Dead And Buried (2 page)
Authors: Corey Mitchell
TWO
At 8:30
A.M.
, Friday the 13th, Cal Poly student Theresa Audino crossed the Jennifer Street Bridge to retrieve her car, which she parked downtown. She and her boyfriend had spent the previous evening at the farmers’ market, where she purchased her weekly supply of vegetables. She decidedto walk home and left her car downtown. She crossed the Jennifer Street Bridge at 11:30
P.M.
on Thursday night. She did not notice anything unusual.
A.M.
, Friday the 13th, Cal Poly student Theresa Audino crossed the Jennifer Street Bridge to retrieve her car, which she parked downtown. She and her boyfriend had spent the previous evening at the farmers’ market, where she purchased her weekly supply of vegetables. She decidedto walk home and left her car downtown. She crossed the Jennifer Street Bridge at 11:30
P.M.
on Thursday night. She did not notice anything unusual.
This morning, however, she definitely saw something that scared her.
A pool of blood, at least a foot across, lay conspicuously near the staircase at the top of the bridge. The blood still seemed thick and fresh. It was still wet.
Audino noticed several drops of blood, about the size of her thumb, on the stairs. She decided to see how far they stretched. As she slowly descended the fifty-eight steps, she noted that the blood drops went all the way to the bottom stair. She followed the blood to the right of the stairs, onto the sidewalk, and then left to the train station parking lot. Suddenly,the drops disappeared. They stopped right at a tree planter located next to the first parking spot.
Audino contacted the police. They informed her that they had already heard about the blood.
San Luis Obispo police officer Christopher Staley, who worked the day shift from 7:00
A.M.
to 7:00
P.M.
, reported to the Jennifer Street Bridge. He noticed the large pool of blood on the top of the stairs. He proceeded to obtain a blood swab in case it might be helpful in the future. Later that morning, he did something inexplicable. He asked the city cleaning crew to wash the blood off the bridge.
A.M.
to 7:00
P.M.
, reported to the Jennifer Street Bridge. He noticed the large pool of blood on the top of the stairs. He proceeded to obtain a blood swab in case it might be helpful in the future. Later that morning, he did something inexplicable. He asked the city cleaning crew to wash the blood off the bridge.
They did.
“Have you heard from Rachel today?” asked Kirk Williams, an assistant manager of the SLO Brewing Company,where Rachel worked as a hostess. He was speaking to one of Rachel’s three roommates, Nichole Tylenda.
It was 6:00
P.M.
P.M.
“She was supposed to come in to work this afternoon,” Williams continued.
“I actually haven’t heard from her all day. Apparently, she didn’t show up for her class and she didn’t come home today. It’s not like her to not call,” Tylenda said worriedly.
Rachel usually let someone know what she was up to. The attractive Cal Poly nutrition major made sure her circle of friends knew what she was doing almost every day. These includedAndrea, her other roommates, her coworkers, and her family. SLO Brewing coworker and occasional date Adam Olson told Williams, “It’s unlike her to disappear like this. There’s no way for her to vanish without telling anybody where she was going.”
Nevertheless, no one could find Rachel Newhouse.
By Saturday, November 14, a full-scale search was on. Rachel’s friends created hundreds of missing-person posters, with Rachel’s pertinent information listed, and posted them all over downtown. The San Luis Obispo policewere also on the trail of the missing college student. They were led by Captain Bart Topham, who secured a search-and-rescue team made up of anywhere from twenty-fiveto sixty searchers. Several tracking dogs assisted and a California Highway Patrol helicopter tracked the team’s progress from the sky.
Captain Topham had all the people on the search-and-rescue team follow Rachel’s potential route home from Tortilla Flats to the Jennifer Street neighborhood. They also searched several creeks in the area that lined the peaceful neighborhoods.
San Luis Obispo was up in arms over the prospect of a missing college girl.
Rachel Newhouse was the prototypical California college girl. She was an attractive, full-figured, 5’6”, 120-pound blonde who was athletic, academically blessed, hardworking, and honest to boot. Her grandmother Patricia Newhouse describedher as a “conscientious, hardworking girl” with “lots of friends.” Her grandmother also stressed that her kin was not really a “party person—she’s more into taking care of business and getting things done.”
