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He wouldn't answer a single thing. During a camping trip in Fresno, California, in the early 1990s, Floress female cousins playfully swiped and hid his wallet while walking en route to a liquor store to purchase slush puppies. / CBS News, (This story previously aired on May 8, 2021. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Ermelinda Flores' property in Washington state has been searched by investigators in February 2020. The woman, whom we'll 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. But Margarita says, the police did not seem concerned. These new allegations against Paul Flores are very troubling and deserve to be thoroughly investigated. Margarita Campos: She was absolutely sober when I left her. So maybe he had a crush on me. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. When asked about how he got the injury Flores told three different stories. School was over, so campus police found an empty room that had been sanitized by the university's cleaning crew. She was the last person other than Paul Flores to see Kristin alive. And there would be more disappointment in 2007, after the Smart's legal team searched a small portion of Susan Flores's backyard with ground penetrating radar and did not find any evidence. FBI via AP, File. Still she stuck around until Flores allegedly laid his hands on her aggressively again. Lindsey Smart Stewart: "You should go to Cal Poly. Balloons wrap around the Kristin Smart billboard in Arroyo Grande after the arrest of Paul and Ruben Flores in April 2021. Monterey County Weekly photographer Daniel Dreifuss shot these photos during yesterday's opening statements.#KristinSmart pic.twitter.com/Qlanj3fKK6. Chris Lambert: I think that might have been the biggest misstep that investigators have made to this day. Paul would try to get Kristins attention and she was too nice to tell him off. It is believed she is deceased, but there is no evidence of what happened to her after Paul Flores left her. D.A. I guess you can call it little white lies, Flores told detectives. "48 Hours" contributor Jonathan Vigliotti takes viewers inside the popular podcast and haunting case in "The Disappearance of Kristin Smart.". They didn't look at the Flores family's vehicles. Had Flores been caught and convicted of his alleged sexual assault in 1994, perhaps Smart would still be alive. D.A. Its a fib. The investigation seemed to be hampered from the start by a series of missteps by campus police beginning with their assumption that Kristin was off having fun and ignoring worried friends who said she was missing. DAN DOW [press conference]: We don't have evidence sufficient to charge anyone else at this time. Chris Lambert: And that's when they're told that earring has been misplaced. Lindsey Smart Stewart: Right. so eventually he unlocked you know, the apartment door, and I left. and offers to help. Please come with me." What happens next? and I was like, "Noooo.". Murphy immediately filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Flores in civil court. Chris Lambert: Paul keeps stopping along the way and letting Cheryl Anderson know, you can go on ahead. And there were those nonstop tales of Flores being touchy-feely with her friends. Whatever happened in those early hours, one thing is indisputable: Kristin Smart has never been seen again. 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. Jonathan Vigliotti: They thought she was off possibly having fun. In fact, Cheryl Anderson, who trusted Flores to walk Kristin back to her dorm alone, told police that her friends called him "Chester the molester," because he was known for groping girls. most importantly they wanna find their daughter. Flores claimed he walked Smart to her dorm at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo on May 25, 1996 after a night of binge drinking. James Murphy: I'm not at liberty to describe how it was documented. And they told Lambert they weren't surprised when they heard about Flores's connection to Kristin's disappearance. View the profiles of people named Ermelinda Thomas. San Luis Obispo County Sheriff deputies arrested Paul Flores, the primary suspect in the disappearance of Kristin Smart, and his father, Ruben Flores, at separate locations Tuesday morning. But Sarah kneed Flores in the groin and kicked him in the shin before dashing off into the party. I didn't know how many people were gonna listen. I was lying down on my back. 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. 