ermelinda flores arroyo grande
I'm going to go back to the dorms. I was like Oh my God. No charges were filed, but Lambert discovered Flores's troubles started at a young age. More critical evidence was seized when investigators used ground-penetratingly radar that found a grave where Smarts body was once buried in the Flores familys backyard, according to prosecutors. In his mug shot, a black eye can faintly been seen. Laura said Flores worked a construction job while attending school but that he was very secretive and she suspected he was in college forever so that his mommy kept paying for his housing and classes.. Often, Sarah would be at one party or another and there was Flores. And very chilling. Paul Flores escorted Smart back to her dorm after an off-campus party. The Smart family. Ruben Flores was released on $50,000 bail to his ex-wife. Witnesses said she didnt smell like alcohol, but she quickly became so incapacitated that she passed out face-down on the houses front lawn. Margarita Campos: To this day, like, I was like, why why did I just let her go by herself? Flores replies that he was just fibbing. I dont know of any lying Ive done. Paul had this look on his face, the relative said. James Murphy: I'd love to do anything to end their suffering. Margarita soon decided she'd had enough. Even though he'd never investigated anything before, Lambert quit his job to create a podcast about the case. Lambert says Kristin could not stand on her own, so fellow student Cheryl Anderson who was also at the party began helping her back to campus. A popular true-crime podcast, Your Own Backyard, revived public interest in Smarts disappearance. Smarts body has never been found. On October 18, 2022, Paul Flores was found guilty of first-degree murder. The sheriff's office still wasn't convinced they had enough evidence against Flores. Chris Lambert spoke with some women who knew Flores back then. Join Facebook to connect with Ermelinda Thomas and others you may know. And I was screaming. By herself, which is pretty amazing. And the complaint has some explosive claims about what led investigators to focus under Ruben's deck in the first place. When they were deposed by James Murphy, they also insisted their son was not involved. Over the years, Susan Flores's backyard has been the focus of widespread speculation because of stories like the ones Mary Lassiter told Chris Lambert. She didn't think that was OK. But Flores basketball friends told investigators that he already had the black eye when he showed up for the game. 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. No-no-no. But a massive search did not happen until she'd been gone for more than a month. The woman, whom we'll 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. I was lying down on my back. I don't think she went back to her dorm at all. The charming blue house with the picket fence on East Branch Street seemed perfect. Just two years later Flores was named as the sole suspect in the disappearance of another woman under almost identical circumstances: Kristin Smart. Jane said she kept this secret for yearseven from her husband. DAN DOW [press conference]: It is alleged that Mr. Flores caused the death of Kristen Smart while in the commission of or attempted rape. Facebook gives people the. 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. Paul Flores and his father both pleaded not guilty to all charges at their arraignment. PODCAST EPISODE 2 | WOMAN #2: You wouldn't want to be alone in a room with him. Remember, Flores's room had been emptied and thoroughly cleaned. Once Jane was admitted her story seemed to fall on deaf ears. Chris Lambert: He told those friends he just woke up with the black eye. They didn't bring a forensics team. At the time Kristin Smart disappeared, investigators did not immediately search the home. Like the Smart's civil case, theirs also has been on hold. Ruben Flores and his estranged wife Susan have always denied any role in Kristin Smart's disappearance. We would highly recommend that those people get in contact with us as soon as possible so we could investigate this further, he said. Mary Lassiter says the earring she found in the driveway matched the necklace Kristin Smart is seen wearing on this billboard. One of Kristins closest college friends, Steve Fleming, noticed that Paul Flores would linger around Smarts dorm hall even though he didnt live there. Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. Chris Lambert: Everything else, he took the Fifth Amendment. So had Margarita Campos, who lived in the next room in Muir Hall. Chris Lambert told Jonathan Vigliotti, "It drove [Mary Lassiter] crazy and she went out there many times in the middle of the night to try to find it with sticks, sticking down into the planter boxes down in the soil." Chris Lambert: They just have never given up and are never going to give up on their daughter. Early on, a small group of volunteers also looked for Kristin. In a civil lawsuit, the Smarts' attorney claims that Kristin's remains were buried at one time on Paul Flores' father's property. One day, Jane was congregating in front of the high school when a male friend approached and warned her about one particular junior. Kristin Denise Smart (born February 20, 1977, legally presumed dead May 25, 2002) was an American woman who is presumed to have been abducted, raped, and killed at the end of her freshman year of college on the campus of California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo. Friday, May 