A PODCAST WITH MILLIONS OF LISTENERS TURNS UP THE HEAT ON THE DISAPPEARANCE OF A COLLEGE STUDENT IN 1996 - CAN NEW INFORMATION SOLVE THE CASE?

"48 Hours" Investigates in "The Disappearance of Kristin Smart"

Saturday, Nov. 28, 10:00 PM

Kristin Smart was a college freshman who vanished in 1996 after attending a party just off the campus of California Polytechnic State University known as Cal Poly. Police have had a suspect since early on in the investigation, but no one has been charged with her disappearance. A popular podcast examining the case has drawn millions of listeners. Can new information solve the case?

Jonathan Vigliotti and 48 HOURS report on the podcast, the investigation and try to get answers from the prime suspect in "The Disappearance of Kristin Smart" to be broadcast Saturday, Nov. 28 (10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

Chris Lambert grew up near San Luis Obispo, where Smart disappeared, and remembers passing a billboard with her name on it. Although he's a musician by profession, he began investigating what happened to her that night, resulting in his podcast, "Your Own Backyard," which launched in 2019. Lambert, a CBS News consultant, learned Smart was intoxicated - he wonders if she was drugged or just had a lot to drink in a short amount of time - and needed help getting home. A student named Paul Flores volunteered to take her back to her dorm. She was never seen again.

"But what makes it interesting to me is that they've had a suspect since pretty much day one. I thought, what went wrong?" says Lambert.

"There has been no other suspect," says Smart family attorney James Murphy. "Every piece of evidence points directly at Paul Flores."

"It just amazes me the amount of evidence that's available, yet nothing has happened," says Smart's sister, Lindsey Smart Stewart. "The day after my sister disappeared, Paul Flores had a black eye and scratches on him."

Flores has never been charged in the case and his family has consistently denied that he was involved in Smart's disappearance.

Smart's frustrated family blames that on numerous missteps by campus police and the sheriff's office. Cal Poly's police didn't begin investigating until Smart was gone for four days and by the time they inspected Flores's dorm room, it was empty and had been thoroughly cleaned.

When Flores was deposed in a civil suit brought by Smart's family, he cited his Fifth Amendment rights 27 times, refusing to answer even basic questions.

Despite early mistakes by Cal Poly campus police, and the San Luis Obispo Sheriff's Office, the case has not been declared cold. A new sheriff took over in 2011 and has promised the Smart family that solving the case would be a priority. He hired a fulltime detective to work on the case and earlier this year, sheriff's investigators worked with the FBI and searched Flores' home, along with the homes of his mother, father and sister. The family has denied any involvement in Smart's disappearance.

Meanwhile, Smart's parents have never given up trying to find her and get justice.

"I think they're like carrying boulders on their back," Lindsey Smart Stewart says of her parents.

What happened that night?

"It's been 24 years ... I think it's time to talk," Lambert says.

Vigliotti tried to get answers from Flores during an unscheduled interview outside his home.

"Were you involved in the disappearance of Kristin Smart? Paul, can you tell us what happened that night between you can Kristin," Vigliotti asks Flores.

"Go [expletive] yourself," Flores says.

48 HOURS: "The Disappearance of Kristen Smart" is produced by Lisa Freed. Greg Fisher and Michelle Fanucci are the development producers. Mike McHugh is the producer-editor. Ken Blum is the editor. Alicia Tejada is the field producer and Addison Briley is the associate producer. Lourdes Aguiar is the senior producer. Nancy Kramer is the executive story editor. Judy Tygard is the executive producer.

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