New DNA testing links unsolved death of Utah teen in 1974 to serial killer Ted Bundy

Accused murderer Ted Bundy leans back in his chair as trial judge Edward Cowart speaks, in Tallahassee, Fla., April 26, 1979. (AP Photo/Mark Foley, File) 2026-04-01T19:25:57Z SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — New DNA testing has definitively linked the unsolved death of a Utah teenager in 1974 to the infamous serial killer Ted Bundy , the local sheriff’s office said Wednesday.

Laura Ann Aime, 17, went missing Halloween night 51 years ago after she left a party alone to go to a convenience store.

About a month later, her body was found by hikers on the side of a highway in American Fork Canyon.

Aime was bound, beaten and without clothing.

Authorities said the evidence indicated that she had likely been kept alive for several days after her abduction.

Investigators long suspected that Bundy was responsible — police said he verbally acknowledged his culpability leading up to his execution in Florida in 1989 — but the case remained open until they could be certain.

Bundy was one of the nation’s most prolific serial killers , with at least 30 women and girls’ deaths linked to him in several states in the 1970s.

His murders — which occurred in sorority houses, parks and elsewhere — set the nation on edge.

Bundy’s arrest drew widespread fascination, in part because many considered him to be charming and handsome.

Investigators had carefully preserved the evidence from Aime’s case, and forensic investigators were able to analyze that evidence to select the portions that seemed most likely to have usable DNA samples, Utah Department of Public Safety Commissioner Beau Mason said.

The state crime lab got new technology in 2023 that allows investigators to extract DNA from samples even if they are small, degraded from age or contain DNA from multiple people, he said.

That technology allowed them to identify a single male DNA profile, which they submitted to a national law enforcement database.

Bundy’s DNA was a match, Mason said.

Aime’s family described her as a free spirit who loved the outdoors and found joy in everything she did. “Laura Aime is the quintessential daughter of Utah County,” Utah County sheriff’s Sgt.

Mike Reynolds said in a news conference earlier Wednesday. “We felt the pain the family feels when she was taken.

We felt the pain that you felt this whole entire time, and we’ve had the desire to deliver to you some type of healing, we can’t really say closure.” It’s not known when Bundy first began his attacks, but by 1974, young women — many of the

原文链接: AP News