Los Angeles (AFP) - More than 26 years after a California student disappeared while walking back to her dorm room from a college party, a man was convicted of her murder Tuesday.
The body of 19-year-old Kristin Smart has never been found, and for decades billboards and even a true-crime podcast appealed for evidence in a case that haunted the community, before long-standing suspect Paul Flores was arrested last year.
Flores, now 45, was convicted of first-degree murder by a jury at Monterey County Superior Court on Tuesday following a three-month trial.
"Our criminal and victim justice system has now finally delivered justice for Kristin," Dan Dow, San Luis Obispo district attorney, said after the verdicts were read.
"The impact that Kristin Smart's disappearance and the...investigation has had on the Smart family, on our community, spanning a quarter century, has been profound."
"Today, justice delayed is not justice denied," he told a press conference.
But Smart's remains have still not been located, and Paul's father Ruben was found not guilty Tuesday of helping to hide her body.
Smart's father Stan said: "Without Kristin, there's no joy or happiness in this verdict."
"After 26 years, with today's split verdicts, we learned that our quest for justice for Kristin will continue."
Both Smart and Flores were students at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, roughly midway between Los Angeles and San Francisco on California's central coast, when she went missing in May 1996.
Flores was the last person seen with Smart, accompanying her on the 10-minute walk back to her dormitory from a party that night.
Prosecutors said Flores raped, or attempted to rape, and killed Smart before burying her remains under his father's house deck.
During the trial, prosecutors said Paul Flores had stalked Smart for months, and suggested he may have drugged her drink at the party the night of her murder.
Smart was declared legally dead in 2002, but the mysterious case remained prominent in the San Luis Obispo community, drawing amateur sleuths including the "Your Own Backyard" podcast.
The court case had to be moved from San Luis Obispo to neighboring Monterey county to ensure a fair trial.
In 2019, a witness told detectives that Flores had admitted the crime to her.
As investigations intensified once more, prosecutors alleged that activity spotted at his father's house the following year indicated attempts to move Smart's remains.
'Not over'
Ian Parkinson, the sheriff for San Luis Obispo County, vowed to continue searching for her body following the verdict.
"The reality is, there is some form of justice today, holding the person responsible," he said.
"However, that doesn't change the fact that their daughter, at 19, disappeared and was murdered.And they don't have the opportunity to see her graduate from Cal Poly, be married, have grandchildren for them."
Parkinson added: "Even though Paul was convicted today, this case is not over.This case will not be over until Kristin has returned home."
Paul and Ruben Flores have always denied any involvement in Smart's disappearance, and Ruben's lawyer Harold Mesick told the San Luis Obispo Tribune there is a "reasonable inference" she is still alive, and that he expects his son to appeal.
Flores is due to be sentenced on December 9, and could face up to life in prison.
Paul Flores' attorney Robert Sanger told AFP via email that "the matter is still pending" and declined to comment further.
