CA CA - Kristin Smart, 19, San Luis Obispo, 25 May 1996

[Ontario Mom]

Holy wow. I've never even heard of this case but this is very interesting. I hope it's not sensationalism. The only thing I can think is that she is alive but I'm not sure how she could pull that off for so long. MOO

I wish I could remember his name, but I followed a case some years ago where a young man went missing as a teen, and was found years later, living on the streets many many states away, and wanted no contact with family, when he was first located. Another one (that I can't recall her name) was a young mom who went missing and was found something like 25 years later (Florida?), and had been in a mental institution off and on the whole time, using a fake name. I think it's pretty rare, but these two cases stand out so I suppose there are likely more examples.

 

[sleuther0192837465]

I never heard about Kristin’s case until this morning. My heart hurts for Kristin & her family. This is torture...I certainly hope her family has been informed already & is not forced to wait for a public announcement! They’ve waited long enough. Really hoping LE/FBI announce something ASAP
MOO

 

[Shelby1]

I wish I could remember his name, but I followed a case some years ago where a young man went missing as a teen, and was found years later, living on the streets many many states away, and wanted no contact with family, when he was first located. Another one (that I can't recall her name) was a young mom who went missing and was found something like 25 years later (Florida?), and had been in a mental institution off and on the whole time, using a fake name. I think it's pretty rare, but these two cases stand out so I suppose there are likely more examples.

Then there was Nicholas Francisco. Married, father. Disappeared because he wanted a different life. Found later living under a new name.

 

[rosesfromangels]

I never heard about Kristin’s case until this morning. My heart hurts for Kristin & her family. This is torture...I certainly hope her family has been informed already & is not forced to wait for a public announcement! They’ve waited long enough. Really hoping LE/FBI announce something ASAP
MOO

Yes - the way this development has been characterized sounds sensationalized. Guess we'll find out soon.

Amateur opinion and speculation

 

[Beekarina]

Following. Such strange language from the FBI

 

[wonderme12]

I haven't followed this case but the reports of the FBI telling the family to prepare for unexpected news, get away for a while and getting a family spokesperson just seems... really unusual. I don't think I've ever followed a case where the investigating agency gives the family news like this. In a way it seems sort of cruel, to leave them hanging with this sort of anxiousness about what the news might be? Unless they actually told the family more, that the family just hasn't shared with the media. Like the rest of you, I'm hoping this news comes much sooner than later.

Totally unprecedented. I wonder if the FBI has an idea that the news may "leak" to the family before the FBI formally provides it to the family?

 

[Noharg]

Wow. I've never heard of LE doing something like this. Could she be alive???

It makes me think that she is. Telling family to wait for unexpected news, have a spokesperson and prepare for a place to get away (from press?) sounds like a reunion with Kristin. JMO

 

[Mom who cares]

Following and hoping for justice for Kristin.

 

[Shelby1]

I can't imagine what the family is feeling.

 

[Beekarina]

It makes me think that she is. Telling family to wait for unexpected news, have a spokesperson and prepare for a place to get away (from press?) sounds like a reunion with Kristin. JMO

It really does. I wonder if she's been held all these years? So frightening when you consider there ARE people out there, under such circumstances....

 

[JoeFromLB]

Wasn't Scott Peterson eyed as a possible suspect at one time? I believe he was at Cal Poly SLO when Kristin disappeared.

 

[Shelby1]

Wasn't Scott Peterson eyed as a possible suspect at one time? I believe he was at Cal Poly SLO when Kristin disappeared.

Yes, but they later ruled him out.

 

[Noharg]

It really does. I wonder if she's been held all these years? So frightening when you consider there ARE people out there, under such circumstances....

If she is not alive, it’s almost cruel to tell family like this. I’m sure they are hopeful she is alive.
JMO

 

[Yellow Rose]

I've thought about this for the last several hours and all I can come up with is that they had her declared dead in I believe 2002 so the SHOCK is probably that she's alive

 

[dotr]

I wish I could remember his name, but I followed a case some years ago where a young man went missing as a teen, and was found years later, living on the streets many many states away, and wanted no contact with family, when he was first located. Another one (that I can't recall her name) was a young mom who went missing and was found something like 25 years later (Florida?), and had been in a mental institution off and on the whole time, using a fake name. I think it's pretty rare, but these two cases stand out so I suppose there are likely more examples.

