Utah authorities have officially identified notorious serial killer Ted Bundy as the person responsible for killing 17-year-old Melissa Ann Smith, bringing the 52-year-old homicide investigation to a close on the anniversary of the discovery of her body.
Hunters found Smith’s body on Oct. 27, 1974, in a wooded area near the Summit-Salt Lake county line. Although Bundy had long been the subject of speculation, investigators had never formally identified a suspect, leaving the case unresolved for more than five decades.
The key development came when DNA evidence from the killing of another 17-year-old Utah girl, Laura Ann Aime, generated a match to Bundy through the Combined DNA Index System, known as CODIS.
Investigators then tested the Aime-related DNA against evidence preserved from Smith’s murder and found that the profiles matched.
Ted Bundy sits in a courtroom in Miami, Fla., July 13, 1979. (Bettmann Archive via Getty Images)
“The DNA evidence, considered alongside the evidence involving pattern, motive, means and opportunity, establishes that Ted Bundy was responsible for Melissa Ann Smith’s murder,” Summit County Attorney Margaret Olson said Tuesday.
The investigation into Smith’s death was reopened after new developments in Aime’s case led Utah County investigators to contact Summit County in May 2025. Officials said the two killings shared similarities.
Aime disappeared after leaving a Halloween party to buy cigarettes on Oct. 31, 1974. Hikers found her body several days later near American Fork Canyon.
Investigators concluded that Aime had been raped, strangled and murdered.
Bundy had been regarded for decades as the leading suspect in Aime’s death. He began studying law at the University of Utah just two months before she vanished.
Evidence collected during the 1974 investigation into Smith’s death was preserved for more than 50 years, giving investigators the opportunity to reexamine the case as forensic technology improved.
Theodore “Ted” Bundy is pictured after the murders of FSU coeds Margaret Bowman and Lisa Levy, who were beaten and strangled at the Chi Omega House Jan. 15, 1978. (Getty Images)
Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office Detective Ben Pender said homicide evidence is retained indefinitely so investigators can revisit unsolved cases when new information or advances in technology emerge.
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Authorities said Smith’s family has been informed that the case was solved. A relative who spoke with investigators was “very, very gratified” by the development but declined to attend Tuesday’s news conference or comment publicly.
Serial killer Ted Bundy’s digitally enhanced mugshot from Salt Lake County in 1975 (Alamy)
Bundy killed at least 30 women and girls in several states during the 1970s.
Ted Bundy in custody Feb. 18, 1978 (IMAGN)
Near the end of his life, Bundy confessed to multiple killings, including crimes previously unknown to police, although not every confession has been independently confirmed.
He has been connected to killings in Florida, Utah, Colorado, Oregon and Washington committed between 1974 and 1978.
Serial killer Ted Bundy’s digitally enhanced photo from his high school yearbook in 1965. (Alamy)
Bundy was convicted and sentenced to death for murdering two Florida State University students in 1979 and received another death sentence the following year for the rape and murder of a 12-year-old girl.
He was executed in Florida’s electric chair in 1989.
Despite closing Smith’s case, investigators said their work to identify Bundy’s other possible victims is not over.
“It does not close the book on Ted Bundy,” Pender said, pointing to the unresolved case of Nancy Wilcox. He said investigators have information suggesting Bundy may be connected to Wilcox’s case but have not reached a definitive conclusion and will continue investigating.