FBI reportedly tells mom of woman missing since 1996 to "be ready" for unexpected news
The mother of a Stockton woman who disappeared more than two decades ago says an update in the case could be right around the corner. According to the Stockton Record, Kristin Smart's mother, Denise, says she was contacted by the FBI and they told her to "Be ready. This is really going to be something you don't expect."
Kristin Smart was a 19-year-old freshman at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo when she disappeared in 1996. She was last seen leaving a party off-campus.
According to the Record, the FBI told Smart's mother her family "might want to get away for a while" and get a family spokesperson.
In a statement to CBS affiliate KCOY-TV, Cal Poly said it "offers its thoughts to the Smart family along with its continued hopes for a resolution in the disappearance of Kristin Smart... the university has not been made aware of any new or additional information."
Smart's disappearance has been a mystery for 24 years. In 2016, investigators excavated a Cal Poly hillside following a tip but nothing turned up.
According to reports at the time of Smart's disappearance, a neighbor in her dorm called university police the next morning and reported that she hadn't returned. But other students said they thought she had gone camping, so officers didn't declare her missing for three days.
The student who said he left Smart near her dorm was questioned by authorities and his home was searched but he was not arrested or charged in the case.
A California law, the Kristin Smart Campus Safety Act of 1998, now requires campus police to spell out exactly when they will call in outside authorities to investigate a violent crime.