Rachel was getting things done at Cal Polytechnic Institute.She was a junior-year nutrition major, with a strong B average. She was used to getting things done. Just as she did at Irvine High School in Orange County, where she maintained a straight-A average and also excelled at sports, including soccer and cross-country track. She was a studentbody officer and member of the California Scholarship Federation. She was also very popular and good at making friends and keeping them.
One friend that Rachel kept was Andrea West. They were both freshmen at Irvine High School, where they met in 1992. They became fast friends and maintained their close bond over the years. Andrea described Rachel as “the perfect friend. She’s always there when she’s needed. She’s a happy and cheery person. She cares.”
Rachel Newhouse also cared about doing the right thing. Her aunt Patricia Turner described Rachel as a bit too hard on herself. Andrea furthered the idea of Rachel as a hardworking,conscientious person. She informed the police that in addition to her studies, Rachel also baby-sat and worked at SLO Brewing.
Rachel Newhouse kept busy and stayed out of trouble.
By Monday, November 16, 1998, Andrea West had not heard from her friend. Neither had her boss Kirk Williams. Nor had Captain Topham. No one in town knew where she was located. Word began to spread around the Cal Poly campusabout her disappearance. By Wednesday, the mood of the town and the campus shifted in a dark direction. Samina Khan, Rachel’s lab mate, headed for the Women’s Center on campus. Her mission: to buy pepper spray. She was afraid and looking for a way to defend herself.
“I was thinking about getting some last year, but I didn’t feel unsafe,” she said forlornly as she clutched her new purchase.
Parents of several Cal Poly students began to contact Captain Topham. They also had one thing on their minds: protecting their children.
Why was there so much panic in a seemingly routine missingcollege student case? After all, it was no big deal for a young college student to take off a few days from school and not call friends. Extended trips to Tijuana or Las Vegas were not out of the ordinary. Why were the parents and, indeed, many of the students concerned?
It was not the first time a female Cal Poly student had gone missing in recent years.
THREE
On May 25, 1996, the beginning of the Memorial Day weekend, many students were packing their bags and getting ready to return to their hometowns. The semester had ended and, for some, it was time for one last celebration. Kristin “Roxy” Smart, a 6’1” statuesque blond freshman from Stockton,California, was ready to join the fun.
Kristin was the progeny of intelligent parents. She was born at 2:00
A.M.
in Augsburg, Germany, on February 20, 1977, to two teachers, Stan and Denise Smart. When her familyrelocated to the United States, her father became a high school principal in Stockton. She also had a brother and sister,Matt and Lindsey. All three of the Smart children loved swimming. Kristin excelled at the sport in high school. She also had a strong love for the state of Hawaii and the Pacific Ocean. Her love for aquatics led her to choose Cal Poly for college because of the school’s close proximity to the ocean.
A.M.
in Augsburg, Germany, on February 20, 1977, to two teachers, Stan and Denise Smart. When her familyrelocated to the United States, her father became a high school principal in Stockton. She also had a brother and sister,Matt and Lindsey. All three of the Smart children loved swimming. Kristin excelled at the sport in high school. She also had a strong love for the state of Hawaii and the Pacific Ocean. Her love for aquatics led her to choose Cal Poly for college because of the school’s close proximity to the ocean.
Kristin had successfully made it through her first year in college, where she majored in speech communications. She looked forward to returning home for the summer, but first she wanted to party. After all, she deserved it.
Kristin started her end-of-the-year celebration at an off-campusparty thrown by fellow student Ryan Fell. The party took place on Crandall Way, less than a quarter mile from Kristin’s dorm. According to police reports, Kristin arrived at the party sober.
Two hours later, she was not.
At approximately 2:00
A.M.
Kristin Smart lay in the next-doorneighbor’s yard passed out. Cheryl Anderson, who knew Kristin but was not close friends with her, and another Cal Poly student, Tim Davis, spotted her. After they roused Kristin out of her inebriated state and got the lanky, tall blonde to her feet, they began to walk her back to her dorm. About a quarter mile later, another student, Paul Flores, popped up alongside them. He informed Anderson and Davis that he met Kristin at the party earlier that night.
