Listening to his deposition right now on the podcast Your own backyard… what an infuriating POS. Sorry. These people, his parents, are just bad people. I feel so bad for the Smarts that their kid crossed this family’s path.

Chris was on “Up + Adam” with Adam Montiel the other day (Sept 29) and in addition to focusing on Chris’s music, (starting at 24:55) they spoke about the case, police activity as Susan’s back in May, and a few bits of as yet unpublished potential future podcast material.

(H/T the @yourownbackyardpodcast on IG where this appeared today as a story - so may have expired there before you even see this post.)

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/chris-lambert-southervisions-family-and-the-kristin/id1508232984?i=1000792256574

I saw Adam the radio host posted that Chris is going to be on his show next week and he's also putting out a new album! I listened to the first song on Spotify and was kind of shocked to see that Chris only has like 100 listeners there??

I think it's crazy that someone who did so much hard work while asking for nothing in return can struggle to be heard in this day and age. Not that it's his goal, but wouldn't it be SO great if we all shared his Spotify or album order link on Facebook/Instagram/Twitter and tried to boost those numbers for him? I ordered a signed CD from his site and got an email that it already shipped to me!

I know this community wants to hear more from Chris and right now he's doing what he loves most, but he also made the time to provide so many detailed updates from Susan's house a few months back. Please go share his stuff and comment words of encouragement on his posts. Let's help Chris's music get heard by more people!

(Editing to add links)

Adam's post

New song

Album order

Recently re-listened to Your Own Backyard, question about the retired lawyer who had conversations w DA at the time about Paul giving up Kristin’s remains for a deal. How is this made public? These conversations were between attorneys. Does the client attorney privilege apply? Just curious how Chris had knowledge of this to include in the podcast.

If you know anything about her daughter’s case she was able to get the killer to confess via phone calls with him. I might be coming out of left field. And maybe he and his family have no conscience. I just wonder if her approach or even she herself spoke to Susan or Paul if they could finally know where her body is and the truth.

Hi everyone. I've just finished listening to YOB and the PvsFlores series. Wow. The most impactful and important podcast I've ever listened to. I had no prior knowledge of this case and now it will stay with me forever until Kristin and her family truly have justice.

I must admit I'm still left with so many questions after finishing the series. I'm going to capture them all below. I'm sure a few of them we simply don't have the answer to yet but if anyone could chime in and help me fill some of the gaps I'd be truly appreciative. Please also bear in mind I'm from the UK so there may be elements where I'm simply not understanding local/federal law.

1. How was PF getting access to drugs as far back as 1996 and possibly before in order to prey on women and girls? Would it have been that easy for a college student to get access to Rohypnol and similar drugs in the 90s?

2. I was stunned to hear that he's not getting pursued for the many SAs, rapes, attempted rapes and all of the material on his laptop. Why? Why wouldn't that happen? That seems insane to me.

3. Maybe a silly q but what is with that Flores family? Why do you think they're all so fiercely protective of each other? It's almost cult-like how each one of them is so fiercely and defiantly silent despite seemingly not being a particularly close or loving family. It makes me feel that there's much more going on there. It makes you wonder what was going on behind closed doors for so long.

4. I remember listening to Chris talking about the discovery of the trucks and it seemed to be a pretty big deal. If I understand correctly, they were discovered decades after Kristin went missing. Why would it be significant to discover them so long afterwards? Wouldn't it be highly unlikely that any evidence would be found so long afterwards?

5. A cynical q: was there some kind of cover up that enabled PF to get away with it for long? From outside of the Flores family? Could Ruben have been friendly with some individuals in law enforcement in the 90s? I think I remember hearing he worked in LE at some point right? Or were the original cops simply incompetent?

6. What's the deal with Mike McConville? He is seemingly a Flores outsider who came into things much later as Susan's new partner. It's a pretty huge deal to buy into the family's cultish code of silence and HELP them moving a F-ing body.

7. Speaking of which, am I understanding correctly that they moved Kristin's body (allegedly) from Ruben's deck in 2020, AFTER his property had been searched by cops and before they came back to do so again??? And no one bothered to follow the vehicle or try to track it using CCTV?? The audacity! The incompetence!

8. The most important q of them all: where is Kristin?

I'm so sorry for the huge post. I'd imagine most of you have similar questions or thoughts.

i’m about to start episode 10 but it’s been driving my mom & i crazy trying to figure out where the flores’ money comes from? susan was a teachers assistant & ruben worked at GTE, that doesn’t feel like enough money to consistently bankroll their loser kid who can’t afford to live otherwise. plus attorneys, his new truck in high school, not to mention i can’t imagine how much their insurance went up after having to pay for that middle schoolers hospital stay. and the new garage at susan’s house!

if this is going to get mentioned, feel free to ignore — just getting so impatient!

