Kristen Smart - Unsolved & Still Missing

On May 25th 1996, a woman by the name of Kristen Smart disappeared after being last seen heading home from a Frat party at Kappa Chi. She was 19 years old at the time and in 2002, her status changed from 'missing' to 'presumed dead'.

She was a student at Cal Poly and stayed at the dorms. The party took place on Friday of Memorial Day Weekend and none of Kristen's close friends (all of which were residents at the dorms too) decided to go. This meant she was the only one in her close circle to actually attend - although she did know people there.

Kristen had very a good relationship with her family and kept in touch with them on a regular basis. When she didn't call them the following day, they thought since it was Memorial Day Weekend, they would hear from her on Monday. Of course, the parents didn't hear from her and they discovered she was missing - nobody had seen her since Friday.

During the night of the party, Kristen was seen by two students out on the lawn passed out. Students Cheryl Johnston and Tim Davis decided to help her back to her dorm but she was never known for being a heavy drinker. As they were taking her home, a guy named Paul Flores joined in helping her home. Tim Davis was the first to leave followed by Cheryl who didn't want to make the whole trip to her dorm so left her with Paul.

Paul hardly knew Kristen and according to him, had to put his hands on her waste to ensure she didn't fall and also had to hug her because she was cold. He told police his final moments with her happened like this, pointing to different directions (see video link at the end of article):

"I walked with her to where the driveway was and I went off to my dorm, cause the walkway goes that way towards my dorm and then she started to walk that way".

Paul was the last person to see her. The Campus Police were reluctant to officially declare her missing or to even report it to the Police and thought she went on a quick vacation. Her roommate said that nothing of importance such as her purse or keys were missing so it was very odd and unlike her to begin with.

Her father, went to the campus and began putting up posters. But three days later, she was finally declared as an official missing person.

It was discovered that Paul had previously been accused of stalking another girl on Campus but she didn't press charges so there is really no information that could help us here other than this accusation. 

Almost two months after her disappearance, the police brought in Cadaver dogs to all the building blocks. The dogs alerted to room No.128 of Santa Lucia Hall...take a guess at who's dorm that was...

Yup! The dorm belonged to Paul and his roommate Derek. They brought in multiple Cadaver  dogs to ensure the dog wasn't messing up and still they all reacted to room 128. Derek lived on the right side of the room whilst Paul lived on the left. The dogs lead them to the left side of the room on the end of Pauls' bed mattress. They took a sample as evidence and then removed the whole thing. They brought the dogs back and still they alerted to the same room. This has made many experts believe there is a strong possibility a dead body was in room 128.

Det. Sgt. Peter R. Bayer of the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s office said:

"Those dogs hit on room 128, at Cal Poly Campus and specifically came into this room [128] and hit on this mattress [Paul's] and the corner of the mattress. This room was occupied by, coincidentally the male subject that was last seen with Kristen Smart on the day she became a missing person."

According to Derek, Paul had admitted to killing her and taking her to his mom's house. To make Paul look even more guilty, he had scratches on his knees and a black eye. When questioned by police, he said the black eye was because he was elbowed by Jeremy Moon whilst playing Basketball. But police interviewed Jeremey and were told he had the injury BEFORE he played Basketball with him meaning Paul lied to the police. He also refused to take a lie detector test which makes you wonder...what else did he lie about?

He said he lied because the real reason was lame and didn't want to look guilty. He apparently had a black eye because he hit it off the steering wheel whilst fitting a car stereo.

After they found nothing of significance on the campus, they moved to his family homes. A very insightful witness statement was given to the police. The witness was staying just across from the house his mom was a landlord in and said he saw two men over at Paul's mom's house digging holes and filling them with concrete. The holes were waist-deep and around 7-8 feet long. He also said he saw something heavy being put into the hole and that both men had to lift it together. 

He didn't know Paul or his family but came forward a week later after seeing Paul's mugshot.

Around 6 months later, a renter of that house, Mary Lassiter noticed a blue earing on the driveway that had something red on it which could have been dried blood. When Kristen's parents saw them, they knew it was hers as they were her favourite pair. BUT...of course, this evidence wasn't used...why? Because the police lost it! They reportedly just put into a drawer loosely and not in any evidence bags. This could have been the final piece to the puzzle, resulting in Paul's arrest.

On March 3rd 1997, the dogs were brought to the property and they alerted to a concrete garden area but didn't smell any human remains but that could have been because it was covered in concrete.

Recently, back in September 2016, an FBI team began excavating a site on the edge of California Polytechnic State University in hope of finding any remains. They did however find bones but are unsure if they were hers, or even human. They have also said they have new leads which could solve the case.

To this day, her body has never been recovered, nor any trace of her other than her earring which is now 'lost'.

The parents of Kristin, Stan and Denise say they appreciate the dedication of all who are taking part in the renewed attempt to find her and hope “the person of interest” will soon be held accountable for taking her life and concealing her remains for over 20 years.

WEBSITE FOR MORE INFO & HOW YOU CAN HELP:
https://www.kristinsmart.org/

DESCRIPTION:

Gender: Female
DOB: February 20th 1977
Height: 6’1”
Weight: 145 to 160 lbs.
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Dark blonde
Remarks: Last seen May 25th 1996

SOURCES:

Paul Flores Police Interview

Kendall Rae

Kristen Smart: Part 1

UPDATE: Sept. 2016