Ted Bundy was one of the most notorious serial killers. He kidnapped, raped and murdered dozens of young women and girls between 1974 and 1978.
His M.O. typically consisted of convincing his target that he was in need of assistance or duping them into believing he was an authority figure. He would then lure his victim to his vehicle; at which point he would bludgeon them unconscious, then restrain them with handcuffs before driving them to a remote location to be sexually assaulted and killed.
He was apprehended on 15 February 1978. Following a second, more violent escape from prison in December 1977; Bundy fled to Florida and killed more victims. He was finally pulled over by a local police officer in Pensacola while driving a stolen vehicle, leading to his permanent capture.
Bundy killed at least 30 women and girls across multiple states during the 1970s; though investigators have long suspected his true victim count could be higher.
He confessed to dozens of murders before his death, including crimes that had previously been unknown to police, but not every killing attributed to him has been independently confirmed.
He was executed by the electric chair at Florida State Prison in Raiford at 07:06 on 24 January 1989; at age 42.
To everyone's surprise, new evidence has linked Bundy to a cold case file.
"Although there was much speculation regarding a suspect at the time, a suspect was never named and the case was never officially closed," Summit County Sheriff Kacey Bates said at a news conference on Tuesday in Park City.
It is the second Utah cold case investigators have closed this year after linking it to Bundy. In April, investigators announced that he killed Laura Ann Aime, a Utah teen whose body was found in American Fork Canyon in 1974.
Investigators used DNA evidence to close Aime’s case. Then, on 14 July, they compared DNA from that case with evidence collected from Smith’s body and found a match, authorities said.
"This DNA evidence, when considered alongside evidence related to pattern, motive, means and opportunity," led investigators to conclude that Bundy was Smith’s killer, said Summit County Attorney Margaret Olson.
In April, a Utah Department of Public Safety spokesperson said three other Utah cold cases were believed to be connected to Bundy.
A DNA breakthrough has solved the 52-year-old murder of a Utah police chief's teenage daughter and the cold-case detective who helped crack it says notorious serial killer Ted Bundy could've other victims investigators do not even know about.
Melissa Ann Smith, 17, the daughter of then-Midvale Police Chief, Louis Smith, was found dead in 1974. For decades, investigators suspected Bundy but lacked the evidence needed to definitively tie him to her murder.
That changed in July, when DNA evidence in the killing of another 17-year-old Utah girl, Laura Ann Aime, was matched to Bundy; allowing investigators to compare evidence preserved from Smith's case for more than half a century.
"There may be more victims out there that we're not even aware of, and I think there's always been that speculation," Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office Detective Ben Pender told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview Wednesday.
Pender, a 35-year law enforcement veteran assigned to the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office unsolved homicide and missing person unit, said investigators plan to preserve the evidence that helped solve Smith's murder so it can potentially be used in other cases.
"We're gonna hold on to this evidence and we're gonna utilise it in cases that we believe may be connected to see if we can't resolve not only our case but anybody else who may have a case with Bundy," Pender said.
Smith's body was discovered by hunters on 27 October 1974, in a wooded area near the border of Summit and Salt Lake counties.
"These cases that are unsolved are unsolved, in my opinion, for a reason and because they are extremely difficult to solve," Pender said.
Although investigators had long suspected Bundy, similarities between Smith's killing and his other crimes weren't enough to definitively tie him to her death. Investigators needed evidence establishing that Bundy was responsible rather than relying on a similar method of operation, Pender said.
"DNA is not always the answer, but it definitely is a piece that's missing a lot of times in these cases that, with everything else with the case, will maybe bring that together," Pender said.
"These cases that are unsolved are unsolved, in my opinion, for a reason and because they are extremely difficult to solve," Pender said.
The break investigators needed ultimately came from the Aime case.
Aime vanished after leaving a Halloween party to buy cigarettes on Oct. 31, 1974. Her body was discovered by hikers near American Fork Canyon days later and investigators determined she had been raped, strangled and murdered.
Bundy was considered the prime suspect for decades, but authorities lacked evidence conclusively tying him to the killing.
Investigators eventually developed a DNA profile from evidence in Aime's case that was linked to Bundy. Remaining evidence from her case then gave investigators an opportunity to compare it with evidence preserved from Smith's killing.
Pender said investigators had retained reports and evidence from the original Smith investigation, including evidence collected during her postmortem examination.
Utah County investigators reached out to Summit County after the breakthrough in the Aime case to determine whether the remaining evidence could help resolve Smith's murder. Summit County then turned to Pender because Salt Lake County had maintained evidence from the 1974 investigation.
Investigators worked with the Utah Bureau of Forensic Services to compare DNA evidence from the two cases and determined the profiles matched.
The DNA findings, combined with evidence involving Bundy's pattern, motive, means and opportunity, led authorities to conclude Bundy killed Smith and formally close her case Tuesday, 52 years to the day after her body was found.
The breakthrough would not have been possible without evidence preserved by investigators for more than five decades.
"It's extremely important, in all of these cases, to preserve the evidence," Pender said. "We, in all homicide cases, we maintain that evidence forever. We don't ever get rid of that, even if a case is resolved or solved, and we don't get rid of it for this very reason," he added.
Pender cautioned that solving one decades-old murder through DNA does not mean investigators can simply run every unsolved killing potentially connected to Bundy through a database.
Each case is different. Some have DNA evidence while others do not, and evidence collected decades ago may have degraded, been handled before investigators understood the importance of preserving DNA or contain genetic material from multiple people.
"Back then, DNA wasn't a thing, so nobody knew of it," Pender said. Advances in forensic technology continue to give investigators new opportunities to examine old evidence but the limitations of individual cases remain.
Pender said his caseload includes 34 unsolved homicides and 14 adult missing person cases in which investigators suspect foul play. He stressed that those cases aren't believed to be connected to Bundy; with one notable exception.
Nancy Wilcox remains missing and Pender said Bundy confessed to killing her. Her body has never been recovered; preventing investigators from closing the case based solely on his confession.
Smith's case, Pender said Tuesday, "does not close the book on Ted Bundy. Investigators intend to continue working on Wilcox's disappearance and preserve the Bundy evidence for any other cases in which it could prove useful.
Other cases potentially tied to Bundy could also yield new answers through DNA, Pender said. "I think it's definitely possible," Pender said. "It just depends on what information other agencies maybe have in their particular cases."
Pender emphasised that co-operation among law enforcement agencies was critical to solving Smith's murder, with Summit, Salt Lake and Utah counties working alongside the state crime lab.
"It's more about the victim, right? It's about the victim, the family, the community, it's about resolving the case," Pender said.
It's amazing how advancements in technology can help solve crimes. It's hard to believe that remains that are over five decades old can be traced. From my 'experience' (watching these kind of series'), these kind of people will always hide one or two details for leverage.
All serial killers have their own unique M.O.'s. It's vital that, upon capture, that the authorities document their M.O's so that they can connect a victim to a specific killer. When doing this, it can only be hoped that there isn't a copycat to mimic their crimes.