10 Incredibly Upsetting Disappearances That Remain Unsolved To This Day

By Thought Catalog, June 30th 2018

https://develop.thoughtcatalog.com/?p=902387

Kristin Smart

Last seen May 25, 1996

Kristin Smart was a student at California Polytechnic State University (CalPoly) when she disappeared. Over Memorial Day weekend, Kristin was invited to go to a friend’s birthday party. At around 2 in the morning on May 25th, witnesses reported seeing Kristin passed out drunk on a neighbor’s lawn, and opted to help her get back to her dorm room. Cheryl Anderson, Tim Davis, and Paul Flores all debated as to how to get her home. Tim ended up leaving first as he lived off campus and had driven, Cheryl left Kristin with Paul because Paul lived the closest to Muir Hall – Kristin’s dorm. According to Paul he walked with Kristin as far as his own dorm, and let her walk the rest of her way herself.

She was never seen again.

CalPoly investigations initially suspected Kristin left on an unannounced vacation due to the holiday weekend, and would infamously not investigate her disappearance to the fullest extent. There were loose theories that Scott Peterson was involved as he attended CalPoly around the same time as Kristin, but he has been formally cleared of any involvement.

Kristin was declared legally dead on the sixth anniversary of her disappearance. No evidence has ever been found.

About the author

Thought Catalog

Trace the scars life has left you. It will remind you that at one point, you fought for something. You believed.

“You are the only person who gets to decide if you are happy or not—do not put your happiness into the hands of other people. Do not make it contingent on their acceptance of you or their feelings for you. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if someone dislikes you or if someone doesn’t want to be with you. All that matters is that you are happy with the person you are becoming. All that matters is that you like yourself, that you are proud of what you are putting out into the world. You are in charge of your joy, of your worth. You get to be your own validation. Please don’t ever forget that.” — Bianca Sparacino

Excerpted from The Strength In Our Scars by Bianca Sparacino.