- How's the beach, Kristin? - Probably about 67 out. The sun's going down, and we should have been here earlier. - She went to the party by herself. - A young man came out and was like, 'Oh, I know where she lives. I can help walk her home.' That was the last time Kristin was seen by anybody. - But still no sign of 19-year-old Kristin Smart. - The media really picked up on this. This was a situation that was unlike anything that had happened. - And the dog starts sniffing the doors down the hallway. - The dogs lit up and went crazy. - The house was searched. There were some really disturbing videos that were found there. It's a bad piece of evidence because it shows a pattern. Right? - It doesn't show a pattern of killing anybody. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2023 - Kia ora, and welcome to 20/20. It's great to have you with us. Kristin Smart was a young, vibrant Californian woman taking some of her first steps in independent life when she inexplicably vanished one Friday night in 1996. Kristin was in her first year at California Polytechnic State University, known to everyone as Cal Poly. She was living in a dorm room, as her family was from out of town. Kristin went to an off-campus party with a friend, left with other students and was never seen again. Like many American universities, Cal Poly has its own internal police force, who initially dealt with her disappearance. (GENTLE PIANO MUSIC) - It's a beautiful town. It's pretty small. It's right between the mountains and the beach. - Cal Poly is truly part of the fabric of San Luis Obispo. And the university itself has a sterling reputation. But in the summer of 1996, this peaceful, beautiful college town became known for something else ` the disappearance of 19-year-old Cal Poly freshman Kristin Smart. - Kristin was from Stockton, so from out of the area, and just trying to find her way in the world, kind of experimenting with meeting new people, new experiences and going to parties. - In 1998, 20/20 sat down with Kristin's parents, Denise and Stan Smart. - Kristin is our oldest of three children that we have, and she was very conscientious as far as school goes. She had good grades. She liked to play soccer. She was a very loving person. - How's the beach, Kristin? - It's probably about 67 out. The sun's going down, and we should've been here earlier. - She was adventurous, and she kept us all hopping all the time. And she was the first one to throw her arms around you. - (SINGS) - Kristin had a great relationship with her family. She would call them every Sunday. - They're, I think, a very loving family, a very dedicated family, very connected to Kristin. They vacationed together and had continual contact ever since Kristin came to Cal Poly. - She was my next door neighbour, and she would spend a lot of time in my room. She wanted to work for MTV. She wanted to be like, unique. She didn't just follow the crowd. - Kristin was with her friend Margarita Campos, and they had gone to a very small, quiet party. There was` Only one beer was drank by the two girls, and so she was not intoxicated. And then about 10 o'clock, Margarita wanted to go back to the dorms and Kristin did not. - So she was just looking at me like, 'Margarita, come on. 'I know you wanna come. You said you were gonna come with me. Fine, just leave me here.' And so she went to the party by herself, and that was the last time I saw her. - It was a privately owned house. It was rented by Cal Poly students very close to campus. And it was a birthday party for one of the residents. (ROCK MUSIC PLAYS) - And the people at the party are saying` are not going crazy. - No. - This is not, like, Animal House toga party. - No, this is kind of a quiet, kind of what I would call a sad kinda lame party. - So, at about 2 o'clock, the party was ending, and students were leaving. And several of them saw Kristin laying face down to the left of the driveway of the party house pretty much passed out. - By the end of the night, Kristin was incapacitated completely, and that's when a young man came out and was like, 'Oh, I know where she lives. I can help walk her home.' So he walked her and the other girl, whose name is Cheryl, home. - At some point during the walk home, he hugs Kristin. She's saying she's cold. - Kristin and the two students walking with her all live in different dorms, and as the three get closer to campus, the young man assures Cheryl he'll get Kristin home safely. - And then Cheryl went off to the right, southbound towards her dorm. - And that was the last time Kristin was seen. - It's Saturday, the morning after the party, and Kristin Smart has not made it back to her dorm. - Her red backpack was untouched on her bed. She didn't have her wallet, her keys, her ID. - I don't think that there was one single time while she was my roommate that she didn't come home