Bundy Victim Tally Rises to 31 as DNA Confirms 17-Year-Old's Death

The confirmed death toll for serial killer Ted Bundy has risen to at least 31 people. Summit County Sheriff Kacey Bates announced on Tuesday that investigators have identified 17-year-old Melissa Anne Smith as one of the victims.

This identification comes less than a year after the killer’s death in 1989, yet it marks a new addition to the case file nearly four decades later. The confirmation relies on advanced DNA testing techniques that allow law enforcement to match biological evidence collected decades ago with Bundy’s genetic profile.

Smith’s body was located on a hillside in Summit Park, Utah, in October 1974. Forensic evidence at the time revealed that her head had been beaten with a crowbar. For more than 50 years, the case remained unsolved until the DNA match was made.

The breakthrough in Smith’s case followed a similar identification in April. Utah law enforcement officials then announced that new DNA testing confirmed Bundy’s role in the killing of 17-year-old Laura Ann Aime. Aime disappeared on Halloween night in 1974, and her body was found on a highway shoulder a month later. Investigators believe she was kept alive for several days after her abduction.

Authorities stated that the DNA profile used to close Aime’s case was forwarded to the Summit County Sheriff’s Office. Detectives compared that profile to evidence recovered from Smith’s body, resulting in the current confirmation.

Bundy’s rampage of violence spanned at least four years, beginning in Washington state in 1974. He targeted young women and girls, often breaking into their homes and bludgeoning them. While he is one of the most prolific serial killers in United States history, other offenders have higher counts. Gary Ridgway admitted to killing 49 people, Samuel Little killed more than 60, and Donald Harvey pleaded guilty to 37 murders.

Bundy drew intense public attention during his 1979 trial for the Chi Omega sorority house murders in Florida. Witnesses described him as charming and handsome. Judge Edward Cowart called him a “bright young man” who would have made a good lawyer, but he also sentenced Bundy to death for “extremely wicked, shockingly evil and vile” crimes.

Bundy was executed by electric chair on Jan. 24, 1989. In his final days, he confessed to a series of previously unknown crimes, though not all of those cases have been confirmed by forensic evidence.