 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 Aime, another Bundy victim whose case was solved 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.
He made a series of confessions during his final days, including to certain crimes previously unknown to the police. Not all of these cases have been confirmed.
In addition to Florida and Utah, authorities said Bundy had victims in Colorado, Idaho and Washington state. They said they were working to solve the death of Nancy Wilcox, 16, another probable victim in Utah.
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