I also brought them witnesses that they had no interest in whatsoever. But remarkably, the same thing happened with three more dogs. Members of the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Department and FBI searched the grounds of Susan Flores's home in Arroyo Grande on June 19, 2000, for any evidence that might shed light on the disappearance of Cal Poly student Kristin Smart. Empresa. In his complaint, Murphy alleges, along with Ruben, there were two other unnamed individuals. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. Ruben Flores and his estranged wife Susan have always denied any role in Kristin Smart's disappearance. PAUL FLORES: On the advice of my attorney . You never look at her again! Five months after Kristin Smart disappeared, Paul Flores was brought before a grand jury but no charges were ever filed. A student named Paul Flores, Susan's son, volunteered to take her back. She never saw accepting the rides as anything but wholesome. Kristin Smart and Paul Flores were briefly seen speaking to each other during the party. Last month, authorities searched Ruben Flores' home in Arroyo Grande. On October 18, 2022, Paul Flores was found guilty of first-degree murder. Margarita Campos: I was expecting her to knock on my door and be, like, "Oh, Margarita, you missed a rager. 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. Paul Flores lives in San Pedro, CA; previous city include Arroyo Grande CA. The woman, whom well call Jane, believes she was roofied, raped, and discarded by Paul Flores and his nameless friend when she was a 15-year-old high-school sophomore in 1994. His father, Ruben Flores, is also on trial because investigators charged him with hiding Smarts body. I would turn around and he would be right there lurking, the woman, referred to here by a pseudonym, said. Authorities made clear that they plan to use Flores' alleged predatory behavior against him. JAMES MURPHY: Has your son ever told you that he did not kill Kristin Smart? They asked him not to use their names: PODCAST EPISODE 2 | WOMAN #1: Well his nickname was "Scary Paul.". Chris Lambert's podcast,"Your Own Backyard," has become a big hit attracting millions of listeners eager to hear every detail surrounding this unsolved case of Kriistin Smart. James Murphy: There's no way to get evidence back once you've lost it. He says "no.". Stan and Denise Smart, Kristins parents, sent The Daily Beast a statement praising the women for coming forward to share their stories and hope it leads to a break in their missing daughters case. James Murphy: Having a black eye doesn't make you guilty of anything but if the person you were with disappeared from the planet that's physical evidence. One of Kristins closest college friends, Steve Fleming, noticed that Paul Flores would linger around Smarts dorm hall even though he didnt live there. And had law enforcement drilled a handful of holes in Floress mothers backyard to search for evidence that Smart might be buried there, perhaps Floress alleged serial sexual assaults would have been prevented. Ermelinda Flores' property in Washington state has been searched by investigators in February 2020. "48 Hours" looks back to their arrests and how the saga began. Flores has never been charged in this case. She didn't think that was OK. I believed him but he was probably cheating on me.. . Lived In Dublin CA, King Of Prussia PA, Norristown PA. Related To Cooper Flores. She saw Paul taking Kristin toward his dorm to the left, the prosecutor said. but I knew that I could try to do a small part. He called his father at 9:47 a.m. on Sunday, May 26, 1996. In June of 1996, the San Luis Obispo County Sheriffs Office brought in four cadaver dogs to sniff dorms on campus. Flores claimed after walking Kristin back from the party, he went to his room in Santa Lucia Hall while she walked alone to her dorm. PODCAST | EPISODE 1: At least once a day I asked myself what are you doing? DAN DOW [press conference]: We don't have evidence sufficient to charge anyone else at this time. That witness initially came forward to Chris Lambert, who passed the information to the sheriff's office and Murphy. Also known as Melinda E Flores. That warrant allowed them to dig up the backyard, but deputies chose not to excavate. He's going to find her body, which is awful for a parent. Flores allegedly told campus police, I did not find Kristin attractive. Paul R Flores and Paul Raul Flores are some of the alias or nicknames that Paul has used. I think they're just waiting to see what the outcome is going to be. It sounded like a digital watch alarm, but Lassiter couldn't find a watch anywhere outside. Devastating. But the Flores's have fought back, suing the Smarts for intentional infliction of emotional distress. Investigators are currently digging under Rubin Flores' home in another apparent attempt to find the missing teen's body. James Murphy: I'd love to do anything to end their suffering. There's no question about it. Ann-Marie Christian: She was who she was because of her parents, for sure. Flores said he suffered the black eye during a basketball game he