She graduated from San Perlita as valedictorian to the class of 1953 to proceed her education at James R . And these girls are inviting us out. Since Parkinson came on the scene, investigators have dug up hillsides; searched the homes and properties of all the Flores'; collected evidence; seized Paul Flores' computers; monitored his cell phone and text messages, and found new witnesses -- some with the help of Chris Lambert. Jonathan Vigliotti: And that phone call never comes. They asked him not to use their names: PODCAST EPISODE 2 | WOMAN #1: Well his nickname was "Scary Paul.". Regresar a la bsqueda. He had pinned her down and had his hand down her bathing suit groping her.. When Kristin Smart disappeared, Paul Flores's parents Susan and Ruben were separated and living apart. The charming blue house with the picket fence on East Branch Street seemed perfect. Later, he told detectives that Smart was walking just fine and returned to her dorm while he returned to his dorm. I was like, Who the hell do you think you are?. Still to this day I am afraid to go to the bathroom by myself in public places, she said, admitting she still asks her husband every time to stand sentry at the door when she has to go. They told her Kristin had not been seen all weekend and asked if Kristin was with them. And while they did not rush to investigate Flores, Kristin's family says campus police were very quick to judge her. The fact is, there is a lot of sort of evidence. I say that because you will see, when you actually listen to what comes out, its not what it seems to be, Sanger said. The sheriff's office still wasn't convinced they had enough evidence against Flores. 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. She has not been charged with any crimes in connection with the case. In the fall of 1996, a young mother named Mary Lassiter was looking for a house to rent in Arroyo Grande, California. Her parents, Denise and Stan were both educators who encouraged their kids' passions. Chris Lambert: So, if you believe Paul's story, he goes into his dorm room here. November 27, 2020 / 8:14 AM Even more difficult to understand was why they waited two months to search the family home where Paul Flores was living with his father, Ruben. PAUL FLORES: On the advice of my attorney . They're known for being a really safe school.". What happened in the privacy of his room that night? Peuvrelle asked the jury. By this point Sarahs ex-boyfriend arrived and he and his friends scared Flores and his pal, trying to make sure they never showed their faces again. And I was like, "nah, I have to study." We were standing by the washer and dryer and we were arguing and he shouted, No! and slapped my arm, Laura said. ", Although suspicion surrounded Flores almost from the beginning, any hopes for an arrest were dashed in May 1997 when then-Sheriff Ed Williams made an admission to the San Luis Obispo Telegraph: "We need Paul Flores to tell us what happened to Kristin Smart so absent something from Mr. Flores, I don't see us completing this case.". You can go." James Murphy: To see them in custody was a feeling of great joy for me. Just five months before Kristin disappeared, San Luis Obispo Police received a call from a student living off campus. Denise Pearce says that was a crushing blow for the Smart family. 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. Chris Lambert: I think that might have been the biggest misstep that investigators have made to this day. Deputies seized a mattress cover from the bed with a blood stain. Why? Chris Lambert: They did a significant amount of digging underneath the house. D.A. Kristin did not have a purse, money, her I.D. Chris Lambert: Around the time Kristin disappeared, they cut out planter boxes in the backyard, so they cut out big chunks of concrete and filled it in with soil. Four months after that futile search, Paul Flores was brought before a grand jury. Ermelinda Flores' property in Washington state has been searched by investigators in February 2020. Denise Pearce | Longtime family friend: Things were gonna get better and, you know, and and they did. Garin Sinclair: He never once turned to the Smart family and said, hey, we have an earring, we'd like to show it to you to see if it matches any of your daughter's jewelry. Multiple attempts to reach Flores and his parents to comment on the new accusations were unsuccessful. James Murphy and Garin Sinclair look at the billboard that has been in their front yard for more than two decades. Chris Lambert, who worked as a CBS News consultant, pieced together what he learned from people who were there that night. I knocked on her door, and I thought she was just sleeping, or she went out and about, you know? JAMES MURPHY: Your husband have information as to where Kristin Smart's body is located? LOS ANGELESShe remembers being dragged down Elm Street as she vomited, propped up by a young man and his pal who snickered and cursed her. Wiggot: pfo5vr0 total 1100 m2 800 m2 de area prod. Jonathan Vigliotti: And that weighs on you. During one interrogation with campus police on May 28, 1996, Flores story changed about what happened after Anderson left. I told her I didn't I didn't want to go. They were giggling as they were dragging me, the now 39-year-old woman told The Daily Beast. Chris Lambert: They're hopeful, but they've also been let down so many times before. I was like Oh my God. Chris Lambert: They just have never given up and are never going to give up on their daughter. But Flores basketball friends told investigators that he already had the black eye when he showed up for the game. Jonathan Vigliotti [with Lambert outside of the the dorms]: