SLO County district attorney to hold news conference on Kristin Smart arrests today
Read the latest updates here: Paul Flores sexually assaulted and murdered Kristin Smart, SLO County DA says
The San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office will hold a news conference Wednesday morning to discuss two recent arrests tied to the disappearance of missing Cal Poly student Kristin Smart.
District Attorney Dan Dow will speak at 11 a.m. Wednesday at the agency’s office about the arrests of Paul and Ruben Flores and the next steps for the criminal case against them.
Paul Flores, 44, of San Pedro was arrested Tuesday morning on suspicion of murdering Smart, who went missing in 1996.
His 80-year-old father, Arroyo Grande resident Ruben Flores, was arrested Tuesday and charged with being an accessory in the crime.
Wednesday’s news conference will be livestreamed via the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Facebook page.
Only credentialed media will be allowed to attend the event.
San Luis Obispo County Sheriff Ian Parkinson held a news conference Tuesday to discuss the arrests and the investigation into Smart’s disappearance. Parkinson said that forensic evidence in the case has been collected but the Sheriff’s Office is still searching for Smart’s body.
The case is now in the hands of the District Attorney’s Office to charge as a criminal prosecution in court.
Criminal case will proceed without a body as evidence
Sheriff Ian Parkinson revealed Tuesday that investigators have gathered evidence over the course of the past couple of years, serving multiple search warrants at Flores family homes.
But the prosecution will have to proceed without Smart’s human remains as evidence.
“We have not recovered Kristin,” Parkinson said. “We will continue to focus on finding her remains, regardless of any court action. ... We know that’s an important part or an important issue with the family.”
Investigators continued to use ground penetrating radar at the Flores family home in Arroyo Grande this week in search of additional evidence that could be used in the case.
On Wednesday, a search at Ruben’s home continued for a second consecutive day, where tent coverings and roped off areas could be seen from the street.
Investigators seized a car — a red, older model Volkswagen Cabriolet — at the Flores family home in March and excavated parts of the property.
In February 2020, the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI served search warrants at several residences in San Luis Obispo and Los Angeles counties, as well as a home in Washington State, related to Paul Flores.
One of the searches took place at the Arroyo Grande home of Susan Flores, Paul’s mother. Investigators were seen leaving the house with armloads of evidence they placed in a van, including a computer, a brown paper bag and a storage bin.
Susan Flores has not been arrested in connection with the Smart case.
Authorities also searched two vintage vehicles at the San Pedro home where Paul Flores was living, the Associated Press reported then, and took “several electronic devices” out of the house.
Paul Flores, 44, and Ruben Flores, 80, remain in county custody as of Wednesday morning.
San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow issued a brief statement following the announcement of arrests Tuesday, saying his office is evaluating the investigation.
This story was originally published April 14, 2021 at 9:13 AM.
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