Overview
- San Luis Obispo County Sheriff Ian Parkinson said Friday that investigators have not found Kristin Smart but that soil tests show human remains were at the property at some point.
- The search, which began Wednesday under a judge‑signed warrant the district attorney helped obtain, uses ground‑penetrating radar and soil testing to guide where teams probe and sample.
- Parkinson named Susan Flores a person of interest, and the warrant bars occupants from returning while investigators work at the Arroyo Grande home and a neighboring yard.
- Earlier digs at Ruben Flores’ house uncovered a casket‑size soil disturbance and degraded human blood, supporting prosecutors’ claim that Smart’s remains were once buried there and later moved.
- Paul Flores is serving 25 years to life for the 1996 murder, and the renewed forensic work could finally show the Smart family where their daughter was laid to rest.