Bundy DNA Match Solves 1974 Utah Homicide

A cold case from 1974 in Utah was officially closed on Tuesday when DNA evidence confirmed the involvement of Ted Bundy.

The victim was Melissa Ann Smith, who was 17 years old at the time of her death. Hunters found her body on October 27, 1974, in a wooded area near the border of Summit and Salt Lake counties. Smith was the daughter of Louis Smith, the police chief in Midvale at the time. For decades, investigators suspected Bundy based on similarities to his other crimes, but they lacked the physical proof required to secure a conviction or close the case.

The breakthrough came through the case of Laura Ann Aime, another 17-year-old Utah resident. Aime disappeared on October 31, 1974, after leaving a Halloween party. Her body was found near American Fork Canyon days later, and investigators determined she had been raped, strangled, and murdered. In July, DNA evidence from Aime's case was matched to Bundy. This match allowed investigators to compare the remaining evidence from Aime's file with material preserved from Smith's 1974 investigation.

Utah County investigators contacted Summit County to request the comparison. Summit County then worked with the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office, where Detective Ben Pender serves in the unsolved homicide and missing person unit. Salt Lake County had retained items collected during Smith's postmortem examination. Working with the Utah Bureau of Forensic Services, the team found that the DNA profiles from both cases matched. Combined with Bundy's established pattern, motive, means, and opportunity, authorities concluded he killed Smith. The case was closed on Tuesday, exactly 52 years after her body was discovered.

Pender, a 35-year law enforcement veteran, stated that other victims may exist who are currently unknown to police. He noted that speculation about additional killings has persisted for years. Investigators plan to retain the evidence so it can be used in other cases potentially connected to Bundy. Pender credited the long-term preservation of evidence for the success of the match, noting that his office maintains homicide evidence indefinitely. However, he cautioned that old cases cannot simply be run through a database because some lack DNA or contain degraded material that was mishandled before the value of genetic evidence was fully understood.

Pender's current caseload includes 34 unsolved homicides and 14 adult missing person cases where foul play is suspected. He said these cases are not believed to be linked to Bundy, with one exception: Nancy Wilcox. Pender said Bundy confessed to killing Wilcox, but her body has never been found. Because the body is missing, the case cannot be closed on the confession alone. Pender emphasized that Smith's case does not conclude the investigation into Bundy's crimes.

Bundy killed at least 30 women and girls across several states in the 1970s. Investigators have long suspected the true number of victims is higher. Bundy confessed to dozens of murders before his death, including some previously unknown to police, though not every killing attributed to him has been independently confirmed. He was sentenced to death for the 1979 murders of two Florida State University students and received another death sentence in 1980 for the rape and murder of a 12-year-old girl. He was executed in Florida's electric chair in 1989.

Pender stressed that proving which specific crimes Bundy committed remains important. He said investigators do not want to accuse the wrong person of involvement. He noted that cooperation among Summit, Salt Lake, and Utah counties, along with the state crime lab, was critical to the resolution. Pender described the effort as being about the victim, the family, and the community, and about resolving the case.