Summit County authorities formally closed the 1974 murder investigation of Melissa Ann Smith on Tuesday, Oct. 27, announcing that DNA evidence linked serial killer Ted Bundy to the death of the 17-year-old Midvale girl.

The announcement came exactly 52 years after hunters discovered Smith's body near Toll Canyon in the Summit Park area.

Sheriff Kacey Bates and County Attorney Margaret Olson announced the findings at the Summit County Justice Center, joined by investigators and officials from neighboring counties and the Utah State Crime Lab.

According to KSL's coverage of the announcement, investigators had suspected Bundy's involvement for decades, but the case remained open without sufficient evidence to formally identify him as responsible.

DNA breakthrough connects two investigations

The breakthrough followed advances in DNA testing used to investigate another Utah homicide from 1974.

In April 2026, Utah County authorities announced that DNA evidence linked Bundy to the killing of Laura Ann Aime, another 17-year-old.

Investigators subsequently compared evidence from that case with biological evidence preserved from Smith's investigation.

On July 14, the Utah State Crime Lab determined that the DNA profiles matched, according to USA Today's reporting on the Oct. 27 findings.

The testing involved Y-chromosome DNA, which can help establish a paternal-line connection. Unlike a full individual DNA profile, it cannot uniquely identify one person on its own.

Olson said prosecutors considered the DNA evidence alongside the circumstances and patterns of the crimes before concluding that Bundy was responsible.

The findings were presented to the Summit County Attorney's Office in early October, leading to the decision to close Smith's homicide investigation.

A case open for 52 years

Smith disappeared Oct. 18, 1974, after spending time with her father, then-Midvale Police Chief Louis Smith.

Her body was discovered nine days later in Summit County.

Although Bundy was investigated in connection with several Utah disappearances and murders, Smith's case remained unresolved throughout his lifetime.

Bundy was executed in Florida in 1989 after being convicted of murders there. He was never tried for Smith's killing.

The new findings allow Summit County authorities to formally attribute her death to Bundy without a criminal prosecution.

Smith's surviving relatives were notified of the investigation's conclusion. Officials said her next of kin no longer live in the area and did not attend the announcement.

Investigators honor Lt. Alan Siddoway

Sheriff Bates also recognized the work of Lt. Alan Siddoway, a longtime Summit County Sheriff's Office investigator who died Oct. 11, just weeks before the announcement.

Siddoway served the department for more than four decades and helped carry the Smith investigation toward its conclusion.

According to his obituary, Siddoway joined the Sheriff's Office in January 1985 and held positions including captain and lieutenant. He also spent three decades as a medical death investigator.

His work extended beyond Summit County. As a member of the federal Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team, he assisted with victim identification following major disasters, including the Sept. 11 attacks and Hurricane Katrina.

Before his death, the county dedicated its Search and Rescue building in Kamas as the Alan Siddoway Mountain Rescue Center.

Other investigations remain open

The closure of Smith's case does not end investigations into other unsolved crimes potentially connected to Bundy.

Salt Lake County investigators continue examining the disappearance of Nancy Wilcox, a 16-year-old who went missing in October 1974.

Although Bundy claimed responsibility for her death, investigators have not established the circumstances with sufficient evidence to close the case.

For Smith's family and the agencies that preserved evidence across five decades, the Oct. 27 announcement represents a long-awaited conclusion to one of Summit County's oldest homicide investigations.