unless she was going away for the weekend. - Margarita Campos went to her room. They were supposed to meet that morning, and Kristin wasn't there. - We just all kinda sat around, almost like a vigil, like, 'When is she gonna come around?' - Authorities were contacted on Saturday. The roommate and a couple other friends went to the supervising dorm guy. He took a small report, called his supervisor. A Cal Poly police officer came and did nothing, saying that, you know, she hasn't been gone long enough. - Cal Poly PD, they did not make an initial report. They said that Kristin might be out of town because it was Memorial Day weekend. - Pretty much everyone who is close to Kristin is feeling uneasy, and by Monday, which is Memorial Day, that turns into real fear. - The morning of May 27th, they decided to call Cal Poly Police Department to report Kristin as a missing person. - And at that point, some time in the evening, Denise Smart receives a phone call from Cal Poly asking if Kristin is home. - And, you know, I said no. They said, 'Well, whose house would she go to?' And I said, 'Well, there's no place I know of that she would have gone to.' You know, I just didn't know of any plans, particularly since she told me she was gonna call me Sunday. - Well, initially, the Cal Poly police basically said that it was very likely she had just gone out of town. - She didn't come home ` this is Tuesday, and she still wasn't home. - And I tried calling the dorms. Her roommate assured me nothing had been touched, nothing left, and she said, 'Kristin would not leave without her make-up.' She kept saying it over and over. 'She would not leave without her make-up.' - So we called the city police and explained to them what had happened, and they told us that it's not their jurisdiction, and they told us to call Cal Poly. So we called the Cal Poly police and gave them the information. - It wasn't until Kristin didn't show up to class and the girls made a second report that Cal Poly actually filed a missing persons report and began their investigation. - On Tuesday, they started their investigation by interviewing a couple people at the party. They spoke to Kristin's friends, but not a lot was done. - Every single day I spoke with someone at the campus police station. Every single day they said, 'Denise, I'm telling you this happens all the time. 'You cannot believe how many times kids just leave. 'When they have a hard time in school, they just leave.' And I'd say, 'But she didn't take anything with her. It's not like her to do that.' And they'd say, 'You just would be surprised what these kids do.' - I think the evolution of the investigation began very slowly. It began to pick up slightly. - NEWSREADER: Frustration turns to criticism as Cal Poly police investigate what could have happened to missing student Kristin Smart. - I don't know that the university police was equipped to deal with this early on. I think they certainly had personnel but not a robust investigation unit and, really, the tools that they really needed. - Denise Smart, Kristin's mother, had a really difficult time getting people to pay attention. - I think it's just your intuition as a mother that you know something is wrong. - NEWSREADER: There are 10 square miles of property at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Today, every field, every patch of brush and every rolling hill was scoured by law enforcement officers, but still no sign of 19-year-old Kristin Smart. - And she wasn't to be found, and campus police, they were saying, 'We've run out of leads.' And I said, 'No, you have to go to the last people that saw her alive.' - DETECTIVE: Wondering are you familiar with the term 'polygraph'? Lie detector? - So, what does the man who walked Kristin home have to say? We'll bring you that right after the break. # Summer in the morning light, # everything's feeling right. # The waves in the distance calling me home again. # Back to the maunga, # down to the moana ` # you and me, takahia atu te whenua, # singing, 'Pick me up on the baseline.' We see you moving with the times, Aotearoa, When you donate blood or plasma, you might never know how it saved a life, but we'll let you know when it does. Everyday people can save lives every day. - Welcome back to 20/20 and tonight's story on the disappearance of 19-year-old Kristin Smart, last seen walking back to her dorm room after an off-campus party on a Friday night of a holiday weekend. She never made it home, and her belongings were untouched, suggesting she didn't impulsively take off anywhere for a break. To the frustration of her family, Cal Poly University police were slow to take her disappearance seriously and even slower to talk to the people last seen with her. But as time ticks on, finally, they start asking questions. - And, of course, like every investigation, the first people you