Growing up on the Central Coast and being a Cal Poly alumna, I was aware of Kristin Smart from the time she disappeared. Everyday driving to Cal Poly I saw the billboard that still stands today and wondered what happened to her. As there are many Cal Poly alumni that live in the Santa Ynez Valley, I believe this story is relevant to our community as there are many Cal Poly alumni that live here, or people who know of the case from local news when she went missing. 

“Your Own Backyard” podcast creator Chris Lambert will be at an SLO Night Writer’s meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 10, at the United Church of Christ of San Luis Obispo, 11245 Los Osos Valley Road. Visit www.slonightwriter.org for details. 

By Raiza Giorgi

publisher@santaynezvalleystar.com

Going to a party and letting loose on a long holiday weekend doesn’t sound all that uncommon for kids in their college years. What is uncommon is when one college student never makes it back to her dorm room and for almost 24 years her family still doesn’t have answers as to what happened. 

Most who read this will automatically think of the Kristin Smart case, where on Memorial Day weekend in 1996, the 19-year-old Stockton native went missing while studying at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo. She still hasn’t been found. 

Local podcast host Chris Lambert unravels the almost 24-year-old unsolved case of missing Cal Poly student Kristin Smart, pushing it back into public view with more than 2.5 million downloads. He is hopeful authorities are close to solving the mystery.

One Central Coast native has found himself in the center of Smart’s story as a random Wikipedia search two years ago has turned into a research project and podcast that has topped more than 2.5 million downloads worldwide. 

“I never thought that this podcast would garner as much attention as it did,” said Chris Lambert, creator and host of the “Your Own Backyard” podcast. “I was hopeful a few hundred people might listen and it would help bring Kristin’s name back into the local eye, but it has reached farther than I ever thought possible.” 

How it Started

Lambert is an Orcutt native and says he remembers as a kid when Smart disappeared, as he would see her pictures on local news. 

“Something is wrong with that and if you think about it now, a kid born in May 1996 could have already graduated college by now and we still don’t know where Kristin is,” Lambert said. 

Lambert was a full-time musician and recording engineer, and host of another podcast “Are We Okay?”, that interviews creative types and fosters positivity in the community. Every year since 2007 Lambert has been self-recording and releasing music albums, and after his 11th album in 2018 he took a break looking for inspiration. 

“I went onto Wikipedia one day and every so often look up Kristin Smart to see if anything new was added, he said. “I realized that not since 2017 when SLO Sheriff’s dug up below the P on the hillside at Cal Poly anything had been released. I just started searching news stories on her and decided to put them together chronologically.” 

Lambert kicked around the idea of doing a film documentary on Smart, but since he didn’t own any camera equipment, he used his tools of podcasting to create an outline of what he wanted it to be about. 

“I started asking people if they knew Kristin Smart and I asked myself if I even knew who she was,” he said. “I know the billboard and her face, but I wanted to get a sense of who she was and what happened.” 

Lambert decided to visit her memorial site in Pismo Beach on her birthday Feb. 20, 2019. It was raining that day and the only other person there was her mother Denise Smart. 

“We started talking and I was telling her about my idea for the podcast, but I don’t really think she understood what I was trying to do,” Lambert said. “She invited me up to their house in Stockton and was so welcoming and showing me pictures of Kristin and I got a sense of who she was.” 

Laying out the episodes

Lambert starting researching and compiling information months before he ever aired his first episode of “Your Own Backyard.” He decided the best way to start to tell the story was by telling who Smart was and her path to Cal Poly, as told by her family and friends that knew her best. 

“I wanted people to connect with her as a person, not just a face on a billboard,” he said. “A lot of people thought she had been found, or never knew anything more had been done to solve her disappearance.” 

Lambert then lays out the scene of Smart on the last day she was seen, conversations she had with her friends and circumstances that led her to being at a birthday party at a fraternity house near campus. The facts reported in the time since her disappearance were that Smart got inebriated to the point she needed help getting back to her dorm, and was walked back by friends but never made it. 

“It turns out she actually didn’t know the people helping her back. One of those being Paul Flores, the last known person to see her, and only suspect to this day of the Sheriff’s Department since her disappearance,” Lambert said. “Then I wondered who Paul Flores was and why I didn’t know anything about him.” 

The next episode centers on Flores and his background, how his family came to the Central Coast and his past run-ins with law enforcement stemming from several DUI charges. 

As it turned out, Lambert knew a few people that knew Flores in high school, and none of them had any good experiences, only “creepy memories” of him, Lambert added. 

Several women who wanted to remain anonymous recalled stories of Flores following them and showing up in places he was uninvited. 

