San Luis Obispo County Sheriff Ian Parkinson announced Friday that scientific analysis of soil samples taken from a central California property connected to convicted killer Paul Flores indicates that human remains were present at the site, either in the past or currently. Investigators have been executing a search warrant since Wednesday at the Arroyo Grande home of Susan Flores, mother of Paul Flores, who was convicted in 2022 of murdering 19-year-old college student Kristin Smart.

Parkinson told reporters that compound analysis of soil samples points to the presence of a decomposing human body, though he stopped short of confirming the remains belong to Smart. "We believe that based on what we're looking at evidence-wise — scientific evidence — that a human's remains were there at one time — or still there. We can't call it Kristin, but there's evidence to support human remains," Parkinson said. He added that investigators had not yet recovered Smart's remains and that the search would continue, with additional soil sampling and ground-penetrating radar equipment being deployed on the property.

Smart disappeared on May 25, 1996, after attending an off-campus party while a student at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. Prosecutors alleged she was killed during an attempted rape by Paul Flores, who was the last known person to see her. Smart was declared legally dead in 2002, and her body has never been located despite decades of investigation.

The current search is not the first time investigators have examined properties tied to the Flores family. Archaeologists previously searched the home of Paul Flores' father, Ruben Flores, and found a soil disturbance described as roughly the size of a casket along with human blood too degraded to yield usable DNA. Ruben Flores was charged as an accessory after the fact for allegedly helping his son bury and later move Smart's remains, but he was acquitted by a jury in 2022. Susan Flores has not been charged with any crime in connection with the case.

Sheriff Parkinson said investigators do not yet know how long the search of the property will continue and have not confirmed whether they will seek an additional warrant to begin excavation. The case drew widespread public attention in part because of podcast coverage that aided investigators in building the case that ultimately led to Paul Flores' first-degree murder conviction. Authorities said their goal remains to bring Smart's remains home to her family.