Summit County will formally close a cold-case murder investigation and announce findings attributing the killing to serial killer Ted Bundy at a noon press conference Tuesday, Oct. 27, at the Summit County Justice Center.

Sheriff Kacey Bates and County Attorney Margaret Olson will present the findings at the Justice Center complex, 6138 Paintbrush Road in Park City, according to an Oct. 23 media advisory from the Summit County Sheriff's Office.

They will be joined by Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera, Utah County Sheriff Mike Smith, DNA analysts from the Utah State Crime Lab and investigators from participating agencies.

The advisory does not name the homicide victim or describe the evidence supporting the decision to close the investigation.

The announcement follows another Utah cold-case breakthrough involving Bundy. In April, the Utah County Sheriff's Office announced that DNA evidence had established his responsibility for the 1974 murder of Laura Aime.

A decades-old Summit County case

One unresolved case associated with Bundy in Summit County is the killing of Melissa Smith, a 17-year-old from Midvale.

According to Utah's state cold-case database, Smith disappeared Oct. 18, 1974. Her body was discovered Oct. 27, 1974, near Toll Canyon in the Summit Park area.

The database lists her homicide investigation as active and identifies the Summit County Sheriff's Office as the investigating agency. It says Smith is believed to have been a victim of Bundy.

Tuesday's press conference falls on the 52nd anniversary of the discovery of Smith's body. Officials have not confirmed that her case is the investigation being closed.

Smith was the daughter of Midvale Police Chief Louis Smith. Her disappearance was among several involving young women in Utah during fall 1974, according to Linda Sillitoe's historical account published by the Utah Historical Society.

Bundy was convicted of kidnapping Carol DaRonch in Utah but was never convicted of a Utah homicide.

The Sheriff's Office says Bates and Olson will discuss the investigation, the findings supporting the attribution to Bundy and the decision to close the case.

The Oct. 27 press conference is scheduled for noon at the Summit County Justice Center complex. Media representatives are invited to attend.

Anyone with information about a Summit County cold case can contact the Sheriff's Office at 435-615-3500.