Investigators executed a search warrant at Ruben Flores’ home. But he told the Los Angeles Times that his client was “absolutely innocent.” His lawyer, Harold Mesick, didn’t immediately return an email message seeking comment from The Associated Press. Ruben Flores was being held on $250,000 bail. His lawyer, Robert Sanger, declined to comment. Flores had nothing to say when arrested, Parkinson said.įlores was being held without bail. Paul Flores has remained mum through the years, invoking his Fifth Amendment right to not answer questions before a grand jury and in a deposition for a lawsuit that was brought against him. They served over 40 search warrants at 16 locations over the years, and so much evidence was compiled that it would fill three terabytes on a computer hard drive, he said.įlores went from a “person of interest” to a “suspect,” as the case progressed, and eventually became the “prime suspect.” “There was something of value in various locations that have kept coming up and coming to light.” “It’s a very slow process to find each of those little pieces,” Parkinson said. Parkinson likened the case to a puzzle where missing pieces are located, leading to new evidence and locations to search that then revealed other information. “That first 48 hours is pretty critical in a missing person or a homicide.” “There really is no hiding the fact that there was mistakes made early on, and it made it much more difficult,” Parkinson said. Sheriff’s investigators didn’t get involved until a month later. The case was originally handled by Cal Poly police and the district attorney’s office. A dorm mate at the time said police were initially reluctant to take a missing persons report because it was Memorial Day weekend and she might have left the campus. Smart wasn’t reported missing until three days after she was last seen. The case was stayed awaiting a criminal case outcome, a family spokesman said. They filed a $40 million lawsuit in 1996 against Paul Flores and added the the university for allegedly not protecting their daughter. Smart’s family said in their statement that “an indifference and lack of resolve we experienced early on set the course for many years.” He acknowledged missteps by law enforcement hampered the investigation. Parkinson held his news conference on the university campus, gesturing over his shoulder to the place nearby where Smart was last seen alive with Flores. “It’s different when somebody goes missing in your own backyard.” “Driving past that billboard was a periodic reminder that, oh yeah, they still haven’t found that girl,” Lambert said in a video posted on the podcast website. The podcast’s creator, Chris Lambert, was a musician who grew up in the area and was intrigued by a billboard offering a $75,000 reward for information leading to Smart. Parkinson also credited the podcast “Your Own Backyard” for giving the case renewed widespread attention that led to a key witness coming forward. He declined to offer more details because search warrants are sealed. New witnesses came forward and warrants allowed investigators to intercept and monitor Paul Flores’ phone and text messages and search his own home, along with those of his mother, father and sister that turned up new evidence, Parkinson said. Paul Flores has been under suspicion almost from the start, but the case picked up steam in the past couple years after Parkinson ordered a thorough review of the evidence after his election in 2011 and a fulltime cold case detective was hired. His father, Ruben Flores, 80, was arrested at his Arroyo Grande home, about 15 miles (24 kilometers) south of the university. Flores, 44, was arrested at his home in the San Pedro area of Los Angeles and taken to a police car in handcuffs wearing pajama bottoms and a surf T-shirt.
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