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New DNA testing links unsolved death of Utah teen in 1974 to serial killer Ted Bundy, sheriff says
DNA and preserved evidence let investigators close a 52-year-old cold case and say Bundy’s confession was accurate, officials said.
- On Wednesday, April 1, 2026, the Utah County Sheriff announced that DNA evidence definitively confirms serial killer Ted Bundy murdered Laura Ann Aime in 1974, closing the case that remained unsolved for over 50 years.
- Aime, 17, disappeared from a party in Lehi on Halloween night in 1974 after telling friends she was buying cigarettes. Hikers discovered her body on November 27, 1974, partway down an embankment near American Fork Canyon Road.
- Investigators analyzed body fluids preserved since 1974 using new forensics techniques, with the resulting DNA profile matched via the FBI's Combined DNA Index System in March, providing "definitive evidence" that confirmed Bundy as the perpetrator.
- Michelle Impala, Aime's younger sister, said it was "quite amazing that people are still interested" in the case. Utah County Sheriff Mike Smith stated his office would have pursued the case to the "fullest extent" and pushed for capital punishment if Bundy were alive.
- Officials indicated the forensic breakthrough may help resolve another cold case linked to the same DNA profile in the near future. Evidence preserved from 1974 remained "pristine," enabling the long-awaited closure and potentially aiding investigations into other Bundy-linked homicides.
110 Articles
110 Articles
New DNA testing confirms serial killer Ted Bundy slayed a Utah teen in 1974
A Utah sheriff's office says DNA testing has definitively linked the unsolved death of a Utah teenager in 1974 to the infamous serial killer Ted Bundy. Laura Ann Aime, 17, went missing Halloween night 51 years ago after she left…
Thanks to new DNA techniques, police investigators in the US have been able to attribute a previously unsolved murder to serial killer Ted Bundy. The case involves Laura Ann Aime, a 17-year-old girl who went missing after a Halloween party in 1974. A month later, her body was found along a highway in Utah. It had long been suspected that Bundy was behind the murder. According to the police, he had confessed to killing her before his execution in…
New DNA testing links unsolved death of Utah teen in 1974 to serial killer Ted Bundy, sheriff says - The Morning Sun
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 on the side of a highway, bound, beaten and without clothing. Investigators long suspected that Bundy was responsible …
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