Paul Flores was arrested at his home in San Pedro, California Pic: San Luis Obispo Sheriff's Office
The case has gained momentum in recent years after new witnesses came forward and police got permission to intercept Paul Flores' phone and text messages, as well as searching his home and those of his family. Police have also been testing cars owned by Paul Flores and his father in 1996 for DNA and other evidence.
Sheriff Parkinson - who took over in 2011 - said 40 search warrants had been served over the years and that case evidence ran to three terabytes of data."There really is no hiding the fact that there was mistakes made early on and it made it much more difficult," he said.Ms Smart wasn't reported missing for three days and a former dorm mate said police were reluctant to take a report because it was Memorial Day weekend and thought she might just have left campus.