Two days after it was revealed that police obtained a search warrant linked to Kristin Smart’s 1996 disappearance and murder, authorities revealed that they may have found human remains on the property that belongs to her killer Paul Flores’ mother, Susan Flores.
“We believe that … human remains were there at one time or still there,” San Luis Obispo County Sheriff Ian Parkinson told reporters about the search on Friday, May 8, per NBC News.
“I’m not going to go into the details, other than just to say with soil tests, it’s about the compounds in the soil that are related to a human, decomposing body,” Parkinson added.
While he confirmed that they found new evidence, Parkinson did not reveal if they found Smart’s remains.
“I think it’s safe to say that we have not recovered Kristin yet,” he said. “But our search goes on, and I don’t know how long we’re going to be there.”
Smart, 19, vanished from California Polytechnic State University on May 25, 1996, after she attended a party that was held off campus.
Flores, 49, was convicted of her murder 25 years later in October 2022, though Smart’s body was never found. He was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.
Deputies with the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant at a house in the 500 block of East Branch Street beginning on Wednesday, May 6, in connection to Smart’s disappearance. Multiple outlets later confirmed that the home belongs to Flores’ mother.
The sheriff’s office confirmed in a statement that the investigation stemmed from a search warrant that was related to Smart’s disappearance and was signed by a Superior Court judge.
“The Sheriff’s Office remains committed to bringing Kristin home to her family,” the sheriff’s office’s statement shared via Facebook read. “No further information is available.”
Despite not sharing any additional information, the sheriff’s office did upload photos from the recent search. The photographs captured officers outside of the home, as well as looking through an outdoor garden and in a garage that was packed with household items.
Flores’ father Ruben Flores’ property was previously searched in March 2021 with ground-penetrating radar in connection to Smart’s disappearance. Following the search, both Flores men were arrested. Ruben was arrested as an accessory to murder, though the charge was later acquitted.
At the time of the search, authorities found a 6-foot by 4-foot void under Ruben’s deck. They also took several soil samples from the area, which tested positive for the presence of human blood. Prosecutors later said they believed Smart’s body was previously removed from that location some time before the search took place.
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