{"id":37,"date":"2026-05-07T13:04:21","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T13:04:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/?p=37"},"modified":"2026-05-07T13:04:21","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T13:04:21","slug":"search-warrant-served-at-home-connected-to-kristin-smarts-killer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/?p=37","title":{"rendered":"Search warrant served at home connected to Kristin Smart’s killer"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
<\/div>\n
\n

Law enforcement served a warrant at the Arroyo Grande\u00a0home of Paul Flores\u2019 mother Wednesday morning, continuing the yearslong search for the remains of murdered Cal Poly San Luis Obispo student Kristin Smart. The news was first reported by the \u201cYour Own Backyard\u201d podcast, which has followed the case for years.<\/p>\n

Read more Bay Area crash occurred hours after teens took drunk driving education<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"\"<\/div>\n
\n

Around 2 a.m. on Memorial Day weekend 1996, 19-year-old Smart headed back to her residence hall after attending a party. Smart was accompanied by three fellow students. Two peeled off before reaching her dorm, walking back to their own residences. The third, Paul Flores, later told police he dropped her off on campus at the intersection of Grand Avenue and Perimeter Road in San Luis Obispo. She was never seen again, and her remains have not been located.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\n

From the start of the investigation, police believed Flores had likely sexually assaulted and killed her. But it took over two decades before they finally felt they had enough evidence to\u00a0arrest him on suspicion of murder. Flores was convicted of murder in 2022 and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Detectives have long believed Paul Flores\u2019 family members helped him cover up the crime. They have served multiple warrants connected to the property owned by Flores\u2019 parents, Susan and Ruben\u00a0Flores. Ruben Flores was tried for being an accessory to Smart\u2019s murder, but he was acquitted by a jury; Susan Flores has not been charged in connection with the crime.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

In 2021, the sheriff\u2019s office searched an Arroyo Grande home that belonged to Ruben Flores, focusing on the back deck area with ground-penetrating radar and cadaver dogs. Prosecutors at the time of Paul Flores\u2019 trial said they believed Smart\u2019s body was buried at that property, about a 20-minute drive from the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo campus, and was moved decades later as the investigation neared an arrest.<\/p>\n

Read more Convicted child predator disappears after judge allows release before sentencing in El Dorado County<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\n

San Luis Obispo County Sheriff\u2019s Office spokesperson Tony Cipolla confirmed to the \u201cYour Own Backyard\u201d podcast that a search warrant was served on the 500 block of East Branch Street\u00a0around 7 a.m. on Wednesday. Photos released by the sheriff\u2019s office show investigators looking through a cluttered garage and in the home\u2019s backyard, which has a concrete patio. The\u00a0news release confirmed the warrant is connected to the search for Smart and said that no further information will be released at this time. SFGATE\u2019s request for more details from the sheriff\u2019s office was not returned before the time of publication.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cThe Sheriff\u2019s Office remains committed to bringing Kristin home to her family,\u201d the department said Wednesday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\n

This breaking news story has been updated.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
More News<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

\u2014 Search warrant served at home connected to Kristin Smart’s killer
\u2014 Bay Area crash occurred hours after teens took drunk driving education
\u2014 Convicted child predator disappears before sentencing in Tahoe
\u2014 Alcatraz coyote didn’t swim from San Francisco, officials say<\/p>\n

Read more New Amazon facility sparks heavy backlash in small California town<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Sign up for\u00a0daily SFGATE breaking news alerts here.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A search warrant was served at the home of Susan Flores, the mother of Paul Flores, who was convicted of murdering the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo student in 1996.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nSearch warrant served at home connected to Kristin Smart's killer - San Francisco Moving Guide<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/?p=37\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Search warrant served at home connected to Kristin Smart's killer - San Francisco Moving Guide\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A search warrant was served at the home of Susan Flores, the mother of Paul Flores, who was convicted of murdering the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo student in 1996.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/?p=37\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"San Francisco Moving Guide\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-07T13:04:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/b486fd914c7b88e6b5e4b8fa1caa7429.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2048\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1365\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\\\/?p=37#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\\\/?p=37\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/feb53ea52c21047d75f8b4ee2c8bb8bf\"},\"headline\":\"Search warrant served at home connected to Kristin Smart’s killer\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-07T13:04:21+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\\\/?p=37\"},\"wordCount\":540,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\\\/?p=37#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/b486fd914c7b88e6b5e4b8fa1caa7429.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\\\/?p=37#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\\\/?p=37\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\\\/?p=37\",\"name\":\"Search warrant served at home connected to Kristin Smart's killer - San Francisco Moving Guide\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\\\/?p=37#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\\\/?p=37#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/b486fd914c7b88e6b5e4b8fa1caa7429.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-07T13:04:21+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/feb53ea52c21047d75f8b4ee2c8bb8bf\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\\\/?p=37#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\\\/?p=37\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\\\/?p=37#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/b486fd914c7b88e6b5e4b8fa1caa7429.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/b486fd914c7b88e6b5e4b8fa1caa7429.jpg\",\"width\":2048,\"height\":1365},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\\\/?p=37#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Search warrant served at home connected to Kristin Smart’s killer\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"San Francisco Moving Guide\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/feb53ea52c21047d75f8b4ee2c8bb8bf\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Search warrant served at home connected to Kristin Smart's killer - San Francisco Moving Guide","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/?p=37","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Search warrant served at home connected to Kristin Smart's killer - San Francisco Moving Guide","og_description":"A search warrant was served at the home of Susan Flores, the mother of Paul Flores, who was convicted of murdering the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo student in 1996.","og_url":"https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/?p=37","og_site_name":"San Francisco Moving Guide","article_published_time":"2026-05-07T13:04:21+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2048,"height":1365,"url":"https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/b486fd914c7b88e6b5e4b8fa1caa7429.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/?p=37#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/?p=37"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/#\/schema\/person\/feb53ea52c21047d75f8b4ee2c8bb8bf"},"headline":"Search warrant served at home connected to Kristin Smart’s killer","datePublished":"2026-05-07T13:04:21+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/?p=37"},"wordCount":540,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/?p=37#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/b486fd914c7b88e6b5e4b8fa1caa7429.jpg","articleSection":["Interesting"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/?p=37#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/?p=37","url":"https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/?p=37","name":"Search warrant served at home connected to Kristin Smart's killer - San Francisco Moving Guide","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/?p=37#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/?p=37#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/b486fd914c7b88e6b5e4b8fa1caa7429.jpg","datePublished":"2026-05-07T13:04:21+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/#\/schema\/person\/feb53ea52c21047d75f8b4ee2c8bb8bf"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/?p=37#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/?p=37"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/?p=37#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/b486fd914c7b88e6b5e4b8fa1caa7429.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/b486fd914c7b88e6b5e4b8fa1caa7429.jpg","width":2048,"height":1365},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/?p=37#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Search warrant served at home connected to Kristin Smart’s killer"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/","name":"San Francisco Moving Guide","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/#\/schema\/person\/feb53ea52c21047d75f8b4ee2c8bb8bf","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com"],"url":"https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=37"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/22"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=37"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=37"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=37"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}