Serial killer Ted Bundy linked to another Utah teenager’s cold case murder through DNA testing, prosecutor says

October 27, 2026 / 2:54 PM EDT / CBS/AP

DNA connects serial killer Ted Bundy to the death of a Utah teenager, authorities announced Tuesday, more than 50 years after her body was discovered by a hunter.

Bundy has been dead since 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.

The Summit County, Utah, prosecutor said investigators are satisfied that Bundy was responsible for killing 17-year-old Melissa Ann Smith in 1974, a death that had long been listed as a cold case.

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.

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

In April, Utah authorities said Bundy was responsible for the murder of Laura Ann Aime, 17, who disappeared on Halloween in 1974.

Bundy was one of the nation's most prolific serial killers, with at least 30 women and…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/entertainment/