Utah officials have closed one of the state’s oldest cold cases, saying DNA evidence links serial killer Ted Bundy to the 1974 murder of 17-year-old Melissa Ann Smith — exactly 52 years after her body was found.
Summit County Attorney Margaret Olson announced the finding at a news conference on Tuesday, saying investigators are satisfied that Bundy was responsible for Smith’s death. The case had remained unsolved for more than five decades.
How DNA closed the case
The breakthrough came through another Utah case. Earlier this year, Utah County confirmed that Bundy was responsible for the death of 17-year-old Laura Aime, who vanished on Halloween in 1974.
The Utah State Crime Lab then concluded that the Y-STR DNA profile recovered from Smith’s body matched the Y-STR profile recovered from Aime’s body. A highly similar DNA profile linked to Bundy was found in evidence obtained from Smith’s autopsy, Utah County Sergeant Mike Reynolds said.
Olson said that, besides the DNA evidence, Smith’s death had the hallmarks of Bundy’s “pattern, motive, means and opportunity.”
“This case demonstrates the importance of preserving evidence,” Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera said.
Who was Melissa Ann Smith?
Smith was reported missing on October 18, 1974, after leaving a pizza restaurant where she had gone to see a friend. Nine days later, on October 27, 1974, hunters found her body in the mountains near the border of Summit County and Salt Lake County.
She was the daughter of Louis Smith, who was police chief in Midvale at the time. For decades, investigators suspected Bundy but could not prove the connection.
Officials said they have been in touch with Smith’s next of kin, none of whom still live in the area.
A growing list of confirmed victims
Bundy was executed in 1989 by electric chair in Florida for the 1978 murders of two women at the Chi Omega sorority house at Florida State University. He killed at least 30 women and girls in multiple states in the 1970s, and many more escaped or survived with injuries.
He gave a series of confessions in his final days, including to some crimes that were previously unknown to police. Not all of those cases have been confirmed.
The tally of his confirmed victims has continued to grow because of advances in DNA testing. Authorities said they are now working to solve the death of 16-year-old Nancy Wilcox, another likely victim in Utah.
“With every case closure, may we stomp the memory of Ted Bundy out,” Reynolds said.
Why this case matters
The Smith case shows how evidence preserved for half a century can still be tested with modern methods. A newer form of DNA genotyping, acquired by the Utah State Crime Lab in 2023, allows analysts to rebuild complete genetic profiles from tiny, degraded or mixed samples — the technique first used in the Aime case in April.
For Smith’s family, the announcement ends 52 years without an answer. For investigators, it is a reminder that cold cases are not necessarily closed cases.
What is still unknown
Officials have not said whether any further charges or proceedings are possible — Bundy has been dead since 1989, so the closure is a finding, not a prosecution. The Wilcox case remains unresolved, and authorities have not announced a timeline for it.
Sources
- CNN: Serial killer Ted Bundy is linked to another Utah teenager’s 1974 murder through DNA testing — https://www.cnn.com/2026/10/27/us/ted-bundy-utah-murder-dna
- Washington Examiner: Utah officials tie Ted Bundy to 1974 murder of 17-year-old Melissa Smith — https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/crime/4781642/utah-ted-bundy-new-1974-murder-melissa-smith-dna-profiling/
FAQ
Q: Who was Melissa Ann Smith? A: A 17-year-old from Utah who went missing on October 18, 1974. Her body was found nine days later, and her murder remained a cold case for 52 years.
Q: How was Ted Bundy linked to her murder? A: Through Y-STR DNA profiling. The Utah State Crime Lab matched the DNA profile from Smith’s autopsy evidence to the profile from Laura Aime, another confirmed Bundy victim.
Q: Was Bundy ever tried for Smith’s murder? A: No. Bundy was executed in Florida in 1989, decades before the DNA link was established. The announcement closes the investigation; it is not a new prosecution.
