Was Kristin Smart buried under Ruben Flores’ deck? New ’48 Hours’ reports ‘explosive claims’
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CBS’s “48 Hours” has updated its episode about Cal Poly student Kristin Smart’s 1996 disappearance with new information and “explosive claims” from the Smart family attorney, according to CBS correspondent Jonathan Vigliotti.
The updated version of “The Disappearance of Kristin Smart,” which first aired Saturday, includes footage from two San Luis Obispo County law enforcement news conferences held in April and an interview with Arroyo Grande lawyer James Murphy, who’s representing Smart’s family.
The revamped 44-minute episode also features information from a San Luis Obispo County probation report obtained by The Tribune saying that investigators have biological evidence indicating that Smart’s body was buried under the Arroyo Grande home of Ruben Flores, whose son, San Pedro resident Paul Flores, is accused of murdering the college student.
Smart was last seen on May 25, 1996, with Paul Flores after a late night party in San Luis Obispo. Both were Cal Poly freshmen at the time.
Flores, 44, has been charged with Smart’s murder, and his 80-year-old father is charged with acting as an accessory to the crime.
Both men pleaded not guilty to their respective charges in San Luis Obispo Superior Court.
Kristin Smart family attorney talks about disappearance
“48 Hours” originally aired its episode about Smart’s disappearance in November.
In the new version of “The Disappearance of Kristin Smart,” Murphy says he has seen documentation of “all night” activities in February 2020 involving Flores family members working under the deck of Ruben Flores’ Arroyo Grande home.
Murphy has filed a lawsuit against Paul Flores; his mother, Susan Flores, and her boyfriend, Mike McConville, for inflicting emotional distress on the Smart family, alleging they hid and recently moved the Smart’s remains from Ruben’s Arroyo Grande property.
“(Ruben Flores) threw her in a hole for 24 years, and then during that time he sipped his morning coffee out on the deck,” Murphy tells CBS in the “48 Hours” episode.
“I witness, documented, the fact, that throughout the night, there was activity in the area in the underside of that deck,” Murphy says. “I’m not at liberty to describe how it was documented. But I’ve seen it.”
“Why would Susan Flores (Paul’s mother), her boyfriend, and Ruben Flores be up all night long working under that deck?” the attorney adds.
The probation report obtained by the Tribune says that investigators “are in possession of biological evidence that makes them believe the victim was buried underneath (Ruben Flores’) deck at one time.”
“The location where all this activity occurred is where they found the biological materials,” Murphy says on “48 Hours.” “The body is not there now.”
‘48 Hours’ reports evidence of Paul Flores sexual assaults
In addition, the updated “48 Hours” episode reports that investigators in February 2020 collected images from Paul Flores’ computer of sexual acts he had recorded. The photos and videos included crimes perpetrated against “at least 10 different women in various states of consciousness,” CBS reported.
“The Disappearance of Kristin Smart” includes clips from news conferences conducted by San Luis Obispo County Sheriff Ian Parkinson and county District Attorney Dan Dow.
At his April 14 news conference, Dow said the prosecution intends to use evidence of past sex crimes perpetrated by Paul Flores in the murder case.
The Los Angeles Times recently reported Flores was investigated as a suspect in a 2007 sexual assault in Redondo Beach, but was never charged.
Flores, who was being held Monday in San Luis Obispo County Jail, lived in San Pedro for years before his arrest.
Watch ‘48 Hours’
Watch “The Disappearance of Kristin Smart” on “48 Hours” at cbsnews.com/video/the-disappearance-of-kristin-smart-may-2021.
This story was originally published May 10, 2021 at 2:54 PM.
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