look at are the people closest to the victim, as hard as that is for the family to take. - When the detective came to talk to me, we talked about who Kristin was and the type of person she was. So I was dumbfounded when an hour after they left here, my husband called me and said, 'Well, you are no longer under suspicion.' I couldn't even grasp what he was talking about. - Campus police, they're talking to everybody at that party and everyone who knew her in the dorm. By now, university police have confirmed who was walking Kristin home that night ` a student named Cheryl and Cal Poly freshman Paul Flores. - She walked that way; I walked that way. That's when I saw her. Then the other girl left at the corner over there. - Paul told the police that Kristin could walk relatively fine and that he wasn't holding her up; he had his arm around her because she was cold. Paul told police that Kristin walked herself into her dorm and then into her room and that he did not walk with her to her room. - DETECTIVE: What did she say? Do you remember any conversations you had walking up the hill? - No, she just said she was` the only thing I remember is she was saying she was freezing. - The interviewer noted that Paul had what appeared to be a black eye or a small bruise beneath his eye and also had some abrasions on his knees. They asked where he got these injuries, and Paul indicated that they came from a pick-up basketball game. - I was playing, um... Monday. - Everyone they talk to seems to be cooperative and willing to help with this investigation. - It may come down to this, but I'm wondering are you familiar with the term 'polygraph'? Lie detector? That sort of thing? - Yeah, I heard of 'em. - Would you be willing to take one if necessary. - Yes. - Cal Poly police and Kristin's family are working toward a common goal ` they're searching for answers. - Initial jurisdiction was with the campus police, and they hung on to that tenaciously. They don't have the familiarity with looking into possible homicides. I sure don't feel` - I don't think one could even expect a university police department to deal with a homicide. A homicide requires a lot of skilled personnel, expertise, a forensic lab. - They had done a little cursory look around the dormitories. - So, when the detective from the police department came to my home and sat a my table and said, 'Well, I looked in Paul Flores' room. I looked in his laundry, and I looked under the bed, 'and there was no evidence that Kristin was there.' Well, you know, I'm not a private investigator, and I've not been trained in anything, but I can tell you flat out that your eyes are not the ticket to solving a crime and whether it's fingerprinting the room or whether it's looking for hair samples or fibre samples, that there are methods to look for that, and you can't expect a university to have that. And so the evidence that is lost is irretrievable. - They're not a lot of wet-behind-the ear rookies. These are experienced officers here. They care. - We reached out to Cal Poly, and the current administration says it wasn't around at the time of the disappearance, so it can't provide any insight into the initial investigation by campus police. - NEWSREADER: A letter written to the university on behalf of the Smart family suggests the campus police department bungled the case from the beginning. - It took about 30 days. I believe the family's pressure, the acknowledgement of not kicking off the investigation quickly that they reached out to the sheriff's office and requested that the sheriff step in and take over the investigation. - And when they speak to Paul Flores again a few weeks later, it's on video. - What's your best` your best guess as to what happened to her? - My best guess is maybe she` cos her dorm is by the parking lot over there, so then I would figure` my best get is` guess is she went off with someone. - If she's not alive any more, what do you think happened? - I would say, like, someone who she hitchhiked with or something abducted her or something, you know? - Why would she be hitchhiking? - Well` Well, I'm saying, you know, people have said they saw her hitchhiking. - Investigators decide to search the dorms again. Problem is it's been five weeks since Kristin vanished. The school year is over. The rooms are already empty. - The dorm had to be cleaned, and because it hadn't been identified as a possible crime scene, that was allowed to happen. - But there's a kind of evidence even an empty room can't hide, and that's a scent. So more than a month after Kristin disappeared, they began searching the empty dorm rooms with cadaver dogs. - Four different cadaver dogs search Paul Flores' dorm. - The first handler was not given any information about who lived in that dorm. She releases her dog, and the dog starts sniffing the doors down the hallway, hits his