Just discovered the Kristin Smart case...holy shit

How have I never really looked into this one before?

19yearold college student disappears after a party in 1996. The last known person walking with her becomes a suspect pretty much immediately. No body. No arrest for decades.

Then over 25 years later, that same guy, Paul Flores, is convicted of murdering her.And Kristin STILL hasn't been found.I'm just starting down this rabbit hole, so I'm sure there's a ton I don't know yet. For the people who've followed this case for years: what's the one detail that made you go, "Wait...WHAT?" Because I have a feeling I'm about to lose a few hours to this one.

On December 29, 1979, Connie Sue Kitzmiller was killed in Morgantown, West Virginia. Robert L. “Bobby” Jones was tried twice in connection with the case. Both trials ended with deadlocked juries, and the indictment was later dismissed. Jones was not convicted.

The case raises questions about what was documented at the time and what material may still be available. Family members and close friends have recalled television news crews near the scene and coverage of the case, but those memories have not been independently verified. The West Virginia and Regional History Center at WVU was unable to locate the footage or records sought.

There are also unverified claims about possible organized-crime connections and political influence. I’m not presenting those as facts. The useful discussion is what reliable sources establish: what local newspapers reported, what court records show, and whether broadcast coverage or newsroom records are documented.

The sources below can help locate newspaper coverage from the relevant period. The archive and holdings pages establish where issues may be accessed; they do not, by themselves, verify the case details summarized above.

Sources
The Dominion Post archive at NewspaperArchive⁠
WVU West Virginia and Regional History Center: Newspapers on Microfilm⁠
West Virginia Archives and History: Monongalia County Newspapers on Microfilm⁠
WVU West Virginia and Regional History Center: Newspapers Available Online⁠

What do contemporaneous reporting and court records establish about the case, and what remains unknown?

He didn't seem to feel pain, according to witnesses. But her supporters don't know that. Also, she was in a psychogenic twilight state. But her supporters don't know that either.