Kristin Smart

Kristin Smart was 19 years old when she disappeared from San Luis Obispo, CA on May 24, 1996.

Kristin has already been declared dead, so this isn’t a missing person per se.  I wanted to write it up because the story itself is so frustrating.   It is known that Kristin is dead and it is known who killed her, but sadly, he can’t be prosecuted because the police screwed up and there is no body.

I don’t know what I would do if I were Kristin’s mom. I would definitely want her body back, but because of the sheriff making a mistake, her killer will no longer entertain a plea agreement.

Kristin was finishing up her freshman year at California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly), majoring in architecture. It was Memorial Day weekend, and her roommate went home. Kristin was planning to stay on campus that weekend and look for a party. By all accounts, Kristin was naïve .

Around 8PM on May 24, 1996, she left with two friends to go “look for a party.” The friends flagged down a man in a pickup, and they all drove around looking. About two hours later, they came upon a small (around 20 people) party at a house off campus. Her friends, however, sensed something was off and they didn’t see anyone they knew, so they bowed out. Kristin went to the party alone.

Kristin’s behavior at the party was off. She was acting like she was drunk, flirting, hanging on men and she told people her name was “Roxy.” No one knew who she was and her behavior made others avoid her.  Some witnesses said she was drinking heavily, others say she was not drinking at all. (This is probably due to the fact that most witnesses were also drinking) Paul Flores was at the party and hitting on women, even women who were there with their boyfriends.  Kristin may well have been drugged with a date-rape drug.

The next thing that is known is Kristin was found lying face down in the neighbor’s lawn.

A senior student named Tim Davis got her up on her feet and started to walk her back to her dorm.  He was joined by Cheryl, who knew Kristin slightly. It was normally a ten minute walk, but because of Kristin’s condition, it took much longer. While they were walking, Paul Flores appeared out of nowhere and also started to assist with walking Kristin. None of them knew Kristin outside of the party that night, but Cheryl and Paul were acquaintances.

The four of them were about two blocks away from the campus when Tim went in a different direction to go home, leaving Kristin with Paul and Cheryl.  They walked together for another block, then Cheryl asked if Paul was okay walking her the rest of the way. Paul said he would be, then asked Cheryl for a kiss. Cheryl said no. He then asked her for a hug. Cheryl again said no and hurried away. Although this would have raised red flags to Cheryl about Kristin’s safety, she was cold, slightly intoxicated and really wanted to get home. She trusted that Paul would just bring Kristin back to her dorm, as their dorms were close to each other.

Paul was seen the next evening at another party, sporting a black eye.

Kristin’s roommate returned on Sunday and noticed that all of Kristin’s things were at the end of the bed, where she left them. She asked around and no one had seen Kristin since Friday, so she called campus police. The campus police didn’t investigate immediately, as it was Memorial Day weekend and they thought she might have “flown somewhere” or changed her mind and gone home after all. It wasn’t until Monday evening that the campus police called Kristin’s parents.

On Tuesday, the Smart family tried to file a missing persons report, but was told it was too early, and Kristin probably “ran away.”

It was nearly a week before campus police decided to interview students who might have seen Kristin or been involved in her disappearance.

Paul Flores was the last to see Kristin and came to the interview with a black eye with what appeared to be defensive scratches on his arm. Despite this, campus police accepted Paul’s version of the story and concluded there was no indication of foul play.  They did not photograph Paul’s injuries. The campus police also allowed the cleaning staff to clean both Paul and Kristin’s rooms, therefore possibly eliminating physical evidence that could have been useful to solving the case.

It was several weeks before the Cal Poly campus police agreed to file a missing persons report. On that report, they stated that Kristin’s parents told them she had been on a camping trip. This was not true; Kristin did not like camping. Most likely, that was added to the report to try to minimize the responsibility of the campus police.

A month after Kristin disappeared, the campus police realized they were in over their heads and called in the San Luis Obispo District Attorney. The first thing the DA did was re-interview Tim, Cheryl and Paul. Paul had several different stories about the black eye.  He told campus police that he had gotten elbowed during a pick-up basketball game. When they interviewed the other players, they all said that Paul already had the black eye on Saturday. One player also volunteered that Paul had scratches on his knees as well.

When confronted with the testimony of the fellow basketball players,  Paul changed his story and said he got the black eye from the steering wheel of his truck, while installing a stereo. Flores did have a truck on campus, despite having a suspended license for DUI. However, the police never asked to see his truck until a year later. Paul claimed the truck had been stolen.

