Family of Kristin Smart sues Cal Poly; says university didn't search suspect’s room until 16 days after disappearance

The family of Kristin Smart, a college student whose body has never been found, is suing the California university where she was allegedly killed, according to court documents filed Thursday.

Paul Flores was convicted in the 1996 slaying of Smart at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, where they were both students at the time.

Smart's father, mother, sister and brother are accusing the university of negligence, wrongful death and negligent infliction of emotional distress.

"Cal Poly’s breaches of its legal duty include but are not limited to the following: it did not pursue a missing person case promptly, did not interview witnesses timely, did not seal the primary suspect’s dorm room as a crime scene, allowed the suspect’s room to be sanitized and cleaned before it was searched, and did not search the suspect’s room until sixteen days after Kristin disappeared," the family stated in the lawsuit.

The family also alleges that other reports had been made about Flores "on the basis of his threatening, stalking, and harassing behavior" before Smart's murder that the university did not thoroughly investigate.

"If Cal Poly had properly acted on those reports, conducted an investigation, and appropriately disciplined the student, he would not have been on campus, and therefore would not have been able to murder Kristin," the lawsuit states.

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo had no comment "as this is a pending legal matter," a media relations spokesperson told NBC News.

The Smart family say they only began to understand the university's failings in May 2023, when Cal Poly's president publicly apologized and stated “[W]e recognize that things should have been done differently – and I personally wish that they had.”

Flores, 46, was found guilty in October 2022 by a jury in Monterey County of first-degree murder. He was sentences to 25 years to life in prison in March of last year.

Prosecutors accused Flores of killing Smart during an attempted rape on May 25, 1996, in his dorm room at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, where they were both students.

Prosecutors said Paul Flores was the last person seen with a very intoxicated Smart and walked her home from an off-campus party. Prosecutors alleged that her body may have been buried under a deck behind Ruben Flores’ home in Arroyo Grande.

Smart’s remains have never been found. She was declared legally dead in 2002.

The Smart family has "experienced a quarter of a century of anxiety, hopelessness, depression, and even suicidal ideation related to thinking Kristin might come home, knowing that her killer was still free, and being unable to find her body," according to the lawsuit.

Now, the family is asking for trial by jury as well as money damages in an amount deemed proper by the court, including attorneys' fees.