brakes, comes back and alerts on the door to Paul's room ` room number 128 at Santa Lucia. - The dogs lit up and went crazy. - Two beds in there ` Paul's and a roommate's ` and the dogs went directly to Paul's and to a trash can on his side of the room. - The dog alerted to the corner of the mattress, and it was a very intense alert. - Three other dogs blindly alerted on that same area. - Even though the dorm was cleaned out, the scent still was there of someone having died on the bed. And that was a real depressing thing to hear. - Paul Flores is the last person to see Kristin, has the scent of death in his room ` now he's at the centre of the investigation, and in his interview, he makes an interesting admission. He admits it ` he lied. - Oh, it's not really lies; it's a fib. It's so minute. It's not... Well, I guess you can call it a little white lie. - When we come back ` what Paul Flores lied to police about and how it's linked to Kristin. Right now, this man is saving a woman from bleeding to death after complications during childbirth. - (YAWNS) - She's currently assisting a car-crash victim, with a serious brain bleed. And she's keeping a teenage boy alive, whose disorder is life-threatening. (INTRIGUING, PULSING MUSIC) Everyday people can save lives every day. - Welcome to 20/20. 19-year-old student Kristin Smart's been missing for weeks after failing to make it back to her dorm room following a party. The university's own internal police force initially led the search and investigation with no progress, and her worried family start to pressure the local sheriff's department to get more involved, and they focus their attention on the man last seen with Kristin ` fellow student Paul Flores. - The sheriff's department is circling in on freshman Paul Flores. University police already spoke with him in a dorm room, in a car. And remember ` back in their very first audio tape interview with him days after Kristin disappeared, they saw those scrapes and another injury. - In the early interviews, he had a black eye that was pretty obvious. It hadn't been there on the night of the party. - But by the time he's brought back into the interview room, Paul's story has been checked out, and they confront him about it. - They talk to his basketball buddies. No, he didn't get a black eye playing basketball. - Last time we talked to you, you had a black eye. - Yeah. - Remember that one? - Yeah. - OK. And what did you tell us? - I told you I got it playing basketball. - That's right. But where did you get it? - In my car. - He told a friend that he got it from being pushed at a party. He told another friend he didn't know how he got it. And then the story he ended up sticking to was that he got it by changing a radio in his truck. - He said, 'Well, actually, I was working on my pick up truck, 'and I bumped my head against the steering wheel, 'but I was too embarrassed cos it was such a dumb thing to do that I made up the basketball story.' - I hit the steering wheel. That's about it. But` But, like, how often do people hit their eye on the steering wheel? So. - I don't know. - The investigator that I talked to who did the video, what struck him wasn't so much the inconsistencies and the wobbly story; what struck him was the body language. - Your best guess as to what happened. - Very, very fidgety. Very, very reticent to answer questions, and he just looks super nervous, scared and wants to be anywhere in the world other than that room. - Put his hands inside his shirt. He was squirming. He was crying. - His story changes multiple times. He admits that he's changed the story. - But you lied to us, though, right? - Oh, it's not really lies but a fib. It's so minute, it's not... Well, I guess can call it a little white lie, but... - How you got your black eye is a white lie? - Yep. - He said in previous interviews that he'd be happy to help ` even take a polygraph test. - Is there anything else that you've told us that you didn't think was a big deal... - No. - ...that you haven't told us the truth today? - No. - How do we know that? - Take my word for it, I guess. - Can we give you a polygraph? - I told you ` I have to talk to my parents, so... - Well, if you're telling us the truth, why do you have to talk to your parents to take a polygraph? - Because I do. - And at that time, then he` you know, he refused a polygraph, and he walked out. He wanted an attorney. And that was the last time that anyone's been able to speak with him. - Paul Flores was also a 19-year-old freshman here at Cal Poly. He grew up in the community. - In high school, Paul Flores was known as more of a creepy guy. People didn't really vibe with him that much. - Paul would give us ` us girls ` a weird vibe when we would hang out. - Paul Flores and I graduated from the exact same high school ` Arroyo Grande High School. A lot of people that I'm