Sheriff’s Office ends SLO County home search. ‘We did not recover Kristin Smart’
Update, 3:15 p.m.:
The Sheriff’s Office has concluded its search of Susan Flores’ Arroyo Grande home — without finding Kristin Smart’s remains, the agency said in a news release Saturday afternoon.
“We did not recover Kristin Smart,” the release said.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, detectives will now evaluate any evidence recovered during the search to aid in the investigation.
“The Sheriff’s Office remains fully committed to finding Kristin and bringing her home to her family,” the release said.
The Sheriff’s Office said it would not be releasing additional information at this time.
The search’s conclusion came the day after Sheriff Ian Parkinson held a wide-ranging press conference on the status of the investigation, which authorities believed had turned up evidence of human remains on the property.
As of Friday, investigators had not determined if that evidence points to Smart.
On Friday, Parkinson said the Sheriff’s Office planned to stay at the Branch Street property as long as it took to fulfill the full extent of its search warrant.
“We are not leaving that house until we are sure that we have checked everything,” he said at the time.
Chris Lambert, whose popular podcast “Your Own Backyard” explores the 30-year-old Kristin Smart case, said he was withholding judgment on the latest announcement Saturday until further information is released.
“I’m waiting to learn the full extent of the areas that were searched and the methods that were used before I draw any conclusions about this newest effort,” he said. “This location was important, but I don’t believe it was the end of the road for this investigation.”
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Smart family said the family “does not have a statement at this time”
Original story:
The search at Susan Flores’ Arroyo Grande home for evidence in the Kristin Smart case continued for a fourth day with a new kind of activity.
On Saturday afternoon, a team of forensic investigators joined the effort, including at least one dressed head-to-toe in a blue suit with surgical gloves and a headlamp.
That person was working in the crawlspace underneath the house with a gardening trowel, apparently collecting evidence in buckets.
Hammering and clanking noises could be heard from the street as well.
A crowd of roughly 15 people gathered at the sidewalk across from the house to watch the investigation play out Saturday afternoon.
The home on East Branch Street is owned by the mother of Paul Flores, who was convicted in 2022 of murdering Smart, the 19-year-old first-year Cal Poly student who disappeared from campus on Memorial Day weekend in 1996.
Despite the murder conviction that sent Paul Flores to prison on a 25-years-to-life sentence, the location of Smart’s body remains unknown.
San Luis Obispo County sheriff’s Det. Clint Cole also was on scene again at the property but told The Tribune he could not comment on the day’s activity.
The latest stage in the continuing search came the day after Sheriff Ian Parkinson held a wide-ranging press conference on the status of the investigation, which authorities believe has turned up evidence of human remains on the property.
Investigators have not yet determined if those remains point to Smart. Susan Flores remains a person of interest in the case but has never been faced charges in the case. When contacted earlier this week at the home of Paul Flores’ father Ruben Flores, she refused to comment.
Investigators have been using ground-penetrating radar and of soil vapor sampling that tests for “compounds in the soil that are related to a human decomposing body,” Parkinson said on Friday.
“I can confirm we are back at the location today,” sheriff’s spokesman Tony Cipolla said when contacted by The Tribune, “and are still in the process of analyzing the results of our testing at the property. The investigation will determine the length of time we will be at the location.”
“We do not anticipate any further news conferences or updates at this time to let the ongoing investigation proceed,” he added.
However, a sheriff’s deputy did arrive to remove the portable toilets, suggesting the investigation at the site may be winding down.
This story was originally published May 9, 2026 at 2:25 PM.
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