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Authorities announced Tuesday that a DNA test linked serial killer Ted Bundy to the death of a Utah teenager, exactly 52 years after a hunter found her body in a forest.
Bundy died in 1989, but his victim count continues to rise due to advances in DNA testing. He killed at least 30 women and girls across several states in the 1970s, and many more escaped or survived with injuries.
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Margaret Olson, Summit County, Utah attorney, indicated that investigators are convinced that Bundy was the one who killed 17-year-old Melissa Ann Smith in 1974, a case that had remained unsolved.
“This case demonstrates the importance of preserving evidence,” said Salt Lake County Police Chief Rosie Rivera.
Sergeant Mike Reynolds of the Utah police noted that there were similarities between the cases of Laura Aime and Melissa Smith. The DNA that identified Bundy came from the Y chromosome, which is only present in males. A very similar DNA profile was found in evidence obtained from Smith's autopsy. Authorities have contacted Smith's next of kin.
Authorities confirmed that DNA evidence recovered from another victim matched Smith's body. Utah County officials presented the DNA evidence to the Summit County police on October 7.
Reynolds, who participated in the investigation, expressed: “With every case that closes, hopefully we can crush the memory of Ted Bundy.”
Bundy was executed in 1989 in Florida by electric chair for the murders of two women at the Chi Omega sorority house at Florida State University in 1978.
Bundy made a series of confessions in his final days, including some regarding crimes that were previously unknown to the police. Not all of those cases have been confirmed.
In addition to Florida and Utah, authorities indicated that Bundy left victims in Colorado, Idaho, and Washington state. They said they are working to solve the death of 16-year-old Nancy Wilcox, another probable victim in Utah.
[Publicidad]