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The search for Kristin Smart at the Arroyo Grande home of convicted killer Paul Flores’ mother continued into its third day Friday as the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office shared its first update on what’s happening at the site.
In a wide-ranging news conference Friday morning, Sheriff Ian Parkinson said investigators believe they have found evidence of human remains at Susan Flores’ Arroyo Grande home in the continuing search for Smart, who went missing nearly 30 years ago on Memorial Day weekend of 1996.
“We believe that based on what we’re looking at — evidence-wise, scientific evidence — that human remains were there at one time or are still there,” Parkinson said.
Susan Flores is the mother of Paul Flores, who was convicted in 2022 of killing Smart when she was a first-year student at Cal Poly.
She has never been charged with a crime associated with Kristin Smart’s disappearance.
Follow The Tribune for today’s live updates from the scene:
New tarps cover part of Flores house, shovels taken into yard
Activity Wednesday and Thursday at the site was focused largely around soil sampling and ground penetrating radar, as well as a search of the home.
Friday, however, saw some new developments.
Tarps were installed along several edges of the Branch Street property early Friday morning, blocking off the view of portions of the Flores backyard from view.
During the media conference Friday morning, Parkinson said those were in place to shield the work, “sealing it from public view.”
“It’s not something is being hidden,” he said. “It’s the fact that we don’t want people guessing what we’re doing. We need to work in peace, and that’s what we’re doing now.”
At 11 a.m., a Sheriff’s Office investigator unloaded at least three shovels from a county vehicle and brought at least two into the backyard. During the press conference, Parkinson said that any digging up of the yard would require a new, separate “piggyback” search warrant signed by a judge. “A judge is giving you permission to do certain things,” Parkinson said. “You have to find probable cause to do the next step.”
Sheriff’s Office gives first public comments since start of search
Speaking at a Friday morning press conference in his first public communication since the start of the search, Parkinson said investigators believe they have found evidence of human remains at Susan Flores’ home.
“We believe that based on what we’re looking at — evidence-wise, scientific evidence — that human remains were there at one time or are still there,” Parkinson said.
However, Parkinson said while his office believes it has seen evidence of human remains at the site, he could not yet specify whether it was Smart’s remains.
Ground penetrating radar has detected anomalies in the ground, but those anomalies have not been analyzed to determine if they are of interest to the case at this time, Parkinson said.
Parkinson said Susan Flores remains a “person of interest” in the case “as she always has been,” but he noted that they do not have “a lawful reason to detain her at this point.” Procurement of evidence that points to her involvement could result in charges as an accessory to murder, he said.
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“I think the problem with this case from the very beginning was most people that had read the case believe they knew about the case,” he said. “It was always their feeling was based on belief, and as I repeat it to the Smarts many times, it’s not what we believe, it’s what we can prove.”
He also said it would be possible for Ruben Flores’ home to be searched again if evidence points to it, though his previous acquittal in 2022 would make it harder to charge him with a crime due to double jeopardy rules that prevent people from being tried for the same crime multiple times.
“Anything is open,” he said. “Kristin has been moved, and we don’t know how many times she’s been moved, and where she’s been moved.”
What to know about Kristin Smart case, search
In a news release Wednesday, the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office said it was conducting an investigation into the property in the 500 block of East Branch Street in Arroyo Grande.
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.
Denise Smart, Kristin Smart’s mother, has previously said that 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.
The Smart family has not issued a statement.
In recent years, Susan Flores’ Arroyo Grande home has become a prominent point of interest in the 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.
On Wednesday and Thursday, many of those scientists including Hoyt, environmental engineer Tim Nelligan and former FBI chemist Brian Eckenrode were at the scene conducting sampling tests of the soil. They collected samples from the home’s backyard as well as its front yard and from a neighboring property.
Hoyt told The Tribune the group brought its initial 2023 findings to the Sheriff’s Office and after some back and forth and finetuning of the science, “they decided to move forward.”
The Tribune has called the lawyers of both Susan Flores and Paul Flores’ father Ruben Flores multiple times this week to request a comment on the search and gotten no response.
Ruben Flores faced trial at the same time as his son for allegedly helping hide the body, but a separate jury found him not guilty.
When a reporter went to Ruben Flores’ Arroyo Grande home seeking comment, Susan Flores told the reporter to leave and did not offer further comment on the situation.
This story was originally published May 8, 2026 at 11:36 AM with the headline “Live Updates: Kristin Smart investigators unload shovels at Susan Flores’ home.”
Read more Live Updates: Kristin Smart investigators unload shovels at Susan Flores’ home