Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
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May 26th, 1996. 11:30 AM. California Polytechnic State University.
Two days had passed since anyone had seen Kristin Smart.
Her dorm neighbor, Margarita Campos, stood at the front desk of the campus police department, filing a missing persons report. She explained to the officer that, during a night out partying, she and Kristin, a 19-year-old freshman, had been separated, and now, two days later, Kristin still hadn’t returned to their dorm.
But the officer behind the desk wasn't alarmed. It was Memorial Day Weekend, and students left campus all the time without telling their friends. He told Margarita that Kristin had probably gone home to visit her parents in Stockton, or maybe left town with a boyfriend.
Margarita left with nothing but the officer's indifference.
Then, the next morning, Kristin's roommate, Crystal, returned to their shared dorm room after being gone all weekend.
Kristin's ID card and the rest of her belongings were still there. All untouched, exactly as she had left them on Friday.
If Kristin had gone home, she had done so without taking a single thing with her.
Crystal talked to Margarita and the two of them went back to the campus police. Together they urged the department to take the report seriously. This was enough to push the campus police to make a call to Kristin’s family in Stockton.
Kristin's mother answered and revealed that Kristin was not home. In fact, the family had been waiting for her scheduled weekly call, which never came. Kristin had never before left campus without telling her parents first.
And this is when it became clear that something was very wrong.
But still, no search efforts were conducted for Kristin Smart by the Cal Poly campus police until May 28th… four full days after she had disappeared. Worse yet, campus police would not involve the local sheriff’s department for another month. By then, it would already be too late.
Due to these needless delays and further mistakes made by the sheriff’s department later on, Kristin Smart’s disappearance would go unsolved for 27 years. The worst part of this is that, during this time, the man responsible would be free to claim countless more victims. That was until average everyday people with an internet connection cracked the case wide open.
Let's get into it.
Sources: rentry.co/k743grg2
Submit a story idea: brewsolves.com
Merch: shop.brewsolves.com
Become a member: stacked.com/brew
May 26th, 1996. 11:30 AM. California Polytechnic State University.
Two days had passed since anyone had seen Kristin Smart.
Her dorm neighbor, Margarita Campos, stood at the front desk of the campus police department, filing a missing persons report. She explained to the officer that, during a night out partying, she and Kristin, a 19-year-old freshman, had been separated, and now, two days later, Kristin still hadn’t returned to their dorm.
But the officer behind the desk wasn't alarmed. It was Memorial Day Weekend, and students left campus all the time without telling their friends. He told Margarita that Kristin had probably gone home to visit her parents in Stockton, or maybe left town with a boyfriend.
Margarita left with nothing but the officer's indifference.
Then, the next morning, Kristin's roommate, Crystal, returned to their shared dorm room after being gone all weekend.
Kristin's ID card and the rest of her belongings were still there. All untouched, exactly as she had left them on Friday.
If Kristin had gone home, she had done so without taking a single thing with her.
Crystal talked to Margarita and the two of them went back to the campus police. Together they urged the department to take the report seriously. This was enough to push the campus police to make a call to Kristin’s family in Stockton.
Kristin's mother answered and revealed that Kristin was not home. In fact, the family had been waiting for her scheduled weekly call, which never came. Kristin had never before left campus without telling her parents first.
And this is when it became clear that something was very wrong.
But still, no search efforts were conducted for Kristin Smart by the Cal Poly campus police until May 28th… four full days after she had disappeared. Worse yet, campus police would not involve the local sheriff’s department for another month. By then, it would already be too late.
Due to these needless delays and further mistakes made by the sheriff’s department later on, Kristin Smart’s disappearance would go unsolved for 27 years. The worst part of this is that, during this time, the man responsible would be free to claim countless more victims. That was until average everyday people with an internet connection cracked the case wide open.
Let's get into it.
Sources: rentry.co/k743grg2
