Kristina was last seen in Greeley, Colorado during the early morning hours of October 19, 1995, after she completed her night shift as a registered nurse in the oncology department of North Colorado Medical Center. She told friends she was going to see her John Sandoval, estranged husband of three years, across town and collect $200 he owed her. She was fearful about the meeting and promised to call her sister no later than 12:30 p.m. She never made the phone call. She has never been heard from again and it is unclear whether she actually met her husband. Kristina's car was found abandoned a few blocks from her husband's home, which was in 700 block of 35th Avenue Court in Greeley, after her disappearance. Residents in the area said they'd never seen the car before.

A police dog tracked Kristina's scent from her car to her husband's house. Authorities staked out John's home the morning after Kristina was last seen and saw him pull into the driveway at 5:45 a.m., park his car and go inside. Police noticed a white five-gallon bucket, a muddy pair of gloves, rope, a flashlight, a loaded 5mm handgun and a new, mud-caked shovel in John's car, which was muddy inside. When they knocked on the door of the residence to speak to him, his aunt said he was taking a shower. A few minutes later, they caught him climbing out of the bathroom window. Three of Kristina's credit cards were found in the bathroom, and John had fresh scratches on his face, neck and chest. He has never agreed to sit for a police interview about Kristina's disappearance. An expert stated the mud in John's car was consistent with dirt from a creek bed, and the mud on his boots and the shovel was consistent with excavated soil.

John has a history of stalking women and burglarizing their homes. He had been arrested for this three times prior to his marriage to Kristina, and she did find out until shortly before she went missing. Kristina left her husband in August 1995, after she found out John was suspected of using her car to stalk a woman. She told her loved ones she was afraid of her husband and that he had threatened to kill her or himself if she left him. She had tried to leave him twice before, and he was very upset about the pending divorce and still hoped they'd get back together. John was later incarcerated after he was found hiding in a Greeley woman's closet. Kristina's parents say they went to visit him in prison to ask about her disappearance, but he refused to speak of it. He had been sentenced to six years in prison for criminal trespassing, but was paroled after four.

Authorities issued a death certificate for Kristina in 2002 and her family held a memorial service for her, although no charges had been filed in her case at that time. In June 2009, police arrested John and charged him with Kristina's murder. He was living in Las Vegas, Nevada at the time; he'd moved there after he was paroled from prison in 2000. Investigators stated no new evidence had surfaced in recent years, but the time lapse since Kristina's disappearance had made it increasingly unlikely that she left on her own. John is awaiting trial. A photo of him is posted below this case summary. His defense suggested Kristina's cousin and lifelong friend, with whom Kristina had an affair without John's knowledge, was involved in her case. The police don't consider this man a suspect, however, and he had also expressed concern about Kristina's safety.

Kristina is a graduate of Windsor High School. She attended Aims Community College in Greeley and got an associate's degree in nursing, and went on to obtain her bachelor's degree in nursing from Northern Colorado University, where she graduated in the top five percent of her class. She and John married in 1991. Her body has never been recovered, but foul play is suspected in her case due to the circumstances involved.

Above: John Sandoval in 2009