Armed with old notebooks logging years of tips about the mystery of missing Cal Poly student Kristin Smart, an Orcutt-based podcaster, stuck at home because of the COVID-19 pandemic, has uncovered more pieces of the puzzle behind her disappearance.
For instance, an Australian student had claimed to see an early-morning altercation involving a man and a woman near the site that Smart was last seen alive with a fellow student.
That is one little known detail revealed in the eighth episode, “The 16-Hour Gap,” of Chris Lambert’s podcast “Your Own Backyard,” spotlighting information about Smart’s disappearance and questions about the man who law enforcement officers have long deemed a person of interest in the case.
Lambert released the podcast on Wednesday, six months before the 25th anniversary of Smart’s disappearance.
With the information from the notebooks kept by Stan and Denise Smart, the podcaster said the newest episode sought to highlight the gaps of time around Kristin Smart's disappearance.
“That’s what a lot of this episode was trying to shine a light on, is the amount of time between the last time she was seen and three days later when the missing person’s report was finally filed. Anybody could get away with a murder in that amount of time," Lambert said.
His popular podcast has drawn renewed attention to the case — and hopes for a resolution — with an episode of CBS newsmagazine show "48 Hours” that aired Saturday night (and can be found online here later).
Smart, then 19 years old and from Stockton, went missing May 25, 1996, after leaving a party. She was last seen walking with a fellow Cal Poly freshman, Paul Flores, after leaving a party.
Through the years, multiple law enforcement agencies have been involved in the case, each generating key pieces of evidence apparently not linked together, Lambert said.
A screenshot from the CBS show “48 Hours” airing Saturday night includes Orcutt podcaster Chris Lambert, right, who has completed eight episodes about missing Cal Poly student Kristin Smart.
“It’s like someone poured out a 10,000-piece puzzle onto the floor, and each agency grabbed a few handfuls, huddled in their own corner and started to build their own version of the whole picture,” Lambert said during the eighth episode.
Yet, they all agree on one aspect — “Paul Flores knows what happened to Kristin Smart,” Lambert said.
It turns out that the Smart family may have kept the most comprehensive log. Learning about notebooks filled with information about the case and eager to see them, Lambert periodically asked Smart’s mom, Denise, for access.
They began arriving this summer.
“It was a dream come true for me, though, because I knew there was information in there that she didn’t even know was in there because she hasn’t gone back through them,” he said. “You need somebody who’s passionate and interested, and I thought I was probably the best person at this point to do that.”
In one of those notebooks, he learned about the Australian student who reportedly saw an altercation between a man and a woman, leading Lambert on a global virtual search that ended with a phone conversation with the man now living in Norway.
“I was really excited to find the Australian student. I knew that somebody had witnessed a struggle that night in that general vicinity, and I was curious to find out if it held water. Once I got ahold of him and talked to him, it felt like a very strong witness,” Lambert said.
The notebooks also have information about Flores’ parents and their alleged activities the weekend that Smart went missing.
“The timing of it was suspicious. That’s kind of a rumor that’s been going around for many years, so to finally put a name to that was very helpful," Lambert said.
He also noted inconsistencies made by the Flores family members over the years to investigators and during depositions.
Smart's disappearance has attracted periodic attention from news reporters, investigators and others before becoming the focus of new media.
So, why has Lambert, who was in second grade at the time of Smart’s disappearance, managed to get attention now to the case through his podcast?
“One, I think a lot of the people who have tried to make some momentum on this case didn’t necessarily have the time or the means to do it,” he said, adding that talk shows in the 1990s allowed only limited time.
He informed Smart’s mom, Denise, that he planned from the start to create five or six episodes of the documentary.
“I think it was just the fact that I was approaching it in a different way than anybody has before,” he said. “Like I said in the first episode of the podcast, I was surprised that nobody had already done a documentary about this.
“I thought, 'Well, I’ll give it a thought and we’ll see what happens.' The response was just completely overwhelming. I didn’t think the whole community would get involved. I didn’t think it would spread internationally the way it did. It was just insane."
Lambert, 32, graduated from Righetti High School in 2006 and Allan Hancock College in 2008 with a degree in music and a certificate in sound recording, leading to a music production career.
Early in his project, he decided to decline advertising for his podcasts but does accept donations via his website to help offset his costs, and he asks for donations to a scholarship fund in Smart's name.
The episodes have brought requests from fans of true crime podcasts or other local families seeking answers regarding their missing loved ones.
"If I was going to do a follow-up to this case, I would want it to be another local case that is suffering from a lack of attention and passion, that what it really needs is somebody like me who can shake something loose and would benefit from that," Lambert said.
To listen to the eight episodes, go to Lambert's website by clicking here.
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
"smart" - Google News
November 29, 2020 at 09:47AM
https://ift.tt/2KEHBd1
Orcutt Podcaster Chris Lambert Releases New Episode About Kristin Smart Disappearance - Noozhawk
"smart" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2P2kUhG
https://ift.tt/3febf3M
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Orcutt Podcaster Chris Lambert Releases New Episode About Kristin Smart Disappearance - Noozhawk"
Post a Comment