{"id":304104,"date":"2026-05-07T10:58:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T10:58:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/304104\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T10:58:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T10:58:09","slug":"investigators-searching-home-connected-to-killer-of-california-college-student-kristin-smart-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/304104\/","title":{"rendered":"Investigators searching home connected to killer of California college student Kristin Smart"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. \u2013 Authorities plan Thursday to enter the second day of their search of a the home connected to the man convicted<\/a> of killing 19-year-old college student Kristin Smart in 1996, according to law enforcement.<\/p>\n

The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office served the warrant Wednesday in the ongoing investigation into Smart’s disappearance. Her remains were never found and she was declared legally dead in 2002. Paul Flores was convicted in October 2022 and ultimately sentenced<\/a> to 25 years to life in prison.<\/p>\n

Law enforcement searched a home in the central coast town of Arroyo Grande occupied by Flores\u2019 mother, Susan Flores, according to public records and reporting by a podcast that has closely followed the case.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Sheriff\u2019s Office remains committed to bringing Kristin home to her family,\u201d the sheriff’s statement said. \u201cNo further information is available.\u201d <\/p>\n

The \u201cYour Own Backyard\u201d<\/a> podcast, which helped investigators crack the case by bringing forward additional witnesses, first reported the search and said the home belongs to Flores’ mother. Attempts to reach Susan Flores for comment Wednesday were not successful.<\/p>\n

Smart went missing from California Polytechnic State University in May 1996 after returning from an off-campus party. Prosecutors alleged she was killed during an attempted rape and that the last person she was seen with was Flores, a fellow student. <\/p>\n

Flores and his father, Ruben Flores, were arrested in 2021.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors alleged Smart\u2019s remains were buried on Ruben Flores\u2019 property and later moved. He was acquitted of accessory charges. That property is different from the one searched on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Paul Flores was sentenced<\/a> in March 2023 to prison, where he has been physically attacked<\/a> at least twice. <\/p>\n

In 2024<\/a>, a judge ruled that Paul Flores must pay just over $350,000 to Smart’s family for costs they incurred after her death.<\/p>\n

The family has said it would forgo restitution if Flores would tell them where Kristin\u2019s body was. Flores\u2019 attorney, Harold Mesick, said in 2024 that the defense did not know where her remains are. Flores maintains his innocence.<\/p>\n

The county district attorney\u2019s office said Wednesday it was helping the sheriff’s office with the investigation. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhile those responsible for Kristin\u2019s death \u2014 and those with knowledge of her whereabouts \u2014 could provide answers at any time, we remain firmly committed to using every lawful tool available to locate Kristin\u2019s remains and to support her family until she is brought home,\u201d District Attorney Dan Dow said in a statement. <\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. \u2013 Authorities plan Thursday to enter the second day of their search of a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":304023,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8,28224,128185,127842,128076,128184,128077,17],"class_list":["post-304104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-dan-dow","tag-harold-mesick","tag-kristin-smart","tag-paul-flores","tag-ruben-flores","tag-susan-flores","tag-u-s-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=304104"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304104\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/304023"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=304104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=304104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=304104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}