Wednesday 3 August 2022 07:06 AM Kristin Smart's former roommate said cops didn't take her seriously when she ... trends now
Kristin Smart's former roommate claimed police didn't take her seriously when she reported the 19-year-old missing twice before police finally filed an official report.
Testifying in the 1996 murder case of her fellow CalPoly student on Monday, Crystal Teschendorf said she became concerned about her roommate after she left to go partying on May 24.
Teschendorf said she and several other residents in the dorm contacted police two days after Smart failed to return to her room, and then, again, two days later when she didn't show up for class, KSBY reported.
'We had talked about possible scenarios of why she would not have come back to the dorms,' Teschendorf said of the concerned students. 'We kind of thought it was unusual.'
She claimed police didn't take her concerns seriously at first, but following the second call on the fourth day of Smart's disappearance, police filed a missing persons report.
Smart was declared dead in 2002, but her body has never been found as Paul Flores, 45, and his father Ruben Flores, 81, stand trial for her murder.
Crystal Teschendorf (pictured), Kristin Smart's former roommate, said she and other students called police twice about Smart's disappearance on May 24, 1996
Teschendorf said police did not take her concerns seriously as they only filed a missing persons report after the students' second round of calls, four days after Smart disappeared
Paul Flores, now 45 (left), is charged with murder in the commission of a rape or attempted rape. His father, Ruben Flores, now 81 (right), is charged with accessory after the fact
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Smart was last seen walking back to her dorm by fellow student Paul who is facing murder charges as prosecutors claimed her raped or attempted to rape the 19-year-old.
His father Ruben is charged with being an accessory to the alleged murder. The pair are accused of burying Kristin under the decking of their home after Paul allegedly killed Smart.
Testifying about her last interaction with Smart, Teschendorf said her roommate appeared to be in a 'good mood' as they parted ways on Friday, May 24.
When Teschendorf returned to their room, she noticed that Smart's keys and personal belongings that she normally took everywhere were still in the room, untouched, and her roommate was nowhere to be found.
Teschendorf said it was odd because although they weren't particularly close, Smart would usually tell her if she was going to spend the night out of their dorm.
Teschendorf said she and the other girls in the dorm grew uneasy when none of them heard from Smart as they decided to make their first call to police on Sunday, May 26.
When cross-examined by Paul's defense attorney, Robert Sanger, Teschendorf added that neither she nor Smart had been drinking alcohol when they were together before her disappearance.
Along with Teschendorf's testimony, the court also heard from James Camp, an investigator for the District Attorney's Office, who
