New DNA testing links 1974 unsolved death of Utah teen to serial killer Ted Bundy, sheriff says
PBS • • general
Key Points:
- New DNA testing has conclusively linked the 1974 unsolved death of Utah teenager Laura Ann Aime to serial killer Ted Bundy, according to the Utah County sheriff's office.
- Aime, 17, went missing on Halloween night 1974 and was found a month later bound, beaten, and unclothed in American Fork Canyon; evidence suggested she was held alive for several days after abduction.
- Bundy, known for at least 30 murders across multiple states in the 1970s, had long been suspected in Aime's death and had verbally admitted guilt before his 1989 execution.
- At the time of Aime's killing, Bundy was a law student at the University of Utah; he was arrested in 1975 with incriminating evidence and later escaped custody twice before committing further murders in Florida.
- Authorities and Aime's family expressed a desire for healing and closure following the DNA confirmation, ending decades of uncertainty about her case.
