Authorities in Utah have reportedly solved a 50-year-old cold case through DNA evidence that links serial killer Ted Bundy to the 1974 murder of 17-year-old Laura Ann Aime. According to reports, the Utah County police announced the breakthrough during a press conference on Wednesday. Laura Ann Aime disappeared on Halloween in 1974 when she left a party to go to a store.
Approximately one month later, hikers found her bound, beaten, and naked body beside a road. Investigators had long suspected Bundy was responsible for the murder, but lacked evidence to close the case. Evidence from the teenager was preserved for decades, and in 2023, investigators gained access to new technology that enabled creation of a DNA profile from the perpetrator.
A database search reportedly matched Bundy. Ted Bundy confessed to over 30 murders of women and girls during the 1970s. He was sentenced to death for three murders in Florida and executed in 1989.
According to the FBI, the number of victims he killed may be significantly higher than the approximately 30 murders he acknowledged during his lifetime.