Is Kristin Smart -- the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo student who disappeared in 1996 -- still alive?

23 1/2 years ago, 19-year-old Kristin Smart vanished.

https://s.hdnux.com/photos/01/10/11/.../1024x1024.jpg

She was never found, the case went cold, and she was declared legally dead in 2002. There were no indications that she left voluntarily, because all of her belongings were still in her dorm.

At the time, she had left a frat party en route for her dorm, but never showed up. Some have theorized that, walking alone late at night, she was kidnapped, killed, and the body disposed of, perhaps in the ocean.

However, her family recently revealed that an FBI agent called them, and said the following:

- There will be news very shortly about Kristin -- the type of news they'd never have expected.

- The news will come within a month.

- They should get a family spokesman ready, and should get away for awhile.

What?!

Then it turned out that this wasn't an official call from the FBI, but rather a call from an ex-agent. However, the FBI stopped short of denying that something has changed recently, and would not comment if an announcement was pending.

The FBI did confirm that the person who called them was legitimately an ex-agent.

Is it possible that this ex-agent heard through former colleagues about the upcoming announcement, and compassionately wanted to warn the family?

Or is it possible the guy is just a crackpot, hence why he's an ex-agent?

Here's an article about it: https://www.sfgate.com/crime/article...t-14998562.php


Given the ex-agent's warnings, we can rule out a few things, if he is to be believed.

It's unlikely Kristin Smart was murdered, because that wouldn't require a family spokesman or for her parents to hide out for awhile, nor would it be unexpected.

It's semi-unlikely that the story is simply that Kristin ran away and started a new life. While this would be an interesting (and pleasant) discovery over 23 years later, it wouldn't require the family to "go away for awhile". If anything, they would be receiving sympathy. (However, it's possible the warning to "go away" was to avoid the ensuing media frenzy.)

Is it possible that Kristin started a new life as a criminal and is now wanted for some heinous crimes? Or perhaps that she was kidnapped and eventually joined up with her kidnappers to commit crimes, Patty Hearst style?

Very weird story. Now I really want to know the announcement.

Kristin would now be 42 years old.

Good story. I don’t know what to make of it. I didn’t recall the case, which is strange because usually I remember these things . The picture and name is vaguely familiar. Maybe her disappearance times with some other high profile event and I just remember a mention and it didn’t get Aruba girl level coverage.

While looking at her Wikipedia page, it seemed to answer the first question that popped into my mind, did she know Scott Petersen? I recalled him and his deceased wife were in that area. It appears they thought of that years ago and ruled him out

It seems some podcaster made a podcast series about her that was downloaded over a million times and led to new billboards being put in 2020 to replace ones from 1996. This podcast series was just last year.

This is also strange from wiki

“On September 6, 2016, officials from the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office announced they were investigating a new lead in the case.[14] Cadaver dogs from the FBI were brought in and investigators were preparing to spend approximately four days excavating an area on the Cal Poly campus.[14] After three days, items were found at all three dig sites located on the same hillside near Smart's dorm. A spokesman for the sheriff's office said, "The items are being analyzed to see whether they are connected to the case, which could take days, weeks or months".[15] The items uncovered are still being investigated as of 2020.[16]”


You make more out of the, to paraphrase “you might want to get out of town part” than I do. I could see where some ex agent might just think it’s painful to dredge up again for them.

The podcast being popular coupled with that investigation seems odd after 20+ years. Like it unearthed some secret. I honestly have no idea but it’s interesting as hell. Not knowing how reliable the ex agent is, you don’t know his mindset. Did they simply finally identify that it’s her and he caught word of it and worded it clumsily to the family because he’s off a bit or weird? Is he just a crackpot who is attention-seeking because of a popular podcast?

That fellow student who walked her back to her dorm and was last seen with her who ended up having multiple run ins with the law and being accused of multiple sexual assaults has been presumed to be her killer by the family for obvious reasons. That they finally located her remains and i he killed her wouldn’t shock them at all. They think he did Very strange story.

I just can’t imagine any scenario where a girl deciding to run off and start a new life has seemingly no resources to do that and would spend the night before passed out drunk partying.

