Susan Flores speaks out on Kristin Smart, sparking outrage from advocate, podcast creator
More:Flores named ‘prime suspect’ in Kristin Smart disappearance; authorities mum after new search
In her first interview since Stockton freshman Kristin Smart disappeared at Cal Poly nearly 25 years ago, Susan Flores, the mother of the prime suspect in the case, told KSBY last week that her son is innocent, nobody in her family bears any responsibility for Smart’s disappearance, and she feels her family has been harassed by the public, media and law enforcement for years.
Susan Flores, an Arroyo Grande resident whose son Paul is the prime suspect in Smart’s disappearance, broke her silence after new searches in the haunting case last week.
Critics called Flores’ interview a “slap in the face” to Smart’s family.
“I really hope Mr. and Mrs. Smart get their answers,” Flores told KSBY reporter Megan Healy, in what Flores said was the first interview “she’s ever done in her life.” “To not know is probably devastating. And they really would never talk with us and the sheriffs wouldn’t talk with us either because if they had to do it, they’d have to sit down and talk with an attorney. They won’t talk to any of us ever.”
The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office disputed those statements, however, as did a Smart family advocate and the creator of the popular “Your Own Backyard” podcast.
“The Flores family has refused to speak to the Sheriff’s Office,” Sheriff’s Office spokesman Tony Cipolla told the Tribune in an email. “If, and when, they are prepared to do that, then we would welcome speaking to the family about what they know.”
Sandee Hunt-Burns, one of the administrators of the Find Kristin Smart Facebook page, was outraged by Susan Flores’ comments.
“Unless Susan Flores wants to tell us where Kristin Smart’s body is, I don’t care what she has to say,” Hunt-Burns said.
Hunt-Burns, who helps moderate the Facebook group with 32,000 members, said that the Smart family has been hurting emotionally for years, and the interview was a “slap in the face to the Smart family.”
Smart, a Lincoln High School graduate, started college at Cal Poly in the fall of 1995.
“She was such a dreamer, oh, my God,” Kristin’s mother, Denise Smart, told The Record in 2017. “She was going to be an architect. She was going to design a whole new world.”
After Susan Flores’ interview, the Smart family reiterated its statement from earlier this week: “We are encouraged by the news of (the search on Monday and Tuesday) of Ruben Flores’ property. We appreciate the vigilance and professionalism of Sheriff Ian Parkinson and his department, and our family looks forward to learning more in the hours and days ahead.”
In the 30-minute interview outside Ruben Flores’ home, which was the focus of a two-day search warrant, Susan Flores also said:
• Law enforcement officials collected electronics, cellphones and computers in search warrants served at Flores family homes in August 2020, as well as documents in filing cabinets and “attorney-client privilege items.”
• There were several people who attended the fraternity party that Smart attended and Flores believes “they just focused on a few people that were maybe on her route.”
• A 1985 Volkswagen seized from Ruben Flores’ home and family property was a “restoration project” and she’s angry it was confiscated.
• She doesn’t like that the case is being “tried in the media” and believes the public attention, such as observers who drive by family properties, is an intrusion.
• She won’t get into her conversations with her son about the night of Smart’s disappearance, saying: “The conversations that have taken place with him are something that will sit quietly until ... unfortunately we will see where all this is all going to lead. So all those aspects are not up for discussion.”
Smart, then 19, was last seen walking home from a party back to her dorm room on May 25, 1996, with Paul Flores.
Four search warrants were served at Flores family homes last August, generating renewed widespread community conversation about the case, in addition to a renewed attention and media publicity spurred by the “Your Own Backyard” podcast created by Chris Lambert.
No arrests have been made in connection with the case to this point.
Lambert launched the “Your Own Backyard” podcast in September 2019, garnering millions of audio downloads.
Flores referred to some of Lambert’s reporting as “lies” that were cherry-picked to skew context, she said in the KSBY interview.
Flores also told KSBY that neither Lambert nor any representative on his behalf tried to contact her.
But Lambert says a producer went to Susan Flores’ home and was told to leave because they were “harassing” the family. He said he also has repeatedly and unsuccessfully tried to speak with Paul Flores, who now lives in San Pedro near Los Angeles and was arrested in February on suspicion of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Lambert — who has researched the case by talking to hundreds of witnesses, reviewing court documents and speaking with sheriff’s officials — defended his research, telling The Tribune on Wednesday that he believes that Susan Flores was trying to deflect blame against “overwhelming evidence” and that some of her statements could be used against her.
“(Flores) never once referred to Kristin Smart by her name,” Lambert said. “She talked about looking for someone’s remains as if it was deflecting from Kristin Smart’s humanity.”
Lambert has openly acknowledged he wants to help the Smart family find their daughter to bring closure and justice.
“It’s telling that she will not answer the question of (what conversations she’s had with Paul Flores about the night of Smart’s disappearance),” Lambert said. “If she were to answer that one question that was the most pivotal, she might get some people in the community to believe her. If she gave an outright denial of Paul’s responsibility, maybe some people would be convinced, but she doesn’t. She dodges that opportunity.”
In the interview, Flores said generally: “We have no responsibility for her disappearance and what happened to that young woman, and I’ve said it in a court of law.”
Along with other media, Lambert said that he visited Ruben Flores’ neighborhood during the search warrant process to observe from a distance, using vantage points from various streets and yards with neighbors’ permission.
“(The Flores family) was surprised I was there,” Lambert said. “They made several gestures and stared me down and parked next to me and looked into my eyes. That’s what they do to people. They try to intimidate.”
Lambert said, “they don’t respond like people should to a grieving family” and seem to “embrace the town villain role,” with “enjoyment of being hated.”
Hunt-Burns said she believes the interview was “tabloid garbage.”
“It was a great performance,” Hunt-Burns said. “But I saw right through it. She was trying to play the victim card. But she has gone out of her way to lean into the evil villain role.”
Hunt-Burns cited Susan Flores’ appearance at a billboard dedication honoring Kristin Smart as insensitive and hurtful to the Smart family.
She added, though, that it’s “inappropriate to speculate” what evidence the Sheriff’s Office may have gathered in the search this week.
“I do know that this case can’t stand in arrested development,” Hunt-Burns said. “(Paul Flores) walking free and doing nothing is worse than him being arrested and acquitted.”
Hunt-Burns and Lambert both said they believe there may be enough circumstantial evidence to try the case without the identification of Smart’s body, which is typically needed to bring a murder case to trial.
“This has taken a huge toll on the Smart family, and they deserve to (have the case tried),” Hunt-Burns said. “It’s killing them.”