close with today knew him, in fact, and what I've heard as a common theme ` we've heard a lot of people describe him ` someone that was` 'awkward' is the key word that comes to mind. - Paul was admitted to Cal Poly from high school in Arroyo Grande. He was a terrible student ` got in trouble, loitering on the balconies of women to the point where police were called. - He drank pretty heavily for a freshman. Girls would tell their friends to stay away from him. - The women had a nickname for him ` Chester the molester. - NEWSREADER: Paul Flores of Arroyo Grande is the last known person to see Kristin Smart alive. The sheriff's department is now looking at him as a potential suspect. - People do not vanish off the face of the earth without a trace. and as we've been told, 99% of the time, the person responsible was the last person seen with them. - There they are ` stand-off. Paul won't talk to police. And believe me, it is very frustrating to have a suspect and not find any physical evidence. - On ABC News... - Tonight ` the case of the missing coed. - 20/20's Tom Jarriel interviewed Stan and Denise Smart in 1998. - Do you believe Paul Flores knows what happened to your daughter and perhaps killed her? - I think she's deceased, and I think she died at the hands of Paul Flores. That's... - Of an accident? - No. - I want it to be something accidental. - I don't want to think that anyone intentionally harmed my child. - With evidentiary dead ends everywhere, the investigation stalls out. The sheriff even tells the local paper... - I think that tells Paul Flores and his attorneys that, you know, they're home free; it's over with. - Hi. How are you? - Hi, Mimi. How's it going? - In order to get some accountability, Kristin Smart's family refuses to leave Paul Flores alone. - How's it going? Need some ribbons? - Yeah! - Once they have learned that he's employed by someone, then people have called and complained to the management that, you know, they don't feel it's safe or appropriate. - Flores is soon out of a job at a Blockbuster Video and is fired at least twice more. - Everywhere he goes, he's followed, and the family makes his life miserable. - Paul Flores was fleeing into the Navy. - DENISE: We had a legislator who phoned the Navy and just made him aware of his past history. - I can imagine how the Navy felt about that, and they decided not to accept it. - Flores' attorney calls it harassment. What do you call it? - Paul Flores has the option right now today of stopping anything that he deems may be harassment. - How? - If he would come forward and talk with the sheriff's department and tell us what happened that night. - They also filed a civil suit to get more information. They were able to get depositions from the Flores family to try to get information about their daughter. - The lawyers ask his father ` did you ever talk about what happened? His answer's not as bizarre as his reaction to the question. - Has your son ever told you that he did not kill Kristin Smart? - Well, we never asked that question. We just... 'Do you know anything about it?' He says no. - It means that Paul Flores, who has stopped talking to law enforcement, is compelled by law to answer questions. - What is your present address? - On the advice of my attorney, I refuse to answer that question based on the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution. - He plans to answer that he will invoke the Fifth Amendment on all your questions. - After Flores pleads the Fifth 27 times, Murphy gives up. - I think that concludes the deposition. - A County Court spokesperson told us the civil law suit has long since been closed. They refocus on Paul Flores. The new plan ` undercover FBI stings. But can they get their only suspect to open up and confess? - After the break ` how the FBI uses a fishing trip and a strip club visit to try and get Paul talking. - Welcome back. You're with 20/20. University student Kristin Smart vanished in 1996 after a student party. There's a very clear suspect ` fellow student Paul Flores, who was the last person seen with Kristin. He'd offered to walk her home, but she never made it back to her room. In the initial phase of searching, he was interviewed by police more than once, but they were slow to gather evidence, and he's since refused to give any more information. So now investigators are having to get more creative. - As the years go on, it could be easy to forget a case like this. But billboards go up in town to remind everyone ` don't forget about Kristin Smart. She's still missing. - Those billboards really became just important in keeping this case in the limelight. - A lady came by my office and said, 'That sign is irritating. 'It's kind of a downer to see a sign about a dead girl every day when I drive through the village.' 