I’m guessing she’s dead, maybe there is a break in identifying the remains, and the ex-agent is mentally off or something in telling them they’d be surprised. Maybe they found multiple remains or the guy is a serial killer or something and that’s what he meant by they’d surprised. It’s possible he’s an ex agent because he’s a drunk or something and his colleagues mentioned something to him and he shot off a weird call when drunk.

That seems more likely than some Patty Hearst scenario, but I hope it’s something crazy like that because it would be much more interesting.

i immediately thought "she's alive" the first time i read this yesterday. i googled kristin smart alive and didn't get an hits on google. this was when the story just broke, so there might be some things alluding to this now

more like kristin dumb amirite?

This reminds me of a disappearance of a girl from my college (UCSB) in 1990.

A freshman disappeared from campus without a trace. She did not appear to take any of her belongings. There was no trace of any kind of credit card activity, or anything which would have indicated she left voluntarily. It was a big story. I forget her name, but it made national news. She had red hair and was fairly hot.

Eventually it was assumed she had to be dead.

About six months later, near the end of the school year, some shocking news was found. She was alive. Nobody kidnapped her. She just flipped out one day, and bought a bus ticket to Florida with cash. She met a couple on the bus who owned a restaurant there, and convinced them she was just moving to Florida without much money or any job lined up, so they gave her a job and let her stay with them until she got enough money to move into her own place.

I forgot what finally alerted law enforcement to her whereabouts, but she was found. They couldn't force her to return "home" because she was 19, but her parents convinced her to come back.

I was sure that she was in for years of therapy and would be transferring schools when she was ready to return. The school newspaper, which had spent a lot of time and resources on investigating her disappearance and doing repeated articles on her, was relentlessly mocking her. That alone was enough to where you knew she'd never come back to UCSB.

The following year, in January 1992, I was in one of my few mostly-female classes. Being a computer science student, almost all of my courses were huge sausage fests. A required English class happened to land about 75% female, and most of them were hot. I really enjoyed that class, especially because it seemed some of the girls there liked me. There was one girl, though, who kept to herself and never said a word to me. It was an attractive redhead. I knew I had seen her somewhere before.

Then I saw her name on a paper handed to her, and I almost fell out of my chair. It was her. The girl who ran away and wanted everyone to think she had been kidnapped. Right there. Right in my class. Back at the school immediately, as if nothing had happened.

I wanted to say something to her, perhaps befriend her and find out what made her tick. I decided to say nothing. Part of me regrets that.

Fortunately for her, the web wasn't a thing in 1991, so if you google her name (which I forgot), I imagine nothing comes up. She's probably married and has kids right now, and doesn't speak a word of this to anyone.

since when did Druff have a young white missing/murdered girl fetish

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MrTickle

since when did Druff have a young white missing/murdered girl fetish

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Since 1990, if you read the above.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MrTickle

since when did Druff have a young white missing/murdered girl fetish

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Since 1990, if you read the above.

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More importantly, is she a lesbian?

Were there any blacks involved????

But most importantly, will Druff comment on her figure if discovered alive?

Here's the update, still missing and still not alive.

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/...121945948.html

So it looks like that former FBI agent is crazy.

I read some more about this case. I remember it better now. It's all starting to come back to me. I read a lot about this in the '90s but had forgotten about it.

That Paul Flores guy, who is the person of interest, is very likely the killer. Just not quite enough evidence to ever charge him.

https://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/l...239999348.html

wtg media

BUMP

2 men arrested in her disappearance, property searched

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/13/u...ul-flores.html

The guy who escorted her from party primary and only suspect and his dad as an accessory.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Walter Sobchak

BUMP

2 men arrested in her disappearance, property searched

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/13/u...ul-flores.html

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So it looks like this nutty FBI guy actually did hear something about the case. I knew there was something fishy about the FBI refusing to deny that there had been a change in the status of the case. That's why I gave it some credibility in the first place.

So apparently she's dead, but they think they have enough to convict the longtime prime suspect (Paul Flores) and his dad. The dad is accused of being an "accessory after the fact".

I think it's going to be hard to get a conviction after 25 years unless they have a smoking gun, like finding the body on their property.