Disappearance of Kristin Smart

Kristin Denise Smart (born February 20, 1977, legally presumed dead May 25, 2002) is an American missing person. She disappeared on May 25, 1996 while attending California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. Three fellow-students had escorted her back to her hall of residence after a party. One of them, Paul Flores, was the last person known to have seen her alive, and he claims that he left her to return to her dorm alone. When a police-dog located evidence of human remains close to the Flores family home, the Sheriff’s office refused to issue a search warrant, and a local newspaper raised suspicions of a cover-up. Smart is still on file as a high priority missing person. Disappearance: The night Smart disappeared, she attended a birthday party of a fellow student, which fell on Memorial Day weekend 1996. At approximately 2:00 a.m. on May 25, 1996 she was found passed out drunk on the neighbor's lawn by two fellow students and party-goers: Cheryl Anderson and Tim Davis, who both had just left the party. They helped her to her feet and decided to walk her back to her nearby dorm. Another student from the party, Paul Flores, joined their group and offered to help the two get Kristin back to her dorm room safely. Tim Davis departed the group first since he lived off campus and had driven to the party. Cheryl Anderson was the second to depart the group after she told Paul Flores that he could walk Kristin Smart back to her dorm since he lived closer. Flores stated to police that he walked Smart as far as his dormitory, Santa Lucia Hall, and then allowed her to walk back to her Muir Hall dorm by herself. This was the last known sighting of her. She did not have any money or credit cards at the time she went missing. Official Investigation: The campus police originally suspected that Smart had gone on an unannounced vacation, as was common among students over the holidays. It was because of this that the campus police were slow at reporting her as a missing person to local law enforcement. During the high profile Laci Peterson murder investigation, there were unfounded rumors in the media that Scott Peterson had something to with Kristin's disappearance since Scott attended California Polytechnic State University at the same time as Smart. There was a brief initial inquiry into whether Peterson had any involvement. Peterson was totally ruled out as a suspect by police. Scott has publicly denied any involvement in the Kristin Smart case. Smart's disappearance remains essentially an unsolved case however, and no firmly proven explanation for her disappearance exists. Her body has never been found. Legacy: Smart's disappearance and slow response by the California Polytechnic State University Police Department resulted in the Kristin Smart Campus Security Act being written and sponsored by Democratic state Senator Mike Thompson, passed 61-0 by the California State Legislature, and signed into effect by then Governor of California Pete Wilson on August 19, 1998. The law took effect on January 1, 1999 and requires all public colleges, and other publicly funded educational institutions to have their security services have agreements with local police departments about reporting cases involving or possibly involving violence against students, including missing students. Kristin Smart was declared legally dead in May 25, 2002, the sixth anniversary of her disappearance. Smart's parents, Denise and Stan Smart, took a civil case of wrongful death against Paul Flores in 2005, but dropped it after Flores pleaded the fifth amendment. The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office still reviews the case monthly. The FBI have her on file as a high priority missing person investigation, with a reward of $75,000 for information leading to finding her or resolving her case. Terry Black, a local businessman and friend of the Smart family, has offered a $100,000 reward for Smart's body. In 2005, Paul Flores's mother Susan Flores and her boyfriend Mike McConville filed a lawsuit claiming loss of employment, harassment and emotional distress against Kristin Smart's parents and a family friend who operates a website tracking Flores. Controversy: Feeling that no investigation is (or was) conducted on the Kristin Smart case, a local newspaper publisher called in help from outside San Luis Obispo County. A retired police detective brought in the famous cadaver search dog "BUSTER" to help find Kristin's remains. The publisher and detective obtained permission from a neighbor who owns property adjacent to the home owned by the Flores family. On June 2, 2014, and again on August 1, 2014, BUSTER alerted on the scent of human remains immediately behind the Flores home where Paul Flores' mother Susan Flores lived when Kristin Smart disappeared from the Cal Poly campus. Susan Flores currently resides in the same Arroyo Grande, CA home. BUSTER's alerts were immediately relayed to the San Luis Obispo Sheriff's office. The sheriff's office has not obtained a search warrant, or done anything to investigate BUSTER's alerts further. A soil sample was taken at the time BUSTER alerted which came back from the laboratory containing a human-specific chemical. The San Luis Obispo Sheriff's office failed to obtain a search warrant in order to retrieve additional samples from deeper depths which could be more conclusive. The sheriff's office never contacted the neighbor to allow for a voluntary search of the neighbor's property. The local sheriff's department did not use their own search dogs to prove (or disprove) that human remains exist in the soil behind the Flores home. On July 12, 1996, San Luis Obispo Sheriff's Detective H. Stewart interviewed Derrick Tse (1996 college roommate to Paul Flores at Cal Poly). Derrick Tse said he asked Paul Flores about Kristin Smart's disappearance. Derrick Tse said Paul Flores just joked about it and said, "Yeah, she's at my house eating lunch with my mom." On September 30, 1996, FBI Special Agent Kevin MacGinnis spoke with Derrick Tse. Derrick Tse said he spoke with Paul Flores one week after the disappearance of Kristin Smart. During this conversation, Tse joked with Flores saying, "You killed her and drug her body off," Flores replied, "Yes, I killed her and brought her to my mom's and she is still there." The publisher of The California Register, who has been deeply involved in the case for several years, believes there may be a concerted effort by a cabal of people that do not want to find Kristin Smart in order to protect the "good name and reputation" of California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly). According to a 2014 report, Cal Poly is one of the largest employers in San Luis Obispo County generating and economic impact of $1.4 billion annually. The California Register newspaper has requested a copy of a search warrant from June 20, 2000, but the sheriff's department has refused. The paper is considering a law suit against the sheriff's department and county for documents they believe are protected under the California Public Records Act and FOIA. Kristin Smart is not related to Elizabeth Smart, a Salt Lake City, Utah teen who was abducted in June 2002 and found alive in March 2003.