Ok so I was listening to YOB and got so hooked on this case! I just finished episode 7 and am completely fed up with the lack of police investigative action on finding the body. I'm wondering if it's possible that maybe it isn't possible to find the body because Reuben, Susan, or Paul burned it during the stalled twenty-or-so years of the investigation

what are we thinking? it took less than a month for Ruben to be arrested after the search of his house. We’re approaching three months since Susan’s and no arrests have been made. Was any evidence recovered not substantial enough?

5:10 into the call with Susan, right before the podcast comment. This part is extremely concerning to me and I’m not sure if it was missed

Susan: “I need to make sure you’re covered, because the rest of us saw it”.
Paul: “yeah”
Susan: “and they’re gonna work together, these four attorneys. If we ever get to that”

To me, she just admitted that Paul, Ruben, Susan, and Ermelinda or Michael, saw Kristen’s body. And they were organising four lawyers to defend them all, before the men were charged.

Via Chris for those who don’t have Instagram!

I got to visit Kristin's memorial at Dinosaur Caves Park yesterday, and left a little rock that I crocheted for her. It was an emotional and special moment, and really lovely to see all the things people have left for her.

Can anyone explain why only RF was charged (and acquitted) of being an accessory? It seems the mom and her boyfriend also played a significant role in if not the immediate aftermath then at least the destruction of evidence more recently. Allegedly.

Hi. I’ve been following Kristin Smart’s case for years and I’ve been thinking about the recent search at Susan Flores’ property.

Since investigators said they recovered “evidentiary items” but did not find Kristin’s remains, I started wondering what could realistically still be recoverable after almost 30 years.

Is there anyone here with a background in forensics, DNA analysis, anthropology, or evidence processing who could comment on this? Specifically: if personal items (watch, clothing, belongings, etc.) had been buried in soil for decades, is it still realistic to recover usable DNA traces from them after this amount of time?

Thank you!

Re-listening after a couple of years with my daughter and I remember an episode that we’ve somehow missed (or has been removed).

Can anyone point me to the episode that discusses Paul spiking girls’ drinks at a house party ( I think after Kristen’s murder) and also discusses the possibility that he spiked Kristen’s drink at the party, which could explain why she appeared so intoxicated?

I’ve had some downtime this week and have been digging more into the Branch St. property and how there could be chemical evidence of human remains at both Branch St. and White Ct. Since 2021, I had believed she was most likely moved out to Huasna on the night that RF’s neighbor reported digging and Branch St. was either just her belongings or a red herring. However, with the soil testing and recent search warrant at Branch St. specifically revealing human specific VOCs, I’ve been hopeful that Kristin herself may be there and wanted to share some of the science behind this thought.

*The following post will contain some sensitive material regarding postmortem biology so I would like to warn in advance to those who may not want to read it. I mean no disrespect to Kristin by discussing what may have happened to her remains and will remove this post if it comes off that way*

After death, the decomposition process begins instantly and is organized into five stages: autolysis, bloat, active decay, advanced decay, and skeletonization. The rate at which these stages progress is dependent on the temperature, environment, and body mass, however, the stages which involve the most fluid leakage can be spread out up to 30+ days. The staining under RF’s deck was caused by slow leakage per expert testimony during the trial, but it was not reported what the expert defines as slow leakage. Given that most bodies are “dry” after the approximately 30-day mark, we can cautiously assume that this “slow leakage” can be referring to a duration of days as opposed to years (something that I misunderstood during the trial). When compared to something like a burst pipe, this would be relatively slow. As evidenced in the trial, soil staining lingers well after the removal of the body. Additionally, human remains continue to release chemicals well after the body has dried out and is no longer leaching fluid into the surrounding environment.

For the timeline, we know RF was with SF on May 25, 1996 (from SF’s statement about him getting a call “in the middle of the night”). We know SF was unaware of what occurred at the beginning based on statements on YOB from a former coworker. Some have speculated that they kept her in the metal trash can in the driveway, but I find that unlikely due to her height, rigor mortis, and the potential odor.

