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Investigators Believe Kristin Smart's Body May Have Been Recently Moved From Flores Home
Newly leaked documents reveal that investigators allegedly found evidence to suggest that Kristin Smart's body was buried under the deck of Ruben Flores' home, and was recently relocated.
Investigators believe that the body of Kristin Smart was buried underneath a deck at the main suspects' home and that she was recently moved from that location.
Smart vanished in 1996 after attending a party at California Polytechnic State University, where she was a freshman. Her classmate Paul Flores, now 44, was the last person to see the 19-year-old alive, having escorted her back to the dorms. Dan Dow, San Luis Obispo County district attorney, stated at press conference last week that investigations think he killed Smart during a rape attempt in his dorm room.
Flores and his 80-year-old father, Ruben Flores. were both taken into custody on April 13. Investigators believe that the elder Flores helped cover up his son's murder.
A county probation report obtained by The San Luis Obispo Tribune states that investigators “are in possession of biological evidence that makes them believe the victim was buried underneath (Ruben Flores’) deck at one time.”
Recent searches at that home have led investigators to discover “damning evidence that a body had been buried in that location and then recently moved," the document reads. Smart's remains have never been found.
Nikki Rodriguez, a spokeswoman for the court, told KTVU that such documents were not supposed to be public as the presiding judge in the case has issued a gag order.
Ruben Flores’ attorney Harold Mesick, meanwhile, claims there are innocent explanations for why soil was dug up at Ruben's home, BKAK reports.
The father and son were arraigned on Monday. Both have pleaded not guilty: Paul Flores to first-degree murder and Ruben Flores to being an accessory. In court documents filed that same day, prosecutors allege that “dozens of women have recounted Paul Flores’ sexual assaults and predatory behavior that document his 25 years as a serial rapist.”
District Attorney Dow noted during last week’s presser that prosecutors plan to intertwine evidence of sexual assaults of other women into the Smart case.
John Segale, a spokesperson for the Smart family said that the family does not have any comment or statement relative to the hearing.
