Chapter 2: Meet Paul Flores

The Son of Susan | home

The Prime Suspect

It is my belief that at least six people know where Kristin's remains' can be found. They are Paul Flores, Ruben Flores, Susan Flores and her boyfriend, Ermalinda MacArthur and her husband Brett. I have met each of them and this chapter is my recounting how these interesting exchanges took place.

Paul Flores

(Thursday, April 4, 6:30am in front of the Flores' residence.)

A retired FBI agent who worked on hundreds of cases told me a story once that I found to be true when it comes to Paul. As you begin adding up the absolute devastation the suspect has rained down on an innocent young woman as well as her family and friends, your blood begins to boil and you tend to work yourself up into a state of anger. So much so that you swear the day you get your hands on the guy you are going to absolutely kill him with your bare hands.

Then the strangest thing happens.

The day comes when you get your man and instead of anger, the overriding emotion you have is one of pity because the person standing before you is so pathetic that in the weirdest way, you end up feeling sorry for the guy.

Now, there has never been one second in my life when I feel sorry for Paul Flores, but I do understand what FBI retired agent Graham Desvernine was saying that day as we sat in his office overlooking Van Ness Street in San Francisco.

When I initially met Paul on the porch of his sister's apartment in Irvine, California back in May of 1998, he didn't come across as the monster I had conjured up in my mind. Instead, he came across as a young man who was in way over his head and someone who is totally lost in a situation he will never get out of.

Let me explain.

Paul is certainly involved in Kristin's disappearance, but I am quickly learning that he is now no more than a puppet on a string. This marionette's strings are hardwired straight into his parents, Ruben and Susan.

Time will tell, for sure, but right now the conventional wisdom is that some horrible accident occurred and Kristin died. Paul then panicked and called his parents. The parents made the decision to hide Kristin and have DEMANDED that Paul just shut his mouth. Paul is very scared and is just following his parents' commandment.

From their viewpoint, clearly, a deal has been struck with the devil and there is just no turning back.

I don't know if this is exactly accurate. I do know, however, that this scenario is the conventional wisdom.

Private Investigator Tim Hames was able to supply me with, I believe, five addresses that Paul had used and was listed on his residential history. One of those addresses was in Irvine, Ca. I arrived in mid-afternoon at the apartment complex and found the 2nd floor apartment complex easily enough. I approached the door, rang the bell and a young woman answered the door. "Hi, is Paul home, please?", I asked. She looked at me and said, "What is this about", and I said that I was a friend of Kristin Smart's family and....."

Wham, the door slammed in my face!

At this point it was my first exposure to anyone in the Flores family. I had a paperback novel with me so I calmly spoke through the front door that I was going to sit outside until they opened the door whether they did so in 5 minutes, or five hours. I was prepared to wait it out.

I guess I was sitting there for maybe ten minutes when all of a sudden I hear footsteps coming up the stairs. To my surprise, it was Paul.

He certainly did not look like a monster. This may sound odd, but he looked like a nice, polite clean cut young man. I was caught off guard by his appearance. We clearly surprised one another.

"Hi Paul", I said as I extended my hand . "Hi" was all he said and reached out his hand as well. Everything was real calm and off to a good start. Then, holy smokes, the front door opened and the woman reappeared.

She went wild, grabbed Paul by the arm like he was a rag doll and jerked him inside. "Don't say a word to him Paul, the guy is psycho!"

That was back in May of 1998 yet I can clearly remember it and that is exactly what Ermalinda, Paul's sister, said. Paul lowered his head and sheepishly obeyed her marching orders.

This was the first screaming I heard from the family. I thought to myself, "No problem," I have my paperback so I'll just catch up on some reading and just wait this out. My whole purpose for being in California was to find Kristin, so it wasn't like I had to be anywhere else.

So now I am back reading my novel keeping one ear tuned to the latch on the front door. There was no activity at the door but about 15 minutes later two Irvine Patrol cars came driving up and thus began my introduction to the Flores' main defense tactic.

Call the cops anytime anyone comes around. They have called the cops on me now six times and took me to court once. (I won the case).

The police officer initially was very much against my being on their property. He, however, knew nothing about the case. I then showed him the numerous newspaper articles about Paul. After viewing the clippings, his tone softened up measurably but he still insisted I leave the premises.

I did what I was told. On my way out of the complex I stopped by the office and let the manager know about Paul and the fact that Kristin has never been found. The manager was just a young woman no more than 22 or 23 years old. She was visibly shaken, placed her hand over her mouth, looked at me and said, "I just moved here and have a newborn baby."

I knocked on some other doors and passed out flyers which made me feel good because I felt like I was honoring Kristin and her family.

(I have been here an hour so far and no police cars which is a bit surprising.)

In 1999, I again relied on Private Investigator Tim Hames to locate the whereabouts of Paul. Tim was unable to find any current addresses. He was, however, able to provide a new address which was 200 block of East Palmyra, Orange , California that was linked to Paul's sister.

That was good enough for me so I drove over to have a look. It was early evening and I went up to the front door and rang the doorbell. There she was again, the portable tornado. Politely I asked to speak with Paul. I cannot remember exactly what she said but I do remember it was profanely delivered. And I do remember her yelling at me as she was slamming the door. "I remember you, you're that psycho from Georgia". It was amusing to me and I responded by saying. "Ah, no that would be North Carolina"

So now I knew for sure that Ermalinda and Brett MacArthur were living at that address. But where was Paul? Was he inside the house or not? I just wasn't sure.

The following day I went to Kinko's and made up flyers and began passing them around the neighborhood. It is a strange feeling when you are knocking on people's doors to alert them that a predator has recently moved into their safe and protective environment.

They all gasp. Everyone of them.

Having the Internet available makes things so much easier. I am just a stranger to them, so mostly I hand out a flyer and let them know the website will explain everything. It is a very non-confrontational way of spreading the word.

I had to wait till the evening so that the neighbors had a chance to get home. I remember I was speaking to the neighbor to the immediate left of the Flores home. All of a sudden I hear a voice yelling at me. "Go home!" I looked over and saw Paul sticking his head out the front door. Paul, I came here to talk with you, again he yelled, "Go Home!"

With that he just closed the door and melted back inside the house. He still wouldn't talk to me but at least I knew now that Paul was in fact living with his sister in Orange.

Currently, we do not know where he is. I was told by the FBI agent that they knew exactly where he is and I believe them 100%. It was also inferred with the wink of an eye that I was not to ask them to tell me where he is.

17 Facts You May Not Know Paul Flores

Sheriff's Statement

"Our office has used it's finest detectives and all leads lead to Paul Flores. Paul Flores is the only suspect. Until Paul Flores tells us what happened to that night, this case will not be solved."