Stockton college student Kristin Smart went missing in 1996 from the Cal Poly University campus in San Luis Obispo.
Former fellow Cal Poly student Paul Flores was arraigned Thursday morning on first-degree murder charges in connection with her death. His father, Ruben Flores, was also arraigned on charges as an accessory to murder after the fact.
Both men appeared before a San Luis Obispo County Courtroom from jail via livestream. The judge in the case, Craig B. van Rooyen, approved a request from defense attorneys to continue the arraignment to Monday afternoon when there will be arguments over bail and pleas entered into the record.
DA says suspect in Kristin Smart murder likely assaulted more women after her death
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San Luis Obispo District Attorney Dan Dow announces a murder charge is filed against Paul Flores in the Kristin Smart case.David Middlecamp/AP
San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow is seeking more potential victims linked to Paul Flores, the man prosecutors say assaulted and killed Cal Poly student Kristin Smart in 1996.
Flores was charged with murder in the decades-long unsolved case of Smart, who went missing on the walk to her dorm after attending a party on Memorial Day weekend. Flores, 44, was the last known person to see her alive and has long been the only suspect in the case.
Parkinson talked to the family twice Tuesday and said “they re feeling a bit of relief.”
Parkinson said he has assured the family his investigators will continue to search for Smart s body.
“But, as you can imagine, until we return Kristin, to them, this is not over,” Parkinson said. “We have committed to them that we are not going to stop until Kristin has been recovered, no matter what the cost, no matter what the time.”
The news comes about a month after the sheriff named Flores, a former Cal Poly student, the prime suspect in the case and investigators searched his father s home and property in the city of Arroyo Grande, about 15 miles south of the university, using ground-penetrating radar and cadaver dogs.
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ARROYO GRANDE, Calif. Residents and supporters remembers Kristin Smart as her case hits a milestone on Tuesday.
Residents placed up a giant string of balloons in memory of Kristin Smart on Tuesday morning.
Dozens of purple balloons were hung around a banner titled Cal Poly Student Kristin Smart .
The banner had a photo of Smart along with a web link to the Your Own Backyard podcast by Chris Lambert. Lambert s podcast was a major proponent to the case.
The banner also included the phone number to the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff s Office.
On Tuesday, the Sheriff s Office announced that Paul Flores and Ruben Flores were arrested on Tuesday afternoon.