“I was a little concerned about how that would affect my relationship with them. Distractify is a registered trademark. She did not walk away and go kill herself. They then introduced Lambert to her daughter’s friends and high school classmates for further interviews. I had the best morning helping firefighters raise money for their âFill the Boot for Burnsâ campaign! Lambert has made two attempts to reach out to Flores; he once spent eight hours sitting in a car outside the man’s San Pedro home. A hardened true crime journalist he is not. The Smart family have long suspected Paul Flores to be her killer. He was in elementary school when Kristin first went missing and has grown up driving past the billboards featuring the young girlâs smiling face. I only wish we could have included Kristin’s voice; she was like Chris in many ways. When she wanted to accomplish something, she always came through. Flores and his parents have always maintained his innocence, invoking the Fifth Amendment when the DA’s office subpoenaed him to testify before a grand jury in 1996. The paper also reported that a man believed to be Flores was detained in a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department squad vehicle for two hours that day — and that his house was one of the locations searched. Sure, he wanted to see what was happening at the Flores house, but he didn’t want to have to talk to anyone — at least not without the shield of his podcasting gear. “But it was a local story and the thing that stood out to me is that nobody was talking about it anymore. She did not walk away and dig ⦠Caution tape was posted outside Ms. Flores’s home, and about 15 spectators gathered across the street to watch the investigators work, some shouting, “Dig her up,” The Tribune reported. So, as I listen to Chris, I often think how they would be fast friends.”, Although he’s not currently working on another episode in the now seven-part series, Lambert has been watching the case unfold should he need to pick up the microphone again. He initially had said he got the shiner playing basketball, but then backtracked and said it came from working on his car stereo; he told authorities he didn’t want them to think he was clumsy. The Smart family sued Flores in 1996 in an attempt to get some answers in civil court about their daughter, but Flores took the fifth amendment. The younger Flores has never been charged with any crimes related to Smart — he’s also never spoken to reporters about the case and did not respond to Rolling Stone‘s request for comment. Lambert is the publisher of "Your Own Backyard," a critically acclaimed podcast that has renewed public interest in the Kristin Smart investigation. Paul Flores somehow joined the crew, seemingly out of nowhere, according to Anderson. He was at the Flores family home Tuesday answering Instagram Live ⦠Denise Smart holds up a picture of her missing daughter Credit: Your Own Backyard/ Chris Lambert 16 Cops used ground penatrating radar during their search Credit: Instagram/@yourownbackyardpodcast Beginning in September 2019, a seven-part podcast by American journalist Chris Lambert renewed interest in Kristin Smart's disappearance. She could be shy and quiet at first meeting, yet she loved a good time and had a powerful inner strength. Despite having no formal training in law enforcement or journalism, Lambert became so fixated on the case that he quit his job at a musical instrument store in Lompoc in May 2018 to work on the podcast full-time. It tracks the early movements of ⦠The "prime suspect" in the 25-year-disappearance of California college student Kristin Smart was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of murder, the San Luis Obispo Sheriff's Department announced. On the night of her disappearance, she was spotted at a house party and left with three friends. Lambert had the recording chops, having served as an engineer for his share of other artists; he also hosted another podcast from 2016 to 2019: Are We Okay?, an interview show in which he introduced his mostly local listeners to various community members and friends. The podcastâs creator, Chris Lambert, was a musician who grew up in the area and was intrigued by a billboard offering a $75,000 reward for information leading to Smart. Dave Minsky, Staff 031521 smart ⦠Despite Flores’ silence, Lambert is still hoping someone will come forward who will finally tie up all the loose ends. While talking with friends, family, and people in his community, Lambert happened upon a disturbing trend that would crowd subsequent episodes of the podcast: multiple women who had attended school with and worked with Paul Flores had stories related to excessive drinking and overly forward flirtations. No one started looking for her in earnest until about week after her disappearance under the misguided impression that she had gone away for the weekend; campus police declined to take a missing person’s report when a dorm mate noticed that Smart had not returned back to her room two days after the party. March 3, 2020 Raiza Giorgi News. Lambert spoke with one of the women from that story, “Laura,” a former girlfriend who claimed Flores was aggressive and once brandished a butter knife in her face. According to a statement the Sheriff’s Department gave to The Tribune, since Parkinson took