It was absolutely incredible. We received a phone call from Dennis Mahon indicating that he had located Joe and Mary Ann Lassiter. They had been long since divorced but still lived in the local area. Joe lives in Arroyo Grande and Mary Ann lives in Santa Maria. I went down to Santa Maria first to interview Mary Ann, and what an interview it was.
The revelations were nothing short of astounding. Below is a review, but also we now have new information and why law enforcement is not working on this remains a mystery…
- Specifically how Mary Ann found the earring.
- She noticed what appeared to be dried blood and since worked in the hospital she had seen blood in all forms of decay and on all types of materials.
- She noticed a smeared fingerprint in what appeared to be dried blood. Her husband Joe Lassiter concurred that it appeared to be dried blood, He also worked in a hospital environment.
- She gave the earring to two detectives from the sheriff’s office. Before this, we were led to believe it was ONE uniformed deputy that retrieved the earring.
- Amazingly, she said one detective held up the earring while the other detective took a picture. This was an astounding revelation because apparently, the sheriff’s office lost not only the earring but also the picture as well. A real investigation would have immediately taken the earring to Mrs. Smart to see if she could confirm the earring belonged to Kristin.
- The Smarts discovered the story about the earring by reading the depositions from the wrongful death lawsuit they levied against the Flores family. The sheriff at the time (Williams or Hedges) put off answering Kristin’s parents. It wasn’t until the Smarts drove down to San Luis Obispo from Stockton, CA and demanded to see the earring the sheriff’s department said the earring was allegedly LOST.
- Now we find that apparently the picture and/or camera was also lost because Mrs. Smart has never seen any picture of the earring that Mary Ann found on the back patio of the Flores home. What are to odds of losing both the earring and the picture?
- The Lassiters were driving by the billboard photo of Kristin Smart which is still in front of Attorney Jim Murphy’s office and stopped to take a closer look. They noticed the necklace Kristin is wearing in the photo is of the same type and design as the earring. This confirmed in their own mind the earring they found on the back patio of the Flores home in Arroyo Grande did indeed belong to Kristin Smart.
If you wish to listen to Mary Ann’s interview, it is provided here…
This is the photo of Kristin Smart the Lassiters stopped their care to view. Mary Ann couldn’t remember if she had seen an earring in the picture, but vividly remembers that she and her husband felt sure the earring they found on the back patio was a match to the jewelry Kristin was wearing in the photo. It could have very well been part of the same ensemble as the necklace Kristin was wearing in the photo.
If the San Luis Obispo sheriff’s department had not lost both the earring and apparently the photo as well, many questions could be closer to being answered. This is if they did indeed lose the photo and earring. But, why would they conceal this information from the parents?
Here’s the photo that we believe is the exact same one on the billboard in front of the attorney’s office…