'When are you gonna take it down?' And I said, 'Ma'am, I'll take it down when we find Kristin Smart.' - At this point, it appears, at least to the public, that the investigation has gone cold. But the police and the FBI insist it continues to be active. - Agents repeatedly go undercover, hoping to create a situation where Flores will slip up. - FBI takes him out fishing. Catalina Island with his mum and dad ` wine and dine him, get him drunk. Same story. Take him to a strip club in Las Vegas. He always said the same thing ` they have the wrong guy. - They can't seem to catch a break, and as the case languishes, Paul Flores' mother and father say that, like their son, they're also being harassed by the community. - Ruben is regularly having convoys of people coming by his house, throwing rocks in his yard, yelling and screaming at him. - One man who is out shopping even posts a video on YouTube of an encounter with Ruben Flores and his son Paul. - This guy murdered Kristin Smart and he's in your Walmart, OK? - Eventually, Paul moves to the city of San Pedro, which is South LA. It's a blue-collar neighbourhood. The problem is his past follows him wherever he goes. - NEWSREADER: Neighbours say they got a disturbing flyer with Flores' picture and allegations. - When he first moved here, he was actually pretty nice. But then, like, everybody stopped talking to him when they got the notice. - Neighbours say that Flores, now 43 years old, lives alone, goes to work every day and has been friendly. - REPORTER: A possible break in a 23-year-old cold case ` the disappearance of Kristin Smart. - REPORTER: Authorities executing several search warrants. - Today, investigators went into this house and searched it. - We seized a bunch of electronic data ` laptops, phones etc ` from Paul's residence. - According to investigators, in his computer they found videos of Paul having sex with unconscious women. They were home-made videos. - And police say many of those videos were in a file with a simple label ` 'practice'. - He allegedly also frequented bars and would bring women home, allegedly drug them and rape them. - Some of the girls were completely passed out. - Tramadol and Flexeril were found in Paul Flores' home. We spoke to a doctor, and he said that if you mix those two together, you would definitely get a sedating effect. - That's exactly what we feared. He continued his predator behaviour down in Los Angeles. - It's a bad piece of evidence, because it shows a pattern, right? A pattern` - (STAMMERS) No, it doesn't show` - ...of use of drugging them and of having sex with them. - It doesn't show a pattern of killing anybody. - Paul Flores was never charged in those cases, and the police investigation continued. - The appetite from the public for new in this case has always been there. It really ramped up when Chris Lambert began releasing episodes of his Your Own Backyard podcast. - He was a music producer, a musician. - He said he drove by a billboard every day and was like, how is this girl still not found? - It's been 23 years now. Kristin has been a missing person for longer than she was alive. - Chris was able to get a handful of women in Los Angeles County to come and speak to him about their interactions with Paul, which were very disturbing. - A woman I spoke to strongly suspects that she was drugged by Paul. - One of the most important witnesses the podcast produces is a woman who was a teenager when she met Paul Flores. - Jennifer Hudson was at a skate ramp in San Luis Obispo, and Paul Flores showed up. - So, the radio's on, and we're kind chatting. There was a public outreach commercial. - RADIO: Information regarding Kristin Smart... - And Paul says, 'That (BLEEP) was a (BLEEP) tease, and I got sick of her (BLEEP). 'And she's out under my ramp at my place in Huasna.' - So, out of the blue... - Out of the blue. - ...a guy you don't know... - Uh-huh. - ...comments on a PSA about a missing young woman and says, basically, 'I killed her and buried her in my yard.' - Right. - Did you discount what Paul Flores said as just, like, a young kid talking crap and not knowing what he's talking about? - No. No. It scared me enough that I never went back to that ramp ` ever. - Did you ever feel any regret for not coming forward sooner with this` - Oh, every day. Every day. I played a pretty significant part in her parents living every parent's absolutely worst nightmare. - I mean, you were just a scared kid. You were 16 ` that's a child. - Yeah, but what if? - Finally, she does tell police what she knows about the case, and it's a huge breakthrough for the investigation. - NEWSREADER: Investigators were out early Wednesday morning, searching the Arroyo Grande home of Susan Flores. - They find nothing useful at Paul's mother's house. One year later ` a repeat search of Ruben Flores' home. - NEWSREADER: With a sealed search warrant in hand, investigators went to work at around 