No one could have predicted that Kristin Smart, a student at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, would go missing on May 25, 1996, and that her case would last for over three decades. After all, she was formally pronounced dead in May 2002, as meticulously detailed in NBC’s “Dateline: Justice for Kristin Smart,” but it wasn’t until March 2023 that the case was ultimately resolved for good. It actually took the conviction of Paul Flores, a classmate of hers, and the acquittal of Ruben Flores, his father, to achieve this; nonetheless, for the time being, if you’re only interested in learning more about the latter, here’s what we know.
Who is Ruben Flores?
On April 13, 2021, Ruben was arrested in relation to the nearly 26-year-old cold case of Kristin when he was 80 years old and faced the serious charge of accessory after the fact. The truth is that the proud father and his son were first only detained for interrogation, but the main circumstantial evidence against them both was so strong that an indictment was inevitable. The latter was directly charged with one count of first-degree murder, while the former was later accused of intentionally assisting Paul in concealing the body of the then-teen.
According to sources, the main reason for this is that, at around 2 am on the terrible day, Paul was reportedly one of the last individuals to see Kristin alive as she lay unconscious on a lawn after a party. He then allegedly accompanied her to his room before letting her go back to her own dorm on her own. Nevertheless, she was never heard from or seen again; in fact, her body is still missing. Hence, the case went horribly cold until April 2020 since there was no hard physical proof against him that he had raped or tried to rape her before committing homicide.
In fact, the first search warrant was executed at Paul’s San Pedro, California, house at that time, and it subsequently led to the execution of a second search warrant at his father’s home in March 2021. The employment of cadaver dogs and a ground-penetrating radar to find biological evidence, however, meant that more than a few odd details were revealed this time. The body of the victim, who was then 19 years old, was discovered to have been recently exhumed despite traces indicating it had been buried for some time (perhaps since 1996 itself) beneath Ruben’s deck.
Where is Ruben Flores Now?
Thanks to the diligent work of the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office, the investigation into Paul and Ruben’s involvement in Kristin’s disappearance was able to proceed with these additional pieces of the jigsaw. Due to his age, the latter was reportedly permitted to post a $50,000 bond soon after his arrest, but the former was denied bail and stayed in detention until their 2022 trial. After hearing the men’s testimony in parallel on two separate juries starting on July 18, Paul was found guilty as charged while Ruben was finally cleared on October 18.
In a news conference after his acquittal, Ruben vehemently asserted, “All that stuff they say is evidence, you read through it, and there is no evidence against anybody, me or Paul.” Too much made-up crap, is all I can say. It’s unfortunate that the system occasionally makes decisions based on emotions rather than facts, but I’m relieved about myself, of course. It was a case of emotions over facts, and I believe that’s what happened with my son. They became overly emotional as a result of the missing girl and the family.
Even going so far as to say that he feels bad for the Smart family because they are still without closure, Ruben nevertheless expressed his happiness at being able to go back to his White Court house and resume his retirement. Why would I move, asked the 82-year-old. Why? I took no action. I don’t have anything to be afraid of,” he said, while his defence attorney added that his client intended to return home and “rebuild a deck that was destroyed in a search that ultimately proved fruitless. Generally speaking, he only wants to recuperate and try to put this experience behind him, but for the Arroyo Grande, California,
when his son was given a 25-year-to-life term on March 10, 2023.
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