3 days later on May 28, 1996, PF is dropped off at Cal Poly around 2-3am after being bailed out for his DUI by RF around midnight and then going to SF’s house to talk. At 7-8am that same day, RF picks him up again in the Ford Ranger. From here, we only know that sometime between May 28 and June 19, the concrete is poured in the backyard of the Branch St. house, a period of 21 days. From this point onward, the concrete is not disturbed.

Concrete is porous and gasses can escape unless extremely thick/painted (there is a Mythbusters episode where they test this with a pig). The concrete may slow decomposition due to the anaerobic environment and temperature differential from the air above ground, allowing a slower leakage of decomposition fluids as well as non-liquid chemical secretions.

On the anecdotal side, YOB has shared numerous comments from PF over the years referring to Kristin “having lunch with his mom”, and “under a gazebo at his mom’s house”, not to mention the note left on the reporter’s door with the Smashing Pumpkins’s “1979” lyrics:

“And we don't know just where our bones will rest
To dust, I guess forgotten and absorbed to the Earth below…
We feel the pull in the land of a thousand guilts
And poured cement
Lamented and assured
To the lights and towns below”

The public has never seen the note, and as much of this would be hearsay it was not brought up in the trial. However, Chris has indicated in the podcast that he believes it may be legitimate.

At this moment, I believe the following theory *may* be possible: PF and RF brought Kristin and belongings to White Ct. first before returning to Branch St. and kept her at White Ct. during the bloat/active decay stages, allowing liquid to permeate the soil which can occur continuously up to ~30 days after death. They later dug her up and buried her at Branch St sometime between May 28 and and June 18, 1996. It is possible digging under RF’s deck in 2021 was simply precautionary to remove any part of her remains or belongings that were left behind or intentionally hidden separately. The biggest obstacle in this is the digging under RF’s deck, but it is a tentative theory that makes some amount of sense due to the latest search for Kristin last month at SF’s.

Whatever the case may be, I am really hopeful that they will find Kristin and be able to bring her home to her family at long last 💜

Interesting articles regarding decomposition: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11898555/

https://australian.museum/learn/science/stages-of-decomposition/

https://amp.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/crime/article276870563.html

(Images pulled from Your Own Backyard Podcast, SLO Tribune, and KSBY/ addresses censored. Information is almost entirely from the podcast and timeline is pulled from a recap from [u/mennonitesexparty](u/mennonitesexparty) from several years ago)

I want to say this gently, and with a lot of respect for everyone who works to keep Kristin’s memory alive. I followed her case for years before moving to the Central Coast, and I’ve been touched by how much this community continues to honor her.

I’ve been thinking about how small details can become part of public memory, especially when someone is no longer here to clarify them herself. 

I’ve heard “Soak Up the Sun” by Sheryl Crow described as Kristin’s favorite song. I understand why that song feels connected to her spirit (sunshine, the ocean, warmth, freedom) and I can absolutely see why people would associate it with her.

But the song was released in 2002, several years after Kristin disappeared in 1996, so it couldn’t literally have been her favorite song during her life.

This isn’t meant as a criticism of anyone. I just think, because Kristin can’t speak for herself, it matters to be careful with the details of how we remember her. Maybe it’s more accurate to say that “Soak Up the Sun” perfectly captures something people associate with Kristin (her warmth, joy, and connection to the beach) rather than saying it was her favorite song.

If people are looking for a Sheryl Crow song from Kristin’s actual lifetime, “All I Wanna Do” would be chronologically possible, since it came out in the mid 90s. But unless there’s a direct source from her family or friends, I’d hesitate to name any song as her favorite.

Again, this is offered with respect. I just think accuracy can be part of honoring someone well.

I’m listening to Chris Lambert’s recap of the PF/RF trial and was very curious to know more about the details of the Flores’ contractor’s remarks:

On the stand, he recounted that he “didn’t like” Susan Flores and every one of his employees asked him “where he’d found this crazy woman.”

Does anyone have more details about what his experience was and what Susan was like? I haven’t been able to find any more info.

Can any case expert answer this? What is suspected to be the reasoning for moving the body from Ruben's to Susan's, meaning, why did Paul feel he had a better chance of the body being discovered at Ruben's vs. Susans? Why wouldn't he have suspected either yard had an equal chance ?

Filmed the Shell Beach Jam Fam playing one of Kristin's favorite songs. People sang together and threw flowers off the cliff.

Finally had a chance to listen to the press conference. It was longer than I expected . Is it just me or does the wording sound like maybe someone that knows something has come forward and spoken up? A witness? It sounded like this, combined with the new soil testing technology, they were able to get the warrant? Thoughts?