Paul and Kristin then make their way here. If you come near her again I will kill you!, His buddy pushed Paul real hard and he fell through a desk before he ran for his life.. Back then, Jane remembered Flores pulling up to her on multiple occasions behind the wheel of a green pickup truck. When they were deposed by James Murphy, they also insisted their son was not involved. Whatever happened in those early hours, one thing is indisputable: Kristin Smart has never been seen again. They left me there and knock on my moms door really hard and then ran off, Jane, who is telling her story for first time, said. As she told Chris Lambert, "In the master bedroom, I'm hearing this 'beep beep' every night at 4:20, or 4:20 in the morning." James Murphy: There has been no other suspect. The interrogation was recorded just days after Smarts college friends alerted police that she was missing. One late night at a Hermosa Beach bar Flores courted a 21-year-old student whom well call Laura. And so, she pulled me into this sort of like, "oh come on, let's socialize. So, I said, "you better turn some lights on right now and let me out or I'm going to scream." 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. Thats when everyone got involved, she said. To declare to the public if you stay quiet, you will get away with this. Witnesses said she didnt smell like alcohol, but she quickly became so incapacitated that she passed out face-down on the houses front lawn. And they told Lambert they weren't surprised when they heard about Flores's connection to Kristin's disappearance. And for the first time clues about what may have happened to Kristin Smart. DAN DOW [press conference]: We intend to use evidence of other sexual crimes in this prosecution to prove the facts necessary for the attempted rape in this case. At the time of Smart's disappearance, Flores was a 19-year-old food science major at Cal-Poly. Margarita Campos: they were, like, "are you sure she didn't go out of town?" Smart, a native of Stockton, was nearing the end of her. and offers to help. A now-retired FBI agent believes those remains were once buried at the home of Floress mother. 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. By the time Cal Poly police began investigating, Kristin had been gone for four days. A judge on March 30 ruled that the trial would be moved out of San Luis . Ken Blum is the editor. In March 2021, the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office served a search warrant at the Arroyo Grande home of Ruben Flores. James Murphy: They're interested in seeing Paul Flores get convicted and Ruben Flores get held accountable. PODCAST EPISODE 4: So, I walk him up to his sister's apartment, and all of a sudden, he just like picked me up, carried me inside, turned around and shut the apartment door, and locked it. PODCAST EPISODE 2 [LAMBERT READING REPORT] Smart does not have any close friends at Cal Poly. Produced by Lisa Freed. Susan Flores and her boyfriend were never charged in the case. It was just the three of them standing in the kitchen before Jane was handed a plastic cup. 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. Margarita soon decided she'd had enough. 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. He'd go through tunnels, under bridges, looking for his daughter and expecting best case scenario. They were after Paul Flores for an outstanding DUI warrant. The Lassisters say soon after, strange postcards began showing up in their mailbox. What's going on? 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. PODCAST EPISODE 2 | WOMAN #1: I wasn't surprised, but there's also that shock value of kind of "oh my god, I knew it! I never realized its the same guy that harassed [Sarah], he said. There's no question about it. 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. Margarita Campos: To this day, like, I was like, why why did I just let her go by herself? 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. Ian Parkinson: I committed to them that I was going to go back to the beginning and re-examine every piece of evidence that we had. so eventually he unlocked you know, the apartment door, and I left. Ermelinda Flores, 81. 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. Then, in 2011, Ian Parkinson was elected sheriff. Lived In Dublin CA, King Of Prussia PA, Norristown PA. Related To Cooper Flores. At the time, they did not know about a missing college student. And there were those nonstop tales of Flores being touchy-feely with her friends. With them is a group of FBI evidence response team members and a search warrant. Eventually they moved in together along with a male roommate in a two-bedroom apartment in nearby Lawndale. Ruben Flores was released on $50,000 bail to his ex-wife. It wasnt like some older guy or anything.. By herself, which is pretty amazing. When Anderson looked back one last time at Flores and Smart, she saw that he was leading Smart toward his dorm, Santa Lucia Hall, not Muir Hall, the prosecutor told the jury. And I was screaming. Its not a lie. DAN DOW [press conference]: We don't have evidence sufficient to charge anyone else at this time. 2020 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. 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. Meanwhile, the FBI, who recently excavated earth at Cal Poly to look for Smarts remains, referred comment to the sheriffs office. But Margarita says, the police did not seem concerned. A single woman's earring. Lambert also interviewed a woman who dated Flores until, she says, he became physically and verbally abusive. A break in the case happened in 2020 when sheriffs deputies wire-tapped the phones of Flores, his father, and his mother to record their private conversations. 