Paul Flores Sentenced to 25 Years to Life for 1996 Disappearance and Death of Kristin Smart

Smart's body has never been recovered after she went missing at age 19 following an off-campus party in May 1996 and was declared legally dead in 2002

A man has been sentenced in the 1996 disappearance and death of Kristin Smart.

San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow announced that Paul Ruben Flores, 46, was given 25 years to life in state prison on Friday after he was found guilty of the first-degree murder of his fellow California Polytechnic State University freshman.

An attorney for Flores did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.

Kristin Smart Case: Paul Flores Found Guilty in 1996 Death and Disappearance of the Cal Poly Freshman Smart's body has never been recovered after she went missing at age 19 following an off-campus party in May 1996. She was declared legally dead in 2002.

During Flores' trial in October, San Luis Obispo County Deputy District Attorney Christopher Peuvrelle told jurors that Flores — who is believed to be the last person to see Smart alive — took her back to his dorm room, where he raped her before killing her.

Paul allegedly enlisted his father Ruben Flores to help him bury Smart under a new deck at their Arroyo Grande home. Ruben was found not guilty of accessory after the fact in October.

Soil samples at the site of the deck tested positive for human blood, leading prosecutors to believe that Smart's body was buried at the location and later moved.

RELATED VIDEO: Kristin Smart's Body Is Still Missing — But Longtime Suspect and His Father Face Trial

---