Serial killer linked to another teenager’s 1974 killing through DNA testing

Ted Bundy during the second day of jury selection for his murder trial in a Dade County courtroom in Miami, June 1979 [AP Photo]

DNA connects serial killer Ted Bundy to the death of another Utah teenager, authorities announced this week, exactly 52 years after her body was discovered in the woods by a hunter.

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

Investigators are satisfied that Bundy was responsible for killing 17-year-old Melissa Ann Smith in 1974, a death that had long been listed as a cold case, Summit County Attorney Margaret Olson said at a news conference.

They were able to close the case by making crucial connections with DNA found on Smith and Laura Aime, another Bundy victim whose case was resolved last April in Utah County. Bundy’s DNA was on file in Florida, where he was convicted and ultimately executed.

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

Utah’s state crime lab got new technology in 2023 that extracts DNA from samples even if they are small, degraded from age or contain DNA from multiple people.

“This case demonstrates the importance of preserving evidence,” said Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera, whose department has also investigated homicides linked to Bundy.

“We have to solve these cases to the best of our ability,” she said, explaining the importance of tapping science, even so many years later. “Nobody is just going to walk away and just blame everything on Ted Bundy, even though many cases have been that way. Here in the state of Utah, we take it very seriously.”

Smith’s relatives were contacted about the findings but declined to attend the news conference and declined to speak to reporters, the Summit County Sheriff’s Office said. Her parents are deceased.

Smith’s father was police chief in Midvale, south of Salt Lake City. She was at a pizza parlor and a restaurant before she disappeared on Oct. 18, 1974, The Salt Lake Tribune reported at the time. Nine days later, her body was found in Summit County.

“With every case closure, may we stomp the memory of Ted Bundy out,” Utah County Sgt. Mike Reynolds said.

Bundy was executed by electric chair in Florida in 1989 after being convicted of three murders, including the killing of two women at the Chi Omega sorority house at Florida State University.

He gave a series of confessions in his final days, including to some crimes that were previously unknown to police. Not all of those cases have been confirmed.

Besides Florida and Utah, authorities said Bundy had victims in Colorado, Idaho and Washington state. They said they’re especially working to solve the 1974 death of 16-year-old Nancy Wilcox of Utah.

Solving the Smith homicide “does not close the book on Ted Bundy,” said Det. Ben Pender of the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office, which has the Wilcox investigation. “Information kind of leads to Ted Bundy but again we’re not for certain on Nancy Wilcox. We’re going to continue to work that case.” ED WHITE & MIKELLA SCHUETTLER, MDT/AP