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 accusations didnt stop with classmates: Flores allegedly couldnt restrain himself around his own kin. He apparently would tag along with a sloshed friend, crashing off-campus parties together wherever she was. The National Read Across America Day takes place every year on March 2, Geisels birthday. Ann-Marie Christian: She was who she was because of her parents, for sure. Over the years, while Stan Smart hiked every trail around California's Central Coast in hopes of finding Kristin's remains, Denise relentlessly pushed law enforcement to do more. That turned out to be college. I get into the bathroom and try to lock it and then the door gets kicked open., It was not more than five seconds before Sarah said Flores crashed opened the door and stood in the frame. But to fully understand Chris Lambert's contribution, you have to go back to the beginning. In 2002, after getting kicked out of Cal Poly, rejected by the Navy, and flipping burgers, Flores matriculated at LA Harbor Community College. Ann-Marie Christian: became friends with Kristin in elementary school. Instead, Flores and his family were sued in 2002 by the Smarts in civil court for intentionally inflicted emotional distress upon the parents of Kristin Smart by taking the body of Kristin Smart and secreting and/or destroying the body in a hidden place in the County of San Luis Obispo. The Flores family countersued for emotional distress. Both suits were shelved by a judge until Smarts remains are found. Two years later Smart would go missing and when suspicion quickly fell on Flores, Jane decided then and there that she may have been one of the lucky ones. Kristin Denise Smart (born February 20, 1977, legally presumed dead May 25, 2002) was an American woman who is presumed to have been abducted, raped, and killed at the end of her freshman year of college on the campus of California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo. In 2011, the Smarts hoped those boulders would become a little lighter when Ian Parkinson became the new sheriff of San Luis Obispo County. And might have connected Kristin to Susan Flores's house, says James Murphy. At a Halloween party back in 1995before Smart had gone missingFlores allegedly grabbed Sarahs crotch on the dance floor. When The Daily Beast tracked Flores down outside his home last month, he didnt mount much of a defense. They were giggling as they were dragging me, the now 39-year-old woman told The Daily Beast. And then months and months later, they'd reach back out and say, can you get us in touch with this person again? When approached about Janes rape claim, an Arroyo Grande Police Department administrator said in an email that their search revealed no such records exist; therefore, there are no responsive documents. Before their findings, another administrator told The Daily Beast on the phone that because the matter was a sexual assault case it fell under a non-disclosure category and therefore they wouldnt be providing any specific information about it. Facts will show law enforcement was aware that they did not have a case. During one interrogation with campus police on May 28, 1996, Flores story changed about what happened after Anderson left. Lourdes Aguiar is the senior producer. We just, "do you know anything about it". In October 2022, Paul. Denise Pearce: The phone call never comes. Laura said Flores worked a construction job while attending school but that he was very secretive and she suspected he was in college forever so that his mommy kept paying for his housing and classes.. Jane said she kept this secret for yearseven from her husband. And for a few moments Jane came to and saw Flores having his way with her. One late night at a Hermosa Beach bar Flores courted a 21-year-old student whom well call Laura. Ruben Flores defense attorney is slated to deliver his opening statements when the two trials resume on Thursday in a Monterey County courtroom. The charming blue house with the picket fence on East Branch Street seemed perfect. You can go." All four dogs, including one who was considered the best of the best, separately signaled an alert indicating the presence of human remain odors only in Flores room. Denise Pearce: To be almost there. The mother is washing her car in the driveway at one point. Murphy has filed a new civil suit against Ruben Flores for the intentional infliction of emotional distress. DAN DOW [press conference]: But the allegation that he was committing or attempting to commit a rape when he killed her, is the basis for which we are able to file first-degree felony murder charges. He had pinned her down and had his hand down her bathing suit groping her.. How could she have gone out of town? SHERIFF IAN PARKINSON [at press conference]: Forensic physical evidence was located. Davis was helping Smart get up to her feet with Anderson when Flores suddenly appeared out from the darkness, Peuvrelle said. What happened in the privacy of his room that night? Peuvrelle asked the jury. James Murphy: If it was, in fact, a piece of jewelry that matched Kristin's jewelry, it would have been blockbuster evidence. Last month, authorities searched Ruben Flores' home in Arroyo Grande. Since speaking with The Daily Beast, at least one of the women who has come forward saying Flores attacked her has been questioned by a detective working the Smart case. James Murphy: Paul Flores had a reputation amongst the girls that knew him at Cal Poly as being a creeper that he was always trying to hit on women. All of Kristin's personal belongings including her purse, her money, her I.D. He was staring at my face looking at me and he was enjoying himself.. That witness initially came forward to Chris Lambert, who passed the information to the sheriff's office and Murphy. Despite Flores sporting a black eye the next day (which he admitted to investigators he lied about) and despite police dogs picking up the scent of human decay in his dorm room, Flores was never charged. But Parkinson acknowledges it hasn't been easy. San Luis Obispo County sheriff's officials gather under a coroner's tent in the backyard of Ruben Flores' house in the 700 block of White Court in Arroyo Grande on April 13. On October 18, 2022, Paul Flores was found guilty of first-degree murder. Chris Lambert: So, if you believe Paul's story, he goes into his dorm room here. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. 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. PAUL FLORES: On the advice of my attorney . Flores and Smart had spoken at the party. Flores said he suffered the black eye during a basketball game he played with friends in Arroyo Grande on Monday. In high school he was known as a loner. The murder trial began on Monday with opening statements from prosecutors and Flores defense attorney. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Denise Pearce says that was a crushing blow for the Smart family. For more than two decades, her family, friends, and supporters searched for answers and for justice. Chris Lambert: I personally think that wherever Kristin went, Paul was there with her. He has never talked. Jonathan Vigliotti: There was a lot of focus on how Kristin was drinking what sounded a lot like victim shaming. Let's go." He was writing your name like 150 times on a piece of paper and he kept circling it., High school boys are weird anyway, Jane thought at the time. Paul Flores - Cal Poly student and Food Science major, Paul Flores lived on campus in room #128 of Santa Lucia Hall Dormitory. I was crying.. "48 Hours" has learned these suspicions center around evidence found during that 2020 search of Paul Flores' home. James Murphy: The question for decades was "Well, where did the body go?". Through the years, the Smarts have kept pressure on the Flores family. You just don't talk, and you get away with it. Im good, he said in response to questions about Smarts disappearance. Five months after Kristin Smart disappeared, Paul Flores was brought before a grand jury but no charges were ever filed. Chris Lambert told Jonathan Vigliotti, "It drove [Mary Lassiter] crazy and she went out there many times in the middle of the night to try to find it with sticks, sticking down into the planter boxes down in the soil." The Arroyo Grande cops, Jane said, favored Floress story that she willingly drank and had sex that night. Two days after Kristin Smart vanished, Paul Flores went to the Arroyo Grande Police Department because of an outstanding DUI warrant. Even when law enforcement let them down, they refused to give up. James Murphy: Well, the location where all this activity occurred is where they found the biological material. He threw [my cousin] to the ground and got on top of her and putting his hands down her top even after he got his wallet. She has not been charged with any crimes in connection with the case. I blacked out and didnt consent to anything.. PODCAST EPISODE 2 | WOMAN #2: You wouldn't want to be alone in a room with him. The Lassisters say soon after, strange postcards began showing up in their mailbox. Another frustration for the Smarts: at the time Kristin disappeared, investigators weren't aware that Paul Flores's parents were separated and living apart. 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. 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. However hard she and her father fought back, there was no chance they were going to get beyond the he said, she said. I was drunk and he had a witness and I didnt, Jane said. Lindsey Smart Stewart: It just amazes me the amount of evidence that's available, yet nothing has happened. Jonathan Vigliotti found Flores outside his home in Southern California and asked him a number of questions about Kristin's disappearance. Smart appeared to be under the influence of alcohol on Friday night. In April 2021, investigators charged Paul Flores, left, with Kristin Smart's murder, and his then-80-year-old father Ruben, as an accessory after the fact. 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. A woman nearby screamed at Flores to get off her and threatened to call the cops, she said. No-no-no. Prosecutors said Smart began falling down shortly after she was seen at the Tiki bar with Flores. Kristin Smart has been missing since 1996 and the San Luis County Obispo District Attorney allege she was killed during a rape. Lives in: Arroyo Grande CA. During opening statements of Flores murder trial this week, prosecutors played a video of Flores stumbling over questions from Cal Poly campus police detectives inside an interrogation room. Margarita Campos: I was expecting her to knock on my door and be, like, "Oh, Margarita, you missed a rager. I dont like to talk about it to even him, she said. James Murphy: They're interested in seeing Paul Flores get convicted and Ruben Flores get held accountable. On April 13, 2021, almost 25 years after Kristin Smart went missing, longtime suspect Paul Flores, 44, was arrested at his home in San Pedro, California, and charged with murder. James Murphy: There's no way to get evidence back once you've lost it. Jonathan Vigliotti: Is this a case that takes a miracle to solve? Lawyers representing Paul Flores, a man found guilty last year of murdering Kristin Smart in San Luis Obispo in 1996, filed motions last week to dismiss the jury verdict and for a new trial. 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