Fifty-Two Years

0:00 [SPEAKER_00]: Warning check the locks podcast is a true crime podcast and may contain graphic descriptions of violence, murder, sexual assault, and more. [SPEAKER_00]: Check the locks podcast is not appropriate for all listeners. [SPEAKER_00]: Listener discretion is strongly advised. [SPEAKER_01]: In 1974, the daughter of a small town police chief vanished after an ordinary night out. [SPEAKER_01]: For decades, her murder remained unsolved, despite investigators suspecting one of America's most notorious serial killers. [SPEAKER_01]: Join me, John Conner, as I discuss the murder of Melissa Ann Smith.

0:43 [SPEAKER_01]: This is Check The Locks Podcast. [SPEAKER_01]: Hello and thank you for joining me as I dive into yet another truly terrifying true crime case as always before we begin. [SPEAKER_01]: Hope you're doing well. [SPEAKER_01]: Hope you're having a great week and I just want to say thank you for letting me spend a little bit of time with you while you're tackling whatever days you have going on today. [SPEAKER_01]: As I mentioned last week, we're going to be covering short on time cases. [SPEAKER_01]: If you missed it, I am going through some changes at work and have had a slight schedule change for the next few weeks. [SPEAKER_01]: So I'm going to be going over some shorter stories throughout [SPEAKER_01]: Even though this one is a shorty, I was really excited to cover it to hear what the listeners and the locksmith think about this one and as we go through, I definitely think you're going to understand why.

1:38 [SPEAKER_01]: So with that being said, I'm going to quit the Gabby Gabby. [SPEAKER_01]: We'll get to the stabby stabby. [SPEAKER_01]: Let's go ahead and jump right on into it. [SPEAKER_01]: This week we're going back in time to mid-Vale Utah in 1974. [SPEAKER_01]: Melissa Ann Smith was 17 years old. [SPEAKER_01]: She had grown up in Midvale with her family, her mother, Joan, and Sister Jolyne. [SPEAKER_01]: The family patriarch, Lewis, was the town's police chief. [SPEAKER_01]: In 1974, Melissa was a senior at Hillcrest High School and was also studying Cosmautology at a local beauty school. [SPEAKER_01]: Midvale was a quiet Mormon community just outside of Salt Lake [SPEAKER_01]: It was a quiet town where nothing much ever seemed to happen, but that would all change on October 18th, 1974.

2:27 [SPEAKER_01]: That night, Melissa met with a friend at a local pizza place called the Pepperoni at around 9pm. [SPEAKER_01]: The two girls sat and chatted for a bit, and at about 930, Melissa left her home. [SPEAKER_01]: Sadly, she would never make it. [SPEAKER_01]: Her nude body would be found nine days later on October 27th by a deer hunter in Summit [SPEAKER_01]: She had been battered and sexually assaulted. [SPEAKER_01]: Detectives worked the case and nearly a year later, they had their first potential suspect, a man who was serving one to 15 years in the Utah State prison for kidnapping a 17-year-old girl from a nearby mall in Murray. [SPEAKER_01]: That man was Ted Bundy, the infamous serial killer who had been loose at the time of Melissa's death.

3:14 [SPEAKER_01]: Now, Bundy would later confess to killing at least 30 young women and girls across Utah, Colorado, Washington, and Florida. [SPEAKER_01]: And though mid-vail police suspected him, there was never enough evidence for investigators to name him as an official suspect. [SPEAKER_01]: so the case sat. [SPEAKER_01]: As we all know, Bundy would be convicted of murder in 1979 and sentenced to death, being executed in 1989. [SPEAKER_01]: But investigators never closed Melissa's case, and in 2026, answers finally came. [SPEAKER_01]: On October 27, 52 years after her murder, the Summit County Sheriff's Office was [SPEAKER_01]: The break in the case came when Bundy was linked to yet another murder.

4:05 [SPEAKER_01]: This time it was Laura Ann A. [SPEAKER_01]: Men 1974. [SPEAKER_01]: Laura was also 17 at the time of her death, disappearing on Halloween night, and her body would be discovered Thanksgiving Day 1974. [SPEAKER_01]: Like Melissa, Laura was nude, sexually assaulted, and severely beaten. [SPEAKER_01]: The Utah State Crime Lab was able to link DNA found on Laura's body to Bundy. [SPEAKER_01]: And once verified, that same sample was tested against evidence found in Melissa's case. [SPEAKER_01]: And again, it was a match. [SPEAKER_01]: Ted Bundy had murdered Laura Ann Am and Melissa Ann Smith. [SPEAKER_01]: With both murders matching Bundy's pattern, motive, and means of opportunity.

