New Search Warrant Issued in Kristin Smart Murder Case 30 Years After She Went Missing

Nearly 30 years after Kristin Smart disappeared, the search for her body has continued after police issued a new search warrant in connection to her 1996 disappearance.

Smart, 19, vanished from California Polytechnic State University, where she had just finished her freshman year, after she attended an off-campus party on May 25, 1996.

Paul Flores was convicted of her murder 25 years later in October 2022. While Flores, 49, was found guilty and was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison, the mystery behind Smart’s disappearance still has several unanswered questions, including where her body is.

On Wednesday, May 6, deputies with the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant at a house in the 500 block of East Branch Street in connection to Smart’s disappearance. The home belongs to Flores’ mother, Susan Flores, according to USA Today.

The sheriff’s office confirmed in a statement that same day that the investigation stemmed from a search warrant that was signed by a Superior Court judge and was related to Smart’s disappearance.

“The Sheriff’s Office remains committed to bringing Kristin home to her family,” the sheriff’s office’s statement read. “No further information is available.”

While the agency did not share any additional information, they did upload photos from the recent search. Officers were photographed talking outside of the home, as well as walking through an outdoor garden on the property and in a garage that stored many household items.

“Your Own Backyard” podcast, which is about Smart’s disappearance, reported that deputies served Flores’ mother on her doorstep at 7:05 a.m.

Back in March 2021, Flores’ father Ruben Flores’ property was searched with ground-penetrating radar in connection to Smart’s disappearance. The search resulted in both Flores men being arrested. Ruben was arrested as an accessory to murder, though he was later acquitted of the charge.

During the search, authorities found a 6-foot by 4-foot void under Ruben’s deck and took several soil samples from the area. The samples tested positive for the presence of human blood, which led prosecutors to believe that Smart’s body was removed from that location some time prior to the search.

Smart’s disappearance was a topic covered on Us Weekly’s Uncovered. San Luis Obispo Tribune reporter Chloe Jones, who covered Flores’ trial and has spoken with Smart’s parents, told investigative journalist Kristin Thorne that the Smart family still hoped to find her body.

“They still don’t have a body, and all they want to do is have her body, have that closure to lay her to rest,” Jones said. “They’re still in a lot of pain, they’re still hurting. They still feel like, even though the trial’s done, they don’t have that closure that they’d like.”