Paul initially told campus police and San Luis Obispo police that he left Kristin by the door of her dorm, then walked to his dorm.

 Paul had only been at Cal Poly for one school year at the time of Kristin’s disappearance, but had already had encounters with the police.

In December of 1995, an intoxicated Paul Flores had been apprehended. He was suspected of being a peeping tom and/or attempting a break-in of a coed’s off-campus apartment by climbing her balcony. He was told to leave and was not arrested. Luis Obispo Police Department did not notify the Cal Poly Police Department of this incident.  

A few months later, on February 2, 1996, he was arrested for driving while intoxicated and was convicted the next month. 

Finally, on March 27, 1996, the three co-eds involved with the case in December filed a criminal complaint against Flores for making harassing phone calls to them. (The police report is here.)

The DA did not have enough evidence to bring charges, so he decided to bring in cadaver dogs on the off chance they would find Kristin’s body. There were four cadaver dogs (two labs, two border collies) who all independently “hit” on Paul’s former room. They hit specifically on a mattress, telephone and a garbage can. To be sure the dogs were not hitting improperly, the police moved the garbage can to the hallway, and put it with all of the other garbage cans from other rooms. All four dogs again hit on that garbage can. However, since the room had been cleaned, there was no physical evidence found in Paul’s room to prove Kristin had been in the room.

The police also searched Paul Flores’ parents’ home 7 weeks after Kristin’s disappearance, but they did not search the cars or use cadaver dogs. They also did not get phone records to verify if Paul called anyone that night.

A second search was done four years after Kristin’s disappearance, but there were restrictions on the warrant that did not allow them to dig up the yard. The yard was finally dug up in 2007, and no evidence was found that Kristin was buried there. Yes, it is odd that the family poured concrete at the same time as Kristin disappeared, but it does seem to be just an odd coincidence.

Paul Flores, through his attorney, later offered to tell police where Kristin’s body was in exchange for a misdemeanor charge.  The DA attempted to negotiate a plea bargain in which Paul would plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter and serve six years. Paul declined this offer. Then, the Sheriff held a press conference in which he said that unless Paul gives up information, they will never be able to prosecute him. Paul began pleading the fifth and has until this day.

The Smart family filed a civil wrongful death suit against Paul to try to get information about what happened to their daughter, but withdrew the suit because Paul continued to plead the fifth. I don’t blame him; he has been told that he is free to go. Why would he plead to anything?

The only hope for any resolution in this case is for Kristin’s body to be found or for someone who knows something to talk. I don’t know if a body can even be found 18 years later, and of course Paul’s family isn’t going to say anything. I will be really happy if it gets solved, but I don’t see it happening. I personally believe that Paul slipped something into her drink with the intent to rape her.  He got her back to his dorm and she fought back, causing the defensive wounds and black eye. Then he either accidentally or intentionally killed her, called his dad, and he helped him get rid of the body. I might be completely wrong, but that is what makes sense to me.

Zebb Quinn

Zebb with his sister Brandi

Zebb Quinn was 18 when he disappeared from Asheville, NC on January 2, 2000. He was, by all accounts, a nice young man. He had no criminal or mental health history and had never been involved with drugs. He was laid-back and gentle. He did have a learning/organizational disability called "Scatter" that kept him a bit socially awkward. His mom claims he had "friends, but not good friends" due to his disability. His disability also may have led him to be manipulated more easily, and he lacked "street smarts".

At the time of his disappearance, he was working in the electronics department of Walmart and looking forward to his second semester at Asheville-Buncombe Technical College. He was well liked at Walmart and had been at the job for over two years at the time of his disappearance.

Zebb clocked out of his shift at 9PM on January 2 and left with a co-worker named (Robert) Jason Owens. They left in separate vehicles and were planning to head to a dealership to look at a car that Zebb had been saving up to buy. 

According to Jason,  they stopped at a gas station for sodas and headed out for the dealership. There is video of both men purchasing sodas at the gas station and leaving, with Zebb following Jason.

While they were barreling down a two lane road out of town, Zebb heard the sound of his pager. He then flashed his lights at Jason, indicating he wanted Jason to stop. Jason claimed that Zebb appeared frantic and asked to use Jason's cell phone. Jason told Zebb he did not have a cell phone and suggested a different gas station with a pay phone "just up the road." Jason claims that Zebb appeared to be frantic and concerned. Zebb promised to appear shortly and took off. When Zebb returned 15 minutes later, he was so agitated that he rear-ended Jason's truck. When Jason exited the truck, Zebb explained that he had gotten a page, he was very upset, and he wouldn't be able to go look at the car with him. He also said he would "settle up" with him later about the damage to his truck. He then raced off into the darkness.

