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. More than two decades later, Chris Lambert, a podcaster who was investigating Kristin's disappearance, tracked down and interviewed Mary Lassiter. It would be three more years before the property was searched again. His father, Ruben Flores, is also on trial because investigators charged him with hiding Smarts body. JAMES MURPHY: What is the name of your father? Authorities arrested Ruben Flores after San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's deputies served a search warrant at his Arroyo Grande home. 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, I said, "you better turn some lights on right now and let me out or I'm going to scream." Regresar a la bsqueda. The two girls walked to an area off campus where there were fraternities, sororities and residential housing for students. In the fall of 1996, a young mother named Mary Lassiter was looking for a house to rent in Arroyo Grande, California. And I was like, "nah, I have to study." The Kristin Smart Scholarship has been established by her family to help other college bound women pursue their dreams. 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Even when law enforcement let them down, they refused to give up. Chris Lambert: I think that might have been the biggest misstep that investigators have made to this day. School was over, so campus police found an empty room that had been sanitized by the university's cleaning crew. James Murphy: There's no way to get evidence back once you've lost it. We both were kids at the same school and so I felt comfortable. He grabbed me down there and while Im yelling at him my girlfriend threw a piece of gum at his face and he pushes her down., At this point every male at the party joined in to jump Flores, who fled, she said, adding, Boom, he disappeared., That same year, Sarah said, Flores pursued her again at a friends birthday party. Some of those women who did not want their real names used told Lambert about their encounters with him. No-no-no. James Murphy: Somebody found an earring that they say was Kristin Smart's jewelry in the driveway. More critical evidence was seized when investigators used ground-penetratingly radar that found a grave where Smarts body was once buried in the Flores familys backyard, according to prosecutors. Margarita Campos: they were, like, "are you sure she didn't go out of town?" Flores allegedly told campus police, I did not find Kristin attractive. 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. I called my mom. I never realized its the same guy that harassed [Sarah], he said. The moment still haunts her. Because of the statute of limitations, Dow says, Paul Flores can't be charged with rape. Kristin did not have a purse, money, her I.D. SHERIFF IAN PARKINSON [to reporters]: It's been a puzzle and it's a very slow process to find each of those little pieces some of that information came to light through the podcast many of you are familiar with. Guardar . She was too kind-hearted. Balloons wrap around the Kristin Smart billboard in Arroyo Grande after the arrest of Paul and Ruben Flores in April 2021. We just, "do you know anything about it". It's fine. That mother, Mary Lassiter, described it to Chris Lambert. But every Sunday when she called her parents, they encouraged her to stick it out. Flores defense attorney, Robert Sanger, told the jury, This obviously is a tragic situation in one sense or another. I was lying down on my back. This 9-room home sits on 40,000 square feet of land, which was purchased by the Flores family in 1990. BOE-A-2023-5092 Orden JUS/181/2023, de 21 de febrero, por la que se aprueba la relacin provisional de personas admitidas y excluidas en el proceso selectivo para acceso libre, al Cuerpo de Gestin Procesal y Administrativa de la Administracin de Justicia, convocado por Orden JUS/1254/2022, de 7 de diciembre. The Smarts' younger daughter, Lindsey, described her parents to Vigliotti: "I think they're like carrying boulders on their backs.". Lassiter told Lambert the earring she found matched the necklace Kristin was wearing on one of the "Missing Cal Poly Student" billboards. Jonathan Vigliotti: And that phone call never comes. Paul Flores was lying through his teeth to law enforcement, Peuvrelle told the jury. Flores is charged with murdering Smart as he attempted to rape her in his dorm room. Ann-Marie Christian: Her parents reminded me of my parents. Get off her.. Despite identifying a prime suspect for her murder, law enforcement did not arrest Flores until 2021. Meanwhile, three other women told The Daily Beast that Flores sexually assaulted them after Janes assault and Smarts disappearance. 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. He has never talked. Lourdes Aguiar is the senior producer. He apparently would tag along with a sloshed friend, crashing off-campus parties together wherever she was. 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. Denise Pearce: Kristin hasn't come home And we're not sure where she is We don't know anything. Not at all. I've got her. It's just a motivator for me. JAMES MURPHY: Would you state your full name for the record please. He promised the Smarts that solving Kristin's case would be a priority. The detective noticed was Paul was nervous and his heart was beating out of his chest. Susan Flores and her boyfriend were never charged in the case. Susan's house was finally searched in March 1997 nine months after Kristin disappeared but nothing was found. They asked him not to use their names: PODCAST EPISODE 2 | WOMAN #1: Well his nickname was "Scary Paul.". Lindsey Smart Stewart: It just amazes me the amount of evidence that's available, yet nothing has happened. I guess you can call it little white lies, Flores told detectives. Flores wasn't talking. Lives in: Arroyo Grande CA. James Murphy: I'm not at liberty to describe how it was documented. He gets his arm around her torso and her arm around his neck, and he's helping her walk. What's going on? (The office hired a detective in 2015 to work on Unsolved Crimes for $15,000 a month: There are four open homicide investigations and Smarts remains an unsolved missing persons case. 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. PAUL FLORES: On the advice of my attorney, I refuse to answer that question based on the fifth amendment of the United States Constitution. And she was growing as an individual. But the investigation is ongoing. Jonathan Vigliotti: How did you know she hadn't been back? 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? They have not been able to proceed with the civil case while there was an ongoing criminal investigation, but that didn't stop them from following every lead and preparing for an eventual trial. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. Jonathan Vigliotti: There was a lot of evidence that could have been gathered, that wasn't. First published on November 28, 2020 / 11:10 PM. Just days after she disappeared, an incident report seemed to imply that Kristin's behavior contributed to her disappearance. Mary Lassiter says the earring she found in the driveway matched the necklace Kristin Smart is seen wearing on this billboard. 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. By herself, which is pretty amazing. I didn't know how many people were gonna listen. Paul Flores escorted Smart back to her dorm after an off-campus party. Four months earlier, Kristin Smart, a freshman at California Polytechnic State University better known as Cal Poly had gone to a party on Friday, May 24 the start of the Memorial Day weekend. 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." 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. Paul had this look on his face, the relative said. The day after my sister disappeared, Paul Flores had a black eye and scratches on him. The Kristin Smart disappearance: After 26 years, Paul Flores is convicted of murder. At the time, she was a 19-year-old freshman at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, who'd grown up in Stockton, Calif. On the night of her disappearance, she was spotted at a house party, which she left with three people. Just weeks later, Kristin's frustrated parents contacted James Murphy, a local civil attorney. I guess the answer is yes. Back in May 1996, Kristin Smart was finishing her freshman year at California Polytechnic State University better known as Cal Poly. You never look at her again! Like so many freshmen, Kristin struggled. I'm going to go back to the dorms. PODCAST EPISODE 4: At 8 a.m. on June 19th, 2000, a team of sheriff's investigators knocks on the front door of Susan Flores's East Branch Street home. Authorities made clear that they plan to use Flores' alleged predatory behavior against him. 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