played with friends in Arroyo Grande on Monday. Investigators could have excavated the yard, but their decision not to was a crushing blow for the Smart family. Chris Lambert: I personally think that wherever Kristin went, Paul was there with her. The family attorney refused to comment when reached by The Daily Beast. All of Kristin's personal belongings including her purse, her money, her I.D. Thats how we metI was walking and he pulled over and said to me Hey, Ill take you to school, she remembered Flores asking her. Flores only made one phone call the weekend Smart disappeared, according to prosecutors. Flores admitted he promised another student, CherylAnderson, that he would make sure Smart made it back to her dorm room in Muir Hall safely from the party. Our roommate came in and yelled Leave her alone. A jury acquitted Ruben Flores of the charge of being an accessory after the fact. What happens next? In the fall of 1996, a young mother named Mary Lassiter was looking for a house to rent in Arroyo Grande, California. But to fully understand Chris Lambert's contribution, you have to go back to the beginning. In high school he was known as a loner. James Murphy: That suggests that something bad happened in Paul Flores's dorm room. After almost 25 years of suspicion, on April 13, 2021, San Luis Obispo County Sheriff Ian Parkinson announced the arrest ofPaul Flores in the disappearance of Kristin Smart. Kristin Smart 19, a freshman at California Polytechnic State University had gone to a party on Friday, May 24 , 1996 -- and has not been seen since. They were soon joined by another partygoer, Paul Flores. Had Flores been caught and convicted of his alleged sexual assault in 1994, perhaps Smart would still be alive. At the time of Smart's disappearance, Flores was a 19-year-old food science major at Cal-Poly. Chris Lambert: At that point I don't think they had ever dealt with a missing person, a possibly murdered person. It wasn't until Kristin's roommate returned to their dorm room, that Margarita realized Kristin never came home. He has never talked. Have a good day, he said. The dogs were trained and certified to detect human remains. Instead, on Monday, May 27, Denise Pearce says the Smarts got a call from Cal Poly's campus police asking if Kristin was with them. Alicia Tejada is the field producer and Addison Briley is the associate producer. It was just the three of them standing in the kitchen before Jane was handed a plastic cup. Denise Pearce: The investigation was completely botched by the campus police. Somos la comunidad inmobiliaria ms grande de Mxico que conecta de forma gratuita a quienes ofrecen y buscan cualquier tipo de propiedad. A popular true-crime podcast, Your Own Backyard, revived public interest in Smarts disappearance. Classes were difficult, she was trying to fit in, and she missed her family. Jonathan Vigliotti [with Lambert outside of the the dorms]: Paul and Kristin then make their way here. Murphy immediately filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Flores in civil court. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. They were after Paul Flores for an outstanding DUI warrant. James Murphy: To see them in custody was a feeling of great joy for me. In the crowd, taking it all in, was that podcaster, Chris Lambert. He hired a detective to work full time on the case, and over the past nine years deputies have carried out searches, conducted new interviews, and gathered additional evidence. Flores father is now charged with helping cover up the homicide by burying Smarts body in his Arroyo Grande homes backyard. With them is a group of FBI evidence response team members and a search warrant. According to a county probation bail report obtained by the San Luis Obispo Tribune, "biological evidence" was found under Ruben's deck. You wouldn't let any of your friends be drunk around him. Flores attempted to kiss Anderson before she walked away around 2:30 a.m. She refused his advances because she was creeped out, Peuvrelle said. In April 2021, investigators finally put the pieces of the puzzle together and decided they had enough to charge the then-44-year-old Paul Flores with Kristin's murder, and his then-80-year-old father with being an accessory after the fact. Let's go." And these girls are inviting us out. PODCAST EPISODE 1: I googled Kristin Smart's name every few years. This is about the facts. The day after my sister disappeared, Paul Flores had a black eye and scratches on him. The murder trial began on Monday with opening statements from prosecutors and Flores defense attorney. And there are more horrifying allegations about what may have happened to Kristin after she was last seen with Paul Flores. D.A. Around 2 a.m., party-goer Tim Davis told Smart that she could not spend the night passed out on the party houses front lawn because it was too cold. Chris Lambert: And he says he got a black eye playing basketball with his friends. Produced by Lisa Freed. She spent a summer in London, was an exchange student in Venezuela, and a lifeguard at a camp in Hawaii. I was like It wasnt. Lourdes Aguiar is the senior