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In the spring of 1996, 19-year-old Kristin Smart, known for her adventurous spirit and promising future, disappeared without a trace.
Her sudden disappearance left her family and friends in turmoil, seeking answers for over 20 years. The mystery remained unresolved until justice was finally served with her murderer’s conviction in 2022.
The case is reexamined in a new episode of Dateline: Unforgettable, titled “Justice for Kristin Smart,” premiering on November 20. Correspondent Josh Mankiewicz delves into the heartbreaking story once more.
Kristin was a freshman at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California, when she attended an off-campus gathering on the Friday before Memorial Day weekend in May 1996.
What happened to Kristin Smart?
On the Friday of Memorial Day weekend in May 1996, Kristin, a freshman at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California, attended an off-campus party.
After leaving the bash with a friend, the two women went separate ways. On Sunday, Kristin’s inner circle realized that she’d never returned to her dorm room. But all her belongings—purse, ID, money—were still there.
Her friends called campus police right away. Officials informed them because Kristin was over 18, they’d have to wait 24 hours.
Cal Poly campus police contacted Kristin’s parents, Stan and Denise Smart, at their home in Stockton, California, a couple days later. They said their daughter hadn’t been seen since the early morning hours of May 25.
“I was immediately fearful,” said Denise told Dateline. “It’s just not her.”
Three days after Kristin had last been seen, campus police took an official missing person report.
Who was Kristin Smart?
While Kristin had struggled with adjusting to college, she never shied from a challenge.
When she arrived at school, she began going by other names, like Roxy. “It was just kind of this alter ego,” said her friend Vanessa Shields. “She just wanted to have fun and play with it.”
As she embraced independence, Kristin’s ties to home were strong. She called home every Sunday.
“She was an artist,” said her brother Matt Smart. “She was an adventurer. She was an individual who was just full of life.”
Paul Flores interviewed
Campus officials learned the Kristin walked back to her dorm with several other Cal Poly students including Paul Flores, a freshman from Arroyo Grande, California.
Paul told Cal Poly police that Kristin had approached him at the party and introduced herself as Roxy
. He said he’d walked back to campus around 2 a.m. He said she went to her residence and he went to his.
During this interview police observed Paul’s black eye. He said he got it playing basketball on Monday. Then, he was allowed to go on his way.
A month later, Cal Poly handed the case over the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Department.
Through some digging, William Hanley, who was a San Luis Obispo DA Detective at the time, had learned that Paul had been seen with a black eye before Monday.
Paul changed his story, claiming that he’d got the injury working on a car. It raised suspicions, but that wasn’t enough to make an arrest.
Campus police come under scrutiny
As time passed, Cal Poly campus police faced criticism for how they handled the case.
“Kristin’s family,” said Mankiewicz, “said campus police would have been in charge of such an investigation to begin with.”
In addition to moving slowly on the case, officials focused on Kristin’s clothing and sexual behavior. “It was a different era,” said Denise. “There was a lot of victim shaming.”
What cadaver dogs found at Cal Poly
A month after Kristin’s disappearance, sheriff’s detectives searched the campus. By this time, students had all moved out.
Out of 113 rooms, four cadaver dogs all detected human decomposition in the same place—Paul’s vacant room. It raised a red flag, but, again, it wasn’t enough for an arrest.
Denise and Stand reached out to Paul’s parents, but they were not interested in talking.
By Memorial Day 1997, sheriffs had made little progress. Kristin’s parents had grown increasingly frustrated over the lack of movement by sheriffs. They believed eyes were essentially off Paul.
Pat Hedges, who was Sheriff then, refuted that, saying, “We conducted both covert and overt surveillance on him.”
But wire taps of Flores family phones led to no leads. Kristin’s case stalled for years.
Podcast helps jump start the case
In 2018, with the blessing of Kristin’s parents, Chris Lambert launched a podcast retracing the case called “Your Own Backyard.”
Chris, a musician from the area, was only 8 in 1996. He didn’t know Kristin, but he’d seen her face on billboards on the roadside for years. Her story was rooted in his own backyard.
The podcast renewed focus on the decades-old case. It gained millions of listeners, including Ian Parkinson, who’d been in office as the Sheriff for eight years at the time.
“I promised that I would do everything I could to find Kristin,” said Parkinson, “and prosecute those that were responsible.”
The podcast became a useful source of information for law enforcement.
The Smarts said Parkinson and cold case investigator Clint Cole stayed in touch with them on a regular basis. “We felt movement,” said Denise. “We felt progress.”
New warrants were obtained to tap the Flores phones. Paul’s mother was overheard telling Paul to listen to the podcast so they could “punch holes” in it.
Eventually law enforcement was able to get search warrants for properties owned by Flores family. In 2020, investigators seized Paul’s digital devices.
Investigators dig deep into Paul Flores’ history
Early on, detectives heard that Paul had a reputation. He was awkward, per Mankiewicz. He made women feel uncomfortable.
When detectives scoured Paul’s online search history, they found downloads of pornography about raping drunk college students.
Other tapes showed Paul having sex with women who appeared to be passed out. “It was enough to make me sick,” said Parkinson. “That somebody could do that.”
Sheriffs searched Paul’s house, where they found prescription sedatives. A search of the home of Ruben Flores, Paul’s father, revealed traces of human decomposition deep in soil under a backyard deck. The evidence was too degraded for a DNA test. As Kristin’s remains have never been found, she was legally declared dead in 2002.
Paul Flores arrested
By the spring of 2021, investigators had enough evidence to make arrests. On April 13, Paul was charged with murder. Ruben was charged as an accessory after the fact.
On July 18, 2022, the trial began. The state’s theory was the Paul murdered Kristin while raping her, part of a pattern of his behavior.
Defense attorney Robert Sanger argued that the case against Paul was built on shaky ground, calling it “hocus pocus.”
At the end of the proceedings in October, Ruben was acquitted. Paul was found guilty of murder. He was sentenced to 25 years to life.
The Smarts turned their grief and personal agony into action. They helped pass the Kristin Smart Campus Safety Act of 1998 in California requiring college police to coordinate with local law enforcement.
Watch Dateline: Unforgettable, airing Thursdays at 8/7c p.m. on Oxygen.