A.M.
Kristin Smart lay in the next-doorneighbor’s yard passed out. Cheryl Anderson, who knew Kristin but was not close friends with her, and another Cal Poly student, Tim Davis, spotted her. After they roused Kristin out of her inebriated state and got the lanky, tall blonde to her feet, they began to walk her back to her dorm. About a quarter mile later, another student, Paul Flores, popped up alongside them. He informed Anderson and Davis that he met Kristin at the party earlier that night.
Flores offered to walk Kristin back to her dorm.
Kristin, Paul, Cheryl, and Tim walked northwest on Via Carta, from the raucous party, onto the main campus drive known as Perimeter, which is a three-quarter circular road that connects all of the main arteries on campus. Davis was the first to break off and go to his dorm. It was only a short trip to Muir Hall, Kristin’s dorm, so Anderson assumed everything was fine. Even though Kristin stumbled and could barely stand up straight, Anderson decided to let Flores walk her home the rest of the way. After all, it was only another one hundred yards or so. Anderson parted ways and headed off to her own dorm. Flores assured Anderson that he would get Kristin home safely.
No one has heard from or seen Kristin Smart since.
The next morning, witnesses saw Paul Flores with a black eye. He did not have it the night before at the party, accordingto several witnesses who attended.
No one reported Kristin as missing until May 28, 1996. The Cal Poly campus police supposedly took their sweet time in looking further into her disappearance. They eventually contacted her father, Stan Smart, who was now the principal at Vintage High School in Napa, California. Mr. Smart assumedthat Kristin had done something wrong at school. He was frustrated to learn that no one had seen her for almost three days.
The Cal Poly police treated Kristin’s case as a simple missing-personcase. They told her parents that it was not unusual for a student to run away and not tell their family. The Smarts, however, did not buy that theory. They knew Kristin would tell them anything if she was upset, depressed, or in some kind of trouble. As the days ticked off the calendar, however, their fear increased substantially.
The campus police conducted interviews with several studentsfrom the party—at least the students that remained on campus. They also spoke with Paul Flores and mentioned the black eye to him. Flores claimed that he got it during a basketballgame. At a second interview he recanted his story and claimed that he received the black eye while fixing his car. For some reason, the campus officers did not bother to ask him why he lied about the basketball game.
Later, Flores would tell his close friends that he had lied twice. He claimed he did not get the black eye while fixing his car. In fact, he had no clue as to how he got the shiner. He laughed as he told his friends that he was embarrassed that he did not know how it got there, so he had to make up something.
One month after the disappearance of Kristin Smart, the case switched hands from the Cal Poly campus police to the San Luis Obispo Police Department and the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Department. Former San Luis Obispo sheriffEdward Williams immediately pegged Flores as the main suspect in her disappearance and began a full-scale investigationinto the young man.
Unfortunately, for the police, Flores hired an attorney and refused to speak to anyone about Kristin Smart. Despite Flores’santagonistic stance, Sheriff Williams was able to conduct a search of Flores’s dorm room. The only problem was that Flores had moved out over two months earlier and had thoroughlycleaned his room up in the process. Despite the cleaning, the sheriff’s three cadaver-sniffing dogs made a direct beeline for Flores’s dorm room. The dogs were having a field day in Flores’s old room. They bounced up and down all over the young man’s mattress, which was property of the school; therefore, it remained in the room. Unfortunately, no specific physical evidence was located.
Soon thereafter, Paul Flores dropped out of college.
His headaches were only beginning.
The Smarts began a relentless campaign to get Paul Flores to speak. They believed that he was the key to the whereaboutsof their daughter. They did everything in their power to get him to come forward and, if not confess, at least tell them what he knew about Kristin’s final moments. Their pressurecampaign consisted of sending out photo collages of Kristin to Flores’s parents, grandparents, and other relatives. The collages showed their daughter enjoying the sun, laying out at the beach, or enjoying the water with her friends. They were images of a typical gorgeous California girl, and they believed Paul Flores had a hand in her potential demise. Friends of the Smart family would also send postcards to members of Flores’s family asking them why their son would not speak with authorities. The Smarts wanted to make sure that the Flores family knew their son was the main suspect.
