Sheriff’s Office still awaiting results of Kristin Smart digs

Nearly six weeks after “many items of interest and physical evidence” — including bones — were excavated from three separate dig sites on the Cal Poly campus, officials say it is still too soon to tell whether those items are related to the 20-year-old case of missing student Kristin Smart.

San Luis Obispo County Sheriff Ian Parkinson announced Sept. 6 that a new lead in the missing person case “strongly” suggests that the former Cal Poly freshman’s remains were buried on a hillside near the Cal Poly “P.”

A joint team of roughly 25 sheriff’s deputies, California Department of Fish and Wildlife officers and FBI investigators and support staff spent four days at the hillside, using heavy equipment to dig ravines about 3 feet deep into the hillside while personnel used tools to excavate and sift through the dirt within a 90-foot radius at all sites.

Items were taken to FBI labs for further forensic analysis, including determining whether the bones found are animal or human.

“The Sheriff’s Office is still awaiting the results from the forensic anthropologist,” sheriff’s spokesman Tony Cipolla wrote in an email to The Tribune on Monday. “At the time of the excavation project, we had mentioned this process could take days, weeks or even months before results are known. While the Sheriff’s Office is hopeful these findings will be beneficial to the investigation, we again urge the public to be patient throughout this process.”

A spokeswoman for the FBI could not immediately be reached for comment.

This story was originally published October 17, 2016 at 6:43 PM with the headline "Sheriff’s Office still awaiting results of Kristin Smart digs."