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Chris Lambert: I don't think she ever imagined that Kristin would end up dead by the end of the night. They might have found evidence in those vehicles. Recently unsealed court documents show the extent to which law enforcement has looked into Flores over the years: 48 search warrants involving wiretaps and GPS tracking, and a search of Flores former Cal Poly dorm room. Paul Flores is charged with the murder of Kristin Smart, who disappeared from Cal Poly in 1996. In October 2022, Paul Flores, the man long suspected in her disappearance, was found guilty of murder. To think that you're going to finally get some resolution, and then it doesn't happen the way it's supposed to. By the time they inspected Flores's room, Kristin had been gone for 16 days. As they soon learned, she had ended up at a party at an off-campus house. She writes about missing persons, unsolved murders, and human rights. Kristen Modaferri Observer file Family and friends of a Charlotte woman who has been missing for nearly two decades are awaiting results after a possible break in the case came Thursday.. In April 2021, investigators finally put the pieces of the puzzle together and decided they had enough to charge the then-44-year-old Paul Flores with Kristin's murder, and his then-80-year-old father with being an accessory after the fact. And so, she pulled me into this sort of like, "oh come on, let's socialize. The police searched her dorm room in Muir Hall, finding her wallet and reminders to turn in assignments. Ann-Marie Christian: She was who she was because of her parents, for sure. Wednesday, Superior Court Judge Craig van Rooyen rules that having the podcaster testify and release his records would have a chilling effect on the medias ability to do their job. "48 Hours" looks back to their arrests and how the saga began. But the judge indicated he would set a reasonable bail amount Wednesday for the father, who has health problems is currently in the San Luis Obispo jail on $250,000 bail. In March 2021, investigators used cadaver dogs and ground-penetrating radar to search Ruben Floress property in Arroyo Grande, Calif. Paul Flores was taken into custody at his home in the San Pedro section of Los Angeles on April 13, 2021, and was charged with murder. Instead, on Monday, May 27, Denise Pearce says the Smarts got a call from Cal Poly's campus police asking if Kristin was with them. She disappeared in 1996 after attending an off-campus party and while she was declared legally dead in 2002, her body has never been found. There's no question about it. It's fine. James Murphy: they let the dog in, the dog makes a beeline to the bed of Paul Flores. Flores claimed after walking Kristin back from the party, he went to his room in Santa Lucia Hall while she walked alone to her dorm. Most students had taken off but Kristin had stayed on campus. And DNA evidence could not be found linking any other evidence to Kristin. The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time By the time they called the Cal Poly campus police, Kristin had been missing for more than 48 hours. The case recently reentered the public eye with the 2019 launch of the popular true-crime podcast, Your Own Backyard, hosted by musician Chris Lambert, who has spent his life haunted by a missing persons billboard featuring Smarts face. Chris Lambert: That's the upsetting part about it, isn't it? We are now one step closer to justice for Kristin. Paul Flores is charged with first-degree murder and is accused of killing Smart while attempting to rape her. James Murphy: An eyewitness actually documented the fact that throughout the night that there was activity in the area of the underside of that deck. 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. He says they are Ruben's ex-wife Susan and her boyfriend. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. The 18- year old coed from North Carolina was taking a summer photography class at the University of Califorina Berkeley when she vanished June 23rd, 1997. PODCAST EPISODE 1: I googled Kristin Smart's name every few years. Im not going to exclude a member of the media (for doing their job).. 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. The document presented summaries of why prosecutors didn't want either man to be released pending a trial that could be years away. That turned out to be college. every piece of evidence points directly at Paul Flores. Flores wasn't talking. Chris Lambert: Kristin became incredibly intoxicated, whether she was drugged or whether she just had a lot to drink in a short amount of time She ends up passed out on the lawn next door. The defense questions Hudson about her drug use, but she says she was not doing drugs at the time. PODCAST EPISODE 4: So, I walk him up to his sister's apartment, and all of a sudden, he just like picked me up, carried me inside, turned around and shut the apartment door, and locked it. Cole in 2019. And I was screaming. And she's like, "please come with me. When they were deposed by James Murphy, they also insisted their son was not involved. So had Margarita Campos, who lived in the next room in Muir Hall. She had taken a job at a coffee shop to pay for a photography course at U.C. But every Sunday when she called her parents, they encouraged her to stick it out. Ruben Flores, was arrested at his home on the same day and was charged with being an accessory after the fact. James Murphy: He lied to the police about everything. D.A. to search on and near the Cal Poly campus. SUSAN FLORES: [Long pause, grabs water bottle] Of course not. But Murphy says there were other incidents that should have raised alarm bells about him with law enforcement from the very beginning. Today, we make the first move toward bringing justice to Kristin, her family, and the people of San Luis Obispo County.. Any evidence that might have been there was long gone. 1 of 47. But cadaver dogs told a different story. Chris Lambert: It's hard to take too much credit But I was one piece of the puzzle that helped to make this all come together when it did. James Murphy: They brought in the first dog and they'd had the dog go through the dorms. Oct. 18, 2022 In the spring of 1996, Kristin Smart, a 19-year-old college student, left an off-campus party in San Luis Obispo, Calif., and walked home to her dormitory. In the