Also that evening, Zebb's mother, Denise Vlahakis, was leaving her nursing shift. She was going to go get a late dinner with her fiancé and wanted to invite Zebb. She paged him and he did not respond. She paged him again about a half hour later, and he still did not respond, so they decided to go eat without him. When they arrived home a few hours later, Zebb was not home. They continued to page him every hour for the next 12 hours. Zebb was not rebellious and he always kept in touch. At 3PM on January 3, Denise filed a missing person's report. The police began investigating immediately.

On January 4, Zebb's supervisor at Walmart, Patty King, got a strange phone call. The person claimed to be Zebb and was calling in to say he was sick and wouldn't be at work. King, who knew Zebb was missing and had also been his supervisor for two years, questioned the caller and knew it was not Zebb calling in. She kept him on the line and then traced the call using *69. The call traced back to Volvo Construction Equipment. King called Zebb's mother about the call and she, in turn, called the police. Meanwhile, Zebb's fellow employees solve one piece of the puzzle-Jason Owens worked at Volvo Industries. 

When police went to talk to Jason he was indeed working at Volvo and did admit to making the phone call. He claimed that Zebb called him earlier that day, asking him to call in to work for him. He didn't know (or ask) why Zebb couldn't do it himself.

Upon further investigation, the police learned that Jason had called in late to work the morning after Zebb's disappearance. He claimed he had been in another car accident, and he had indeed been treated for a head injury and a broken rib. However, this accident was never reported to the police and his truck had minimal damage. Jason became a person of interest in Zebb's disappearance, but the police do not have enough evidence to charge him.

As police are interviewing people close to Zebb, they discovered Misty Taylor. Zebb had not known Misty for very long-they had met at a Christmas party at his mother's fiancé's restaurant. Zebb had become infatuated with her, but Mistly claimed they were just acquaintances. In reality, Zebb did have long telephone conversations with her and would gush about her. It was a few weeks into the relationship before she told Zebb that she had a baby and was in a relationship. Zebb pushed this information aside and continued to fixate on her. (This fixation can be partly explained by his learning disorder, but she was also the first girl he had been interested in) His infatuation did cloud his judgment to some degree, and he was spending money on her. According to Patty King, he had told her that her boyfriend, Wesley Smith, had discovered their relationship and seemed violent. King warned him to get away, and to find someone who was not so complicated.

On December 31, 1999, two days before Zebb's disappearance, Misty and Zebb both stayed in their respective homes and had a lengthy phone conversation. After that, however, there was no communication between them. Zebb had expressed concern and, on January 2, he called her. He forgot to hit *67 (which makes the caller anonymous or private) before calling her. His grandmother claimed he hung up the phone abruptly and said, "I am in trouble now."

Misty has a loose alibi for the night Zebb went missing. She was at home with her baby, Wesley, and her parents. She claims that Zebb's aunt, a woman named Ina Ustich, was there as well. Ina and Misty's mother-both employees at the restaurant where the Christmas party was held-claimed to be starting a restaurant together.

The page Zebb received the night he disappeared came from Ina Ustich's home phone. Ina is Zebb's father's sister, and Zebb had very little contact with her throughout her life. She claimed she had not paged Zebb and that she was with the Taylor family that night. There is no doubt the page came from her home phone.

On January 16, 2000-exactly two weeks after Zebb's disappearance, his mom Denise received a call while she was at work at the hospital. A co-worker and former high-school acquaintance of Jebb's noticed that his car was in a restaurant parking lot across the street from the hospital.

Zedd's car was parked as if meant to be found.  Inside the car was a live, 3 month-old lab-mix puppy and a hotel key card. On the rear window was a lipstick drawing of a set of lips. The headlights were on and the windows were cracked. Police speculated that the way the car was parked and the live puppy were meant to draw attention to the car. Police were not able to determine where the puppy came from. (Note: the puppy, named Katie, was taken home and adopted by an investigating officer). The hotel key card did not have a logo, and despite days of checking hotels and motels in the area, it remains a mystery.

Meanwhile, Ina Ustich began claiming that her house was broken into the night of Zebb's disappearance. She claimed that nothing was stolen, but "framed pictures had been moved." She later denied ever telling the police this story. She then packed up and moved to a job in Tennessee.

