New DNA testing links Utah teen to Ted Bundy, closing 51-year cold case
Utah authorities have closed a 51-year-old cold case after new DNA testing tied serial killer Ted Bundy to the murder of 17-year-old Laura Ann Aime, who vanished after leaving a Halloween party in 1974.
The Utah County Sheriff’s Office said testing “confirmed irrefutably that DNA evidence recovered from Laura’s body verified the existence of DNA belonging to Bundy.” Aime’s body was found about a month after her disappearance by hikers in American Fork Canyon.
“This case is now officially closed,” Sheriff Mike Smith said at a news conference, according to The Salt Lake Tribune. He added that if Bundy were still alive, prosecutors would pursue the death penalty. Bundy confessed to killing Aime before his execution in Florida in 1989, but investigators kept the case open because he would not provide details of his involvement.
The sheriff’s office said it waited to declare the case closed until evidence could “prove, without a shadow of doubt” that Bundy was responsible. Between February 1974 and February 1978, Bundy murdered at least 30 women and has been linked to many more killings across the United States.
At the time of Aime’s death, he was living in Salt Lake City and studying law at the University of Utah. Bundy’s pattern often involved approaching women in public, gaining their trust with charm or a feigned injury, then luring them to secluded areas.
He was arrested in 1975 for kidnapping and sentenced to 15 years, escaped custody in 1977 by jumping from a prison library window, was recaptured for eight days, and then escaped again before being caught in 1978. In a statement, the sheriff’s office said Aime is remembered as an “outgoing free spirit who enjoyed outdoor activities and shared a passion for riding horses, hunting, and caring for her several siblings.”