Zac Efron Admits to Being “Scared” to Play Ted Bundy
Ted Bundy has officially been linked to another murder decades after the crime took place.
More than 50 years after the body of Laura Ann Aime was discovered in Utah, leading to a decades-long cold case, the Utah County Sheriff’s Office determined that the infamous serial killer was responsible for the 17-year-old’s death.
Semen that had been swabbed from Aime’s body following her 1974 death was recently DNA tested and came up as a match for Bundy’s DNA in a Florida database, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
The gruesome finding marks yet another killing that Bundy was responsible for. Prior to his 1989 execution, he had confessed to the murders of 30 women across Utah, Idaho, Colorado and Florida.
“Laura Aime is the quintessential daughter of Utah County,” Utah County Sheriff’s Sgt. Mike Reynolds said in a news conference on April 1. “We felt the pain the family feels when she was taken. We felt the pain that you felt this whole entire time, and we’ve had the desire to deliver to you some type of healing, we can’t really say closure.”
Aime went missing on Halloween night in 1974, according to a press release from the Utah County Sheriff’s Office (UCSO). Witnesses said she left a party in Utah County alone and went to purchase items from a convenience store but never returned.
Close to a month later, Aime’s body was discovered on the side of a highway in American Fork Canyon.
“Her body was observed to be bound, severely beaten, and with no clothing,” officials wrote in the release. “Deputies also discovered that a nylon stocking was utilized to strangle Laura and ultimately a major contributor to her death.”
Officials believed her body had been strategically placed on the side of the road and she was “kept alive for several days or more after her abduction.”
Bettmann Archive; Utah County Sheriff’s Office
Because the details seemed to align with Bundy’s tactics—he was known for relying on his charisma to lure victims in before kidnapping, raping and killing them—investigators suspected for years that he was responsible for Aime’s death.
Bundy—who had been studying law at the University of Utah at the time of Aime’s death—even “verbally acknowledged his culpability” in the days leading up to his execution in Florida, but the case remained open until authorities could be fully certain, according to the UCSO.
However, officials got the answers they were searching for in 2025 when the USCO decided to revisit some of their cold cases. Using new forensic technology and DNA testing, investigators were able to reexamine and process evidence from Aime’s case.
And ultimately, they got a hit on the DNA profile that they were hoping for.
“The results were magnificent,” the USCO said in the release, “as they confirmed irrefutably that DNA evidence recovered from Laura’s body verified the existence of DNA belonging to Bundy.”
Though the end of the case certainly does not fix the pain that Aime’s family has felt over the last 52 years, authorities are making sure to keep her legacy alive.
“Laura is remembered by her family and friends to be a tall, beautiful, outgoing free spirit who enjoyed outdoor activities and shared a passion for riding horses, hunting, and caring for her several siblings,” the USCO wrote in their release. “Her family said that Laura was one who found joy in everything she did, making the most of her time with her family.”
“Laura’s younger siblings told stories of her abundant compassion and warmth for her family,” they continued. “An example is when Laura spent personal funds to buy candy for her brother and sister’s because she enjoyed watching the happiness in the eyes of her siblings getting something sweet.”
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