DNA Evidence Confirms Ted Bundy’s 1974 Murder of Utah Teenager Melissa Smith
Utah authorities announced that DNA testing has linked serial killer Ted Bundy to the 1974 murder of 17-year-old Melissa Ann Smith. This new confirmation adds to his known victim count, which already stands at at least 30, and closes a long-standing cold case in Summit County. The breakthrough relied on a highly similar DNA profile found in evidence from Smith's autopsy, which matched a profile from another Bundy victim, Laura Aime, whose case was resolved in Utah County last April. Summit County Attorney Margaret Olson stated that the case was closed based on both DNA evidence and the hallmarks of Bundy's pattern, motive, means, and opportunity. Officials have notified Smith's next of kin, none of whom currently live in the area. Investigators are also working to solve the death of 16-year-old Nancy Wilcox, another likely victim in Utah. Bundy was executed in 1989 in Florida for the 1978 murders of two women at the Chi Omega sorority house at Florida State University, and he had confessed to additional crimes in his final days, though not all of those cases have been confirmed.