The remains of the missing college student Kristin Smart is reportedly being searched by investigators at Arroyo Grande hills located around 20 miles south of the campus of Cal Poly.
Smart went missing after she headed back to her dorm from a party on Memorial Day weekend 1996.
Paul Flores, who attended the same school with the victim and walked with her that night, remained as the only suspect after the long years passed. Along with his father, Ruben Flores, the student was arrested on April 13 and became the first arrest made in line with Smart’s case.
According to investigators, Paul Flores attempted to assault Smart sexually and was behind the killing. Smart’s body was allegedly brought by the suspect and his father to their property in Arroyo Grande to be hidden.
In recent years, several search warrants were issued to search the Flores’ family home. Investigators, with the power of search warrants, were able to dig up the backyard in the past year.
An unsealed document from the prosecution last week said Investigators have discovered a “large approximately 4-foot-by-6-foot anomaly” under the back deck. It seemed that “someone dug the soil out and put it back,” as written by prosecutor Christopher Peuvrelle. Prosecutors further alleged that the soil from the area underwent testing and the result probably matches human blood.
An uncommon activity in February last year was also noted by a neighbor on White Court, who claimed she spotted the suspect’s mother along with Ruben’s former wife Susan Flores and her boyfriend, a certain Mike McConville. Ruben Flores, Susan Flores, and McConville were allegedly seen by the witness to have tried to “back an enclosed travel trailer to the back of the house near the deck.”
On a true crime podcast “Your Own Backyard”, Chris Lambert on Wednesday said law enforcers are taking the listeners’ tips into consideration, SFGate reported.
“Since appealing to the Central Coast in Episode 10, I’ve received dozens of tips from citizens who have spotted unusual activity,” Lambert said in an Instagram post. “Several of those tips pointed to one area in particular, and after passing the information on to law enforcement, investigators are following up TODAY and searching for Kristin Smart’s body in an area of rural Arroyo Grande that the Flores family has returned to repeatedly.”