7.30am. - What we had discovered during the previous search warrants was that we kept going back to White Court, and that was the home of Paul's father. - Ruben Flores had a roommate at the house at White Court, and that man does an interview for Chris Lambert's Your Own Backyard podcast. - And he tells his story about how Ruben would never allow anyone under that deck. With some of Chris Lambert's witnesses, we were able to develop enough probable cause to go to White Court and do a search underneath that deck. - NEWSREADER: People from all over the central coast gathered near Ruben Flores' home Tuesday, watching as detectives investigated the area for the second time in just under a month. - And we also used canines again. We had a change in behaviour alert underneath that deck. - Not a full alert ` the dog doesn't give the strongest signal possible ` but certainly interest in getting under that space. So, middle of grid one - big soil disturbance. - We found an anomaly underneath the porch that measured approximately 4ft by 6ft, and it was between surface and I believe 4ft underground, as the approximate size, shape and depth for clandestine burials. - Did you think, 'OK, we found the body'? - I certainly thought we had a good chance. - We get down to about 3ft to 4ft, and we find this strange stain in the soil. And at that point, I thought we found her. I mean, I got right down over the hole. I thought we found her. - Everyone at the dig is kind of holding their breath, then letting it out in disappointment. There was no body, no bones, just the stains. But the samples of the dirt head to a forensic lab. - He said, 'Sheriff, this is human blood.' My heart is stopped, and all I could think of was we finally caught our break. - And in those samples, we got more positive human blood and fibres... that were black, red and a greyish colour, which... Kristin was wearing black shorts, red shoes and a grey tank top. - It's enough to finally get what they've desperately wanted since 1996 ` an arrest warrant. On April 13th 2021, Paul Flores is finally arrested. - The charge of murder with zero bail. - NEWSREADER: Flores' 80-year-old father, Ruben Flores, also arrested today at his home in Arroyo Grande, accused of being an accessory to the crime. - Not only do prosecutors believe that Paul Flores is a killer but that his father helped him cover it up. - Both defendants entered pleas of not guilty in court. - Susan Flores is not arrested or charged in the case. Two arrests, yes, but now an even bigger hurdle to clear, because prosecutors have a major issue here ` they don't have one crucial piece of evidence, and that's Kristin's body. - Yes, when we return, the circumstantial evidence that prosecutors will be relying on to get justice for Kristin. - Hey, Toyota. Got something that's not... new? - Yeah! Have you seen what's on Toyota.co.nz? - What are the chances you actually have what I'm looking for? - Pretty good! - Will it have any quirks? - Only if that's what you're into. - Uh, how do I know if it's any good? - Well, you are buying from Toyota, so there's that. - But I need something that comes with a warranty. - Well, Signature Class and Toyota Certified vehicles do. - That's a relief. - You're watching 20/20. Welcome back. 22 years after she went missing in her first year of university, there is finally a murder trial for Kristin Smart. But her body still hasn't been found, so prosecutors are relying on circumstantial evidence to convict Paul Flores for her death. He's the man last seen with her. Also on trial in this complicated case ` Paul's father, Ruben Flores, on charges of helping cover up the crime. - After 26 years, the Kristin Smart case is finally going to trial. - What makes this trial so unusual is you have one jury for Paul Flores and another jury for Ruben Flores. And they're sitting in the same court room at the same time, two different lawyers defending them. - And the Smart family attended the trial every single day. - I wanted to express to the jury just how long it's been since they've heard from Kristin. - She told me she was gonna call me Sunday. - So, before cell phones, before internet and social media, they would wait for a phone call from Kristin every single Sunday, and that phone call was their time to catch up with her. And to miss, at the start of the trial, 1355, and at the end, 1370. That's a lot of Sundays. - We also heard from several of the key witnesses that night that Kristin disappeared at the party that she was at. - Just about every other witness at the party testified that Kristin was incapacitated and couldn't walk. - I think the proof is overwhelming that she was drugged, especially with how quickly she went from being completely sober at 10.30, 10.45 to one hour later ` down in the grass, incapacitated, incoherent, can't move. - Maybe the most surprising and important