Kristin Smart, California college student missing since 1996, was killed in attempted rape, investigators say
Kristin Smart, a California college student who disappeared in 1996, was killed while another student tried to rape her, investigators said Wednesday.
Paul Flores, now 44, was arrested Tuesday and charged with killing Smart in May 1996, when she was a 19-year-old student at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo.
Flores’ father, 80-year-old Ruben Flores, helped his son hide Smart’s body, San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow said in a press release. Ruben Flores was also arrested Tuesday.
Smart’s body has not been found, but investigators continued the search Tuesday and Wednesday at Ruben Flores’ home in Arroyo Grande, about 10 miles south of San Luis Obispo along California’s central coast.
Smart was last seen May 25, 1996, walking home from a party with Paul Flores. Investigators said Flores then killed Smart while sexually assaulting her in his dorm room, the Associated Press reported.
County Sheriff Ian Parkinson admitted Wednesday that early mistakes hindered the initial investigation, according to the AP. Smart was not reported missing until three days after she disappeared, and her family later sued Cal Poly.
In the ensuing years, investigators served more than 40 warrants at 16 locations, Parkinson said, compiling mountains of evidence leading to Tuesday’s arrests.
Paul Flores was formally charged with first-degree murder, and his father was charged with being an accessory after the fact.
The younger Flores was arrested at his home in Los Angeles’ San Pedro neighborhood. District Attorney Dow asked the public for more information about Flores, who frequented several bars in the area beginning in 2005, according to Dow.
Investigators also credited the “In Your Own Backyard” podcast, started by Chris Lambert, for renewing and expanding interest in the case.
