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DNA Confirms Ted Bundy Killed Utah Teen in 1974

The result gives investigators a usable DNA profile they expect will aid other cold‑case reviews.

Overview

  • Utah County officials said Wednesday that advanced testing confirmed Ted Bundy killed 17-year-old Laura Ann Aime in 1974 and they closed the case.
  • State lab scientists used tools added in 2023 to pull a single male DNA profile from mixed, decades-old bodily fluid evidence preserved from the scene.
  • The profile was uploaded to CODIS, the national DNA database, which returned a Florida hit to Bundy’s record and led to a confirmed match that investigators have now shared with other agencies to compare against open cases.
  • Aime disappeared after leaving a Halloween party in 1974, and hikers found her about a month later near American Fork Canyon bound, unclothed, and fatally beaten and strangled.
  • Authorities had long suspected Bundy and did not accept his 1989 admission without physical proof, and Aime’s sister said the confirmed match brings long-sought relief as officials note at least one related case is close to resolution.