The Murder of Kristin Smart

Kristin disappears after a college gathering

Kristin Smart was a first-year student at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. She was last seen in the early hours of May 25, 1996, after leaving an off-campus gathering. At the 2022 trial, jurors heard testimony that Paul Flores was the last person known to be walking with Kristin toward the residence halls.

Kristin was reported missing, and the case became one of California's longest-running missing-person investigations. She was legally declared dead in 2002, but her remains were never recovered.

A 25-year investigation

For years, investigators continued to examine evidence and conduct searches connected to the disappearance. The San Luis Obispo County District Attorney later described the case as a 25-year investigation involving numerous local, state and federal agencies before arrests were made in 2021.

Paul Flores was charged with Kristin's murder. His father, Ruben Flores, was separately charged as an accessory after the fact. The two men were tried before separate juries after the case was moved to Monterey County because of pretrial publicity.

The 2022 verdicts

On October 18, 2022, Paul Flores was unanimously convicted of first-degree murder. The District Attorney's account of the verdict states that the jury heard evidence of a clandestine grave beneath the deck of Ruben Flores' home that prosecutors argued had previously held Kristin's body.

Ruben Flores' jury reached a different result: he was found not guilty of the accessory charge. That acquittal is legally important and this page does not describe him as convicted or criminally responsible.

Sentence

On March 10, 2023, Paul Flores was sentenced to 25 years to life in California state prison. The sentencing followed the first-degree murder conviction and did not resolve the separate question of where Kristin's remains are now located.

Appeal and stronger finality in 2026

Flores appealed. In October 2025, California's Second District Court of Appeal affirmed the conviction. He then petitioned the California Supreme Court for review.

On January 14, 2026, the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney announced that the California Supreme Court had denied that petition. The first-degree murder conviction therefore remained in force after the principal state appellate review described by the county.

The search for Kristin continues

A murder conviction did not end the effort to recover Kristin. On May 6, 2026, authorities executed a new search warrant at the Arroyo Grande residence of Susan Flores. The District Attorney emphasized that investigators remained committed to locating Kristin's remains.

The existence of that search does not establish criminal responsibility for any person who was not convicted in Kristin's murder case. It is reported here only because it shows that the recovery aspect of the case remained active nearly 30 years after Kristin disappeared.

Why this case is classified as solved

The archive's Solved / Adjudicated label refers to criminal responsibility: Paul Flores has a first-degree murder conviction and a 25-years-to-life sentence, and that conviction was affirmed on appeal with further review denied by the California Supreme Court.

The label does not mean every factual question has been answered. Kristin's remains are still missing, and authorities continue to seek information that could bring her home. Crime by Region keeps those two dimensions separate rather than treating an unresolved recovery as an unresolved offender identification.

Timeline

Current status

The case is Solved / Adjudicated as to Paul Flores' criminal responsibility. His murder conviction remains in effect. Kristin Smart's remains have not been recovered, and the effort to locate them remains active.

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