Utah authorities link Ted Bundy to Melissa Ann Smith’s 1974 killing

Utah authorities linked Ted Bundy to the 1974 killing of 17-year-old Melissa Ann Smith on 27 October 2026, 52 years after her body was found, BBC News reported. Investigators said evidence connecting her case to another Utah killing helped them close the decades-old case.

Hunters discovered Smith’s body on 27 October 1974, according to the BBC. Smith was the daughter of a local police chief. Bundy was executed in 1989, decades before investigators reached their conclusion in her case.

How investigators connected the Smith and Aime cases

A highly similar DNA profile linked to Bundy was found in evidence obtained from Smith’s autopsy, Reynolds said, according to CBS News. Investigators made DNA connections between Smith’s case and Aime’s case, CBS reported. Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera said the result demonstrated the importance of preserving evidence.

Summit County Attorney Margaret Olson said investigators were satisfied Bundy was responsible for Smith’s killing, CBS reported. Olson also cited what she described as the case’s pattern, motive, means and opportunity. Her assessment therefore drew on the DNA findings alongside other circumstances of the killing.

Other Utah cases remain under examination

Reynolds said more cases involving Bundy were still being examined in Utah, the BBC reported. The announcement established an outcome for Smith’s case; officials did not announce results for those other examinations. Bundy’s execution means any further findings would concern the historical record rather than a prosecution of him.

CBS reported that officials had contacted Smith’s next of kin, none of whom still lived in the area. The contact followed the decision to close a case that had remained unresolved since her death in 1974. Rivera said preserving evidence could help investigators revisit long-standing cases as forensic methods improve.