In the fall of 2007, Jason Owens led police on a high speed chase which involved him shooting at the police. He was eventually convicted of eluding arrest and sentenced to four years. While he was in jail, the police interviewed him numerous times, but he has refused to discuss the case. Jason, Ina, Misty and Wesley are all considered persons of interest in Zebb's disappearance.

Someone out there knows what happened to Zebb that night, and who was involved with his disappearance. A local non-profit agency, Families Pursuing Justice, is offering a $2,500 Reward for information leading to locating Zebb.

Zebb was born May 12, 1981 and is 5'9" and was around 160 pounds at the time of his disappearance. He has brown hair and blue eyes. Although he is presumed dead, it would give his family closure if this case could be solved.  

Zebb in his ROTC uniform

Brandy Hall

Undated Brandy Hall photo

Brandy Hall, 32, was a firefighter, wife and mother of two when she disappeared on August 17, 2006 from the Central Florida town of Malabar.

I feel badly about going into Brandy’s past as much as I am going to, but her past might hold clues to her disappearance. In fact, I think there are clues in her past.

Brandy almost died as a child in a three-wheeler accident. She had extensive surgeries on her face and had chronic pain for the rest of her life. However, she was a tough kid and grew up to be an excellent firefighter, which she loved doing.  She married Jeffrey Hall, who was the fire chief, and they had two children, Taylor and Clayton.  She and Jeffrey both worked the same shift, so their kids could stay with her parents. By all accounts, up until July, 2005, she was very happy in her job and marriage.

Then, in July of 2005, her husband Jeffrey and another firefighter were arrested for growing and selling marijuana on the Hall property in Palm Bay, FL.  The men had a fairly small scale operation (no cartels or drug running was going on) although they reportedly netted $30,000 every two months for over a year. Although Brandy knew nothing of the operation, the land was in both of their names so she was arrested and charged as well.  All charges against Brandy were dropped, and despite her accolades and perfect record as a firefighter for ten years, she was fired from her job in Palm Bay.

This did throw Brandy into a slight tailspin. Along with losing her job and now sole source of income, she also had to find a new firefighting job or she would lose all of her credentials. So, she worked doing home repairs for a friend of hers and volunteered with the Malabar Fire Department to keep her credentials while she appealed her termination with Palm Bay. 

She remained supportive of her husband, who was out on bail, but she also began to have an affair with a district chief firefighter, Randal Richmond.  Richmond’s wife, Anne-Marie, allegedly confronted Brandy six months before her disappearance during a community festival and Brandy had mentioned it to her best friend. However, it is not known whether the affair continued up to the time of Brandy’s disappearance.

On the night of Brandy’s disappearance, she complained of stomach pains and left her shift at the fire station at 10:45PM instead of working the full overnight shift. Video from the fire house shows that Brandy was relaxed and left alone. Outside surveillance shows that Brandy got into her truck alone and no one followed her out. She was scheduled to testify on her husband’s behalf in court the next day and she told her co-workers that she planned to go home.

Jeffrey did not expect her home until early morning, so he did not become concerned until it was time to bring the kids to school and she was still not home. He continuously tried to call Brandy, but she didn’t answer and her voicemail was full. He hurried the kids to school and then drove, alone,  an hour to the courthouse. He kept trying to call Brandy, and finally decided that maybe she went to court ahead of him. When he arrived at court and Brandy was not there, he started to panic. He went to court and was sentenced to 18 months in prison and then probation. He claimed he barely heard the judge because he was so worried about Brandy. His family left the court and immediately went to retrieve the kids and file a missing person’s report. Jeffrey finally was able to make a call and he got in touch with his mother, who informed him of that Brandy was not found.

The police immediately began an investigation. Her last phone call was made at 10:53PM, to Randal Richmond. When he was questioned, he told police that Brandy was calling from a gas station.  She told him she planned to leave and “get away from everything.” However, no one remembers her truck idling at the service station and her debit and credit cards had not been used since the day before.  Although there is overwhelming evidence that she did not leave by her own volition, Richmond insists this is what happened.  

  The next day, her truck was found submerged in a small, local pond. Brandy’s body was not in the truck, and neither was her gun, which she always carried with her. What was found was a substantial amount of Brandy’s blood, though not enough to prove she was dead. Also in the truck was her firefighting equipment and a small cooler filled with soda and beer, which were still cold.  Over the next week, the small pond was completely drained, and neither the body nor gun was found. The police, at this point, also suspected suicide or stranger abduction were unlikely.

