DNA evidence from a 1974 murder with ties to Lehi has definitively linked serial killer Ted Bundy to the killing of 17-year-old Melissa Ann Smith, Summit County Sheriff Kacey Bates announced Tuesday, Oct. 27. The announcement, made on the 52nd anniversary of the day Smith's body was discovered, closes a 52-year-old cold case.
The breakthrough follows a comparison conducted on July 14 by the Utah State Crime Lab, which matched Y-STR DNA from the Laura Ann Aime case with DNA taken from Smith's remains. Aime, 17, disappeared on Halloween night in 1974 after leaving a party in Lehi, and her body was found Nov. 27, 1974, near American Fork Canyon. Utah County investigators closed Aime's case in April after new DNA technology tied it to Bundy.
Summit County Attorney Margaret Olson stated that the DNA match, combined with evidence of pattern, motive, means, and opportunity, proved Bundy was responsible for Smith's murder. Smith was the daughter of Louis Smith, who served as the Midvale police chief. She was reported missing from Midvale on Oct. 18, 1974, nine days before hunters found her body in Summit County on Oct. 27, 1974.
The investigation utilized new genotyping technology introduced by the Utah State Crime Lab in 2023, which allows for the creation of full DNA profiles from degraded or mixed samples. This technology enabled investigators to compare DNA collected in Utah with Bundy's complete profile on file in Florida.
Bundy was executed in Florida in 1989 after confessing to killing at least 30 women across multiple states. While the Smith case is now officially closed, Salt Lake County Sheriff's Detective Ben Pender said investigators continue to pursue leads in other suspected cases, including the 1974 disappearance of 16-year-old Nancy Wilcox of Holladay.
Sheriff Bates credited the late Lt. Alan Siddoway, a 42-year law enforcement veteran who died of cancer on Oct. 11, for his work on the case. Utah County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Mike Reynolds dedicated the case closure to Siddoway's memory. Smith's surviving family members, who no longer live in Utah, declined to attend the Park City news conference where the findings were announced.
The announcement was made alongside Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera, Utah County Sheriff Mike Smith, and various crime lab analysts and investigators.
