No corpse but a killer: game over for the murderer of young Kristin Smart

On May 25, 1996, Kristin Smart, a 19-year-old student at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, disappeared on her way home from a party. Despite years of investigation, His body has never been found. 26 years after his disappearance and after a long trial, the jury declared Paul Flores guilty of murder of the young woman, as reported ABC News. For his part, his father Ruben Flores, who was tried for complicity and accused of helping his son hide his body was found not guilty.

At the time of Kristin Smart’s disappearance, Paul Flores was also a student at San Luis Obispo. According to one of the missing woman’s friends, he had used to following her at night, near his dormitory while he was not residing there. His behavior also made the young woman uncomfortable. “Everyone in the dorm thought Paul was weirde” he said during the trial.

Paul Flores was the last to see Kristin Smart alive

The night Kristin Smart disappeared, Paul Flores had her escorted back to his dormitory, while drunk after a party. He had convinced his friends that he should accompany her to her room, because she had trouble walking. The next day and while the young woman had disappeared, Paul Flores had appeared with a black eye. If he had first assured that he had hurt himself playing basketball, he had then changed the version by explaining that he had injured while repairing his truck.

Over the years, the investigation turned to Paul Flores. Indeed, the sniffer dogs had leads the investigators to his room, located near the campus. During searches of his father’s home in 2020, trucks belonging to the family were identified as evidence. Eventually, father and son had been arrested in April 2021. The police believing that Ruben Flores would have helped his son bury Kristin Smart in their garden, before moving his body years later. The student’s family now hope find his bodyin order to move forward.