the job, the office has served 18 search warrants, searched for physical evidence at nine locations, submitted 37 pieces of evidence from the case for DNA testing, uncovered 140 new pieces of evidence and interviewed 91 people. Flores was subpoenaed before a grand jury in relation to Kristin's disappearance but left after only speaking to authorities for five minutes. Jan 29, 2020. Peter Hits A Double 5. Sign up for Rolling Stone’s Newsletter. Home Movies 8. “That’s been the best part of all of this: just forming a real friendship with the family,” he says. The family of Kristin Smart declined to release a statement regarding today's events. When the sheriff’s office released a press release a little before 7:30 a.m. that day, they didn’t reveal that this house in particular would be searched — the Sheriff’s spokesman Tony Cipolla only stated that officers were searching four locations in California and Washington State as part of the investigation into the disappearance of 19-year-old Smart. Lambert also spoke with 13 other women who accused Flores of everything from predatory behavior to harassment to sexual assault. He also stayed quiet after the Smarts filed a $40 million wrongful-death lawsuit against him; during a 1997 deposition, he again pleaded the fifth. When campus police took a report at the behest of Smart’s parents, according to the Los Angeles Times they wrote: “Smart lives her life in her own way, not conforming to typical teenage behavior. “True crime podcasting is not something that particularly captivated me,” he says. Episode 07: The Iceberg. That was followed up in April 2020 with another search at Paul's home. Arroyo Grande High School graduate Paul Flores was the last person to see Kristin Smart on the night she disappeared. Last November, Smart's case got national attention, when it ⦠Kristin Smart Investigation since 2011. “We feel like the stars aligned when the podcast aired,” she says. In Your Own Backyard ran from September 2019 to January 2020 — and, not long after the seventh episode aired, authorities showed up at Susan Flores’ front door on that day in early February. How are we not all talking about this every day until she’s found?”. Flores was among those students and was the last to see Kristin alive. Flores was a key witness in the disappearance of Kristin Smart. Multiple tips received following podcast on Kristin Smart disappearance One of them was Paul Flores, who claims he was the last to drop her off at her dorm and also the last person to ever see Smart. Nov 11, 2019. SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. - The family of Kristin Smart, a Cal Poly student who has been missing for nearly 25 years, has released a statement following the ⦠With all the attention the case has been getting lately, San Luis Obispo deputies are taking another look at a former person of interest, Paul Flores. The student had to call both the police and the Smarts in order to raise the alarm. Oct 28, 2019. “They all had a different idea of who I was talking about and nobody really knew the details.”. Jan 29, 2020. He decided to ⦠The podcast's creator, Chris Lambert, was a musician who grew up in the area and was intrigued by a billboard offering a $75,000 reward for information leading to Smart. âShow Your Own Backyard, Ep Episode 06: Ongoing and Active - Nov 11, 2019 âA newspaper publisher thinks he's found Kristin Smart, until he hits a brick wall. See where your favorite artists and songs rank on the Rolling Stone Charts. 8 Weirdly Specific True Crime Shows That Actually Exist, 'Abducted in Plain Sight' Seems Too Horrible to Be True — But It Is. The San Luis Obispo Sheriff’s Department and the FBI declined to be interviewed by Rolling Stone, but the Sheriff’s Department did credit Lambert’s podcast with helping move the case forward in interviews with both the podcaster and the press. “I cannot wait to get back to just writing songs,” he says. The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office speaks. Why are there no answers?’ So, I started researching it.”. People may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Flores is the mother of the only person of interest ever named by authorities in the case, Paul Flores. After the confession about the black eye, though, Flores clammed up — and he hasn’t talked to anyone on the record since. Chris Lambert has spent most of his life in Central California haunted by a billboard. All Rights Reserved. I thought, ‘What happened here? “So, yeah, I sat outside of Paul’s house. The freeform, often-rambling show stands in stark contrast to In Your Own Backyard, an incisive look into the life and possible death of Kristin Smart. For years, he has also been the main person of interest in the case and ultimately suspected of the disappearance and murder of Smart by the public as well as Kristin's family. Smart, 19, of Stockton, was a classmate of Paul Flores' at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, where she disappeared while walking home from a ⦠She had driven from her home in Stockton, over 250 miles away. Smart was declared dead in 2002. Cipolla confirmed the veracity of this statement to Rolling Stone. … This obviously gave law enforcement new leads to follow and connect with what they already were holding close.”