producer. Back in May 1996, Kristin Smart was finishing her freshman year at California Polytechnic State University better known as Cal Poly. Jonathan Vigliotti: They thought she was off possibly having fun. It's, like, she has nothing on her. James Murphy: The question for decades was "Well, where did the body go?". AKA: Susan Flores, Sue P Flores. They were meant for Susan Flores asking her to cooperate with police and have her son come forward. JAMES MURPHY: Does your son have any information as to where Kristin Smart's body is located? At the time, they did not know about a missing college student. Chris Lambert: Paul worked with a number of women that he made incredibly uncomfortable girls who he tried to make a pass at sexually, girls that he tried to force to kiss him. He has not been charged in those incidents. But Flores basketball friends told investigators that he already had the black eye when he showed up for the game. Murphy and his wife, Garin Sinclair, agreed to take the case pro bono promising to go after Paul Flores and put pressure on the sheriff's office. He had pinned her down and had his hand down her bathing suit groping her.. At the time Kristin Smart disappeared, investigators did not immediately search the home. I would hear many of my friends tell me Oh he grabbed my butt but I never believed them, Laura said. When they were deposed by James Murphy, they also insisted their son was not involved. According to multiple party-goers, Smart was incapacitated unable to walk or stand on her own because of something she drank at the party, DeputyDistrict AttorneyChristopherPeuvrelle told the jury. Deputies seized a mattress cover from the bed with a blood stain. But as Chris Lambert learned, Flores's pattern of behavior with women didn't stop. Just days after taking over the investigation, the San Luis Obispo Sheriff's Office brought several dogs trained to detect human remains, to the Cal Poly dorms. He invoked the Fifth Amendment 27 times. He'd go anywhere. But cadaver dogs told a different story. The earring was turned over to the San Luis Obispo Sheriff's Office, but investigators will never know if it belonged to Kristin, because it was misplaced. Prosecutors said Smart began falling down shortly after she was seen at the Tiki bar with Flores. Like his black eye, seen faintly in a mug shot taken by the Arroyo Grande Police just by chance two days after Kristin vanished. James Murphy: It was just a sad phone call to have somebody say, our daughter disappeared and we think she's the victim of foul play and we'd like to pursue the guy that we think is responsible. She told him that shortly after moving in, she was washing her car in the driveway and found an earring next to the left front tire. The Smart's attorney James Murphy, and his wife and office manager Garin Sinclair, have had Kristin's billboard in their front yard since late 1997. But perhaps Mary Lassiter's most disturbing story was about being awakened very early in the morning by a beeping sound coming from the backyard. But every Sunday when she called her parents, they encouraged her to stick it out. Back then, Jane remembered Flores pulling up to her on multiple occasions behind the wheel of a green pickup truck. The next thing I know is the cops telling me We cant do anything because [Paul] and his friend are saying she was drunk and it was consensual., But Jane said she fought to get them to reconsider. Flores replies that he was just fibbing. I dont know of any lying Ive done. Paul Flores escorted Smart back to her dorm after an off-campus party. We are grateful to these brave women for having the courage to talk about their experiences and we ask anyone who may have information they think could be helpful to contact the San Luis Obispo County Sheriffs Office. An earring that appeared to match the necklace Kristin is wearing on the billboard. Paul Flores, lower left, remained in jail without bail while Ruben Flores, upper right, was able to post bail after a judge agreed to lower the bail amount from $250,000 to $50,000, San Luis Obispo County Superior Court/Zoom, How a tragic boating crash is connected to the family of Alex Murdaugh, Husband of woman murdered with an ax convicted 40 years after her death, Five deaths with a connection to Alex Murdaugh's family investigated, Florida man tries to use COVID-19 as a cover for murder. The Kristin Smart disappearance: After 26 years, Paul Flores is convicted of murder. Chris Lambert: A young couple moves into it with their kid. Paul Flores may have wanted a fresh start in Southern California, but Chris Lambert says, he could not seem to break old habits. Bodega en Renta de $65.000 , 3 baos, 1100 m2 en Arroyo de Las Flores, Jalisco ID 26114512. But Sarah kneed Flores in the groin and kicked him in the shin before dashing off into the party. The Smarts say they tried to file a missing person's report with the local police but were told it was too early, and the FBI told them Cal Poly police were in charge. James Murphy: An eyewitness actually documented the fact that throughout the night that there was activity in the area of the