Case overview
Kristin Smart was last seen in the early hours of May 25, 1996, after a party near the California Polytechnic State University campus in San Luis Obispo. Her body has never been found, but in 2021, Paul Flores was charged with her murder and his father, Ruben Flores, was charged as an accessory. The case turned on decades of investigative work, shifting witness accounts, and forensic evidence recovered from properties tied to the Flores family.
The last confirmed movements
Smart, a 19-year-old freshman, attended an off-campus party on the night of May 24, 1996. Multiple witnesses reported seeing her heavily intoxicated as she left around 2:00 a.m. Paul Flores, a fellow student who lived in the same residence hall, was among a small group that walked with her toward campus.
Two other students accompanied them partway before turning off. Flores told police he escorted Smart to her hall and returned to his own room. Smart never arrived at her dorm. Her roommate reported her missing when she failed to return over Memorial Day weekend.
Flores became a person of interest almost immediately. He had a black eye when questioned days after Smart’s disappearance, an injury he attributed to a basketball game. Witnesses later told investigators Flores had no such injury the night of the party.
The early investigation
Campus police initially treated the case as a missing person matter. By the time the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office took over, key evidence had been lost or overlooked. Smart’s dorm room was not secured, and her belongings were packed up by her family before a thorough search could be conducted.
Cadaver dogs alerted to Flores’s dorm room mattress during an early search, but investigators did not have sufficient probable cause to seize it as evidence. The mattress was later discarded. No charges were filed in 1996, and the case went cold despite repeated efforts by Smart’s family to keep it active.
Flores remained in the area for years and was repeatedly contacted by law enforcement. He invoked his Fifth Amendment rights and refused to answer questions. His behavior, coupled with inconsistencies in his statements, kept him at the center of suspicion, but no physical evidence linked him to a crime scene.
The breakthrough and the excavation
In 2019, the Sheriff’s Office, with assistance from the FBI, executed search warrants at four locations tied to Flores and his family. Investigators used ground-penetrating radar and cadaver dogs at the home of Ruben Flores in Arroyo Grande, where Paul had lived intermittently after leaving Cal Poly.
Soil samples taken from beneath the deck tested positive for human blood. Forensic analysis indicated the presence of decomposition byproducts consistent with a buried body that had been moved. Investigators also recovered physical evidence, including jewelry and personal items, though the specifics were not fully disclosed in pretrial filings.
The findings were significant enough to support an arrest. On April 13, 2021, Paul Flores was arrested and charged with murder. Ruben Flores was charged as an accessory after the fact, accused of helping conceal Smart’s remains.
The trial and the verdict
The case went to trial in 2022 in Monterey County after a change of venue due to pretrial publicity. Prosecutors argued that Paul Flores killed Smart during or after a sexual assault in his dorm room, then moved her body with his father’s help. The defense maintained that no evidence proved Smart was dead, let alone that Flores was responsible.
The prosecution relied on circumstantial evidence, including witness testimony about Flores’s behavior, the forensic findings at Ruben Flores’s property, and decades of investigative records. One witness, a former classmate, testified that Flores had previously made unwanted advances and had been seen watching Smart before the party.
On October 18, 2022, a jury convicted Paul Flores of first-degree murder. Ruben Flores was acquitted of the accessory charge, with jurors concluding that while he may have helped move the body, the evidence did not prove his involvement beyond a reasonable doubt. Paul Flores was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.
The unresolved question
Kristin Smart’s remains have never been located. Prosecutors theorized that her body was buried under Ruben Flores’s deck before being moved to an unknown location, possibly in 2020 when the property was under surveillance. Defense attorneys argued that the absence of a body, a confession, or direct physical evidence linking Paul Flores to a homicide left reasonable doubt.
The conviction marked one of the first successful murder prosecutions in California without a body in decades, but it raised questions about the sufficiency of circumstantial evidence in cases where key forensic proof is missing. Flores’s defense team has filed an appeal, citing insufficient evidence and procedural errors during trial.
The Smart family has stated that while the verdict brought accountability, the lack of closure remains painful. Kristin’s mother, Denise Smart, continues to advocate for legal reforms that would make it easier to prosecute cases involving missing victims.
Where to look next
- Podcast: “Your Own Backyard” (Hosted by Chris Lambert)
- Documentary: “Kristin Smart: Justice for Kristin” (Investigation Discovery)
- Documentary: “48 Hours: The Disappearance of Kristin Smart” (CBS)
