Warrants issued for locations in SLO County, Los Angeles County, and Washington State

According to a neighbor, on Wednesday morning around 8:30 a.m., police and FBI entered the Arroyo Grande home of Susan Flores and occupied the residence for 10 to 15 minutes. Details of the search have not yet been released.

Also on Wednesday, the FBI conducted a coordinated search of a home in the same San Pedro neighborhood that Paul Flores currently lives. It has been reported that a person believed to be Paul Flores was detained in a squad car outside the home for a period of two hours during the search.

On Jan. 29, the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff — criticized strongly for its handling of the Kristin Smart case over the past 23 years, including the mishandling of a bloody earring that was found by a tenant of Flores-owned property — announced the possession of two vehicles that were owned by the Flores family during the time of Kristin’s disappearance.

In January, the family of Kristin Smart were given an ominous tip from a former FBI agent that a potential break in the case of their missing daughter Kristin Smart was impending.

Kristin has been missing since last seen with Paul Flores around the Cal Poly area in San Luis Obispo in 1996.

Since then, Flores has been a person of interest but the case has not been resolved in over 23 years. One of the search warrants is issued in San Pedro, known as the city of residence for Paul Flores.

New information has come to light after the resurgence of publicity surrounding the case, largely due to a compelling podcast by Chris Lambert and attention from local media.

A vigil was held on Saturday, February 1 in San Luis Obispo’s Santa Rosa Park.

Released by SLO Sheriff, 2/5/2020

“This is an active and ongoing investigation.”

Released from SLO County Sheriff’s Office: Due to the high-profile nature of the investigation into the disappearance and whereabouts of Kristin Smart and to avoid the dissemination of misinformation, the Sheriff’s Office is announcing this morning it has served search warrants for specific items of evidence inside four separate locations in California and Washington.

Two of those locations are in San Luis Obispo County, one location is in Los Angeles County and one location is in Washington State.

The search warrants are limited in scope, and sealed by the court. As a result, we are precluded by law from disclosing any further details about them. This is an active and on-going investigation.

NOTE: The Sheriff’s Office will not be commenting any further and no additional information will be released at this time, nor do we anticipate any additional news releases regarding this investigation.