Authorities in Utah said Wednesday they have confirmed "without a doubt" that Ted Bundy murdered a 17-year-old girl more than 50 years ago, in a case long suspected to have been tied to the notorious serial killer.
Laura Ann Aime was last seen leaving a Halloween party in Utah County in 1974, authorities said. Her body was found a month later by two college students on a Thanksgiving Day hike in American Fork Canyon, according to the Utah County Sheriff's Office. She had been beaten and strangled, and her naked body was found bound, according to authorities.
The crime had similarities to those committed by Bundy, who admitted to kidnapping and murdering young women throughout the Western United States in the 1970s. Prior to his execution in 1989, he even confessed to Aime's killing -- though his confession "was deemed to be not enough evidence to close the case and rule out any other party having had committed this crime," Utah County Sheriff Mike Smith said during a press briefing on Wednesday.
Now, the sheriff's office said it is able to close Aime's case -- with bodily fluids recovered from her body matching Bundy's DNA profile.
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"We can now say, without a doubt, that Theodore 'Ted' Bundy did in fact did murder Laura Ann Aime in the fall of 1974, and that law enforcement now has DNA testing results that are compatible with the latest DNA testing standards," Smith said. "This will make any future DNA test comparison easier for those law enforcement agencies who still have open cases involving Bundy."
If Bundy were still alive, Smith said his office "would have pursued this case to the fullest extent" and asked the Utah County Attorney's Office to seek the death penalty.
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Bundy was convicted of three murders in Florida and was executed by electric chair in 1989 at the age of 42. Prior to his execution, he confessed to killing 30 people, though is believed to have killed more than 100.
Aime's sister, Michelle Impala, was 12 when her sister was murdered. She said they were "really close."
"We rode horses together, she was very passionate about animals and her horse," Impala said at the briefing.
"She was just fun," Impala said. "I thought she was fun because, you know, I'm a little kid just following her around, but we have a lot in common -- the love of animals and just being outside and doing the things that you do when you live on a farm full of animals."
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Impala said her sister and their parents would be happy to know that the case is now officially closed, and thanked the sheriff's office for being "so passionate" about resolving it.
"It's really quite amazing that people even are still interested in Laura's case. But I appreciate it," she said.