The murders of Laura Ann Aime and Melissa Ann Smith, both 17 when they disappeared in Utah in 1974, have been linked to Ted Bundy through DNA evidence more than five decades later. The findings resolve two cases long suspected to be connected to the serial killer but never supported by sufficient physical evidence.

Aime disappeared after leaving a Halloween party on October 31, 1974. Her body was discovered on Thanksgiving by two college students hiking in a canyon. She had been beaten, bound and sexually assaulted before being strangled with one of her stockings.

Smith disappeared in October of the same year. Investigators had long believed Bundy was responsible for both deaths because of similarities between the cases and descriptions of a well-dressed man seen with some of the missing teenagers. However, DNA technology was not advanced enough at the time to establish a connection.

The breakthrough began with Lindsey Wade, a former detective in Tacoma, Washington. In 2011, Wade realized that Bundy’s DNA was not included in the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS. Bundy had confessed to 30 murders before his execution in 1989 and had suggested that he may have killed additional women and girls.

Wade worked with officials in Florida to locate a blood sample collected after Bundy’s 1978 arrest. Although investigators initially said the sample could only be entered into Florida’s database because Bundy’s crimes predated DNA collection laws, CODIS eventually made an exception because his alleged crimes crossed state lines. His DNA was added in August 2011.

In 2025, Utah County investigators revisited Aime’s case and extracted DNA from biological material preserved from her body. Sergeant Michael Reynolds said the laboratory produced a highly complete profile, which matched Bundy’s DNA in CODIS. Authorities identified Bundy as Aime’s killer in April.

The same investigation also helped resolve Smith’s case. Evidence preserved by Salt Lake County, including clothing and other items collected during the original investigation, was sent to Summit County, where Smith’s body had been found. A crime laboratory matched DNA recovered from Aime’s body to DNA obtained from Smith’s remains, providing the link to Bundy.

Authorities said the result brought closure but also highlighted the cost of the delay. Smith’s relatives had died without knowing who was responsible, according to Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera. Investigators credited detectives from the 1970s and 1980s for preserving evidence that later became crucial, even though DNA analysis was not yet available to them.

Another Utah teenager, 16-year-old Nancy Wilcox, may also be connected to Bundy. Wilcox disappeared on October 1, 1974, and a Utah detective later said Bundy admitted before his execution that he had picked her up, killed her and disposed of her body. Her remains have not been found, but investigators continue to conduct searches aimed at locating them.

Wade said she was pleased that the DNA work had finally produced results, although she had expected the process to take less than the 15 years it took to generate a match.

Sources: Rolling Stone.