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. Margarita Campos: To this day, like, I was like, why why did I just let her go by herself? By the time they inspected Flores's room, Kristin had been gone for 16 days. Chris Lambert: It was never marked as evidence apparently. Susan Flores and her boyfriend were never charged in the case. JAMES MURPHY: Does your son have any information as to where Kristin Smart's body is located? JAMES MURPHY: Would you state your full name for the record please. We are grateful to these brave women for having the courage to talk about their experiences and we ask anyone who may have information they think could be helpful to contact the San Luis Obispo County Sheriffs Office. James Murphy: He lied to the police about everything. And six months later, when Flores was deposed by James Murphy for the Smart's civil suit, he kept quiet. But Sarah kneed Flores in the groin and kicked him in the shin before dashing off into the party. 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. Balloons wrap around the Kristin Smart billboard in Arroyo Grande after the arrest of Paul and Ruben Flores in April 2021. Witnesses said she didnt smell like alcohol, but she quickly became so incapacitated that she passed out face-down on the houses front lawn. Even worse they never sealed his dorm room. Clockwise from left, Kristin, Denise, Stan, Matt and Lindsey. D.A. Chris Lambert, who worked as a CBS News consultant, pieced together what he learned from people who were there that night. Bodega en Renta de $65.000 , 3 baos, 1100 m2 en Arroyo de Las Flores, Jalisco ID 26114512. D.A. In his mug shot, a black eye can faintly been seen. The backyard was all concrete except for a couple of areas where planter boxes had been created by cutting out the concrete and filling them with soil. The murder trial began on Monday with opening statements from prosecutors and Flores defense attorney. A student named Paul Flores, Susan's son, volunteered to take her back. The dogs were trained and certified to detect human remains. He's going to find her body, which is awful for a parent. She spotted an ad for a rental that a woman named Susan Flores had put in. The living room had a TV and one sofa and the floor was white, she said. After they broke up, Laura did a little sleuthing and discovered her ex-boyfriend was accused in Smarts vanishing. 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. 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. Just five months before Kristin disappeared, San Luis Obispo Police received a call from a student living off campus. So, they did not immediately get a warrant to search Susan Flores's home. Some of those women who did not want their real names used told Lambert about their encounters with him. Four months later, while attempting to reconcile, Susan rented out her house in Arroyo Grande. Lindsey Smart Stewart: It just amazes me the amount of evidence that's available, yet nothing has happened. 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It was turned over to a detective with the San Luis Obispo Sheriff's Office, but Garin Sinclair says, the Smarts never knew it existed until the Lassiters were deposed in January 1997. Ruben Flores, 80, has been booked on an accessory charge and is being held on $250,000 bail. Resides in Blue Bell, PA. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. RUBEN FLORES: [long pause] We never asked that question. and offers to help. But to fully understand Chris Lambert's contribution, you have to go back to the beginning. Chris Lambert says they're cautiously optimistic. She spotted an ad for a rental that a woman named Susan Flores had put in the local newspaper. Im good, he said in response to questions about Smarts disappearance. She was too kind-hearted. She was gone. Used to live: San Luis Obispo CA, Arroyo Grande CA, Torrance CA. When authorities later confronted him with the two stories, Flores admitted lying and offered a new explanation. 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. James Murphy: Every day. And it was only 250 miles from Stockton, California, where she grew up with Lindsey and their brother Matt. First, he told detectives that Smart was having difficulty walking on her own. Janes mother frantically phoned her father. Five months after Kristin Smart disappeared, Paul Flores was brought before a grand jury but no charges were ever filed. It was never like Hey you want to go hookup? He never made advances and he would just say Hi at school.. were in the room exactly where she had left them. He gets his arm around her torso and her arm around his neck, and he's helping her walk. View the profiles of people named Ermelinda Thomas. Stop! and then it became Stop!!!!!. When asked about how he got the injury Flores told three different stories. And there are more horrifying allegations about what may have happened to Kristin after she was last seen with Paul Flores. JAMES MURPHY: What is your present residence address? Smarts body has never been found. During a camping trip in Fresno, California, in the early 1990s, Floress female cousins playfully swiped and hid his wallet while walking en route to a liquor store to purchase slush puppies. One female cousin called Flores a pervert. I told her I didn't I didn't want to go. Join Facebook to connect with Ermelinda Thomas and others you may know. He promised the Smarts that solving Kristin's case would be a priority. Classes were difficult, she was trying to fit in, and she missed her family. They were giggling as they were dragging me, the now 39-year-old woman told The Daily Beast. First published on November 27, 2020 / 8:14 AM. Critics called. But the investigation is ongoing. Like the rest of the family, Kristin was an athlete. Facebook gives people the. He threw [my cousin] to the ground and got on top of her and putting his hands down her top even after he got his wallet. 1996 was before the #MeToo movement, Peuvrelle told the jury. And while they did not rush to investigate Flores, Kristin's family says campus police were very quick to judge her. They were meant for Susan Flores asking her to cooperate with police and have her son come forward. Margarita Campos: But when we got to the house it was pretty dead too, it was really -- it was like a couple of roommates hanging out playing video games And Kristin was, like oh gosh, there has to be something better than this. Kristin Smart Murder Trial: Who's who The judge only allowed 1 media pool camera inside the courtroom. The family attorney refused to comment when reached by The Daily Beast. How could she have gone out of town? But was there evidence possibly placing Kristin Smart at his mother's home? Flores defense attorney, Robert Sanger, told the jury, This obviously is a tragic situation in one sense or another. D.A. Podcaster Chris Lambert says that after 24 years, "I think it's time [for Flores] to talk." Susan's house was finally searched in March 1997 nine months after Kristin disappeared but nothing was found. Instead, Flores and his family were sued in 2002 by the Smarts in civil court for intentionally inflicted emotional distress upon the parents of Kristin Smart by taking the body of Kristin Smart and secreting and/or destroying the body in a hidden place in the County of San Luis Obispo. The Flores family countersued for emotional distress. Both suits were shelved by a judge until Smarts remains are found. 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." 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. Mary Lassiter says the earring she found in the driveway matched the necklace Kristin Smart is seen wearing on this billboard. Just very involved with their children. Jonathan Vigliotti: There was a lot of focus on how Kristin was drinking what sounded a lot like victim shaming. So maybe he had a crush on me. A popular true-crime podcast, Your Own Backyard, revived public interest in Smarts disappearance. Chris Lambert's podcast caught the attention of millions of listeners and sparked new interest in the decades-old unsolved case of Kristin Smart. That's when Denise Smart learned her daughter had not been seen all weekend, and all her belongings were still in her dorm room. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. PODCAST EPISODE 4: And he had like a butter knife and he like held it to my neck. Murphy has filed a new civil suit against Ruben Flores for the intentional infliction of emotional distress. I had zero interest in her, according to prosecutors. Why? When they showed up, it was Paul Flores. In October 2022, Paul Flores, the man long suspected in her disappearance, was found guilty of murder. 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. A hundred percent that was happening. 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. Other names that Ermelinda uses includes Ermelinda M Macarthur, Ermelinda M Flores, Ermelinda M Mac Arthur, Ermelinda Flores and Ermelinda M Thomas. Acerca; Prensa; 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! 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