New DNA testing has linked serial killer Ted Bundy to the 1974 death of 17-year-old Laura Ann Aime in Utah, the Utah County Sheriff's Office announced Wednesday. Aime disappeared on Halloween night after leaving a party, and her body was found a month later in American Fork Canyon. Authorities had long suspected Bundy, who verbally acknowledged involvement before his 1989 execution.
Laura Ann Aime vanished 51 years ago after heading alone from a party to a convenience store. Hikers discovered her bound, beaten and unclothed body along a highway in American Fork Canyon about a month later. Investigators noted evidence suggesting she had been kept alive for several days post-abduction, the Utah County Sheriff's Office said Wednesday announcing the DNA match from Bundy's blood sample, drawn in 1978 and entered into the FBI database in 2011. The full profile now helps resolve potential cases tied to Bundy, one of the most prolific serial killers of the 1970s with at least 30 victims across multiple states. He was studying law at the University of Utah at the time of Aime's death and had already claimed other local victims like Nancy Wilcox and Melissa Smith that October. Utah County Sheriff's Sgt. Mike Reynolds described Aime during a news conference as 'the quintessential daughter of Utah County' and expressed the office's shared pain with her family, aiming to provide some healing if not full closure. Bundy faced his first arrest in August 1975 after police found rope, handcuffs and a ski mask in his vehicle. He was convicted of kidnapping and assaulting Carol DaRonch, who escaped his attempt to abduct her by posing as an officer. Further crimes followed escapes from custody, leading to convictions in Florida.