LOS ANGELES (AP) The prime suspect in the 25-year-old disappearance of a California college student was taken into custody Tuesday and the San Luis Obispo sheriff planned to announce major developments in the case.
Paul Flores, 44, who was the last person seen with Kristin Smart before she vanished in 1996, was taken into custody in the Los Angeles area. His father, Ruben Flores, 80, was arrested as an accessory at his Arroyo Grande home, where sheriffs investigators conducted another search.
Defense attorney Robert Sanger confirmed that Paul Flores was arrested in the Smart case, though no details were immediately available on the charges he faces. His father was booked on suspicion of accessory after a felony, according to jail records.
Smart, 19, of Stockton, vanished in May 1996 while returning to a dorm at Cal Poly after a party. She was seen with Flores, who also was a student at the time.
Smart's mother did not return a phone message left for comment but a family spokesman said they would issue a statement later in the day.
Sheriff Ian Parkinson scheduled a news conference at 2 p.m. at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, where Smart was a student, to discuss major developments in the investigation into her disappearance.
Sanger said he would not comment on a pending case.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. APs earlier story follows below.
A sheriff on Californias Central Coast plans to make a major announcement Tuesday in the nearly 25-year mystery of the disappearance of college student Kristin Smart.
San Luis Obispo County Sheriff Ian Parkinson scheduled a news conference at 2 p.m. at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, where Smart was a student, to discuss major developments in the investigation into her disappearance.
The news comes about a month after the sheriff named former student Paul Flores as the prime suspect in the case and investigators searched his fathers home and property in the city of Arroyo Grande, about 15 miles (24 kilometers) south of the university, using ground-penetrating radar and cadaver dogs.
Smart, 19, of Stockton, California, vanished in May 1996 while returning to a dorm at Cal Poly after a party. She was seen with Flores, who also was a student at the time.
Search warrants were served last year on Flores home in the San Pedro area of Los Angeles and at other locations in California and Washington state. Investigators conducted digs on the campus in 2016.
Flores has remained mum through the years, invoking his Fifth Amendment right to not answer questions before a grand jury and in a deposition for a lawsuit that was brought against him.
