Kristin Smart’s Killer Was Convicted, But the Search for Her Body Continues

In the spring of 1996, 19-year-old California Polytechnic State University freshman Kristin Smart went to an off-campus party in nearby San Luis Obispo. A few hours later, she started heading back to her dorm room.

But Smart never made it home. Her roommate began to worry and contacted law enforcement, kicking off a massive—and, ultimately, unsuccessful—search. 

Smart’s remains still have not been found. However, investigators have never given up on the case. More than two decades after the mysterious disappearance, fellow Cal Poly student Paul Flores was found guilty of murdering Smart and sentenced to 25 years in prison—a rare instance of prosecutors securing a conviction in a “no-body” homicide.

Smart—nicknamed “Roxy”—seemingly vanished over Memorial Day weekend at the end of her first year at Cal Poly. On May 24, 1996, some friends from her dorm dropped her off alone at a party at a fraternity house close to campus. Several hours later, she was spotted sprawled on a lawn near the party and appeared to be intoxicated.

Flores volunteered to walk her home, and was the last known person to see her alive. When police later questioned Flores, he told them he’d walked Smart to her dorm, then continued on to his own campus residence hall. Two cadaver dogs alerted on one side of Flores’ dorm room, indicating they smelled human remains, but prosecutors didn’t charge him, and the case went cold. 

Smart was declared legally dead in 2002, but her family continued to fight for justice.

Then, in 2019, musician and recording engineer Chris Lambert began digging into Smart’s disappearance. His true-crime podcast Your Own Backyard revived public interest in the long-stalled case and prompted new witness testimony that ultimately helped move the investigation forward.

In March 2021, authorities used ground-penetrating radar and cadaver dogs to search the home of Flores’ dad, Ruben. A month later, they charged Paul with first-degree murder and Ruben with being an accessory after the fact. Prosecutors alleged Paul killed Smart while trying to rape her then recruited his father to help hide her body. 

Paul and Ruben were tried at the same time in July 2022, but separate juries decided each man’s fate. Both men pleaded not guilty and maintained their innocence throughout the proceedings. 

Since Smart’s body was never recovered, prosecutors faced the challenging—but not impossible—task of convincing the jury to convict using only circumstantial evidence. 

In “no-body” homicides like this one, prosecutors must first prove the victim is dead, Scott Rosenblum, an attorney with Rosenblum Schwartz Fry & Johnson, tells A&E Crime + Investigation. That might seem simple but, without a body, defense attorneys can always make the case that the victim is still alive somewhere and “may walk in the door at any moment,” Rosenblum says.

Even if prosecutors clear that hurdle, they must next contend with the lack of autopsy, which provides important insights into the cause and manner of death. “Those are big issues,” Rosenblum says. “The manner of death could be a homicide, accidental, suicide or natural.”

And if prosecutors manage to prove a homicide occurred, they still need to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that the victim was murdered and that the defendant was the killer, he adds.

During Paul’s nearly three-month trial, prosecutors presented evidence of a secret grave beneath the deck of his dad’s home, which they argued previously contained Smart’s body. They also leaned heavily on witness testimony, including from two women who said Paul drugged and raped them.   

In October 2022, the two juries reached different conclusions: One convicted Paul, while the other acquitted Ruben. 

“With today’s split verdict, we learned that our quest for justice for Kristin will continue,” her father, Stan Smart, told reporters at the time. “This has been an agonizingly long journey, with more downs than ups.”

At Paul’s sentencing hearing in March 2023, Smart’s family members urged the judge to impose the toughest possible sentence.

“Paul chose to take a life, my sister Kristin’s life, a beautiful life,” her brother, Matthew Smart, testified. “And now he must pay.”

Superior Court judge Jennifer O’Keefe handed down the maximum sentence, 25 years to life in prison, telling then-46-year-old Paul he was “a cancer to society.”

“For 25 years, you have lived free in the community while Kristin’s family has lived a nightmare,” O’Keefe said.

Paul appealed his conviction in October 2025, arguing that several legal errors prevented him from receiving a fair trial. However, several weeks later, an appeals court upheld his conviction. He next asked the California Supreme Court to review his conviction, but the court denied his petition.

Smart’s killer was brought to justice, but, for authorities and her family, the case continues. 

Investigators continue to search for Smart’s body. In May 2026, they continued to inspect the home of Susan Flores, Paul’s mother, where earlier soil tests indicated the presence of human remains. They did not locate Smart’s remains, but vowed to continue their efforts.

“Until we have Kristin, everything is still wide open,” Ian Parkinson, San Luis Obispo County Sheriff, told reporters.

Finding the body may help investigators get closer to uncovering the full truth of what happened to Smart three decades ago. For Smart’s loved ones, the recovery of her remains would likely provide a much-needed sense of closure, Judy Ho Gavazza, a clinical and forensic neuropsychologist at Pepperdine University, tells A&E Crime + Investigation. 

Without a body, family members often experience what’s known as “ambiguous loss,” which creates a “chronic state of uncertainty that can complicate mourning, healing and even identity,” says Gavazza.

“Even decades later,” she adds, “families often describe the need to ‘bring their loved one home.’”