24, 1996, was the start of the Memorial Day weekend. Chris Lambert: I don't think she ever imagined that Kristin would end up dead by the end of the night. He was required to wear an electronic ankle bracelet. I told him, You never do this again! Please enter valid email address to continue. The only thing that she remembered next was being dragged in the barely lit street by her alleged rapist on one arm and his pal on the other. All of Kristin's personal belongings including her purse, her money, her I.D. Chris Lambert: He actually hit his eye on his steering wheel in the middle of the night while changing his stereo. After all these years, Sheriff Parkinson says that Paul Flores continues to be their number one suspect. It would be three more years before the property was searched again. Lindsey Smart Stewart: "You should go to Cal Poly. Thats how we metI was walking and he pulled over and said to me Hey, Ill take you to school, she remembered Flores asking her. Ermelinda Flores, 81. He invoked the Fifth Amendment 27 times. But Flores' basketball friends told investigators that he already had the. I think they're just waiting to see what the outcome is going to be. And Murphy and Sinclair believe they can prove it. This 9-room home sits on 40,000 square feet of land, which was purchased by the Flores family in 1990. JAMES MURPHY: In May of 96 were you a student at Cal Poly? Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. They got to the parking lot of an apartment complex. In March 2021, the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office served a search warrant at the Arroyo Grande home of Ruben Flores. Susan Flores and her boyfriend were never charged in the case. I dont like to talk about that day.. Denise Pearce says that was a crushing blow for the Smart family. The day after my sister disappeared, Paul Flores had a black eye and scratches on him. He gets his arm around her torso and her arm around his neck, and he's helping her walk. How a tragic boating crash is connected to the family of Alex Murdaugh, Husband of woman murdered with an ax convicted 40 years after her death, Five deaths with a connection to Alex Murdaugh's family investigated, Florida man tries to use COVID-19 as a cover for murder. Facts will show law enforcement was aware that they did not have a case. Critics called. Regresar a la bsqueda. Guardar . Paul would try to get Kristins attention and she was too nice to tell him off. You just don't talk, and you get away with it. But you have to understand, she was a really independent free spirit. When authorities later confronted him with the two stories, Flores admitted lying and offered a new explanation. I would hear many of my friends tell me Oh he grabbed my butt but I never believed them, Laura said. Paul Flores was the last person seen with Kristin Smart before she vanished in 1996. SHERIFF IAN PARKINSON [at press conference]: Forensic physical evidence was located. An earring that appeared to match the necklace Kristin is wearing on the billboard. How could she have gone out of town? In the meantime, Paul Flores moved to Southern California, where he bounced from job to job. They were meant for Susan Flores asking her to cooperate with police and have her son come forward. JAMES MURPHY: What is your present residence address? A hundred percent that was happening. Lassiter told Lambert the earring she found matched the necklace Kristin was wearing on one of the "Missing Cal Poly Student" billboards. Wiggot: pfo5vr0 total 1100 m2 800 m2 de area prod. When they reached the turnoff to Cheryl's dorm, she says Flores tried to hug and kiss her. James Murphy: The question for decades was "Well, where did the body go?". The lawsuit claims they were moving Kristin's remains. 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. Used to live: San Luis Obispo CA, Arroyo Grande CA, Torrance CA. Chris Lambert: So much was lost in those first few days where if that very first phone call was taken seriously answers might have been uncovered the first week. She spotted an ad for a rental that a woman named Susan Flores had put in. A very close-knit family. Classes were difficult, she was trying to fit in, and she missed her family. Four months later, while attempting to reconcile, Susan rented out her house in Arroyo Grande. D.A. He has not been charged in those incidents. That mother, Mary Lassiter, described it to Chris Lambert. Flores only made one phone call the weekend Smart disappeared, according to prosecutors. 2020 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. 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. Why? But as Chris Lambert learned, campus police did not act right away. Last month, authorities searched Ruben Flores' home in Arroyo Grande. San Luis Obispo County sheriff's officials gather under a coroner's tent in the backyard of Ruben Flores' house in the 700 block of White Court in Arroyo Grande on April 13. Kristin Smart went missing from Cal Poly in 1996. And she was growing as an individual. It was just the three of them standing in the kitchen before Jane was handed a plastic cup. Our roommate came in and yelled Leave her alone. Chris Lambert: They did a significant amount of digging underneath the house. Ruben lived here with his wife, Susan, and their children, Ermelinda and Paul. She spotted an ad for a rental that a woman named Susan Flores had put in the local newspaper. My job was to hunt them. All four dogs, including one who was considered the best of the best, separately signaled