Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of murder and assault. Reader discretion is advised.
Kristin Smart was a freshman at the California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo and was reported missing on May 28, 1996. She disappeared after she was last seen at approximately 2 a.m. on May 25, 1996. This took place when she was walking back to her dorm room from an off-campus party.
Paul Flores, a student who accompanied her, said that he dropped her off one block away from her dorm before he headed to his own residence. However, according to FBI records, Kristin never returned to her dorm room or ever contacted any friends or family since that day.
After a month of her disappearance, authorities used helicopters in order to thoroughly search the campus. Officials also made sure that the investigation would also cover the remote parts. However, her personal belongings and reminders to turn in assignments were among the only things found in her room. In the investigation, Cadaver dogs were sent to search Paul Flores’ room, the New York Times reported.
A couple of days after Kristin Smart disappeared, Paul Flores went to the Arroyo Grande Police Department owing to an outstanding DUI warning. In a mug shot taken there, officials spotted that Flores had a black eye. He offered three inconsistent stories regarding how he sustained the injury. In fact, women at Cal Poly reportedly nicknamed Paul “Chester the Molester,” for his reputation of groping many girls on campus.
In October 1996, Mary Lassiter was renting Paul Flores’ mother’s house in Arroyo Grande. She found a single earring that reportedly matched Kristin Smart’s necklace, which she was wearing on one of the missing posters. However, the earring handed over to a detective went missing before it could be considered evidence.
Who was convicted of killing Kristin Smart?
In March 2021, authorities conducted a series of searches throughout the backyard of the house. This search continued for about a decade. This time, authorities found biological evidence that led to the arrest of Paul Flores. The latter was charged with murder, and his father, Ruben Flores, was charged with being an accessory to the crime.
The last person to see Kristin Smart was Paul Flores. The court convicted him of first-degree murder of Smart on October 18, 2022. The verdict was announced 26 years after the disappearance of Smart. Prosecutors argued that Paul Flores killed her during an attempted rape in his dorm room. Both of them were first-year students at the time. Flores was 45 years old when he was found guilty. In 2023, the court sentenced him to 25 years to life in prison, CBS News reported.
Paul’s father, Ruben Flores, was found not guilty of being an accessory to the murder. He was initially accused of helping his son conceal the crime. Authorities also accused him of assisting Paul in burying Kristin Smart behind his residence in the Arroyo Grande community. They also alleged that he then removed the remains and moved them to a different location. Ruben Flores was 81 years old at the time of his acquittal.
The authorities never found the remains of Kristin Smart. In January 2024, NBC News reported that Smart’s family is suing California University. They accused the institution of negligence, wrongful death, and negligent infliction of emotional distress. The family also complained about Paul Flores harassing, threatening, and stalking her. These came to the attention of the university before Kristin’s disappearance. Yet, investigations were not done thoroughly.
Paul Flores is currently serving his sentence at the Pleasant Valley State Prison.
