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'It's painful': Mom of murdered Christie Wilson recalls 'horrific journey' as search for Kristin Smart's body continues

'When Christie was found on August 20 of 2020, 15 years after she had been taken, my life changed. My life changed. My family's life changed,' Debbie Boyd said
PUBLISHED OCT 19, 2022
Debbie Boyd (inset), mother of Christie Wilson (L) 'felt elated' after Kristin Smart's (R) killer was convicted (California Department of Justice, San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office, and Screenshot/CBS video)
Debbie Boyd (inset), mother of Christie Wilson (L) 'felt elated' after Kristin Smart's (R) killer was convicted (California Department of Justice, San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office, and Screenshot/CBS video)

SAN LUIS OBISPO, CALIFORNIA: Paul Flores, 45, a former classmate of Kristin Smart, a California Polytechnic State University freshman who vanished from the campus in 1996, has been finally convicted of killing Smart. However, the dead body of the victim has not been found yet. Smart was last seen with Flores. Commenting on it, the mother of Christie Wilson, who went missing in 2005 and whose body was found after 15 years, said, “To go to bed every single night wondering, where did this killer put my child? It's painful."

After the verdict, when Wilson's mother Debbie Boyd was asked, "What are you feeling right now?" She told CBS, "I'm feeling elated for the Smart family. It's a horrific journey -- one that I wouldn't wish upon anybody. To go to bed every single night wondering, where did this killer put my child? It's painful." Boyd's daughter disappeared after a night out and was last seen on surveillance video leaving Thunder Valley Casino with a man named Mario F Garcia on October 5, 2005. The man was then convicted in January 2007 of first-degree murder and died on December 24, 2020. Wilson’s remains were found in August 2020 after Placer County Sheriff’s detectives and investigators with the District Attorney’s Office conducted additional searches using Ground Penetrating Radar technology at Garcia’s former residence in Auburn.

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"When Christie was found on August 20 of 2020, 15 years after she had been taken, my life changed. My life changed. My family's life changed. And it was a peace that came over me that I hadn't had for 15 years," Boyd said, who is now friends with Smart's mother. "A lot of similarities…the waiting," Boyd described, who wants lawmakers to add sentencing enhancements to convicted murderers who hide their victim's bodies, stated CBS.

"When you hide that body, it's a whole other level of torment. There is always that possibility that there will be a lead that will come in that will lead you to your loved one's remains," Boyd said, who is now a teacher at POST, an organization that teaches police officer standards and training. In addition to this, she also helps with how law enforcement officers should interact with the families of victims of violent crime.

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