Three decades after Kristin Smart vanished from the California Polytechnic State University campus, the ground is being turned once again. On Wednesday and Thursday, investigators executed a fresh search warrant at the Arroyo Grande home of Susan Flores, the mother of the man convicted of Smart’s murder.
The move signals a relentless push by the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office to finally locate the remains of the college freshman, who was 19 when she disappeared during Memorial Day weekend in 1996.
While Paul Flores was found guilty of first-degree murder in 2022 and is currently serving 25 years to life, the location of Smart’s body remains a mystery. She was officially declared dead in 2002, but her family has spent the intervening years in a state of suspended grief.
In an open letter posted to their website, the Smart family expressed the ongoing toll of the mystery, stating that Paul Flores continues “to stand in the way of our daughter being returned to us.” They added, “We continue to pray for the day when we can finally lay her to rest in the presence of those who love her.”
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The latest activity at the Susan Flores residence involved specialized teams and forensic tools. Tim Nelligan, a soil vapor testing expert, confirmed to The Associated Press that his team gathered samples from the yard of the property and a neighboring lot.
Nelligan noted that his team utilizes a specific methodology designed to detect human cadaver decomposition through soil analysis. Sheriff Ian Parkinson, who has overseen the case’s progression into the modern era, emphasized that the conviction of Paul Flores was never the finish line.
In an interview with the Up + Adam podcast, Parkinson stated, “I said when Paul Flores got convicted that the case wasn’t over, and it’s never going to be over until we return Kristin to her family.”
The investigation has been a long road of circumstantial leads and incremental breakthroughs. Paul Flores was the last person seen with Smart as they walked toward the dorms from an off-campus party.
Early in the 1996 investigation, cadaver dogs alerted in Flores’ dorm room, and detectives noted he had a black eye and physical abrasions.
However, without a body or DNA evidence, the case languished for years. It saw a massive resurgence in public interest following the “Your Own Backyard” podcast by Chris Lambert, which re-examined the evidence and interviewed key witnesses.
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By 2021, the focus shifted to the property of Paul’s father, Ruben Flores. Investigators used ground-penetrating radar and discovered what they described as “biological evidence” beneath a deck. Prosecutors later alleged that Smart’s body had been buried there and subsequently moved.
While Ruben Flores was charged with being an accessory after the fact, he was acquitted during the 2022 trial. Following his acquittal, he told reporters the system worked on “feelings instead of facts” and claimed he felt bad for the Smart family because they lacked true answers.
The Smart family remains focused on the singular goal that has eluded them since 1996. They credited Kristin’s own spirit for their persistence, noting in their statement that “she was not one to give up.”
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