SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (AP) — The family of a California college student who vanished nearly three decades ago sued the school on Thursday, alleging it caused Kristin Smart's murder through negligence. Smart, then 19, disappeared from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo on the state’s scenic Central Coast over Memorial Day weekend in 1996. Those students said Flores had stalked and harassed them in the months leading up to Smart's disappearance. Instead, our family has been left to grieve her absence for 27 agonizing years,” a family statement said. The family only realized Cal Poly's alleged negligence after that apology because relatives didn't have any access to the university's investigative file, according to the lawsuit.

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Persons: Kristin Smart's, Smart, San Luis Obispo, Paul Flores, Flores, Smart's, Kristin, “, ”, Matt Lazier, Jeffrey Armstrong, Cal Poly's, didn't, Cal Organizations: Calif, California Polytechnic State University, Central Coast, Prosecutors, Cal Poly, Cal Poly’s Locations: California, San Luis, Central, Flores ’