Sheriff says no body has been recovered from Susan Flores’ Arroyo Grande property.
ARROYO GRANDE, Calif. — Scientific testing at a home owned by the mother of convicted murderer Paul Flores has produced evidence that human remains were present there, authorities said Friday, renewing the search for Kristin Smart nearly 30 years after she disappeared.
The finding does not confirm that the remains are Smart’s, and investigators said they had not recovered a body. But the update marked one of the most direct public statements in years from the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office about possible remains in the long-running case. The search began Wednesday at Susan Flores’ home on East Branch Street and continued into Friday as detectives, prosecutors and forensic specialists reviewed soil tests and ground radar results.
The search warrant was served May 6 at the home of Susan Flores, whose son was convicted in 2022 of murdering Smart, a 19-year-old California Polytechnic State University freshman who vanished over Memorial Day weekend in 1996. Investigators worked inside and outside the property, including the yards around the home and a nearby property. Scientists took soil vapor samples, and crews used ground-penetrating radar to look for anomalies under the property. Sheriff Ian Parkinson said investigators were looking for compounds in soil tied to human decomposition. He said evidence suggested that “human remains were there at one time or are still there,” but he stressed that the office could not say the evidence involved Smart.
Parkinson said the search remained active Friday and that investigators had not finished reviewing what they found. He said radar had shown anomalies, but those findings still had to be analyzed before the office could decide whether to seek authority for excavation. If investigators find cause to dig, Parkinson said they may need another warrant, including for any work under concrete or other parts of the property. The sheriff also said tarps placed at the home were meant to block public view and protect the integrity of the search, not to hide results. “We have not recovered Kristin yet, but our search goes on,” Parkinson said.
Smart was last seen walking back from an off-campus party near Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo in May 1996. Prosecutors later said Paul Flores, then a fellow student, killed her during an attempted rape. Her body was never found, and she was declared legally dead in 2002. Paul Flores and his father, Ruben Flores, were arrested in 2021 after years of investigation. Prosecutors said Smart’s remains had been buried at Ruben Flores’ property and later moved. Paul Flores was convicted of first-degree murder in October 2022. A separate jury acquitted Ruben Flores of accessory charges. Susan Flores has not been charged in the case.
The latest search focused on Susan Flores’ home, a property that investigators and people close to the case have examined or questioned before. The Sheriff’s Office previously searched the property in earlier years, and civil attorneys and investigators also reviewed the area during the long fight by Smart’s family to find her. Newer soil vapor work brought renewed attention to the East Branch Street property. Specialists have said the method tests underground gases for volatile organic compounds that may be tied to decomposition. Parkinson said newer tools and updated analysis helped support the latest warrant, but he said investigators must prove each step before moving forward.
The case also has moved through the courts since Paul Flores’ conviction. He was sentenced in March 2023 to 25 years to life in state prison. A California appeals court upheld the conviction in October 2025, and the California Supreme Court denied his petition for review in January 2026. District Attorney Dan Dow said his office was assisting the Sheriff’s Office with the search. Prosecutors said the work remains focused on finding Smart’s remains and supporting her family. Paul Flores has maintained his innocence, and his attorney has said the defense does not know where Smart’s body is.
Parkinson said Susan Flores remained a person of interest, but investigators did not have a lawful reason to detain her as of Friday. He said any criminal filing would depend on evidence and a decision by prosecutors. Attempts by news organizations to reach Susan Flores for comment were unsuccessful this week. The sheriff said investigators had been open to speaking with her but that she had not sat down with them. He also said a renewed search at Ruben Flores’ property remained possible if evidence pointed investigators there, though the earlier acquittal would affect any future prosecution on the same charge.
The search drew neighbors, reporters and longtime followers of the case to the quiet Arroyo Grande street. Chris Lambert, creator of the “Your Own Backyard” podcast that helped bring new attention and witnesses to the case, watched from outside the property and said the site had been overlooked for years. Members of Smart’s family said they remained hopeful that the search would bring results. Parkinson said he had often reminded the family that investigators had to build the case on evidence, not belief. “It’s not what we believe, it’s what we can prove,” he said.
By Friday, investigators were still at the home and had not announced a recovery. The next milestone is whether soil testing, radar analysis and any new evidence support excavation or another court-approved search step.
Author note: Last updated May 8, 2026.