Santa Maria Times from Santa Maria, California • 6

A-6 Sunday, Aug. 17, 1997 Santa Maria Times SMART: A fathers search for answers Take a spin 'We need Paul Flores to tell us what happened' to Kristin Smart' Sheriff Ed Williams active for nearly a decade. Still, Smart believes the depart L. I as the person with knowledge of their daughter's death: Flores was the last person to see Kristin Smart alive; Matthew LkJdlTimw Admission, $4 for adults; children 12 and under free. In a switch from previous years, entrance is through the gate south of the Hilton.

From 8 a.m. to 11 a.m., a pancake breakfast at the Santa Maria Museum of Flight is available for $5 a person. From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., warbirds will periodically take to the skies for fly-bys with F-117 stealth fighter flyby slated at noon. Dave Shephard and Dennis Laws of Lompoc enjoy a close look at a vintage radial engine as their likenesses are reflected in the highly polished chrome spinner of a 1943 Beechcraft Staggerwing on display Saturday at the Santa Maria Warbird Fly-In.

Today is the last day of the three-day event, which runs from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. Planes are on display on the ramp behind the Santa Maria Airport Hilton. Continued from page A-1 Stan Smart has sought and received national limelight for his missing daughter. The case was fea-tured on television's "Unsolved Mysteries." Gov.

Pete Wilson has announced a $75,000 reward for information that helps close the case. State Sen. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein have offered to help.

Regularly, Stan Smart visits the San Luis Obispo area, walks the roadside, searches rural areas for clues: a scent, a remnant of clothing anything that might suggest her presence. Civil Lawsuit In an effort to force Flores to testify and the police departments to release records, the Smart family filed a civil lawsuit in November, seeking damages against Flores. "We got involved because we feel the campus police and sheriff" office were not doing their jobs. I think the campus police didn't realize what had happened. I think the sheriff's office went with good intentions, but I'm disappointed that they haven't done more," said Smart.

Campus police initially treated Kristin Smart as a runaway and did not inspect Flores' dorm room for several days after she was reported missing. By then, most students had left the campus and Flores' room had been cleared out. Dogs trained to detect the scent of a corpse found his room and focused on his bed June 29. Stephen Hamilton, one of Stan Smart's attorneys, said he filed a court order that allows the Smarts to examine statements given by Flores, his mother, father and sister to the sheriff's office. Hamilton has also filed requests for 105 different documents regarding the case, including phone records, receipts, a baton and newspaper clippings found in Flores' dorm.

Hamilton has sent a letter to the California State University system and filed a motion to compel police to produce records of the investigation. Hamilton is hopeful those actions will lead to answers. "I think the suit has progressed very well, because now the family will finally be able to hear Paul Flores' statement. he said. Hamilton added the order could compel Flores to speak at a deposition, which he hopes will occur within the next 30 days, after the records have been secured.

But the odds that Flores will speak are slim. Except for an interview days after Kristin Smart's disappearance, Flores has refused to speak to investigators. He pleaded protection under the Fifth Amendment before a San Luis Obispo County grand jury. Flores' lawyer. Greg Coates, has advised his client not to speak to news reporters.

Stan Smart has not spoken to WILDLIFE Warm water, lack of oxygen killing fish in a stretch of the Klamath HAPPY CAMP, Calif. (AP) Large numbers of fish are dying of bacterial infections along an 80-mile stretch of the Klamath River, but according to a government biologist, the fall run of chinook salmon should be all right. a nrAkla rr i iifirm unlar onH lace rtviman At the time of his interview with police, Flores appeared with a black eye and a bruised knee injuries he said were suffered in a basketball game with friends. He told police he saw Kristin Smart about 2 a.m. when he dropped her off near her Muir Hall dormitory.

Flores told police he proceeded to his dorm and went to bed. But dormmates told police they heard Flores showering at 5 a.m.; Flores later told police he awoke at that time and decided to shower. Flores has been the investigators' only real focus, but without a body, a criminal case cannot proceed. "I think the biggest problem in this case is the unwillingness of Paul Flores and his family to deal with this case head-on." Hamilton said. Investigation Without Flores' testimony.

San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's investigations chief Bill Wammtxk said the case has been near deadlock. "I wouldn't rule (Flores) out. He's never cooperated with us. The case is still open, and we're pursuing many things." Wammock said. The sheriff's office disputes Smart's claim that investigators botched the case, noting officers have followed up on hundreds of leads, tips and possible sightings.

The department has a detectise on the case at all times. "We still rely on the public's help to assist us in this case," Wammock said. "We would like Paul Flores to come in and talk to us, but short of that, it's going as well as can be expected. If I don't know his story, how could I say if he could help us? He is the last person we know of that has seen her. so we don't know what kind of help he could offer.

"We follow up on anything that comes in or has elements that might lead to her whereabouts, but there have been no significant leads. A lot of people repeat what they hear in the news," Wammock said. Many of Flores' and Kristin Smart's acquaintances have been interviewed. Their rooms have been searched. Fliers have been posted everywhere throughmit the Central Coast and the state.

But the trail grow cold. San Luis Obispo County Sheriff Ed Williams believes Mores' testimony could answer many questions about Kristin Smart's disappearance. "We need Paul Flores to tell us what happened to Knstin Smart," he told the San Luis Obispo Telegram-Tribune in May. "The fact of the matter is we have very qualified detectives who have conducted wHI over a hundred interviews, and everything leads to Mr. Flores.