O/t (sort of)
There have been a number of cases in Ontario alone where people have been missing for years, considered deceased and then found alive, noting just a few of them.. FWIW
Ontario man missing since 1977 found alive in U.S.
''An Ontario man who went missing 37 years ago and was declared dead in 1986 has been found alive and living in Oklahoma.
Ontario Provincial Police said Ronald Stan, then 32, was reported missing following a barn fire on Sept. 29, 1977 in the former Township of East Williams, now part of the municipality of North Middlesex, approximately 200 kilometres southwest of Toronto.''
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/anton-pilipa-found-1.3968958
''A Toronto man, missing for five years and feared dead, is now back home after being discovered wandering on a highway in Brazil.''
Man missing 30 years remembers identity
''A Canadian man who disappeared 30 years ago is set to be reunited with his family after remembering his identity, Canadian media reported.
Edgar Latulip was 21 when he went missing from a home for disabled people in Ontario province.
He boarded a bus, but soon after suffered a head injury that police believe robbed him of his memory.
Mr Latulip lived in the Niagara region under a different identity for decades before experiencing flashbacks.''

 

[aristocrat]

yes as they attended cal poly at the same time but he was ruled out as a suspect.

 

[sds71]

And this one
Mom Who Disappeared Found Alive 11 Years Later

Eleven years after she vanished without a trace, Brenda Heist approached police in Florida last week to explain that she had abandoned her two children on the spur of the moment, leaving behind her old life in central Pennsylvania to become a vagrant.

That new life apparently lost its charm, police in central Pennsylvania said Wednesday as they recounted her journey. It began when three strangers reached out to comfort her as she cried in despair in a park in 2002, then offered to let her accompany them. She took them up on it.

Heist, a car dealership bookkeeper, was going through an amicable divorce and had just been turned down for housing assistance. She left the half-done laundry, the defrosting dinner and her daughter and son, then 8 and 12 years old.

"Everybody that knew Brenda told us there was absolutely no way Brenda would leave her children," said Lititz Borough Police Det. John Schofield, who suspected for years she may have been killed.

"She explained to me that she just snapped," said Schofield, who met with her Monday in Florida. "She turned her back on her family, she turned her back on her friends, her co-workers."

He said she expressed shame and apologized for what she did to her family.

 

[j_in_c]

Following. Such strange language from the FBI

It sounds like this was not necessarily what the FBI said since it was not in a press release or statement directly from them. It is someone paraphrasing a conversation and then a reporter reporting that. My worst fear is that it could be a hoax (although I would assume that would get cleared up once there was media coverage). I do not believe it implies in any way that she is alive - all MOO.

 

[Barbieshell]

It sounds like this was not necessarily what the FBI said since it was not in a press release or statement directly from them. It is someone paraphrasing a conversation and then a reporter reporting that. My worst fear is that it could be a hoax (although I would assume that would get cleared up once there was media coverage). I do not believe it implies in any way that she is alive - all MOO.

I think it's highly unlikely, especially since cadaver dogs seemingly picked up the smell of death in the POI's dorm / room around the time KS had gone missing.

 

[JillR]

And this one
Mom Who Disappeared Found Alive 11 Years Later

Eleven years after she vanished without a trace, Brenda Heist approached police in Florida last week to explain that she had abandoned her two children on the spur of the moment, leaving behind her old life in central Pennsylvania to become a vagrant.

That new life apparently lost its charm, police in central Pennsylvania said Wednesday as they recounted her journey. It began when three strangers reached out to comfort her as she cried in despair in a park in 2002, then offered to let her accompany them. She took them up on it.

Heist, a car dealership bookkeeper, was going through an amicable divorce and had just been turned down for housing assistance. She left the half-done laundry, the defrosting dinner and her daughter and son, then 8 and 12 years old.

"Everybody that knew Brenda told us there was absolutely no way Brenda would leave her children," said Lititz Borough Police Det. John Schofield, who suspected for years she may have been killed.

"She explained to me that she just snapped," said Schofield, who met with her Monday in Florida. "She turned her back on her family, she turned her back on her friends, her co-workers."

He said she expressed shame and apologized for what she did to her family.

Wow! This is something else. Poor children.