Newly tested DNA evidence has connected notorious serial killer Ted Bundy to the 1974 murder of a 17-year-old Utah girl whose body was found naked, beaten, bound and dumped along a state highway in Utah.
Utah County Sheriff Mike Smith announced on Wednesday, April 1, that new testing found − "without a doubt" − that DNA recovered from Laura Ann Aime's body more than 50 years ago is Bundy’s.
“This case is now officially closed,” Smith said during a news conference on Wednesday. "Most importantly we bring closure, hopefully, to the Aime family who have endured over 50 years the loss of their loved one."
Aime was last seen leaving a Halloween party on Oct. 31, 1974, when she left to go to a convenience store. Nearly a month later on Nov. 27, 1974, two college students on a hike came across her battered body, dumped several feet from the highway near State Road 92 in the American Fork Canyon. A nylon stocking had been used to strangle her, and evidence showed that she had been kept alive for at least several days after her abduction.
The discovery of Aime's body, which came a day before Thanksgiving, devastated her family, who describe the teen as a beautiful free spirit who loved the outdoors and found joy in everything she did, according to a news release from the sheriff's office.
