Forensic DNA matched to Bundy in a separate cold case permitted investigators to formally close Melissa Ann Smith’s killing.
By Catholics for Catholics
As they trekked through the woods, two hunters found the remains of a 17-year-old girl in northern Utah, but the probe into her murder went cold and kept open for decades.
But now, police officials said that a key development in an analogous case and advancements in forensic science, including DNA evidence, had connected the killing of Melissa Ann Smith of Midvale, Utah, to Ted Bundy, one of America’s most infamous serial killers.
According to a story by Fox News, it was the second time this year that police in Utah have determined that Bundy had killed a Utah teenager whose murder had gone unanswered. In April, Utah County investigators said they had confirmed that Bundy murdered Laura Ann Aime, also 17, whose body was found by two hikers southeast of Salt Lake City on Nov. 27, 1974.
Smith, 17, the daughter of then-Midvale Police Chief Louis Smith, was found dead in 1974. For decades, investigators suspected Bundy but did not have the evidence needed to conclusively link him to her murder.
Nevertheless, that changed in July, when DNA evidence in the killing of another 17-year-old Utah girl, Laura Ann Aime, was matched to Bundy, permitting investigators to compare evidence preserved from Smith’s case for more than half a century.
Ted Bundy, one of America’s most notorious serial killers, who confessed to murdering 30 young women during the 1970s, is back in the news after new DNA evidence linked him to the 1974 murder of a 17-year-old girl in Utah, more than 50 years after her death. Investigators now believe there may be even more undiscovered victims. In light of this shocking update, here’s a remarkable story about Ted Bundy and the power of the Holy Rosary, shared by Fr. Donald Calloway.
— Catholics for Catholics 🇺🇲 (@CforCatholics) October 29, 2026
“There may be more victims out there that we’re not even aware of, and I think there’s always been that speculation,” Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office Detective Ben Pender told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview Wednesday.
Pender, a 35-year law enforcement veteran assigned to the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office unsolved homicide and missing person unit, said investigators plan to preserve the evidence that helped solve Smith’s murder so it can potentially be used in other cases.
“We’re gonna hold on to this evidence, and we’re gonna utilize it in cases that we believe may be connected to see if we can’t resolve not only our case, but anybody else who may have a case with Bundy,” Pender said.
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