Paul Flores was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison without parole for the 1996 murder of California student Kristin Smart.

Smart, a student at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, disappeared in May 1996 while walking home from a party. Flores was the last person with whom Smart was seen alive.

For more than two decades, her family and friends searched for answers as to what had happened to Smart. As of this day, the body of Smart has not been found. In 2002, she was declared legally dead.

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Prosecutors alleged that Flores killed Smart in his dorm room while he tried to rape her.

After police pinned Flores as a suspect in the case, investigators searched the separate homes of his parents, Susan and Ruben Flores. A search warrant was served at Paul’s sister’s home in Washington.

After evidence pointed at Flores’ involvement in the murder, police arrested the accused. His father Ruben was also taken into custody in 2021. Investigators at Ruben’s home used ground-penetrating radar, dug on the property using hand tools and recovered items as evidence.

Authorities said that Ruben helped his son hide Smart’s remains under his deck in Arroyo Grande.

“He knew the one person who would help with a dead girl on his bed was his father,” Deputy Dist. Attorney Chris Peuvrelle said last October. “It was his version of a 911 call.”

“Ruben Flores has been helping him for the last 26 years,” the prosecutor added.

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An audio conversation from January 26, 2020, between Paul and his mother, Susan, was played during the trial where the 45-year-old could be heard telling him to start listening to the “Your Own Backyard” podcast so they could start “punching holes in it.”