Authorities in Utah used advanced DNA technology to link notorious serial killer Ted Bundy to the murder of a 17-year-old girl whose body was discovered by hunters 52 years ago.
Melissa Ann Smith, the daughter of a local police chief, was found on 27 October 1974 with signs of rape and torture.
In April, Utah officials identified teenager Laura Ann Aime as another of Bundy’s victims. Evidence gathered from that case was subsequently used to help solve Smith’s case.
Before his death by execution in 1989, Bundy had confessed to killing two other teenage girls in Utah. He has been linked to at least 30 murders across the US.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Utah County Sgt Mike Reynolds said there were more Bundy cases still being examined in the state. “With every case closure may we stomp the memory of Ted Bundy out,” he said.
Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera added that the case should be a sign to other cold case victims “that there is hope out there”.
“Every single day forensics is changing and we have the ability to take a look at these cases again and again,” she said.
She also praised detectives for preserving evidence from the case for so long, saying it “demonstrates the need to preserve evidence even when decades pass”.
In April, the director of the Utah Bureau of Forensic Services told the Salt Lake Tribune, there were 444 unsolved death investigations in the state, including 258 homicides.
Bundy is among America’s most infamous serial killers, and began his spree by attacking victims throughout the US Pacific north-west.
Known to often approach women in public places, he would gain their trust with his charm or a fake injury, and then lure them to secluded areas and kill them.
He was first arrested in 1975 for kidnapping a woman and sentenced to 15 years in jail. But in 1977 he escaped by jumping out of a prison library window.
He was recaptured for eight days and then escaped again, continuing to kill until he was finally caught in 1978.
By BBC News
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