Kriti Mehrotra
When Cal Poly San Luis Obispo student Kristin Smart suddenly vanished without a trace left behind on May 25, 1996, no one could’ve ever imagined her case would span nearly three decades. After all, as carefully profiled in NBC’s ‘Dateline: Justice For Kristin Smart,’ she was declared legally dead in May 2002, but it wasn’t until March 2023 that the matter was finally closed for good. It actually took the conviction of her collegemate Paul Flores and the acquittal of his father Ruben Flores to do so — yet for now, if you just wish to learn more about the latter, here’s what we know.
Who is Ruben Flores?
It was back when Ruben was 80 on April 13, 2021, that he was arrested on the severe charge of accessory following the fact in connection to the nearly 26 long years old cold case of Kristin. The truth is the proud family man and his son were merely taken into custody for questioning at first, but the core circumstantial evidence against them both was such they simply had to be indicted. While the former subsequently found himself being accused of helping Paul hide the then-teen’s body on purpose, the latter directly faced one count of sexual assault turned first-degree murder.
As per reports, this primarily stems from the fact Paul was self-admittedly one of the last people to see Kristin alive at roughly 2 am on the dreadful day as she was passed out on a lawn after a party. He thus allegedly walked her as far as his dormitory before allowing her to return to her particular dorm by herself, only never to be seen or heard from again — in fact, even her body is still missing. Therefore, with no concrete physical evidence against him suggesting he raped or attempted to rape her prior to committing homicide, the matter went horrifically cold until April 2020 rolled around.
That’s actually when the authorities first executed a search warrant at Paul’s San Pedro, California home, just for it to eventually lead to the execution of another at his father’s place in March 2021. Though this time, there was the use of not only cadaver dogs but also a ground-penetrating radar to uncover biological evidence, resulting in more than a few suspicious aspects coming to light. It turns out there were traces indicating the then-19-year-old victim’s body had been buried beneath the deck of Ruben’s home for years (possibly since 1996 itself), yet it had recently been removed.
Ruben Flores is Rebuilding His Life After Acquittal
With these new pieces of the still unsolved puzzle of Kristin’s missing body, thanks to the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office’s extensive efforts, the case against Paul and Ruben went forth. The latter was apparently allowed to post a $50,000 bond shortly following his arrest due to his age, but the former was denied bail and hence remained in custody until their trial in 2022. Two separate juries deliberated on the fates of the men after simultaneously hearing the testimonies that began on July 18, just to find Paul guilty as charged while acquitting Ruben for good by October 18.
“All that stuff they say is evidence, you look through it, and there is no evidence against anybody, me or Paul,” Ruben vehemently said in a press conference following his acquittal.” Too much made up stuff, that’s all I can say. It’s too bad that sometimes the system works on feelings instead of facts, but I am relieved about myself of course… It was about feelings, it wasn’t about facts … and I think that’s what happened with my son. They were carried away with feelings about the family and the girl missing.”
Ruben even went as far as to add he feels for the Smart family since they don’t have closure even today, but he is happy he can return to his White Court home to continue his life of retirement. The now 82-year-old stated, “Why would I move? Why? I didn’t do nothing. I’m not afraid of anybody,” whereas his defense lawyer added his client plans to go back home and “rebuild a deck that was destroyed in a search that was ultimately fruitless. Primarily he just needs to rest … Try to put this a little behind him.” However, moving on is a little tough for the Arroyo Grande, California, resident to do as his son was sentenced to 25 years to life on March 10, 2023.
Read More: Where Are Kristin Smart’s Parents Now?