In July, 2007, a backpack containing Brandy’s personal belongings was found in a canal in western Indian River County, FL. This is about twenty minutes from where her truck was found, and there is no river that leads between the two bodies of water. The backpack contained her day planner and a few items of clothing, but not enough for longer than one night. Also notably missing from the backpack were her prescription painkillers, which she used daily to control pain from her childhood accident. The gun was also not in the backpack.

Jeffrey Hall has been eliminated as a suspect. He has been released from prison and is currently raising their children in Florida.

Brandy Hall was born September  13, 1973. She has blonde hair, blue eyes, and is 5’7 and weighed around 140 pounds at the time of her disappearance. She has a pierced tongue and naval, and she has two tattoos-a fishing scene on her lower back and a Tweety bird by a fire hydrant on her ankle.

Her children are now teenagers. Her youngest child asks every day if they are still looking for his mom.

Original "Missing" Poster

Kara Kopetsky

An undated photo of Kara Kopetsky

Kara Kopetsky was seventeen years old when she disappeared into thin air in the Kansas City suburb of Belton, Missouri. In many ways, she was a typical teenager: she was a bit rebellious with smoking and skipping school, yet extremely responsible about her part-time fast food job. On the day she disappeared, she was having a bad day.

She had forgotten her text book and to wash her work uniform, so she called her mom, Rhonda Beckford at around 9AM, asking her to bring her the book and wash her uniform. Her mom did both (dropping the book off at the office) before going to work herself. 

Later that morning, the cameras at Belton High School show her leaving the school in a calm manner. No one followed her out. She was seen talking to some friends, asking them to leave for a few hours with her, but everyone either couldn't or wouldn't, so she left alone. No one was home at Kara's house that morning, so it is not known if she made it home from school in the few minutes after she left. Her step-dad, Jim Beckford, realized she was not home at 3PM and called her. She did not call back, which was unusual for Kara. Her mom arrived home shortly afterwards, and they decided to go to her school. Kara was not there, so Jim decided to go to her workplace. She did not arrive for work at 4PM and hadn't called in, which had never happened before. Her stepfather waited for her until around 4:20 and she did not arrive. Meanwhile, Rhonda found Kara's work uniform on the bed where she left it.

Video of Kara's last seconds at school.

At this point, her parents called the Belton Police Department to file a missing person's report. However, because Kara had an earlier runaway report from over a year before, the police treated this as a runaway and did not begin investigating immediately.

The next morning, an officer arrived at Kara's house to tell them that a friend of Kara's had also filed a missing person's report simultaneously to the Beckford's filing theirs. However, she said she had not seen Kara for several days. When her parents asked why this friend didn't come to them, she had told the police she was "uncomfortable." Jim then volunteered to take a lie detector test and be interrogated. He was subsequently cleared as a suspect. (I do not know what the friend's motivations were or how much information she knows about Kara's whereabouts.)

A few days before Kara's disappearance, Rhonda had filed an ex parte order of protection against Kara's ex-boyfriend. That ex-boyfriend, Kylr Yust, was alleged to have abducted and assaulted Kara. Kylr was interrogated by police and did pass a lie detector test, but was not officially cleared as a suspect. (Note: Yust is currently serving a four year sentence for an unrelated crime, but did brag about "killing an ex-girlfriend and feeding her to pigs." He also had a previous conviction for assaulting a different girlfriend.)

Then, on June 2, 2007, Kelsey Smith, 18, was abducted from a Target parking lot fifteen miles away in Overland Park, Kansas. Kelsey was very similar in age and size to Kara, so police immediately wondered about a connection.  Sadly, Kelsey's body was found a few days later, minutes from Kara Kopetsky's home.

Kelsey Smith

Due largely to the video obtained from Target and excellent police work, Kelsey's murderer, Edwin Hall, was captured and arrested within a few days of her abduction. Despite intensive efforts, there was no physical evidence found to connect Hall to Kara. Hall pleaded guilty to the murder of Kelsey Smith on July 23, 2008.

Kara Kopetsky has now been missing for over seven years and police and her family are no closer to any answers about what happened to her. There are reasons to remain hopeful, though. Both men who may have killed her are in jail, and hopefully, one of them will start talking to a cell mate or guard. Also, the friend who filed the missing person's report may decide to speak up about what she knows. Until then, Kara's family will remain in limbo.