. Kristin Smart case: Paul Flores, top right, and his father, Ruben Flores, bottom right, were arrested Tuesday, April 13, 2021, and charged in the May 25, 1996, disappearance and murder of Kristin Smart, seen at left. © Copyright 2021 Distractify. We were up early on the corner of Greenback and Sunrise, asking drivers for ðµ Proud to say Sacramento Fire Captain Keith Wade and I won this yearâs âMedia Challengeâ, by collecting $697 in less than an hour. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Driving to Stockton 6. âA newspaper publisher thinks he's found Kristin Smart, until he hits a brick wall. “I know for a fact that [my podcast] got the public talking about Kristin again, which, according to the Sheriff’s department has been a good thing,” Lambert says. No one turned up for a while as Lambert stood in the cold rain, but after a few hours, two older women appeared. Mokule'ia Sunset 11. “[The billboard is] a reminder that they’ve never found her. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Flores was first interviewed by Cal Poly police investigators Ray Barrett and Mike Kennedy at the end of May 1996, according to The San Luis Obispo Tribune; he was also interviewed by the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office. But now, he’s found himself in the thick of it, as the case he’s been following almost obsessively has heated up once more. Kristin Smart, a freshman at California Polytechnic State University, disappeared May 25th, 1996, after attending a party near campus. From 2016-2019, he hosted Are We Okay?, a weekly conversational podcast about creativity, positivity, and purposeful living.He is also the editor of the 805 Living Eats Podcast and CONSUMED.805 Living Eats Podcast and CONSUMED. He also highlights that both Flores parents have remained at their residences, despite harassment by would-be investigators. We would like nothing more than to bring closure to the Smart family in this case.”. In 2016, four women came forward to the Daily Beast to allege that Flores had physically or sexually assaulted them. Chris follows a trail left by a lost piece of evidence, and retraces Paul Floresâ movements in the years after. S9E16: Disappearance of Kristin Smart w/ Chris Lambert Bob is joined by the host of the "Your Own Backyard" podcast, Chris Lambert. Nineteen-year-old Stockton native Kristin Smart disappeared on Memorial Day weekend in 1996, while studying at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo. He was quiet, very quiet, yet I could feel his compassion that we all needed answers, that it was not OK to have a young woman ‘in his own backyard’ just vanish without justice and that very few knew her story.”. If this all seems like a lot of work, that’s because it was. “She said, ‘He knows a lot about Kristin,’ and I thought, ‘That’s nice.’ We later went to dinner and I was immediately struck by his respectful and understated presence. Flores was also offered a plea deal involving a guilty plea for involuntary manslaughter with a six-year prison sentence. Chris Lambert created the eight-part âYour Own Backyardâ podcast, which explores the Kristin Smart case and is widely credited with reviving interest and ⦠Kristin Smart case: Paul and Ruben Flores charged in student's 1996 disappearance; family reacts The sheriff credited 'Your Own Backyard' podcaster Chris Lambert with raising awareness I think I first heard about the Kristin Smart case back in the late 90s on the TV show âUnsolved Mysteries. Global Nav Open Menu Global Nav Close Menu; Apple; Shopping Bag + Search apple.com. A classmate Paul Flores is person of interest says SLO Sheriff.More at 11. pic.twitter.com/tf7qREcQaz, Tony Cipolla, a spokesman for the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office has stated that they have collected “some items of interest.”. She would never give up. Your Own Backyard Theme 2. Over the course of the interviews, Flores denied any wrongdoing when it came to Kristin, telling investigators: “I walked with her to where the driveway was and I went off to my dorm.”. She did not walk away and lose her life. Flores served with a search warrant, handcuffed, questioned and then released by deputies after signing paperwork, KCAL-TV reported. “It’s the easiest thing in the world compared to this.”, Super Bowl Halftime Shows Ranked: From Worst to Best. Chris Lambert, a 2006 Righetti High School graduate, produces the "Your Own Backyard: The Disappearance of Kristin Smart" podcast, which ⦠“I decided to go up there with my microphone and just see if anybody showed up to remember her that day, so I could interview them,” he says. So, while onlookers flooded the streets chanting, “Dig her up!” Lambert spirited himself away to a neighboring backyard to watch it all go down. So, what happened to Kristin Smart and how is Paul Flores involved? “I started asking friends and family members and anybody I could, ‘Do you remember what happened to Kristin Smart?” Lambert says. The podcastâs creator, Chris Lambert, grew up in the area and was intrigued by a billboard offering a $75,000 reward for information leading to Smart. Every story is backed up by interviews with those involved: from the renters to an old girlfriend of Flores’ to cadaver-dog experts. Nov 25, 2020. An indie folk musician by trade, Lambert is shy and reserved, and despite hosting an extremely popular podcast