Overview
- San Luis Obispo County deputies executed a judge-authorized warrant at the East Branch Street property Wednesday, starting what officials described as an ongoing search.
- The home belongs to Susan Flores, mother of convicted killer Paul Flores, and the sheriff’s office confirmed the address after the Your Own Backyard podcast first reported the operation.
- Sheriff Ian Parkinson and specialists using ground-penetrating radar and soil analysis were on site, and the work was expected to take two days, according to the Los Angeles Times.
- Deputies also served a warrant at a neighboring lot where independent researchers in 2023 reported soil vapors with chemicals linked to human decomposition, a technique still under study and not used in court.
- Paul Flores was found guilty of Smart’s 1996 murder in 2022 and sentenced to 25 years to life in 2023, yet her body has not been located and his father was acquitted of accessory charges.