Posted Wed 28 Oct 2026 at 7:34amWed 28 Oct 2026 at 7:34am

A black and white portrait of American serial killer Ted Bundy.

Authorities say they have solved a cold case by linking Ted Bundy to the death of a teenage girl in 1974. (Supplied: Netflix)

In short:

Authorities say Ted Bundy killed 17-year-old Melissa Ann Smith in 1974.

Her case had been unsolved, but has been linked to Bundy by DNA evidence.

What's next?

They are now working to solve the death of 16-year-old Nancy Wilcox, another likely victim in Utah.

Serial killer Ted Bundy has been linked to the death of a Utah teenager via DNA evidence, 52 years after her body was discovered in the woods by a hunter.

Bundy was executed in 1989, but the tally of his confirmed victims continues to grow due to advances in DNA testing. 

He killed at least 30 women and girls in multiple states in the 1970s, and many more escaped or survived with injuries. 

Summit County Attorney Margaret Olson said investigators were satisfied that Bundy was responsible for the cold-case killing of 17-year-old Melissa Ann Smith in 1974 in Utah.

Ms Olson said besides DNA evidence, Smith's death had the hallmarks of Bundy's "pattern, motive, means and opportunity".

A black and white photo of a man in a suit with a white shirt and black tie, looking directly into the camera.

Ted Bundy killed at least 30 women. (AP)

Investigators were able to close the cold case by making crucial DNA connections between Ms Smith and Laura Aime, another Bundy victim whose case was resolved last April in Utah County.

Utah police Sergeant Mike Reynolds said a highly similar DNA profile linked to Bundy was found in evidence obtained from Smith's autopsy. 

"With every case closure, may we stomp the memory of Ted Bundy out," Sergeant Reynolds said.

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 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.

Besides Florida and Utah, authorities said Bundy had victims in Colorado, Idaho and Washington state. 

They said they were working to solve the death of 16-year-old Nancy Wilcox, another likely victim in Utah.

AP

Source: ABC Australia

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