an alert indicating the presence of human remain odors only in Flores room. PAUL FLORES: On the advice of my attorney, I refuse to answer that question based on the fifth amendment of the United States Constitution. He promised the Smarts that solving Kristin's case would be a priority. And he leaves her to walk up this walkway. "48 Hours" looks back to their arrests and how the saga began. They left me there and knock on my moms door really hard and then ran off, Jane, who is telling her story for first time, said. The interrogation was recorded just days after Smarts college friends alerted police that she was missing. He claimed he didnt even know her name, Peuvrelle said. PODCAST EPISODE 2: So, with Cheryl's account alone, we have an unsettling picture of Paul . By the end of the evening she was found passed out on the lawn next door and needed help to get back to the dorm. ), A sheriff offices spokesman said his agency couldnt say if investigators working Smarts cold case had been made aware or not of the new alleged victims, citing refusal to comment on an open and active investigation.. D.A. Chris Lambert: And that's when they're told that earring has been misplaced. A woman nearby screamed at Flores to get off her and threatened to call the cops, she said. Chris Lambert: They're hopeful, but they've also been let down so many times before. 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. With them is a group of FBI evidence response team members and a search warrant. In fact, Cheryl Anderson, who trusted Flores to walk Kristin back to her dorm alone, told police that her friends called him "Chester the molester," because he was known for groping girls. "48 Hours" contributor Jonathan Vigliotti takes viewers inside the popular podcast and haunting case in "The Disappearance of Kristin Smart.". The Smart's attorney James Murphy, and his wife and office manager Garin Sinclair, have had Kristin's billboard in their front yard since late 1997. But as Chris Lambert learned, Flores's pattern of behavior with women didn't stop. He later argued that the biological evidence found under the deck was not conclusively human blood. The next thing I know is the cops telling me We cant do anything because [Paul] and his friend are saying she was drunk and it was consensual., But Jane said she fought to get them to reconsider. It wasn't until Kristin's roommate returned to their dorm room, that Margarita realized Kristin never came home. Stan and Denise Smart, Kristins parents, sent The Daily Beast a statement praising the women for coming forward to share their stories and hope it leads to a break in their missing daughters case. The detective noticed was Paul was nervous and his heart was beating out of his chest. As of this date, Paul is single. His father Ruben Flores charged with being an accessory after the factwas found not guilty. James Murphy: they let the dog in, the dog makes a beeline to the bed of Paul Flores. Ann-Marie Christian: She was who she was because of her parents, for sure. CBS News correspondent Jonathan Vigliotti tracked Flores down to try and get some answers. They had become close friends despite their differences. The earring was turned over to the San Luis Obispo Sheriff's Office, but investigators will never know if it belonged to Kristin, because it was misplaced. Jane said she took Flores up on carpool offers to and from high school whenever she would be walking solo from her mothers home in Arroyo Grande, California. The duplex was located up the same street from where her mom resided. We both were kids at the same school and so I felt comfortable. I never realized its the same guy that harassed [Sarah], he said. Related to: Ruben R Flores, Ermelinda M Thomas, Paul R Flores, Rachel H Flores, Ruben Flores. LOS ANGELESShe remembers being dragged down Elm Street as she vomited, propped up by a young man and his pal who snickered and cursed her. Those were kind of unspoken things. Dave Minsky,. Kristin did not have a purse, money, her I.D. Jonathan Vigliotti: There was a lot of focus on how Kristin was drinking what sounded a lot like victim shaming. Investigators are currently digging under Rubin Flores' home in another apparent attempt to find the missing teen's body. Murphy alleges four nights later, strange activity was seen at Ruben's house. I didn't know how many people were gonna listen. Jonathan Vigliotti: And that phone call never comes. Podcaster Chris Lambert says that after 24 years, "I think it's time [for Flores] to talk." Like his black eye, seen faintly in a mug shot taken by the Arroyo Grande Police just by chance two days after Kristin vanished. Paul Flores, then also a 19-year-old freshman, had . Ermelinda Flores After a wonderful life, Ermelinda Correa-Flores, 89, entered an eternal rest in her own home in Richland, MO on Sunday, June 19, 2022.<br>Ermelinda was born on June 29, 1932, in San Perlita, Texas to Rafela Posada. The disappearance of another woman under almost identical circumstances: Kristin Smart disappearance... An earring that appeared to match the necklace Kristin Smart is seen wearing on the billboard Lassiter, it!, Laura said just the three of them standing in the local.... This walkway a student at Cal Poly in 1996 had enough evidence against Flores and Paul, Susan, she! Civil case, theirs also has been misplaced identical circumstances: Kristin Smart is seen wearing the. I told him, you never do this again 's time [ for Flores ] to talk ''... 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