Live Updates: Kristin Smart search underway at SLO County home of killer’s mother
Sheriff’s investigators served a search warrant in the Kristin Smart case Wednesday morning at the Arroyo Grande home of convicted killer Paul Flores’ mother Susan Flores.
The new search comes after scientists using a special soil vapor analysis said they found evidence of human decomposition near Susan Flores’ yard in June 2023.
Paul Flores was convicted in 2022 of killing Smart when she was a first-year student at Cal Poly. Smart went missing nearly 30 years ago on Memorial Day weekend of 1996. Her body has never been recovered.
Susan Flores has never been charged in connection with the Smart case.
Follow The Tribune for live updates from the scene:
Search of Arroyo Grande home will continue another day, Sheriff’s Office says
The Sheriff’s Office will continue executing its search warrant of the Branch Street property on Thursday, the agency announced Wednesday evening.
Further details on the search were not released.
Search continues at Arroyo Grande home
Update, 3 p.m.:
The search of Susan Flores’ home on Branch Street in Arroyo Grande continued into Wednesday afternoon.
Sheriff’s Office representatives and soil investigators could be seen walking the area around the home and a neighboring yard as of 2:50 p.m.
Sheriff’s Office spokesman Tony Cipolla told The Tribune he could not share how long the search was expected to take.
He did confirm that the last time the Sheriff’s Office searched the outside of the property was in 2000. A 2020 search of the home was for digital media only, he said.
Smart family aware of search, spokesman says
Update, 1:10 p.m.:
John Segale, spokesman for the Smart family, said they were made aware of the search this morning.
Segale did not offer any additional comment from the Smart family on the search at this time, instead directing The Tribune to the Kristin Smart Scholarship to honor her life.
Denise Smart, Kristin Smart’s mother, has previously said that despite Paul Flores’ 2022 conviction, the case will not be over for the family until her daughter’s remains are found and returned home.
“There’s no finality for us,” she told The Tribune in January following Paul Flores’ final appeal being denied.
Sheriff’s Office releases photos from Kristin Smart search
Update, 1 p.m.:
The Sheriff’s Office released additional photos from the search on Wednesday, showing law enforcement as they canvassed the Branch Street home of Susan Flores.
The pictures showed cold case Det. Clint Cole, Sheriff Ian Parkinson and others as they inspected the property, looking at the patio, yard and inside a cluttered garage.
Kristin Smart podcaster watches search at Flores home
Update, 12:45 p.m.:
Among those at the scene watching the latest developments was Chris Lambert, the creator of the popular true-crime podcast “Your Own Backyard,” who called the property “overlooked” in the scope of the search for Smart’s remains.
“Kristin’s parents have been waiting all this time to learn what happened to her remains — regardless of where they are today — to just know where they ended up and what happened to them,” Lambert told The Tribune. “So hopefully, every time a search like this happens, the hope is that they are going to finally recover her, and if they don’t, then something they recover here will lead them to those answers.”
See more on what Lambert and onlookers said at the link below:
Scientists previously said they found human remains evidence near Flores yard
Update, 12:15 p.m.:
In recent years, Susan Flores’ Arroyo Grande home has become a prominent point of interest in the ongoing push to find Kristin Smart’s remains — especially after a group of scientists in 2023 announced a soil vapor sampling study saying they had discovered evidence of a “human decomposition event” emitting from the property’s yard.
The group — which included environmental engineer and Cal Poly grad Tim Nelligan and environmental chemist and one-time Cal Poly lecturer Steve Hoyt — in 2020 tested the soil near the back fence of a home on East Branch Street which abutted the Flores’ yard.
During that test, they said they found several volatile organic compounds consistent with a decomposing human body concentrated at the border of the yard.
The group in 2023 told The Tribune it was working with law enforcement to share its findings. It is unclear if any of their data gathered played a role in Wednesday’s search warrant.
A soil vapor probe for vapor intrusion testing could be seen plugged in front of a home near the Flores property on Wednesday afternoon.
District Attorney’s office ‘firmly committed’ to finding Kristin Smart’s remains, DA says
Update, 11:40 a.m.:
On Wednesday, District Attorney Dan Dow said his office remains “firmly committed” to finding Kristin Smart’s remains.
“Since the jury convicted Paul Flores for the murder of Kristin Smart, the District Attorney’s Office has continued working in coordination with the Sheriff’s Office to fulfill our shared commitment to the Smart family and this community: to bring Kristin home,” he said in a statement to The Tribune.
Dow said the District Attorney’s Bureau of Investigation was assisting with Wednesday’s search, and Assistant District Attorney Eric Dobroth “supported the Sheriff’s Office in advance of their obtaining judicial authorization for this warrant.”
“While those responsible for Kristin’s death — and those with knowledge of her whereabouts — could provide answers at any time, we remain firmly committed to using every lawful tool available to locate Kristin’s remains and to support her family until she is brought home,” he concluded.
Sheriff’s Office searches Flores home in Arroyo Grande
Original story:
In a news release, the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office said it was conducting an additional investigation into the property in the 500 block of East Branch Street in Arroyo Grande as of Wednesday morning.
The investigation was “the result of a search warrant signed by a Superior Court judge,” the release said.
“The Sheriff’s Office remains committed to bringing Kristin home to her family,” the release said, noting that further details were not expected to be released Wednesday.
The Sheriff’s Office did not specify the home being searched Wednesday was that of Susan Flores, but the address matches that location.
And Chris Lambert — who produced a popular podcast about the Kristin Smart case titled “Your Own Backyard” — shared a photo from the scene showing Susan Flores being served documents at the door.
“Since the trial, I think the Sheriff’s Department has just been working quietly, you know, they haven’t made any public updates about it, and so just been following along and waiting to see,” Lambert told The Tribune at the scene Wednesday. “So today was a big surprise for everyone.”
Authorities have searched the home before, most notably in February 2020 ahead of Paul Flores’ arrest.
The backyard in particular has been the subject of attention before, especially after scientists’ 2023 findings.
The scene Wednesday was largely subdued in comparison to previous searches of the property.
No police tape wrapped around the area, and much of the search action seemed to be kept out of the public’s view.
At one point in the morning, a person drove past the home and yelled “Justice! Justice!” out the window of their vehicle.
Meanwhile, law enforcement could be seen inside and around the home, bringing in various pieces of equipment, and an officer wearing a headlamp and PPE could be seen through a window.
Lambert said he believed some of the equipment being brought in was ground scanning equipment, which could help to identify anomalies underground such as disturbed soil, clothing, bones or other items.
“Obviously, we’ve seen some movement, but they’ve been keeping it all pretty heavily under wraps,” he said. “We saw a radar crew coming in and out with their ground scanning equipment.”
In all, Lambert said he was “hopeful that this is good news.”
“Obviously, they wouldn’t have returned without new evidence, so waiting to see what that is,” he added.
Former Tribune reporter Chloe Jones contributed to this reporting.
This story was originally published May 6, 2026 at 11:59 AM with the headline "Live Updates: Kristin Smart search underway at SLO County home of killer’s mother."
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