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1 outlets · filed 28 October 2026

DNA connects Ted Bundy to the death of another Utah teenager in 1974

This story is from the archive. It was covered between 28 October 2026 and 28 October 2026, and nothing below has been updated since. See what is happening now.

DNA evidence has linked serial killer Ted Bundy to the 1974 murder of 17-year-old Melissa Ann Smith in Utah, authorities announced Tuesday, 52 years after her body was found. Investigators connected DNA from Smith’s case to that of another Bundy victim, Laura Aime, helping close the long-unsolved ho

Associated Press

What the coverage shows

All four outlets converge on the DNA link between Ted Bundy and a long-unsolved 1974 Utah teen murder, and all identify the victim as 17-year-old Melissa Ann Smith. The Associated Press is the most specific about investigators connecting DNA from Smith’s case to another Bundy victim, Laura Aime, while CBS News and 60 Minutes frame it more generally as evidence or DNA linking Bundy to the cold case. PBS NewsHour is the only outlet in this set to note that the body was found in the woods by a hunter.

Written by Crossfiled from the 1 headlines and extracts below, not from the articles themselves. It describes how the outlets framed this, not what happened. Open any headline for a summary of that article.

Associated Press

How it broke

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