Kristin Smart went missing while attending university and has not been seen or heard from since (Image: Axel Koester/Sygma via Getty Images)
What started as an ordinary evening for one teenage girl turned sinister after she attended a house party near her university accommodation. A fellow student volunteered to help her get “home safely” – and she was never seen again. Three decades on, she still hasn’t been found.
Kristin Denise Smart was just 19 years old and studying at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo when she disappeared on May 25, 1996. Six years later, on May 25, 2002, she was formally declared dead – and the student who was seen escorting her home that fateful night was subsequently charged with her murder.
Kristin was born in Augsburg, Germany, and moved with her family to Stockton, California, during her childhood. In 1995, she began studying at Cal Poly and, towards the end of her first year, chose to attend a birthday party at a fraternity house not too far from her halls of residence.
On the evening of May 24, 1996, Kristin arrived at the party alone after her friend pulled out at the last minute. At around 2am on Saturday, May 25, fellow students Cheryl Anderson and Tim Davis were leaving the event when they saw Kristin unconscious on a neighbour’s lawn.
After waking her and helping her to her feet, the pair decided to walk her back to her nearby dormitory. Paul Flores, another student who had also attended the party, joined the group and volunteered to make sure Kristin reached her room.
As his own dormitory was close to Kristin’s, Paul assured Cheryl and Tom he would “get Kristin home safely”. This was the last time Kristin was seen alive.
When questioned by police, Flores stated he walked Kristin as far as his own dormitory – Santa Lucia Hall – before she continued alone to her own dorm, Muir Hall. Flores’ testimony was the last confirmed sighting of Kristin.
She had neither money nor credit cards on her when she disappeared. It took a full week for Kristin to be formally reported missing, as the University Police Department initially assumed she had left on an unannounced break, and chose to delay notifying local law enforcement. Her family, however, had already contacted police earlier.
Kristin vanished after attending a party while she was in her first year at university (Image: Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
This year marks 30 years since her disappearance – and her remains have never been recovered. Suspicion surrounded Flores ever since that fateful night in 1996, yet it took more than two decades for him to face charges, with a number of potential leads proving fruitless over the years.
In October 1996, an earring believed to have belonged to Kristin – though never conclusively confirmed – was found at his mother’s property by a tenant renting the place. However, it was misplaced by law enforcement before it could be properly examined or marked into evidence.
On April 13, 2021, Flores and his father, Ruben, were arrested on suspicion of involvement in Kristin’s disappearance. During searches of their properties, several “items of interest” were uncovered at Paul Flores’ residence.
Subsequently, on April 20, 2021, prosecutors said Kristin’s remains had, at some point, been buried beneath the decking of Ruben Flores’ home, before being moved and hidden elsewhere. Prosecutors confirmed that cadaver dogs and ground-penetrating radar had uncovered biological evidence to support this claim.
In July 2022, the father and son stood trial. Paul Flores was convicted of murdering Kristin Smart on October 18, 2022, and, in March 2023, received a sentence of 25 years to life behind bars. His father was cleared of being an accessory after the fact.
Kristin’s case continues to captivate people today, and was recently discussed in a comprehensive post on social media. Facebook user Jennifer Ellsworth said: “I was a Resident Advisor in his dorm that year. Yah, he was an oddball. That summer, I was a dorm supervisor when people came to help search for her. It was a dark time on campus.”
She noted Scott Peterson, who killed his pregnant wife, Laci, and their unborn son, Connor, in December 2002, was also attending California Polytechnic State University during the same period.
Another person shared: “Now in 2026, my neighbour four houses down still has a (this girl is) missing sign with her picture in their yard.” A third commented: “Hopefully with the new search at his mom’s house, something comes up!!!! Praying she is found.”
