Two men arrested in 1996 disappearance of Kristin Smart By Peter Martinez 2 men arrested in disappearance of Kristin Smart
Two men have been arrested in connection with the 1996 disappearance of Kristin Smart, authorities said Tuesday. Paul Flores, 44, was taken into custody and charged with murder. No bail has been set.
Investigators have not yet discovered Smart s body but they remain hopeful, said Sheriff Ian Parkinson of San Luis Obispo County. I believe we will find Kristin, he said. We will continue to focus on finding her remains regardless of any court action.
On May 24, 1996, Smart was 19 when she disappeared while returning to a dorm at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. Flores, who had been considered a prime suspect, was also a student at the school.
By Jensen Rader, iHeartMedia
Apr 13, 2021
Early Thursday morning, the prime suspect in the Kristin Smart disappearance Paul Flores was arrested along with his father Ruben Flores. The charges for Paul have not been made public at this time but Ruben is being charged with being an accessory. Investigators plan to reveal what they are calling major developments in the disappearance of missing central California college student, Kristin Smart. San Luis Obispo County Sheriff Ian Parkinson is scheduled to hold a news conference at 2 p.m., Pacific Time today on the Cal Poly Campus. Last month, detectives served a search warrant at the home belonging to the father of Smart s classmate, Paul Flores. Flores is reportedly the last person to see her alive. At that time, the sheriff s department said Flores is the prime suspect. Kristin Smart was 19-years old when she was last seen returning to her California Polytechnic State University dormitory on May 25, 1996. The Smart family is
Kristin Smart.
Paul Flores, who was long suspected of being involved in her disappearance, was taken into custody along with his father,
Ruben Flores.
Smart was last seen walking home from a party near her dorm at California Polytechnic State University on May 25, 1996. While her body was never found, officials declared Smart dead in 2002.
Paul Flores was the last person to see her alive and was questioned after she went missing. He has denied any involvement in her disappearance.
According to the
Los Angeles Times, investigators have been focusing on how Flores would have disposed of Smart s body. They knew he couldn t have done it alone and, during the past year, have been trying to determine how he would have moved her body. They examined several vehicles owned by Flores and his father in 1996, including two trucks and a VW Golf Cabriolet, looking for any evidence they were used to transport Smart before or after she died.
LOS ANGELES
The “prime suspect” in the 25-year-old disappearance of a California college student was taken into custody Tuesday and the San Luis Obispo sheriff planned to announce “major developments” in the case.
Paul Flores, 44, who was the last person seen with Kristin Smart before she vanished in 1996, was taken into custody in the Los Angeles area. His father, Ruben Flores, 80, was arrested as an accessory at his Arroyo Grande home, where sheriff’s investigators conducted another search.
Defense attorney Robert Sanger confirmed that Paul Flores was arrested in the Smart case, though no details were immediately available on the charges he faces. His father was booked on suspicion of accessory after a felony, according to jail records.