“The more I uncovered about Paul’s past and his future after the disappearance of Kristin was a consistent pattern of an awkward person who made women feel uncomfortable,” he said. 

Since the podcast aired, Lambert has had many people come forward giving character accounts of Flores, and he interviewed several that had experiences with Flores after he left Cal Poly that summer. 

“I actually have more interviews taped with people, but I didn’t have enough for a complete episode; when I get more information or figure out how to make sense of how to put it together then I will air them,” he added. 

Piecing the case together

Lambert believes the Cal Poly police and the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s office made crucial oversights in the beginning of the case that led to this being open for so long. 

Smart’s college dormmates tried to report her missing the next day, but campus police thought to wait in case she left campus with friends or went home for the long weekend.

It was four days since she went missing a report was filed. It was even longer until Sheriff’s investigators were called and became involved as they tried to let campus police take the lead. 

It just so happened that Flores didn’t show for his previous DUI court date and a warrant was issued for his arrest just before Smart disappeared. Arroyo Grande Police knocked at his father’s home in Arroyo Grande the same Memorial Day weekend and his dad Ruben Flores ended up bringing him to the station that Monday, two days after Smart went missing. Flores was booked with a fresh black eye, scratches on his arms and knees. 

“We will never know how he got those, as he told several different stories to police from playing basketball to fixing stereo equipment in his father’s truck,” Lambert said. “What we do know is two months after her disappearance, four separate cadaver dogs pointed to Paul’s dorm room indicating presence of human decomposition, and not alerting anywhere else in several buildings, and nothing was done.”

Several months later, a couple renting out Flores’s mother’s home (investigators didn’t know Flores’s parents were separated and living apart when initial searches were done) found an earring in the driveway and handed it over to investigators, who lost it, and also claim to have heard a watch alarm early every morning around 4:30 a.m. coming from a planter in their backyard for months. Smart’s mother was taped in the first episode of the podcast having mentioned her daughter had to wake up around 4:30 a.m. for her shift of being a lifeguard at the pool. 

“After uncovering all these pieces like evidence being lost, leads not being followed up on, (and) possible locations of her body never being searched, I just felt sad for the Smart family a series of missteps have let her to not be found,” Lambert said. 

He added that Flores initially was talking, but then lawyered up and plead the 5th Amendment against self-incrimination and hasn’t talked since. 

His family hasn’t talked either and in witness statements Lambert has gathered, no members of the Flores family have cooperated. They gave unusual testimonies and wouldn’t answer simple questions such as what Ruben Flores’s route was as a telephone technician for GTE. 

“If I could get more information, I would want to know about Ruben’s route as a payphone technician which he oddly wouldn’t talk about in his deposition by the Smarts’ attorney,” Lambert said. 

“When the new billboard was revealed with my podcast link at the bottom a few months ago, Paul’s mother, Susan Flores, drove by us waving and taking pictures of us,” he added. “That doesn’t seem like normal behavior to me, why would she be gleeful and trolling.”

Lambert said he hasn’t tried to contact the Flores family, other than an unsuccessful attempt to get hold of Paul, as when others tried to, Susan Flores physically assaulted someone and got arrested. 

“I have had so many people reach out with tips and I look into all of them and forward leads to the Sheriff’s department,” Lambert said. “Some people think my goal is to get more ratings, but ultimately my goal is to find Kristin and help the Smart family have closure. Think about this: Their daughter has been missing more time than she was alive.

“I believe several people know the location of her remains, and I hope they come forward.”

Lambert said he doesn’t put advertisements in his podcasts and does accept donations to help him continue to investigate Smart’s disappearance. 

“People think I am trying to make money off the Smarts which isn’t true at all,” he said. “I saved for over a year when I quit my job to do this podcast full time, and my girlfriend makes a decent living to help support us as well.” 

Trying to help authorities

Lambert initially thought that since there wasn’t any public news, the Sheriff’s hadn’t done much, but turns out in interviewing the department at the last episode that wasn’t true at all. 

Three sheriffs have come and gone since Smart disappeared, but the current one, Ian Parkinson, has been doing things behind the scenes, some of which the public doesn’t yet know and some that are starting to come out, Lambert said. 

“They told me they had done 18 different searches at nine locations and included K-9 cadaver dogs in three of those searches since 2011,” Lambert said. 

During the Parkinson’s tenure, 91 person-to-person interviews were conducted, 364 new supplemental reports were added to the Smart case file, and roughly $62,000 of hard costs from excavating to DNA testing have been spent, Lambert reveals in Episode 7. 