There are no other suspects. So absent something from Mr. Flores. I don't ment could do more. "I really think they botched the case and let the evidence go away," Smart said.

ft A Family's Pursuit Stan Smart's family has Jiad 14 months to stew over this case. They have tried psychics. Hi wife, Denise, has been on Geraldo Rivera's talk show. And Stan Smart has forced himself to go on. Still, he can't help think of how or where his daughter might have disappeared.

He has several theories, some of which have been sjiared by both the San Luis Obispo County and Cal Poly campus police: A killer disposed of her body in a Dumpster. and her remains' are now lost in a landfill; A delivery cart was stolen that night from nearby Cuesta Park; the vehicle might have been used to dump the body; Her body could have been dumped in a ditch on campus where the new performing arts center was being built or in the ocean. But, like the police. Smart has little concrete information and must rely on others to come forward. Two billboards asking for information leading to Smart's whereabouts recently came down from their posts along Highway 101.

although remains up in Arroyo (irande. Smart is seeking funds to buy a portable sign that will advertise his search. When asked what he would do if he met Flores. Smart smiles wryly, makes fists and says, "I'd like to rattle his cage. That's about where, I'm at." Denise Smart wrote letters to Paul Flores' mother.

Each one was returned unopened. Kristin's mother only recently returned to her job as a bilingual program coordinator for a Stockton school district. She has enlisted the help of pfyenics and detectives from the attorney general's investigative bureau. Stan Smart keeps a thick file of clippings and reports at his desk in the Vintage principal's office, and a bulging appointment calendar is stocked with numbers of those ready to assist. He admits the case has frayed his family's nerves.

"My wife says our children have lost their childhood, but it's made us cherish our children even more," Stan Smart said. Sheriff's sources acknowledge this pain. "Put yourself in their place." Wammock said. "We're definitely support of their cause. The general public realizes the tight rein that the justice system works in.

and that's the frustrating part. This is the that we work with. This is what we must deal with. Our feelings are not important here What's important are the Smarts themselves." BBI Anyone it)) information regarding Kristin Denise Smart's disappearance should contact the San Luis Obispo Cour'v Sheriff's Office at (805) 781-4540 or the California Department of Justice's Missing Persons hotline at (800) 222-FIND. and juvenile chinook, making them more susceptible to a bacterial disease called columnaris.

No accurate count has been made of the dead fish. Fish normally are resistant to columnaris, a disease that affects the gills. But they become susceptible under stressful conditions such as heat or lack of oxygen, Craig said. Because the salmon have not yet returned to the river, though, they are unaffected. "Had the fall run been up there at the time, I think this would have been a much more serious situation," Craig said.

"Right now we're pretty lucky because the fall-run chinook are just entering the mouth of the river." Shorter days and dropping temperatures should ease the problem in the coming weeks. Biologists noticed the problem two weeks ago. They say it is merely a symptom of chronic poor water quality in the Klamath. according to Jim Craig, a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Areata.

Because the snowpack wasn't very good this year, the tributaries that feed the Klamath can't contribute the ice-cold water that drops the river's overall temperature. Adding to the problem is the New Year's Day flood that ripped out trees and widened stream chan- nels across the watershed. As a result, water temperatures have been reaching 80 degrees during the day and oxygen levels are drop-ping at night from 17 miles upriver of Happy Camp. down to the confluence with the Trinity. That has stressed suckers, dace, yearling steelhead Had Your Eyes Checked Lately? ill Flores after attempting to contact him at an Arroyo Grande gas station where Flores once worked.

Flores. who enlisted in the Navy but was cut before wearing the uniform, is reportedly living with his sister and brother-in-law in Orange County and working in a video store, Stan Smart believes. Flores could not be contacted for this article. Unlike a criminal trial, a civil lawsuit requires only that there be a preponderance of guilt against a defendant. With that, Flores could be found liable for Kristin Smart's disappearance.

The family believes several pieces of evidence point to Flores see us completing this case." Smart calls the case the Sheriff's Department's albatross. And Wammock concedes his department has 15 such "albatrosses." One missing-person is 14 years old. and another case has been MARS PATHFINDER Rover frees self from rocks, begins trek for Shark LOS ANGELES (AP) The away and left these rocks in the DENNIS SHEPARD, MD STEPHEN BYLSMA, MD RAMI ZARNEGAR, MD The SHEPARD EYE CENTER Team IFREE GLAUCOMA and CATARACT EXAMHNATTIIONS If everything you read has started looking like the line at the top, you'll never have a better opportunity to find out if you have a problem. The peace of mind in learning that you don't have a problem, or if you do, It can be treated, is well worth the time it takes. The Shepard Eye Center team will personally examine all those making an appointment.

WMD AY AUGUST 2Zm Call for an Appointment 925-2637 or ToIIfree 800-821-1787 Sojourner to leave the rocks that had stopped it cold when the rover's onboard hazard detection Man Pathfinder rover freed itself from the grasp of two rocks and began a plodding course for a rock nicknamed Shark, which scientists expect the rover will reach Sunday. NASA scientists commanded system sensed the rover's suspension was too tilted Thursday. Images downloaded via satellite "confirmed Sojourner has pulled dust. Carl Memer or the Jet Propulsion Laboratory said Friday in his report summing up the mission's 42nd day on Mars. Scientists had hoped to receive new images of Shark, loo.

but discovered the rover had rotated too far away from the rock to film it It was expected to spend Saturday traveling toward the rock, but details would not be available until the following day. CTTil TS 0, TL3471Q7Q 2 613 W. MAIN SANTA MARLA rWlltW- Mi aa M. AfW CO mm. u- svut Mo i(4 im tyt Mml it mi) rw IVUl VW MONITORS.

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