about Smart’s case, In Your Own Backyard (which launched September of 2019), he’s not too keen on social interactions. The sheriff credited âYour Own Backyardâ podcaster Chris Lambert with raising awareness of the story â leading to new suggestions from around the country. And, of course, he might be able to get back to his real life. ... and the host of âYour Own Backyard,â California native Chris Lambert, covers it all. All Three 7. Still, Lambert and everyone else in the area knew that one of those locations would be the Flores home. “The first time was the most difficult; it was surprising to hear our own voices in the context of her story. âDriving past that billboard was a periodic reminder that, oh yeah, they still havenât found that girl,â Lambert said on the podcastâs opening episode. The podcast was downloaded over a million times in its first four months. Nov 11, 2019. The Your Own Backyard podcast spurred police on to seize "specific items of evidence" from four locations related to the Flores family and Paul was briefly detained. Chris also conducted interviews with people who currently know Flores to get a sense of who he was then and what their impressions are of him now. Search underway in San Pedro for evidence in Kristin Smart who vanished from San Luis Obispo in 1996. In May of 1996, Kristin Smart of Stockton disappeared while a freshman at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. We May Finally Find out What Happened to Kristin Smart After 25 Years, Daunte Wright's Parents Say They "Can't Accept" That Police Call His Death "Accidental", Prince Philip's Funeral Will Be a "Low Key" Event that Is Televised for the Public, Fans and 'SNL' Cast Members Mourn the Loss of Writer Anne Beatts. Margarita (True Colors) 12. (Candace was the other woman.) A newspaper publisher thinks he's found Kristin Smart, until he hits a brick wall. Lambert says after speaking with the Sheriff's Office and seeing the momentum build as people continue to talk about Kristin Smart and her case, he believes the case could be resolved soon. Chris follows a trail left by a lost piece of evidence, and retraces Paul Floresâ movements in the years after. Lambert’s digging finally yielded results on a 2019 visit a memorial to Smart on Shell Beach on her birthday, February 20th. According to The Tribune, that lawsuit cannot move forward during an active criminal investigation. The strange quip took on an ominous tone considering Flores had recently helped pour concrete in his mother’s backyard. Nov 11, 2019. Accepted 10. “The podcast that Chris put together is very well done,” Sheriff Ian Parkinson said in a recent interview with KVEC 920AM. “I thought if I don’t at least try, I’ll hate myself,” he says. The Cal Poly police didn’t search his room until June 10th, after the semester was over and the room had been cleaned out. The Village 4. From there, Lambert and the Smarts became friends. I didn’t understand why. “We’ve listened to every podcast at least twice,” Denise Smart says. These observations are in no way implying that her behavior caused her disappearance, but they provide a picture of her conduct on the night of her disappearance.” The report also detailed how Smart didn’t have many friends, appeared to be drunk the night of her disappearance, and how she spoke to several men at the party. The disappearance of Kristin Smart has taken on new life after Chris Lambert released a series of podcast episodes that recount, in detail, all publicly available information about Kristin's abduction and subsequent death at the hands of another student on the campus of California Polytechnic State University over 23 years ago. They executed four search warrants and “recovered some items of interest” from the search sites, spokesman Cipolla said in an interview with New York Times: “We will now analyze those and see how they relate to this case. Still, according to the Times, he joked to a roommate in the days following Smart’s disappearance that he knew where Kristin was: at home with his parents. Lincoln Village West 9. At the time of her disappearance and eventually proclaimed murder, she was a 19-year-old freshman at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo. Lambert has released albums of varying styles, ranging from the 1990s alternative rock revival of Warp & Woof, to the ambient folk sound of his most recent release, The Constant Education of Christopher Lambert.. Beginning September 30, 2019, Chris Lambert released an 8-part podcast series called Your Own Backyard. Anderson also told investigators that fellow students called the 19-year-old man “Chester the Molester.”. The podcastâs creator, Chris Lambert, was a musician who grew up in the area and was intrigued by a billboard offering a $75,000 reward for information leading to Smart. Paul Flores and his father, Ruben Flores, have been arrested in connection with the disappearance of Cal Poly student Kristin Smart, according to podcaster Chris Lambert. Lambert went to visit them in Stockton and, in the first episode of the podcast, they have a long conversation about Kristin, an avid swimmer and a lover of the beach. Of course, he’s hoping that when he signs on again, Smart’s body will be found and an arrest will be made — at which time he plans to celebrate with the family he’s grown so close to.