Two Men Charged in Death of Missing Aptos High Alum

Two Southern California men were arrested earlier this week on suspicion of killing Christopher Ryan Smith, a 32-year-old Aptos High School graduate and Watsonville native, whose body has not been found since he went missing in June, 2010.

Edward Younghoon Shin, 33, and Kenny Roy Kraft, 34, were arraigned Tuesday in Orange County. Shin, who has admitted to killing Smith, was charged with homicide, while Kraft, his personal assistant, was arraigned on a felony count of being an accessory in Smith's death.

Shin was Smith's business partner and is believed to have killed Smith in a San Juan Capistrano business suite and to then have concealed evidence at the crime scene, according to the . Kraft told authorities he'd helped dispose of some of Smith's belongings, including a white Range Rover, later recovered in San Jose.

Smith grew up in Santa Cruz County participating in water sports and was a professional wakeboarder who graduated from Aptos High School in 1997. He moved to Laguna Beach after an injury and started a business with Shin, an Irvine resident. The business they co-owned was the 800 Exchange, which generates media leads for advertisers.

There had reportedly been an agreement between Smith and Shin regarding a $1 million payout that Smith would have received for his share of the company, according to .

Police conducted surveillance on Shin for 11 days before his arrest on Sunday at Los Angeles International Airport, where he was set to board a plane to Canada. Kraft was subsequently arrested on Monday.

After a six-hour interview with investigators, Shin admitted that he'd killed Smith, whose blood was found in the office he shared with Shin and confirmed by DNA tests. Smith's body has not been recovered, and his cause of death hasn't been released.

Shin apparently posed as Smith for a length of time, telling Smith's friends and family that he was traveling the world, until his family decided to call the authorities and report him missing.

Smith's bio on the 800 Exchange website reads, "Having been a former professional wakeboarder, Smith now spends most of his time in the big pond, the Pacific Ocean, where he can surf the best waves that California has to offer.”

In a statement released Tuesday, Smith's father described Smith as always thinking outside of the box, and said his son longed for peace and for something that the world could not offer, the Santa Cruz Sentinel reported.

Smith's father, who now lives in Oregon, said he will not release any other information during the investigation.