Mother of murdered woman, Christie Wilson, reacts to Smart family's continuing search for daughter
The guilty verdict in the Kristin Smart murder case is finally giving the Smart family a sense of justice, although the painful wait to locate her body continues.
No one knows that pain better than the family of Christie Wilson, whose body was not discovered for 15 years after she was murdered in Placer County.
CBS13's Steve Large spoke to Wilson's mother, Debbie Boyd, about the murder verdict.
"What are you feeling right now?" CBS13's Steve Large asked Boyd.
"I'm feeling elated for the Smart family," Boyd said. "It's a horrific journey -- one that I wouldn't wish upon anybody."
Boyd has walked the painful path that Kristin Smart's family is now on.
"To go to bed every single night wondering, where did this killer put my child?" Boyd said. "It's painful."
Boyd's daughter Christie Wilson was murdered in Placer County in 2005. Her killer, Mario Garcia, was convicted. But he never revealed where he buried Christie's body. Detectives released videos of the areas they searched for years, and 15 years after the murder, Garcia's own son finally gave detectives a clue that led to the discovery of Wilson's body.
The date is seared in her mother's memory.
"When Christie was found on August 20 of 2020, 15 years after she had been taken, my life changed," Boyd said. "My life changed. My family's life changed. And it was a peace that came over me that I hadn't had for 15 years."
Boyd is now friends with Kristin Smart's mother.
"A lot of similarities…the waiting," Boyd said.
She wants lawmakers to add sentencing enhancements to convicted murderers who hide their victim's bodies.
"When you hide that body," Boyd said, "it's a whole other level of torment."
After a long-awaited verdict in the Kristin Smart case, the painful wait to bring her remains home continues.
"There is always that possibility that there will be a lead that will come in that will lead you to your loved one's remains," Boyd said
Boyd is now a teacher at POST, an organization that teaches police officer standards and training. She helps with a course on how law enforcement officers should interact with the families of victims of violent crime.
