Utah | 1974 cold case closed: DNA ties Ted Bundy to teen's disappearance

AMERICAN FORK, Utah (DPN) — Law enforcement officials confirmed Wednesday that forensic evidence has linked serial killer Ted Bundy to the remains of a teenager discovered more than 50 years ago in American Fork Canyon.

The breakthrough, finalized in April 2026, concludes one of Utah’s oldest unidentified persons cases. The victim, whose identity is being withheld pending full family notification, was a teenager reported missing from the Wasatch Front in 1974.

The resolution of the case relied on Investigative Genetic Genealogy (IGG). Investigators extracted degraded DNA from skeletal remains found by hunters in October 1974. By cross-referencing this profile with commercial DNA databases, genealogists identified a cluster of second cousins, eventually narrowing the search to a specific family line.

"This identification is the result of decades of persistence," said a spokesperson for the Utah County Sheriff’s Office. "While the perpetrator has been known to the public for years, providing a name to this victim was our primary procedural mandate.

"Bundy, who was executed in Florida in 1989, confessed to several Utah murders shortly before his death. While he provided vague descriptions of disposing of bodies in 'canyons south of Salt Lake City,' he never specifically named the American Fork victim or provided a precise location."

Detectives cited three primary factors in linking Bundy to this specific crime:

— Temporal Alignment: The victim disappeared in late 1974, coinciding with Bundy’s residency in Salt Lake City while attending the University of Utah College of Law.

— Modus Operandi: The body was disposed of in a remote, high-altitude wooded area, consistent with the recovery sites of victims Melissa Smith and Laura Aime.

— Forensic Corroboration: Recent analysis of fiber evidence preserved since 1974 showed characteristics consistent with upholstery materials found in Bundy’s 1968 Volkswagen Beetle.

Under Utah law, the case will be officially closed as "cleared by exception." This designation is used when the perpetrator is identified but cannot be prosecuted—in this case, due to Bundy’s execution 37 years ago.

The identification adds a definitive entry to the "Mountain State" period of Bundy's killing spree.

Historians and legal experts note that while Bundy was suspected in dozens of disappearances, the lack of remains often prevented formal closure.

The Utah County Sheriff’s Office is expected to release a comprehensive report on the victim’s background and the specific genetic markers used in the identification later this month.

Source: DPN, News outlets, Staff, AI, April 1, 2026

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."

— Oscar Wilde

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