Kristin Smart was a 19-year-old Cal Poly freshman in 1996 when she disappeared. Submitted photo.
Memorial Day Weekend is officially a time when we remember fallen soldiers who died in defense of the nation. But for the County Sheriff it’s also a time to remember a case that has haunted SLO County for three decades.
Memorial Day, May 25, marked the 30th Anniversary of the disappearance of Cal Poly freshman, Kristin Smart, and while her killer has been tried and convicted of her murder, she officially remains “missing.”
“Today,” Sheriff Ian Parkinson said, “we remember Kristin Smart. A young woman whose life was stolen far too soon, but whose memory has never faded. For three decades, her family has carried the unimaginable weight of not knowing where she is, while our community has continued to hold onto hope that one day she will finally be brought home.”
Smart was just 19 when she disappeared over Memorial Day Weekend in 1996. She was last seen alive in the company of another Cal Poly freshman, Paul Flores, walking home from an off campus party. Smart was intoxicated.
Flores, who has always been the lone suspect in her disappearance, avoided justice for some 26 years until new evidence was uncovered and Sheriff Parkinson’s Cold Case Unit and the District Attorney’s Office were able to bring murder charges against him in 2021.
Paul Flores and his father, Reuben Flores, were both arrested. In 2022, Paul Flores was charged with murder, and his father with being an accessory after the fact for helping him hide Smart’s body.
That theory of the crime is the same one that has been suspected since shortly after her disappearance 30-years ago.
The senior Flores was acquitted but his son was convicted in a rare double trial. Both men’s cases were moved to Monterey County because of a change of venue order by a SLO County judge.
Each had their own jury, who while hearing the same arguments and evidence deliberated separately and came to opposite decisions.
Paul Flores remains in State Prison and has already twice appealed his conviction and been denied both times.
His father walked out of court a free man.
On May 8, the Sheriff’s Office served a search warrant on the Arroyo Grande home of Paul Flores’ mother, Susan, seeking to find Smart’s body.
But that search, which included the use of ground penetrating radar and “soil vapor science” did not find Smart’s remains. However, the results were not an entire failure.
“Soil scientists identified an area along the side yard of the property ta produced results consistent with the possible presence of human remains,” reads a news release by Sheriff’s spokesman, Tony Cipolla.
With that result in hand, investigators sought and were granted a second search warrant to specifically dig up the area the soil samples had indicated.
“In order for the excavation to take place,” Cipolla said, “large concrete pavers along the side yard had to be removed.”
The following day (May 9) they excavated the site, which sits very close to the Arroyo Grande Village district in the heart of the South County city, and sifted the soil looking for any evidence like archaeologists at a dig site.
“During the search of the property,” Cipolla said, “investigators recovered several items considered evidentiary in nature.”
He added that the County Crime Lab is analyzing those items, and declined to say specifically what they were.
The house on Branch Street in Arroyo Grande has long been suspected in the case as where Smart’s body was at least initially hidden, but it was trace evidence of human remains found under a porch at the Nipomo home of Reuben Flores that provided key evidence in the conviction of Paul Flores for her murder.
Ironically, while the younger Flores was convicted his father was acquitted; this even though the key piece of scientific evidence was found at his home.
Cipolla said of this latest search of Ms. Flores’ home, “Ultimately, no human remains were recovered during the excavation.”
He added that the Sheriff’s Department remains committed to finding Smart’s remains. Sheriff Parkinson, who was with the San Luis Obispo Police Department when Smart disappeared, is also dedicated to finding her and bringing closure to the case.
“As I said following the verdict in 2022,” Sheriff Parkinson said, “there is no true justice until Kristin is reunited with her family. That remains our mission today. The Sheriff’s Office will continue to pursue leads, conduct searches, and follow every path that could help us find Kristin. We will not stop searching for her, and we will not allow her to be forgotten.”
He pledged to the Smart Family to never give up.
“To the Smart Family,” he commented, “we continue to stand with you. And to our community — thank you for never giving up on Kristin. Our commitment remains unwavering. Until Kristin is brought home, this mission is not over.”
