Kristin Smart: Who is Paul Flores? California family home of prime suspect in 1996 disappearance case searched
SAN LUIS OBISPO, CALIFORNIA: Authorities searched the family home of Paul Flores on Monday, March 15 after he was named a "prime suspect" in the 1996 disappearance of Kristin Smart. According to the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office, deputies executed a search warrant at the Arroyo Grande home of Ruben Flores, the father of Paul Flores, around 7.30 am. The office said in a press release it had been authorized to deploy ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and cadaver dogs to aid the search, and that the process could take up to two days to complete, Fox News reported.
“The search warrant has been sealed,” the sheriff's office added. “As a result, we are precluded by law from disclosing any further details regarding it. This is an active and on-going investigation.”
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Kristin Smart: 19-year-old California student vanished from her dorm in 1996 never to be seen again
The Smart family told Fox 11 in a statement that they were "encouraged by news of today’s search of Ruben Flores’ property. "We appreciate the vigilance and professionalism of Sheriff Ian Parkinson and his department and our family looks forward to learning more in the hours and days ahead," the statement read.
Kristin Smart vanished while walking home from a frat party in 1996. She was last seen with Paul Flores, but he has never been arrested or charged in her disappearance.
In April last year, it emerged that investigators had recovered "items of interest" from the LA county home of Flores. "The search is now concluded and we recovered some items of interest in the case," Tony Cipolla, a spokesperson for the San Luis Obispo Sheriff's office, said at the time. "We are following up on leads, tips, and good investigative work."
MEAWW previously reported how the FBI may have found a breakthrough in the case and had told Kristin's mother Denise to brace herself up for the news they were going to give her. "Be ready," the FBI told her last January. "This is really going to be something you don’t expect." Smart was last seen on the night of May 25, 1996, when she decided to stay late at a frat party at the California Polytechnic State University where she was studying.
She was reportedly found passed out on a neighbor's lawn at 2 am by two fellow students, Cheryl Anderson and Tum Davis, who helped her get to her feet and decided to lead her to her dormitory which was nearby. Shortly after, they were joined by Flores, who offered to assist them in taking Smart back to the dorm. It was the last time anyone saw her, though the University Police Department initially did not report her as a missing person because they suspected the teen had gone on an "unannounced vacation." She was legally declared dead in 2002 though her body was never found.
On February 11, Flores was arrested on suspicion of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He was released from custody later that evening after posting a $35,000 bail, according to the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department. The suspect is due back in court on June 10, according to Fox News.