Every piece of evidence has gone back out for further testing to forensic labs, all the physical items have been reexamined, and 140 items of new evidence have been recovered since 2011, according to Sheriff’s Detective Clint Cole, of cold case and unsolved homicide. 

Lambert also revealed the Flores’ trucks have been recovered and are being tested. 

In a recent break, the Sheriff’s Department put out a statement that the trucks owned by the Flores family were located and are currently being tested. 

“I think they are close to making a huge break in the case,” Lambert said. “The search warrants that were just executed at the end of January and finding the trucks was the best development in years. It says a lot they are still on Paul as the person of interest after all these years.” 

Lambert says he has stated many times in the podcast he is not a Sheriff’s investigator, but the information he has gotten and revealed in the podcast he believes has ‘kicked a hornet’s nest’ in spurring the public’s attention on the Sheriff’s Department to get this case closed. 

“I understand they want an airtight case against whomever they are believing is responsible for Kristin’s disappearance and death, but how long is too long,” he said. “One giant nagging question is ‘Where is Kristin?’ and I hope they make their findings known soon.”

To listen to all the episodes of Your Own Backyard you can visit www.yourownbackyardpodcast.com or listen on any podcast platform. 

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For the seventeenth year in a row, transfer students from Hancock College to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo had the highest transfer acceptance rate among California community colleges.

Hancock’s transfer acceptance rate of 50.6 percent was more than triple the state average of 15.6 percent.

According to a recent Cal Poly report, 342 Hancock students applied to the university for fall 2018 and 173, or 50.6 percent, were accepted. The accepted students from Hancock had an average grade point average of 3.28.

Hancock is one of eight community colleges from five counties included in Cal Poly’s Region 6. Hancock’s transfer acceptance rate was 14 points higher than the college with the second-highest rate in the region.

This year, Cal Poly received a record 10,971 transfer applications and accepted 1,709 students, or 15.6 percent.

Ashley Brackett, transfer counselor in Hancock’s University Transfer Center, believes that Hancock’s high transfer acceptance rate to Cal Poly is due, in part, to its university transfer counseling process, coupled with the quality of instruction that students receive as they prepare to transfer.

“Our acceptance rate is so high because the college has a high-achieving, transfer-minded student population,” said Brackett. “The college’s counseling and instructional faculty are truly dedicated to student success. Counselors are well trained and aware of what is needed to transfer to four-year universities.”

Over the last seven years, Hancock has posted an average transfer acceptance rate to Cal Poly of 54 percent. The state average during that period is 18.6 percent.

Each year, nearly 500 students transfer from Hancock to four-year universities. To further help students transition to four-year institutions, Allan Hancock College has forged a number of transfer guarantees to various institutions, including 20 associate degrees for transfer with guaranteed admission into the California State University system.

For more information, call Hancock’s University Transfer Center at 805-922-6966, ext. 3363.

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Staff report

Cal Poly has been ranked as the No. 1 public, master’s-level university in the West by U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” guidebook again this year – a ranking awarded to Cal Poly every year since 1993.

The 2017 guidebook lists Cal Poly in a tie with Saint Mary’s College for ninth place overall in the West of regional universities, both public and private. This is up from 10th place last year.

“Our continued inclusion in the prestigious U.S. News rankings is a testament to the Cal Poly community’s unwavering passion for providing the best possible ‘Learn by Doing’ experience for all of our students,” said Cal Poly President Jeffrey D. Armstrong. “Only through our faculty’s innovation and dedication to Learn by Doing; our staff members’ commitment to daily excellence; and our alumni, industry and friends’ support are we able to help our students become the industry and community leaders of tomorrow.”

Cal Poly’s College of Engineering moves up two spots to No. 5 on the list of best master’s/bachelor’s program this year and the college’s environmental engineering program is ranked as the best master’s/bachelor’s program in the nation. The civil engineering program ranks No. 3, while electrical engineering is tied for No. 4, and mechanical engineering placed at No. 5.

In addition, the Orfalea College of Business appears again this year in the magazine’s list of best undergraduate business programs.

Cal Poly also ranks No. 6 in the West (up from No. 10 last year) for most veteran-friendly universities. This list shows which top-ranked schools offer the best financial opportunities for military vets and active-duty service members. Cal Poly is the top-ranked public university in this category.

The U.S. News rankings are available at www.usnews.com/colleges.

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By Drew Esnard

Chris Bratcher hasn’t allowed the loss of his right hand to slow his roll through life. He’s taken on the challenges resulting from a traumatic winemaking accident with a sense of curiosity and enthusiasm.

