- DNA technology confirms Ted Bundy murdered Laura Ann Aime in 1974.
- Utah County Sheriff Mike Smith announced the case is officially closed at a press conference Wednesday.
- DNA match from Florida linked Bundy to Aime's murder this March.
SPANISH FORK — Michelle Impala says she didn't even know the case involving her sister, Laura Ann Aime, wasn't closed.
It has been assumed that Aime was killed by Ted Bundy more than 50 years ago. But it wasn't until recently that Utah County Sheriff Mike Smith said the case was "officially closed" thanks to advances in DNA technology.
"We now have definitive evidence that Theodore 'Ted' Bundy murdered Laura," the sheriff announced Wednesday at a press conference that was attended by members of Aime's family. "We can now say without a doubt that Theodore 'Ted' Bundy did in fact murder Laura Ann Aime in the fall of 1974."
On Halloween night in 1974, Aime, 17, of Fairview, disappeared after leaving a party in Lehi. Her body was found on Nov. 27, 1974, "partway down an embankment just off the American Fork Canyon Road by hikers in the area," according to the Utah Department of Public Safety.
Although serial killer Bundy confessed to killing Aime prior to being executed in Florida in 1989, Smith says there wasn't enough evidence to independently confirm his claim.
Over the years, detectives with the sheriff's office have reopened the case to give it a fresh look. About a year ago, Sgt. Mike Reynolds reopened the Aime case. Reynolds called Aime the "quintessential daughter of Utah County."
"We felt the pain the family feels when she's taken," he said while adding, "We've had a desire to give some type of healing."
Both Reynolds and Smith thanked detectives who originally worked the case and those who have looked at it over the years for preserving evidence so well.
"That evidence has endured the years and was pristine," the sheriff said.
Working with the Utah State Crime Lab, a DNA sample was lifted from body fluids collected at Aime's crime scene. Based on that, a DNA profile from one male was identified, said Department of Public Safety Commissioner Beau Mason, whose duties include overseeing the crime lab. That profile was entered into the Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS, the FBI's national database of DNA profiles of convicted offenders. In March, they were notified from authorities in Florida that a match was made with Bundy's profile.
"And most importantly, we bring closure, hopefully, to the Aime family who have endured more than 50 years of the loss of their loved one," Smith said.
Impala said Thursday that she and family members had assumed her sister's murder investigation was already a closed case and thanked the sheriff's office for its "incredible" work over the past year.
"I'm sure that my mom and dad would be happy to know that it's closed. I didn't know it was open," said Impala, who was 12 when her sister was killed, adding that it is "quite amazing that people are still interested in Laura's case."
Impala said she and Laura, whom she shared a room with at their farm in Fairview, were very close.
"She took me everywhere. As a 12-year-old, that's pretty cool to be hanging out with your older sister," she said.
Impala said she and Laura loved to be outside and that her sister, who rode horses, had a love of animals. "I thought she was fun, because I'm a little kid just following her around," she recalled.
Smith said based on the DNA match, his office would have screened a murder charge with the Utah County Attorney's Office if Bundy were still alive and likely recommended that the attorney's office seek the death penalty. He also hinted on Wednesday that his office was close to announcing a breakthrough in another cold case homicide that may be linked to Bundy.
"I know that (Laura) would be really happy to know that (the case) has been closed, and just to know that Ted Bundy is gnashing his teeth in hell," Impala said.
