New DNA testing has definitively linked the 1974 cold case murder of 17-year-old Laura Ann Aime to the prolific serial killer Ted Bundy, according to ABC7 New York. Aime disappeared on Halloween night in 1974 after leaving a party alone to visit a convenience store, and her body was discovered bound and beaten on the side of a highway one month later, per the report. Investigators long suspected Bundy was responsible because he verbally acknowledged his culpability prior to his 1989 execution.
The case remained open for decades.
However, the Utah County sheriff’s office had elected to keep Aime’s case officially open for decades until forensic science could provide irrefutable proof, according to BBC.
At the time of the killing, Bundy was residing in Salt Lake City and studying law at the University of Utah while carrying out a string of murders that terrorized multiple states.
Utah County sheriff’s Sgt. Mike Reynolds stated during an April 1, news conference that the department felt the persistent pain of the victim’s family and hoped these definitive findings would deliver a form of healing, according to ABC7 New York.
During the conference the victim’s sister, Michelle Impala, thanked investigators and the media for their continued dedication to her sister’s legacy and for ensuring the case was never forgotten, according to CNN.
DNA evidence had been preserved for 50 years.
Forensic investigators leveraged advanced technology acquired by the Utah state crime lab in 2023 to successfully extract a male DNA profile from small, degraded samples that had been carefully preserved for over 50 years, according to The Washington Times.
The confirmed DNA profile can now be shared with other law enforcement agencies nationwide that have long suspected Bundy in additional unsolved deaths, potentially offering similar closure to other families of cold case victims, The Washington Times report explained.
This may help close additional cases related to Bundy.
Bundy was one of the nation’s most prolific serial killers and remains linked to at least 30 deaths of women and girls discovered in sorority houses and public parks during the 1970s, ABC7 New York’s report noted.
-by Shaina McLawrence
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