DNA Testing Links Serial Killer Ted Bundy to 1974 Utah Murder

According to ABC News US, law enforcement in Utah has officially linked serial killer Ted Bundy to the 1974 murder of 17-year-old Melissa Anne Smith, according to Summit County Sheriff Kacey Bates. The identification comes as investigators utilize modern DNA testing to resolve cold cases connected to the prolific killer, who died nearly 40 years ago.

According to an Associated Press report, the confirmation followed an investigation involving DNA evidence recovered from Smith's body. Smith, who went missing in Utah in October 1974, was discovered on a hillside in Summit Park, having been beaten with a crowbar. Authorities successfully matched a DNA profile from the scene to evidence linked to Bundy, building on progress from a separate case involving the 1974 murder of 17-year-old Laura Ann Aime, which was officially closed earlier this year using similar forensic advancements.

Bundy’s violent criminal history spanned at least four years, beginning in Washington state in 1974 before moving through Utah, Colorado, Idaho, and eventually Florida. During his spree, Bundy was responsible for the deaths of at least 30 women and girls, while others survived his attacks. His pattern of violence often involved breaking into homes or abducting women under false pretenses.

One survivor, Carol DaRonch, escaped Bundy after he impersonated a police officer to abduct her; her testimony later proved critical in securing his imprisonment. Despite his eventual arrest in Florida and his execution in 1989, authorities continue to re-examine preserved evidence. While Bundy remains one of the most prominent serial killers in U.S. history, he is among several individuals with high victim counts, a list that includes Gary Ridgway, Samuel Little, and Donald Harvey.