The case of a Utah teenager murdered more than 50 years ago is finally closed after authorities said Wednesday that DNA evidence confirmed she was a victim of notorious serial killer Ted Bundy.

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Laura Ann Aime, 17, was last seen at a Halloween party on Oct. 31, 1974. She left the party to do a convenience store run and never returned, according to the Utah County Sheriff’s Office.

Hikers found the woman’s body about a month later, down an embankment just off a mountain road. It appeared she had been strangled and severely beaten, the office said.

Before his execution in 1989, Bundy admitted to killing Aime, Sheriff Mike Smith said Wednesday. But authorities declined to accept the confession and determined the case “was unable to satisfactorily convict Bundy based upon the evidence in possession and with the available investigative sciences for the time,” the sheriff’s office said.

At the time, Bundy was studying law at the University of Utah.

The office said that it began efforts last year to resolve Aime’s cold case using new forensic techniques and DNA test comparisons. The process confirmed that the DNA evidence recovered from Aime’s body in 1974 belonged to Bundy.

“This case is officially closed,” Smith said during a news conference Wednesday.

Michelle Impala, Aime’s younger sister, remembered Aime as a fun, outgoing older sister.

“I was 12 when Laura died. She was 17. We were really close. We shared a room. We rode horses together. She was very passionate about animals,” Impala, who is now 64, said at the news conference. “She took me everywhere, as a 12-year-old that was pretty cool to hang out with my older sister.”

Utah County Sheriff’s Sgt. Mike Reynolds, who was involved in reviewing Aime’s cold case last year, described the late teen as “the quintessential daughter of Utah County.”

“We felt the pain the family feels when she was taken. We felt the pain that you felt this whole entire time, and we’ve had the desire to deliver to you some type of healing, we can’t really say closure,” Reynolds said during the news conference.

Smith said new forensic techniques “will make any future DNA test comparisons easier for those law enforcement agencies who still have open cases involving Bundy.”

Bundy kidnapped, tortured, raped, and murdered what is believed to be dozens of young women during the 1970s.

While it is unknown exactly how many people he killed, he confessed to murdering 30 women in seven states in the mid-1970s. Bundy was executed on Jan. 24, 1989.

Bundy was convicted of murdering two sorority sisters from Florida State University. The 1979 trial was the first to be nationally televised, sparking a twisted fascination among viewers at home who considered him charming and handsome.

In the decades since his execution, Bundy has been the subject of countless films, documentaries, books and biographies.

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — Empty office buildings are being redesigned into rental apartments in Utah and across the nation.

A handful of new apartment projects are being constructed in old office buildings right in Salt Lake City.

Projects like Arbor 515 in downtown Salt Lake City and Seraph at South Temple have created over 300 rental units in existing buildings. 600 office-to-apartment units are now in progress, according to RentCafe.

Nationwide, over 90,000 apartments were in the process of conversion at the start of this year. According to RentCafe, that’s up 28% from about a year ago.

While Utah has its own mix of projects, New York, Washington DC, and Chicago lead the nation with the most conversion projects.

Researchers explained that since the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been too much office space on the market. RentCafe says financial pressure and government-backed incentives are encouraging office to apartment living.

The rental site states that office-to-apartment conversions take several years to complete and are slower due to structural constraints, high construction costs, financing hurdles, and local regulatory requirements.

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By The Associated Press

Denver Nuggets (48-28, fourth in the Western Conference) vs. Utah Jazz (21-55, 14th in the Western Conference)

Salt Lake City; Wednesday, 9 p.m. EDT

BOTTOM LINE: Utah aims to end its four-game home losing streak with a win over Denver.

The Jazz are 1-13 in division play. Utah allows the most points in the Western Conference, giving up 125.4 points and is allowing opponents to shoot 49.2%.

The Nuggets are 8-5 against the rest of their division. Denver is fifth in the league with 28.8 assists per game led by Nikola Jokic averaging 10.8.

The Jazz are shooting 46.6% from the field this season, 0.3 percentage points lower than the 46.9% the Nuggets allow to opponents. The Nuggets average 14.1 made 3-pointers per game this season, 1.2 fewer made shots on average than the 15.3 per game the Jazz give up.

The teams square off for the fourth time this season. The Nuggets won the last matchup 135-129 on March 28. Jokic scored 33 points to help lead the Nuggets to the win.

TOP PERFORMERS: Kyle Filipowski is shooting 49.5% and averaging 11.1 points for the Jazz. Ace Bailey is averaging 3.1 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

Jokic is averaging 27.9 points, 12.9 rebounds and 10.8 assists for the Nuggets. Jamal Murray is averaging 3.1 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Jazz: 1-9, averaging 116.8 points, 41.2 rebounds, 29.4 assists, 10.3 steals and 4.8 blocks per game while shooting 47.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 127.6 points per game.

Nuggets: 8-2, averaging 127.0 points, 45.2 rebounds, 32.8 assists, 6.2 steals and 3.2 blocks per game while shooting 50.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 118.6 points.

INJURIES: Jazz: Lauri Markkanen: out (hip), Isaiah Collier: out (hamstring), Keyonte George: out (leg), Walker Kessler: out for season (shoulder), Jusuf Nurkic: out for season (nose), Elijah Harkless: out (hamstring), Jaren Jackson Jr.: out for season (knee).

Nuggets: Zeke Nnaji: day to day (hip), Spencer Jones: day to day (hamstring), Aaron Gordon: day to day (calf), Cameron Johnson: day to day (back).

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.