A 17-YEAR-OLD girl who was killed in Utah in 1974 has been formally identified as a victim of serial killer Ted Bundy more than five decades later, following new DNA testing.

Laura Ann Aime disappeared after leaving a Halloween party in October 1974, and her body was found weeks later in American Fork Canyon.

Investigators long suspected Bundy was responsible, and he even confessed to her killing before his execution in 1989, but the case remained open due to a lack of definitive evidence.

The Utah County Sheriff’s Office has now confirmed that DNA recovered from Aime’s body matches Bundy, allowing authorities to officially close the case after more than 51 years.

Officials said advances in forensic technology made it possible to extract and analyse genetic material that could not be fully processed at the time of the original investigation.

Police Sheriff Mike Smith said the findings mean investigators can now say “without a doubt” that Bundy murdered Aime, adding that the DNA profile could also assist other agencies investigating unsolved cases linked to the killer.

Bundy, one of the most notorious serial killers in US history, is known to have murdered at least 30 women across multiple states during the 1970s.

Aime’s family said they were grateful that the case had finally been resolved, more than half a century after her death.