Arrests in Kristin Smart case met with relief, gratitude and a question: What took so long?
The announcement seemed like it might never come.
But on Tuesday, San Luis Obispo County Sheriff Ian Parkinson stepped up to a microphone at Cal Poly and confirmed the news that had already been circulating — Paul Flores had finally been arrested on suspicion of the murder of Kristin Smart, the 19-year-old student who disappeared from campus nearly 25 years ago. Ruben Flores, Paul’s father, also was arrested, on suspicion of being an accessory to the crime.
Calling this good news would be wrong.
Good news would have been seeing Kristin graduate from the university, get her first job, travel, maybe marry and raise a family. In other words, lead a normal life.
But for San Luis Obispo County residents, many of whom had been following the case since the start, the announcement did bring with it a sense of relief — sort of like finally letting out your breath after you’ve been holding it 10 seconds too long.
For many, that relief was coupled with deserving gratitude to those responsible for this long-awaited development, especially Sheriff Parkinson and his staff, for dedicating new energy and commitment to bringing justice in the case, and to freelance journalist Chris Lambert, who revived interest in the mystery and elevated it to a new level with his eight-part podcast, “Your Own Backyard.”
Responses were enthusiastic and often effusive, like this one posted on KSBY’s Facebook page: “YES!!!!!!! Thank you Sheriff Parkinson and all of the people that have kept her memory alive and made sure these people will face justice! And especially Chris Lambert with his podcast and diligence to get the facts together. ...”
But others found fault with an investigation that dragged on so long.
“... Only took you guys 25 years to solve a case (when) everyone knew who did it ...” one commenter said.
“This is what we should have all be reading 24 years ago,” said another.
Early ‘missteps’
After 25 years, the question on so many minds — why did it take so long? — has never been definitively answered, though there’s no denying serious mistakes early on hurt the investigation.
Examples: It took too long to begin the initial search and too long to conduct a formal interview Paul Flores.
An earring found at a Flores family home that looked like it could have belonged to Smart was turned over to the Sheriff’s Office — and then went missing.
And what about the cadaver dogs that “alerted” in Flores’ Cal Poly dorm room?
Or the black eye Flores never satisfactorily explained?
Parkinson acknowledged at the news conference that there were “missteps,” without going into detail.
“There really is no hiding the fact that there were mistakes made early on, and it made it much more difficult. That first 48 hours is critical in a missing person or a homicide,” he said. “And there were mistakes made that made (it) that much harder.”
He compared the case to a puzzle with missing pieces, saying “it’s a very slow process to find each of those little pieces.”
While Tuesday brought some semblance of justice, the case is far from over, because Kristin is not home.
Her remains have yet to be located, and so the search continues. But the Sheriff’s Office hasn’t given up.
“We’re going to continue until we find her,” Parkinson promised.
Changing of the guard
It’s important to recognize that the principals in this case, including the sheriff, the university police chief and the Cal Poly president, have all changed.
When Sheriff Parkinson took office in 2011, he promised to refocus on the case Smart case — which the Smart family has acknowledged on multiple occasions.
“First Cal Poly and later the SLO County Sheriff’s Department from 1996 to 2010 laid blame on Kristin for her own disappearance,” they wrote in a 2018 Viewpoint endorsing Parkinson for re-election. “Their lack of commitment, resolve, empathy and professionalism has required us to live our loss every day for the last 22 years.
“The day Sheriff Ian Parkinson took office, Jan. 3, 2011, was a new beginning for us,” they said.
Yes, we all wish the arrests could have been more timely.
If Paul Flores is indeed guilty — and that has yet to be established — it’s galling to think he’s been able to go about his life for the past quarter-century.
Still, it’s far more important to build a solid case than to rush an arrest to please the public.
It doesn’t bring complete closure to this case, but this arrest, so long in coming, is the most significant step since Kristin went missing that Memorial Day weekend in 1996.
We applaud Sheriff Parkinson and his investigators for not giving up on solving the puzzle.
And Chris Lambert, thank you for opening so many eyes to a heartbreaking case that was, indeed, in our own backyard.
This story was originally published April 14, 2021, 6:00 AM.