4:48 [SPEAKER_01]: But sadly, the people who were most affected by Melissa's murder never got the answers that they deserved. [SPEAKER_01]: Following her disappearance, Louis resigned from the police force in 1980 and passed away only a few years later in 1985. [SPEAKER_01]: Melissa's sister, Jolene, would pass away in 2014, and her mother, Joan, died just two years ago in 2024. [SPEAKER_01]: But my hope is now that these questions have been answered. [SPEAKER_01]: Melissa and her family can finally have peace and whatever comes after this life. [SPEAKER_01]: So that's this week's case and there's always I just wanted to share some final thoughts. [SPEAKER_01]: So I'll talk about Ted Bundy in just a moment but first, it still blows my mind that cases like this can be solved over 50 years later.

5:34 [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, it would have been very easy to let Melissa's case go cold, and I'm sure that at times the various investigators working on this case probably felt that it would never be solved. [SPEAKER_01]: But thanks to their perseverance and the advancements and technology, [SPEAKER_01]: It just sucks that her killer was already dead. [SPEAKER_01]: And I mean, imagine being these detectives. [SPEAKER_01]: And the years are going by and you're sure that one of the most prolific serial killers of all time is responsible for the murder case that you're working on. [SPEAKER_01]: And you want to get justice from Alyssa and you want to get justice for her family and you're watching Bundy go to trial and be found guilty just to see him get executed before you get that answer.

6:20 [SPEAKER_01]: And I'm sure that there were times where these investigators thought that they would never be able to prove that it was him. [SPEAKER_01]: Then boom, half a century later, you've got this new technology that's used in another murder case, and you're able to use that evidence to link the same killer to both crimes. [SPEAKER_01]: So if you stop and think about it, it really is quite amazing that this case got solved at all. [SPEAKER_01]: But then, on the other hand, I feel like it takes away from the victim's stories. [SPEAKER_01]: But if you remember, that's the case that became more about Chris DePych, the woman in Tennessee, who had the failed execution attempt. [SPEAKER_01]: Now that story is about Christa, it's not about Colleen, and I had that same feeling with this case.

7:05 [SPEAKER_01]: You know, had Melissa and Laura been murdered by absolutely anyone else. [SPEAKER_01]: I think their stories would have been more about justice. [SPEAKER_01]: But because they were victims of the Ted Bundy, it feels like it becomes about him. [SPEAKER_01]: A man who was already executed for other horrific crimes he committed nearly 40 years ago, who now can't be held accountable for these gruesome murders. [SPEAKER_01]: and it's heartbreaking that Melissa's family left this world without ever knowing for sure. [SPEAKER_01]: You know, as I was going through and doing the research, I couldn't help but feel for her father Lewis, I mean, he was the police chief of this town, and then he loses his daughter and I'm sure that it haunted him every day of his life.

7:47 [SPEAKER_01]: And as a father, crush me to think about how he must have felt. [SPEAKER_01]: So if we're talking deadbolt test, this one is going to be an eight for me, mostly because Melissa's family never got to hear the truth about what happened to her. [SPEAKER_01]: But as always, I want to hear from you, the listeners, the locksmiths. [SPEAKER_01]: Where does the murder of Melissa Ann Smith fall on your devil test? [SPEAKER_01]: You can let me know, reach out to me on Instagram, check the locks, pod, find me on Twitter, check the locks. [SPEAKER_01]: And if you're not in our Facebook group, what the heck are you doing? [SPEAKER_01]: Come hang out with us. [SPEAKER_01]: We would absolutely love to get to know you, spend a little bit of time with you. [SPEAKER_01]: I've said it before, but it is the coolest place, the best place on the internet. [SPEAKER_01]: And it really is a place that feels like a community where everybody is there just to lift each other up. [SPEAKER_01]: If that sounds like something you like to be a part of, you've got good vibes of ring.

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9:14 [SPEAKER_01]: I say it every week, but this is a very small independent podcast. [SPEAKER_01]: And so when you let people know that the show exists, it helps to bring in new listeners, but more importantly, new members to the community. [SPEAKER_01]: So just know that if you were sharing this in any way, shape or form, I appreciate it more than I could ever tell you. [SPEAKER_01]: That's all that I've got for you for this week's case, but please make sure that you're subscribed to check the locks and your favorite podcast absolutely you never missed an episode. [SPEAKER_01]: I will see you again next week with another truly terrifying true crime case, but until then remember, monsters are real. [SPEAKER_01]: So stay safe, stay ready, and don't forget to check the locks. [SPEAKER_01]: See you next week.