DNA Bombshell Ties Bundy To 1974 Killing

forensic investigator in protective suit examining crime scene markers — Photo: Max Acronym / Shutterstock

Utah officials closed a 52-year-old murder case after DNA tied serial killer Ted Bundy to the 1974 killing of 17-year-old Melissa Ann Smith.

Story Highlights

Summit County authorities closed the Smith case based on new DNA analysis and case review.
Testing linked male-line DNA from Smith to evidence in Laura Aime’s case, which had matched Bundy’s profile.
Officials said the DNA, plus pattern, means, and opportunity, established Bundy’s responsibility.
Reports did not include the lab’s full data, such as allele tables or rarity statistics.

Authorities Announce Case Closure And Identify Bundy

Summit County Sheriff Kacey Bates said investigators have closed the 1974 homicide of Melissa Ann Smith, citing new DNA results and a full review of the file. Summit County Attorney Margaret Olson said the evidence shows Bundy killed Smith, a Utah teenager abducted and found dead in 1974. National and local outlets reported the announcement on October 27, 2026, describing a clear link to Bundy that let officials formally end the cold case.

Officials said the finding rests on preserved biological evidence reexamined with modern methods. Investigators reported a genetic link between male-line DNA from the Smith case and a profile from victim Laura Aime. That Aime profile had previously matched Bundy’s archived DNA from Florida, where his reference sample was stored after his 1989 execution. Authorities said the DNA connection, plus Bundy’s known pattern and access, supported closure and public naming.

How The DNA Link Reportedly Works

Investigators described a Y-chromosome short tandem repeat method, often called Y-STR testing, which tracks male-line DNA passed from father to son. The Park Record reported that the Aime profile directly matched Bundy’s archived DNA, and then Smith’s evidence matched the Aime profile. This creates a chain: Smith evidence to Aime evidence, Aime to Bundy. That chain, paired with case facts from 1974, led Utah officials to attribute Smith’s murder to Bundy.

Y-STR results can be powerful for linking related male-line profiles, but they typically point to a paternal lineage rather than a single person. Forensic research explains that men in the same paternal line can share Y-STR profiles, which affects how strongly a match identifies one individual. Rapidly mutating Y-STR sets can improve separation among relatives, but the evidential weight still depends on the profile’s rarity and other case facts.

What We Know And What Was Not Released

Media reports say Utah State Crime Lab testing connected the Smith and Aime cases and tied the shared profile to Bundy’s reference sample. However, public summaries did not include the full lab report or technical data, such as the list of loci tested, allele values, mixture handling, or a frequency estimate for the profile in a reference population. The agencies emphasized that DNA, plus pattern, means, and opportunity, justified the closure.

52 years later, DNA names her killer.

Ted Bundy.

Melissa Ann Smith, 17, daughter of the Midvale, Utah police chief.

Murdered in 1974.

Bundy was suspected since 1976, finally confirmed by new DNA tech.

Announced 52 years to the day after her body was found.

Bundy murdered… pic.twitter.com/kTMJofyO6H

— Kentucky Girl (@Kentuckygirl1) October 28, 2026

This announcement fits a broader trend of clearing cold cases with preserved evidence and new testing. Federal research has shown that agencies can raise clearance rates by targeting cases where biological evidence exists and modern methods can be applied. In Smith’s case, officials stressed that preserved material from the 1970s allowed testing today. That path mirrors many recent cold-case outcomes, where older evidence and new tools finally deliver a named offender.