Paul Flores detained in disappearance of Kristin Smart

February 5, 2020

By CCT STAFF

As part of the Kristin Smart case, San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s deputies and FBI agents served search warrants at four separate locations Wednesday morning, including the Southern California home of Paul Flores and the Arroyo Grande home of Flores’s mother.

Paul Flores, 43, was the last person seen in the company of Smart when she disappeared in 1996. Flores has long been a person of interest in the case, but he has never been charged.

Local media are reporting investigators searched Flores’s San Pedro home and apparently detained him for about two hours. Authorities reportedly handcuffed Flores, held him in a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s squad car, questioned him and released him after he signed some paperwork, CBS LA reports.

Investigators also reportedly searched several cars parked on the street outside Flores’ home.

Flores then reportedly ran back into the house without answering questions from reporters outside.

Investigators served search warrants at about 7 a.m. at three separate locations in California and one in Washington state, according to the SLO County Sheriff’s Office. The third California location is an unidentified property in SLO County.

Sheriff’s officials say investigators searched for specific items of evidence Wednesday morning. The search warrants were limited in scope and sealed by a court, so authorities cannot reveal addition details about them, according to the sheriff’s office.

Smart, a native of Stockton, was nearing the end of her freshman year at Cal Poly when she vanished on May 25, 1996 after attending an off-campus party. The 19-year-old was last seen in the company of fellow student Paul Flores who claims he escorted Smart to her dorm, which was relatively empty over the Memorial Day weekend.

Last month, Denise Smart, the mother of Kristin Smart, said authorities were planning on announcing a development in the case that could bring closure to her family.