The Smarts indicated that the envelopes always came back to them—open. They at least knew that the Flores family was getting the message.
The Smarts, frustrated by Paul Flores’s refusal to speak, decided to pay him a visit. They traveled to a Central Californiagas station, where he worked. Their intentions were honorable; they just wanted him to help them find their daughter. According to sources, however, Flores hid in the back of the gas station and refused to speak to the bereaved family.
The Smarts made sure Paul Flores knew someone had their eye on him at all times. Private investigators volunteered their services to the family to track Flores down wherever he relocated.He eventually ended up in Southern California.
In Irvine.
Where Rachel Newhouse grew up.
The private investigators were able to find out where Flores sought employment. Anytime a potential employer encountered Paul Flores, they also received a packet of newspaper clippings from the Smarts that detailed Flores’s potential involvement in her disappearance. If they could not get the packet to the companies before they hired him, they usually received it soon thereafter. Most times, the resultwas the same: Paul Flores was not hired, or if he already had the job, he was asked for an explanation. Usually, they asked him to leave. He lost jobs at a video store, a fast-food hamburger restaurant, and Outback Steakhouse.
Frustrated, Paul Flores tried to join the U.S. Navy. The Smarts were right behind him with their packet of information.The navy refused to accept the wayward youth.
Later in 1996, the Smart family sued Paul Flores in civil court. Once again, the purpose was to force him to talk. Flores,however, remained silent by invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, and the family eventually dropped the lawsuit.
The entire incident not only left the Smarts devastated, but the Flores family was shattered as well. According to sources, Flores’s parents could no longer handle the strain of their son as a suspect in an abduction, or even murder case. Ruben and Susan Flores eventually divorced because of their son’s situation,among other problems they experienced.
Curiously, despite the hardship the Smarts have caused him, Paul Flores has never sued the family. He has also never asked for a restraining order against them.
When they realized they could not corral Paul Flores, the Smarts turned to the local police. Their frustration with the authorities,however, was apparent from the beginning. They did not understand why it took the campus police a month before they requested the services of the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Department. They were outraged when the sheriff’s department took forever to search Flores’s room, long after he vacated the premises. They were also upset that the sheriff failed to test any of Flores’s items from the room for DNA evidence. This could have included the mattress and any hairs, scabs, skin flakes, and other potential DNA evidence left in the room.
The Smarts decided to turn to higher authorities: the FederalBureau of Investigation, as well as Janet Reno, the United States Attorney General. They wanted someone on their daughter’s case.
They needed to find her.
The Smarts took charge of the search for their daughter by running a full-court press on the media. They were able to get Kristin’s name and face out to millions of viewers by making numerous appearances on shows such as
20/20
,
Sally
,
Inside Edition
, and
America’s Most Wanted
. They even visited a psychicfor a show on the Sci-Fi Channel called
Sightings
.
20/20
,
Sally
,
Inside Edition
, and
America’s Most Wanted
. They even visited a psychicfor a show on the Sci-Fi Channel called
Sightings
.
The Smarts feared that the case would simply languish, so they contacted a family friend, California State Senator Mike Thompson, St. Helena, Democrat, who was eager to lend a hand. Senator Thompson immediately drafted legislation that would require campus police departments and local law officialsto draw up written agreements as to who would handle homicides and other violent crimes in their overlapping jurisdictions.The bill would act as a response to the monthlong lag time between Kristin’s disappearance and the time the sheriff’sdepartment officially got involved in her search. Willie Guerrero, a spokesman for Senator Thompson, stated that the law creates a “minimum threshold” between law enforcement agencies and how they should handle the investigations of violent crimes on California’s college campuses.
Governor Pete Wilson signed House Assembly Bill (SB) 1729 on August 11, 1998. It is better known as the Kristin Smart Campus Safety Act.
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