Search warrant served at home tied to suspect in Kristin Smart disappearance

Cassie Dickman

The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office served a search warrant Monday at the home of Paul Flores’s father. Flores remains the prime suspect in the 1996 disappearance case of former-Stockton resident Kristin Smart.

Smart went missing nearly 25 years ago during her freshman year at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. She was 19 years old at the time.

The Sheriff ’s Office said in a statement that a “Smart Investigation Search Warrant” was served at about 7:30 a.m. at the home of Ruben Flores in the 700 block of White Court in Arroyo Grande, a city just several miles southeast of Pismo Beach.

Authorities have been authorized to use cadaver dogs and ground penetrating radar during the search, a process which the Sheriff’s Office says “could potentially take one to two days to complete.”

Flores, now a San Pedro resident, was arrested last month in the harbor area of Los Angeles on suspicion of being a felon in possession of a firearm, according to the San Luis Obispo Tribune.

Smart’s family said they were encouraged by the news of Monday’s search warrant.

“We appreciate the vigilance and professionalism of (San Luis Obispo County) Sheriff Ian Parkinson and his department and our family looks forward to learning more in the hours and days ahead,” the family said in a statement Monday morning.

In May 1996, Smart reportedly was escorted to her dorm residence by three students after an oncampus party.

One of the students who reportedly escorted Smart to her dorm was Flores, who has been the sole person of interest in the case. Flores told police he walked Smart as far as his dorm, then allowed her to walk to her dorm unaccompanied. Cal Poly police originally suspected Smart had gone on an unannounced camping trip, and the case wasn’t turned over to the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office for a month. Smart was officially declared dead on May 25, 2002.

Last year in February and again in March, the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI served search warrants at several residences in California and Washington state related to Flores. Officials have not released further details of any findings.

Multiple sources last month told The Los Angeles Times that the searches are part of an ongoing effort to gather physical evidence, including DNA, that may reveal what happened to Smart.

San Luis Obispo Sheriff’s Office spokesman Tony Cipolla confirmed at the time Flores was taken into custody last month that the arrest “originated as a result of information obtained during our search warrants last year at the home of Paul Flores as part of the Kristin Smart investigation.”

Monday’s search warrant has been sealed, precluding the Sheriff ’s Office “by law from disclosing any further details regarding it.”

The Sheriff’s Office described the investigation into Smart’s disappearance as “on-going” but said the department “will not be commenting any further and no additional information will be released at this time.”

The San Luis Obispo Tribune reported more than a dozen deputies were at Ruben Flores’ house Monday morning, but unlike past recent searches related to the case, FBI agents did not appear to be present during the search.

Three people who appeared to be residents of the home were seen standing outside as deputies walked in and out of the property with K-9s, The Tribune reported. A large number of law enforcement officers were searching in the rear of the prop

erty.

A red, older model Volkswagen Cabriolet, covered in a thick layer of dust, was also towed away from the driveway of the home. It was unclear who the vehicle belonged to.

Flores, now in his 40s, has refused to cooperate with authorities since an initial interview with investigators at the time of Smart’s disappearance.

He did not reveal details in a 1996 appearance before a San Luis Obispo grand jury, nor a 1997 deposition in which he repeatedly cited his right against self-incrimination, according to the San Luis Obispo Tribune reported.

“There are no other suspects,” then-Sheriff Ed Williams said in 1997.