Overview
- The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office said Saturday it ended the search at Susan Flores’ Arroyo Grande property without recovering Kristin Smart.
- Sheriff Ian Parkinson said scientific soil testing showed signs consistent with human remains that were there at one time or may still be present, though not identified as Smart.
- Investigators used ground-penetrating radar and soil-vapor sampling, with experts in human decomposition collecting and interpreting samples.
- Detectives are now evaluating what they gathered, and the search warrant and the evidence that supported it remain sealed with no further updates planned for now.
- Paul Flores was convicted in 2022 and is serving 25 years to life, while Smart’s family continues to seek her remains in a case kept in the public eye by the Your Own Backyard podcast.