Deputies search home of suspect in Kristin Smart’s disappearance

April 22, 2020

Investigators served another search warrant Wednesday morning at the Los Angeles area home of Paul Flores, the lone suspect in the Kristin Smart disappearance case.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department assisted in serving the sealed warrant at Flores’s house in San Pedro, according to the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office.

Wednesday morning’s search only involved the home of Paul Flores and not any other locations. Sheriff’s officials are not disclosing further details about the search.

On February 5, sheriff’s deputies served warrants at four separate locations, including at Flores’s house and the Arroyo Grande home of his mother. The same day, investigators also served warrants at an undisclosed location in SLO County and at a location in Washington State.

Southern California media reported that, during the February search, investigators detained Flores for about two hours while searching his home. 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.

Investigators also reportedly searched several parked cars on the street outside Flores’s home. Flores then reportedly ran back into the house without answering questions from reporters outside.

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 then-fellow student Flores, who claims he escorted Smart to her dorm, which was relatively empty over the Memorial Day weekend.

In January, 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.