Using a 3D scan of Bratcher’s left arm and hand along with precise measurements and a 3D printer, the QL+ team of students created a socket for an artificial right hand.

And, when an unexpected offer arose from a group of Cal Poly engineering students to devise a custom prosthetic, he greeted the opportunity with the same spirit.

Wine industry folk, and perhaps many other locals, will remember the story—a grape de-stemmer severed Bratcher’s hand just above the wrist while he was making wine for his Bratcher Winery label in September 2014.

The accident “certainly created physically challenging issues for me, but my life isn’t any harder than it was. It’s not any less full. I’ve always been somebody who loves challenges, and in that way this has been an intense challenge. I find that interesting,” Bratcher said.

The world of prosthetics has proved to be an interesting challenge in and of itself. Bratcher is currently using a conventional, body-powered hook prosthesis. The experience has been rather dismal as the straps are difficult to secure and the different sockets have presented Goldilocks-like problems. They’re meant to fit snugly yet comfortably over his residual limb, but the sub-par fit of each socket causes great discomfort.

Additionally, Bratcher has been experiencing significant pain from the overuse of his left arm that has resulted in tendinitis. Cortisone shots have been effective in relieving the pain temporarily, but he had to stop the treatment, as long-term use would likely cause irreversible damage to the tissue.

The artificial hand will be controlled with sensitive electrodes that respond to the natural movements of muscles.

Not surprisingly, Bratcher became a bit nervous over the prospect of becoming more dependent on others for basic tasks, consistent denials from his health insurance company for a better prosthesis, and the progressively debilitating pain in his left arm. Nervous, but not discouraged.

“I’m determined to get back. I just need to get over the hump and get both sides working well enough,” Bratcher said. “I hate not being able to do the things that I love, that’s what’s most frustrating. The only thing that’s really going to help my left arm is rest.”

Resting his left arm is dependent upon acquiring a more efficient prosthesis.

A possible solution arose last summer when a group of engineering students at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo expressed an interest in making Bratcher a custom prosthetic called a myoelectric hand. The project has gained traction after an initial meeting on Feb. 4.

Cal Poly’s Quality of Life Plus (QL+) Student Association develops innovative medical devices by harnessing the creativity and skills of engineering students.

“We saw an article about him struggling to get the prosthesis he wanted and we reached out to the author of the article, who put us in touch with Dr. Bratcher,” said Johnathan Dewing, senior vice president of QL+. “Our goal is to create an electrically powered prosthetic hand that will serve Dr. Bratcher better than his current prosthesis.”

In contrast to conventional prosthetics, myoelectric technology offers superior precision in movement and a more intuitive user experience. The artificial limb is controlled with sensitive electrodes that respond to the natural movements of muscles.

Bratcher first met with his design team — seven engineering students with mechanical, electrical, biomedical, and programming backgrounds — in the QL+ lab at Cal Poly. Together they determined which features were most important to the tasks Bratcher needs to perform: driving a stick shift, lifting 35-pound wine cases, typing, leveraging, holding, and greeting someone with a handshake.

“To me, it’s more about function over form. I don’t care much for how it looks, it just needs to be able to do what I need it to do,” Bratcher said.

The students performed an electromyogram (EMG) test to determine which of Bratcher’s forearm muscles would provide the best feedback to the prosthesis. Several hours later the team had made impressions of his left arm and taken precise measurements of his left hand.

Several weeks after the first meeting, the team has moved into building the socket, ordering electronic components, and printing parts for the palm and digit with a 3D printer. They expect to have a prototype by the end of the academic quarter in late March.

“We are gradually putting together the hand. So far the electronics and programming is the slowest process, as we are finding it challenging to source components like sensors, but we are constantly working to clear these hurdles,” wrote team leader Aaliyah Ramos in an update.

Bratcher is eager to see the results of the design team’s efforts, but his hopes are balanced by reasonable expectations. Perhaps the final product will enable him to finally enjoy a round of golf again and go rock climbing at the crag near his other home in Chattanooga, Tenn. Or perhaps not. Either way, he’s not one to wallow in the sentiment of loss.

“I’ll be as patient as I have to be, and as persistent as I need to be. I don’t sit around thinking to myself, ‘Oh man, that was so great when I had two hands.’ I just don’t have time for that, I really don’t,” Bratcher reflected. “For better or for worse, I’m always looking forwards. It’s just a part of my personality. I don’t dwell on the past, at all. That, probably more than anything else, has been my saving grace.”

Keep reading the Santa Ynez Valley Star for further updates on Chris Bratcher’s journey. You can learn more about the QL+ club at qlplus.calpoly.edu.

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