crowd, taking it all in, was that podcaster, Chris Lambert. Why? Chris Lambert: They didn't bring cadaver dogs with them. Billie Eilish Explains Her Complicated Relationship With Social Media: 'I Don't Look at It Anymore', Theres no evidence of a sex crime in the charged crime (the murder case) itself, van Rooyen says. Chris Lambert: It was never marked as evidence apparently. D.A. Cadaver dogs were sent into Paul Floress dorm room. Because of the statute of limitations, Dow says, Paul Flores can't be charged with rape. But it's Susan Flores's concrete backyard that initially received a lot of attention. Mesick argued there were many innocent explanations why soil had previously been dug up in the yard. But Mary Lassiter says the earring matched the necklace Kristin is seen wearing on the billboard. She left around 2 a.m. and was accompanied by Paul Flores, who was also a student at Cal Poly. They went on trial in July 2022 in Monterey County, Calif. On Oct. 18, 2022, Paul Flores was found guilty of murdering Ms. Smart. Paul invoked the Fifth Amendment when the DAs office subpoenaed him to testify before a grand jury in 1996 and after the Smarts filed a $40 million wrongful-death lawsuit against him; during a 1997 deposition, he again pleaded the Fifth. Chris Lambert: They're hopeful, but they've also been let down so many times before. He gets his arm around her torso and her arm around his neck, and he's helping her walk. Don Kelsen/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images. I don't think she went back to her dorm at all. Peterson may or may not have been at the party Smart disappeared after. Flores defense team moves to recuse the San Luis Obispo County District Attorneys Office from the Smart case because prosecutor Peuvrelle and others have been seen wearing purple clothing, Smarts favorite color. And I was, like, "uh OK, fine.". The Sheriffs Office investigators and forensic specialists assigned to Ms. Smarts case executed 18 search warrants, submitted 37 items that were collected in the early days of the case for DNA testing, recovered 140 new items of evidence and conducted 91 interviews from 2011 to 2020, the office said. The 200 Greatest Singers of All Time 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. Ruben Flores was released on $50,000 bail to his ex-wife. She left them only after he promised to take Kristin back to her dorm. James Murphy: That suggests that something bad happened in Paul Flores's dorm room. were in the room exactly where she had left them. Paul Flores may have wanted a fresh start in Southern California, but Chris Lambert says, he could not seem to break old habits. With them is a group of FBI evidence response team members and a search warrant. They asked him not to use their names: PODCAST EPISODE 2 | WOMAN #1: Well his nickname was "Scary Paul.". [emotional] I will go outside at nighttime and I'll look up at the full moon and I'll think that that kid's buried somewhere real close. On Tuesday, Cole testified that Ruben clarified that he meant he was the only one of the three who had been arrested. Kristen Modafferi was last seen on the afternoon of June 23, 1997, at the coffee shop where she was working in the Crocker Galleria Mall in San Francisco, California. But as Chris Lambert learned, campus police did not act right away. I didn't know how many people were gonna listen. Chris Lambert: As they describe it, Paul Flores just sort of appears out of nowhere. Three more witnesses are expected to take the stand on Thursday, including two cadaver dog handlers.___. As of 2021, Kristen Modafferi's case remains unsolved. Cole also testified that the Flores family was wiretapped for 30 days starting on January 5, 2020. James Murphy: Every day. He has denied any involvement. The Kristin Smart Scholarship has been established by her family to help other college bound women pursue their dreams. On July 21, Kristin Smarts parents and her brother, Matt, testified about how they had searched for her after her disappearance. Ms. Smart, who was from Stockton, Calif., was a freshman at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. It is also what the Smarts have been waiting for for more than a quarter of a century. And for the first time clues about what may have happened to Kristin Smart. For more than two decades, her family, friends, and supporters searched for answers and for justice. Denise Pearce: The investigation was completely botched by the campus police. Kristen Modafferi, Kristin Smart & Kent Jacobs. All Rights reserved. Margarita Campos: I was a little bit more introverted and inhibited and she was like, "no, we have to go out and we have to go like live life." Everyone knew Paul (Flores) was creepy. For more than two decades, her family, friends, and supporters searched for answers and for justice. People are watching Ruben Flores and Susan Flores and Paul Flores. Flores, 44, was arrested Tuesday at his home, nearly 25 years after Smart left a party near the Cal Poly campus and vanished on the way back to her campus dormitory. Copyright 2021 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. Chris Lambert: Paul keeps stopping along the way and letting Cheryl Anderson know, you can go on ahead. PODCAST EPISODE 4: And he had like a butter knife and he like held it to my neck. Klicken Sie auf Alle ablehnen, wenn Sie nicht mchten, dass wir und unsere Partner Cookies und personenbezogene Daten fr diese zustzlichen Zwecke verwenden. Ms. Smarts acquaintances were interviewed. In his mug shot, a black eye can faintly been seen. My job was to hunt them. Paul Flores did not have a car on campus, so Murphy surmises he had to have had help. Denise Pearce says that was a crushing blow for the Smart family. PODCAST EPISODE 3: Something shiny catches her eye next to the front driver side tire. That's when Denise Smart learned her daughter had not been seen all weekend, and all her belongings were still in her dorm room. https://www.nytimes.com/article/kristin-smart-case-timeline.html. The evidentiary hearing is underway and witnesses are testifying in front of Superior Court Judge Craig van Rooyen about Flores interactions with Smart. Mary Lassiter says the earring she found in the driveway matched the necklace Kristin Smart is seen wearing on this billboard. Four months later, while attempting to reconcile, Susan rented out her house in Arroyo Grande.