Laci Presence Hangs Over Kristin Smart

July 27 -- Last month, as students at California Polytechnic State University were graduating, Denise Smart had a more somber ceremony — a memorial service for her daughter Kristin, who has been missing for seven years.

Ceremonies like these tend to attract the families of other people who have disappeared without a trace. Buttons bearing the faces of the missing usually give the parents away.

"The worst thing for each of us is thinking that our daughters are forgotten," said Denise Smart. "It's like being in a club that no one wants to belong to."

The Laci Peterson case and the enormous media coverage surrounding her slaying hangs especially strong over California Polytechnic University. Laci Rocha and her future husband, Scott Peterson — the man now charged with killing her and their unborn child — were seniors at the school when Kristin Smart, then a 19-year-old freshman, disappeared on May 25, 1996.

Crucial Delay in Investigation

Kristin was last seen at a party at a campus fraternity house, and witnesses told police she drank heavily that night.

Kristin left the party with another woman and a male student named Paul Flores. She was last seen with Flores, who walked her to an area near her dormitory.

Crystal Calvin, Kristin's roommate, said she became worried when she didn't see Kristin the next morning. Calvin contacted campus police, but she said they didn't take her seriously because it was Memorial Day weekend, a holiday period when students normally take mini-vacations.

"They were like, 'It's Memorial Day weekend, and if we did this, if we filled out a missing person's [report] for every student who went away for the weekend, etc.,' " said Calvin. " 'You know that's not really necessary. I'm sure she'll be back.' "

But Kristin didn't come back. Officials did not declare her missing until four days later. Her family believes campus police ignored their daughter's disappearance during a period where investigators could have gathered critical clues.