People Magazine Investigates Recap for Where is Kristin Smart

-This week’s People Magazine Invesrtigates is titled Where is Kristin Smart and focused on the disappearance of college student Kristin Smart.

-On Memorial Day 1996, college student Kristin Smart disappeared from California Polytechnic (Cal Poly) after a party.

-Trevor Boelter, a Cal Poly alumni, recalls the college town as a beautiful town that ‘nobody wants to leave’ by the beach that is small, but fun.

-Margarita Campos was a friend of Kristin’s who lived in the same dorm as her. The two were neighbors and often hung out together. She describes Kristin as an independent free spirit who balanced out her shy personality. She also says that Kristin loved the clothing brand Roxy and used it as a nickname for herself.

-During Memorial Day weekend 1996, Margarita was stressing out about finals. Kristin wanted to party and begged her to join. They decided to go out look for a party. They couldn’t find anything to do, but Kristin was determined to find a party.

-By this point, Margarita wanted to go to bed and headed back to the dorms. Kristin went to find a party and the girls said goodbye.

-The next day, Margarita went to find Kristin in her dorm, but saw she wasn’t there. She didn’t worry too much, but when she didn’t see her the next day, she went to report her missing to the campus police. They were told to wait 24 hours and once time was up, Kristin’s parents were contacted and an investigation began.

-Kristin’s parents Stan and Denise were also concerned since they didn’t get their usual Sunday night call from her.

-News of Kristin’s disappearance spread through campus. People, including Trevor, recall seeing her at a party and that Kristin was acting spacy and odd. He also remembers her kissing him and calling herself Roxy. He adds that he never saw her drinking but smelled alcohol on her breath.

-It is learned that Kristin was found passed out on a neighbor’s lawn at the party, so several people agreed to help take her home. One of those people was Paul Flores, who lived in the same dorm. He told the other girl with them, Cheryl Anderson, that she could go to her own dorm and he would make sure she got home safely. However, no one would ever see Kristin again.

-When questioned, Paul claimed that he spent the rest of the weekend studying, eating dinner on campus and then going home (picked up by his dad Reuben). That following Monday, he went to play basketball with a friend.

-During the questioning, police saw that he had bruises and abrasions. When asked about it, he claimed he got them from the basketball game.

-Paul’s roommate was also questioned, but he was out of town that weekend. He did, however, say Paul was acting odd and mentioned he was with Kristin before she was missing. He’d also joked that Kristin was home having lunch with his mom. Everyone found this odd.

-More students were questioned, while Margarita felt guilt about leaving her friens.

-As the investigation continued, there were some sightings and information. However, nothing led to anything finding Kristin.

-The investigation and search continued with the case gaining more attention.

-Paul was further investigated as well, with a window of time unaccounted for. His friend Jeremy also said that he had a black eye during the basketball game….the very game Paul claimed gave him the black eye.

-Paul is questioned again and admitted that he lied about getting the black eye, then saying he got it fixing his car. Police think that there is more going on that he is admitting…..but can’t prove anything.

-Paul finally refused to continue talking and asks for a lawyer.

-Further investigation into Paul’s past show that he has a dark past, including peeping in women’s windows on campus and had violent tendencies.

-Both the campus and town police worked together to help find Kristin and brought in a dog to search Paul’s dorm room. The room was empty due to Paul and his roommate moving out. The room had also been cleaned out by campus cleaning people.

-However, the dog got strong alerts from Paul’s bed…as did other dogs brought in. This allowed investigators to consider him a suspect and infer that Kristin likely died in the room and later moved, but there was still not enough evidence to make an arrest.

-Three months later, the case is still being investigated. Paul is no longer a student at the school and now living in Orange County.

-Stan and Denise will stop at nothing to get closure and plan on suing for wrongful death for Kristin.

-Paul is refusing to answer any questions as per his lawyer’s advice. This led to the Smarts thinking he is guilty.

-Kristin is declared legally dead in 2002, but the investigation continues over the years, but the case soon goes cold.

-21 years later, the case is picked up by another investigator. There is more evidence was possibly stalking her prior to her disappearance. There was also the possibility that he had help moving her body the night she was killed.

-Paul’s parents are investigated and it is believed that Reuben helped move the body and Paul’s mother Susan had added flowerbeds to the backyard. This added suspicion to the entire Flores family. It was also believed that Kristin’s body was in the vicinity of the Flores yard and their neighbor’s yard.

-In 2020, this lead is finally looked into, and the area is tested for human remains. At the same time, the podcast Your Own Backyard is airing, which does a deep dive into the case. At the same time, evidence is obtained from Paul’s home. This leads to a drug being found that is often used as a sedative and could have dire consequences when mixed with alcohol.

-Despite this, there is no proof that he drugged Kristin, even though her behavior suggested otherwise that night.

-Twenty-five years later. Susan, Reuben and Susan’s boyfriend are in the yard, making noise and digging stuff up. It is believed that they were moving evidence that proved Kristin had been buried there.

-Further investigation showed that there was evidence consistent with a human body decomposing in that very area. However, despite this and human blood found at the scene, DNA tests could not prove that it was Kristin.

-Despite this, Ruben and Paul are arrested in connection to the case since there is now enough evidence against them.

-The trial took place and in October 2022, Ruben was found not guilty, while Paul was found guilty and sentenced to 25 to life.

-A scholarship in Kristin’s name was created by her family and a memorial was made in her honor.

-Kristin’s remains have never been found, but believed to be somehwew in the Flores property.

-Paul is appealing his case, while the Smarts have filed a wrongful death suit against Cal Poly.