witnesses Paul's jury gets to hear from are two women who the court identifies as Rhonda Doe and Sarah Doe. They testify about getting a drink from Paul and passing out, and they describe waking up to Flores, having sex with them, which they never consented to. - I think it was absolutely critical, because they said what Kristin couldn't. They told Kristin's story for Kristin. - The defence claims their testimony is irrelevant and remind the jury that Paul is not charged with those alleged crimes. - Without a body, a critical component in Ruben Flores' case is convincing his jury that Kristin's body was hidden there and then moved away. - They were able to, through ground-penetrating radar, find what they felt like was the grave site of Kristin Smart. - You find a body, or you find evidence of a body ` didn't find that at Ruben's, no matter what they try to make you believe. - And that was also the same area that cadaver dogs had a change in behaviour. - The dogs had a subtle change of behaviour. Well, that's not an alert. - And what about the evidence presented by the prosecution from under Ruben's deck, alleging marks of decomposition? They claim they found human blood in the dirt but acknowledge there's no DNA to connect it to Kristin. - There's no objective physical evidence. None. - After 12 long weeks, two separate juries, circumstantial evidence and dozens of witnesses, it was time for what everyone, most importantly the Smart family, had been waiting decades for ` a verdict. - We begin with breaking news` - A more than 25-year-old murder case` - Jury found 45-year-old Paul Flores guilty of her murder. - He murdered Kristin with zero remorse or concern. - So what did convince Paul Flores' jury? Prosecutors always want to know that. Now, the jurors have never spoken on camera about what happened in the jury room until now. The jurors asked we not identify them by name. - It sure would've made life easier if the body was there, but I didn't need it to make the conviction. - I think the biggest for me was the dogs hitting on the bed. There were all the dorms in that place, and the dogs hit on his bed. Dogs don't lie. - I don't even know about that. - We watched that video two days. I mean, his body language in itself ` he's pulling on his shirt and looking down and not really making eye contact. - You wanna know if this was an accidental, horrible incident or was he a predator? And he was a predator. - But there are two verdicts coming down ` two juries. The son convicted; the father... - Unlike his son, Ruben Flores was found to be not guilty. - In our case, again, you had no objective physical evidence. - At Paul Flores' sentencing, you get a real sense of the pain the Smart family still feels every day. - This is a parent's worst nightmare ` the disappearance and death of their child. - Why I sat home staring at my sister's... empty chair for over 36 years, Paul had the freedom to do whatever he wanted with his family. And he still is holding the key to the one thing I desperately want ` my sister. - We will never rest until Kristin is properly laid to rest by her family. This fight is far from over. - And I'm tormented by the thought of how she lost her life. Did a sexual deviant think his needs were greater than the value of her life? Did she cry for help that never came? - Mr Flores, it is necessary to remove you from society so that you can no longer prey on and victimise women. You deserve to spend every day you have left behind bars. - While his son goes off in handcuffs ` 25 years to life... Ruben Flores holds a news conference on the court house steps as a free man. - All that stuff they say is evidence, you look through it, and there is not evidence against anybody ` me or Paul. - Well, the story, unfortunately, isn't over. And it will never be over until they find Kristin. - Every Memorial Day, another anniversary of the worst thing a parent can endure. - How's the beach, Kristin? - Probably about 67 out. The sun's going down, and we should have been here earlier, but we love you. - I got my shoes ` that's why. - Today is a day not really of joy; it's a day of relief... that Kristin's voice was heard. - There she is ` the graduate. - There's Kristin. - We're not happy because we don't have our daughter. We don't know where her remains are, so from that aspect, we don't have closure. - Love you. Wish you were here. Bye. (SOLEMN STRING MUSIC) - And Paul Flores is appealing his conviction. The Smart family has received an apology from Cal Poly with the university saying in part ` 'We recognise that things should've been handled differently.' There is no word on where Kristin's body might be. And that's our show for tonight. Thank you so much for joining us this Monday. Until next week, kia ora, nga mihi. Captions by Julie Taylor. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air.