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. James Murphy: There's no way to get evidence back once you've lost it. Our roommate came in and yelled Leave her alone. Devastating. And very chilling. Just weeks later, Kristin's frustrated parents contacted James Murphy, a local civil attorney. He says they are Ruben's ex-wife Susan and her boyfriend. Chris Lambert: Paul keeps stopping along the way and letting Cheryl Anderson know, you can go on ahead. He never expected it would be a hit, but his podcast caught the attention of millions of listeners and sparked new interest in this decades-old unsolved case. I don't think she went back to her dorm at all. Chris Lambert: He told those friends he just woke up with the black eye. The detective noticed was Paul was nervous and his heart was beating out of his chest. / CBS News. We would highly recommend that those people get in contact with us as soon as possible so we could investigate this further, he said. But 22 years later, when he couldn't find any recent stories about the case, he decided to do something. Jonathan Vigliotti: There was a lot of evidence that could have been gathered, that wasn't. Smart was talking with and socializing with several different males at the party. Sarah said shes still haunted by Flores. Facts will show law enforcement was aware that they did not have a case. He was seeing someone on the side who he called his friend, she said. There was no reaction until the dog reached Paul Flores's room. D.A. I remember thinking: If my moms not home Im going to die right here.. They had become close friends despite their differences. That's when the campus police finally handed the investigation over to The San Luis Obispo Sheriff's Office but they did not find Kristin. 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. Me, my sister, my cousinPaul has no limits, she said, requesting anonymity. Paul owns a home in San Pedro, CA . After seizing an old car, digging in the back yard and taking evidence San Luis Obispo County sheriff deputies concluded their search of an Arroyo Grande home related to the 1996 disappearance of Kristin Smart. Chris Lambert: It's mostly frat guys from the Kappa Chi fraternity. But remarkably, the same thing happened with three more dogs. 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. Jonathan Vigliotti found Flores outside his home in Southern California and asked him a number of questions about Kristin's disappearance. It might be helpful to the investigation.. The next morning, Margarita waited to hear from Kristin. After all these years, Sheriff Parkinson says that Paul Flores continues to be their number one suspect. Also known as Melinda E Flores. I'm going to go back to the dorms. Paul Flores lives in San Pedro, CA; previous city include Arroyo Grande CA. Chris Lambert: Kristin's father would come down and hike every trail he could find on the Central Coast. Jonathan Vigliotti: You look at Kristin Smart every day. She spotted an ad for a rental that a woman named Susan Flores had put in the local newspaper. He called his father at 9:47 a.m. on Sunday, May 26, 1996. 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. Meanwhile, three other women told The Daily Beast that Flores sexually assaulted them after Janes assault and Smarts disappearance. Some even wondered if she might have been drugged. In the interrogation video played for the jury, detectives can be heard asking Flores, If anybody lies as much as you have, about something as serious as this is, what does that tell you?. JAMES MURPHY: Has your son ever told you that he did not kill Kristin Smart? I have this PTSD fear of someone kicking the door in.. If you use a windshield cover, you can at least forget about scrapping the ice off your windshield to save some time and hassle. And it was only 250 miles from Stockton, California, where she grew up with Lindsey and their brother Matt. In one of Paul's police interviews he mentioned that he wanted to be let out of the interview because he needed to help clean up concrete at his mom's house So, what was being done in Susan Flores's backyard in the weeks after Kristin went missing? The murder trial began on Monday with opening statements from prosecutors and Flores defense attorney. Margarita Campos: I was expecting her to knock on my door and be, like, "Oh, Margarita, you missed a rager. or even her keys. My mom opened the door and she cries, Oh my God!. I believed him but he was probably cheating on me.. PODCAST | EPISODE 1: At least once a day I asked myself what are you doing? That's when Denise Smart learned her daughter had not been seen all weekend, and all her belongings were still in her dorm room. He says "no.". I don't know if Kristin knew anybody there. And he leaves her to walk up this walkway. SUSAN FLORES: [Long pause, grabs water bottle] Of course not. The podcast, "Your Own Backyard,"has drawn millions of listeners and focused renewed attention on this decades old case. 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. Once Jane was admitted her story seemed to fall on deaf ears. DAN DOW [press conference]: The allegation against Ruben is that he helped to conceal Kristen's body after the murder was committed. Paul Flores escorted Smart back to her dorm after an off-campus party. Lassiter told Lambert the earring she found matched the necklace Kristin was wearing on one of the "Missing Cal Poly Student" billboards. Smarts body has never been found. The Smarts' younger daughter, Lindsey, described her parents to Vigliotti: "I think they're like carrying boulders on their backs.".