Authorities in San Luis Obispo County used a forensic search Thursday outside a home connected to Paul Flores, who was convicted in 2022 in the 1996 death of Kristin Smart, a California college student whose remains have never been found.
The sheriff’s office served a search warrant Wednesday on Susan Flores’ property in Arroyo Grande, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) northwest of Los Angeles, and did not immediately answer questions about what prompted the search.
Scientists specializing in human decomposition and soil took samples outside the home Thursday, according to the Associated Press. Tim Nelligan, an expert in soil vapor testing, said by phone that he was on the premises gathering samples from the yards of Flores and a neighbor, adding that he would not discuss the ongoing investigation.
Nelligan said his team, in general, “come up with a methodology to assess soil vapor” and its relation to “human cadaver decomposition,” but declined to provide details about what they were doing at the property connected to Flores.
Soil vapor sampling involves collecting underground gas samples to detect volatile organic compounds associated with human decomposition, which authorities described as an evolving science. Investigators used instruments pushed into the soil and removed long tubing as part of the sampling effort.
The Smart case began in May 1996, when Kristin Smart went missing after returning from an off-campus party near California Polytechnic State University. Prosecutors alleged she was killed during an attempted rape, and said the last person she was seen with was Paul Flores, a fellow student; she was declared legally dead in 2002.
The decades-old case has drawn renewed attention from a podcast host, Chris Lambert of “Your Own Backyard,” who helped investigators by bringing forward additional witnesses and first reported the search of the Arroyo Grande home. Lambert said Thursday that past searches of Susan Flores’ home had not been thorough.
Susan Flores has not faced criminal charges related to the case, and attempts to reach her for comment Wednesday and Thursday were unsuccessful. Paul Flores and his father, Ruben Flores, were arrested in 2021, and prosecutors alleged Smart’s remains were buried on Ruben Flores’ property and later moved, though prosecutors said a different property is now under investigation.
Paul Flores was acquitted of accessory charges, and he was sentenced in March 2023 to prison, where he has been physically attacked at least twice, according to the AP. In 2024, a judge ordered Flores to pay just over $350,000 to Smart’s family for costs incurred after her death, and the family has said it would forgo restitution if Flores told them where Smart’s body was; Flores’ attorney, Harold Mesick, said in 2024 that the defense did not know where her remains are, and Flores maintains his innocence.
The county district attorney’s office said Wednesday it was helping the sheriff’s office with the investigation. District Attorney Dan Dow said in a statement, “While those responsible for Kristin’s death — and those with knowledge of her whereabouts — could provide answers at any time, we remain firmly committed to using every lawful tool available to locate Kristin’s remains and to support her family until she is brought home,” the AP reported.