underside of that deck. Margarita Campos: But when we got to the house it was pretty dead too, it was really -- it was like a couple of roommates hanging out playing video games And Kristin was, like oh gosh, there has to be something better than this. PODCAST EPISODE 5: If you were making a film about a new law enforcer who's coming to a small town to save the day, you'd probably cast Parkinson. Murphy has filed a new civil suit against Ruben Flores for the intentional infliction of emotional distress. And when they did . Garland testifies before Senate panel amid ongoing special counsel probes, Colon cancer rates rising in younger age group, study finds, Firefighter dies battling blaze in downtown Buffalo, mayor says, Prosecution wraps its case at Alex Murdaugh murder trial, Top McCarthy aide, House Oversight chair each met with Ashli Babbitt's mother, What to know about Shigella bacteria as drug-resistant strain spreads, Ex-Georgia star Jalen Carter was racing in deadly crash, arrest warrants allege, Fiery train crash in Greece kills dozens, many of them students, Bipartisan Senate group unveils rail safety bill in response to Ohio derailment, Sneak peek: The Disappearance of Kristin Smart. And DNA evidence could not be found linking any other evidence to Kristin. Lassiter told Lambert the earring she found matched the necklace Kristin was wearing on one of the "Missing Cal Poly Student" billboards. Chris Lambert: It's hard to take too much credit But I was one piece of the puzzle that helped to make this all come together when it did. But Murphy says there were other incidents that should have raised alarm bells about him with law enforcement from the very beginning. Ermelinda Macarthur currently lives in Kenmore, WA; in the past Ermelinda has also lived in Long Beach CA, Arroyo Grande CA and Bothell WA. Later, he told detectives that Smart was walking just fine and returned to her dorm while he returned to his dorm. In 1997 when Paul Flores was deposed for the civil suit, the only thing he would confirm on tape was his name. They took off running, Jane said. It was updated on October 22, 2022.). She regretfully denounced them as cruel rumors at the time. Paul Flores was the last person seen with Kristin Smart before she vanished in 1996. By herself, which is pretty amazing. She was too kind-hearted. Multiple attempts to reach Flores and his parents to comment on the new accusations were unsuccessful. James Murphy: The podcast is out. Some even wondered if she might have been drugged. Margarita Campos: I mean, she was gone. I was lying down on my back. She spotted an ad for a rental that a woman named Susan Flores had put in. Even though he'd never investigated anything before, Lambert quit his job to create a podcast about the case. Please enter valid email address to continue. Over the years, Susan Flores's backyard has been the focus of widespread speculation because of stories like the ones Mary Lassiter told Chris Lambert. And for a few moments Jane came to and saw Flores having his way with her. As they soon learned, she had ended up at a party at an off-campus house. They believe they can prove Paul Flores is responsible for the disappearance of Kristin Smart. But while campus police weren't doing much, Kristin's parents were doing whatever they could to find their daughter. His podcast, "Your Own Backyard," has become a big hit attracting millions of listeners eager to hear every detail surrounding this unsolved case. One female cousin called Flores a pervert. Jonathan Vigliotti found Flores outside his home in Southern California and asked him a number of questions about Kristin's disappearance. Murphy alleges four nights later, strange activity was seen at Ruben's house. At least one, since The Daily Beast began reporting, said she has been interviewed by the San Luis Obispo Sheriffs Office. She loved swimming and skiing. A now-retired FBI agent believes those remains were once buried at the home of Floress mother. They had become close friends despite their differences. My mom opened the door and she cries, Oh my God!. So maybe he had a crush on me. During one interrogation with campus police on May 28, 1996, Flores story changed about what happened after Anderson left. She spotted an ad for a rental that a woman named Susan Flores had put in the local newspaper. The charming blue house with the picket fence on East Branch Street seemed perfect. She graduated from San Perlita as valedictorian to the class of 1953 to proceed her education at James R . Some of those women who did not want their real names used told Lambert about their encounters with him. For more than two decades, her family, friends, and supporters searched for answers and for justice. And the body's not there now. Possibly having fun how the saga began no charges were ever filed and supporters searched for answers and for rental! Four nights later, strange activity was seen at the time for a rental that a named! A rental that a woman named Susan Flores had put in 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | Rights! 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