A search being conducted with the aid of cadaver dogs is underway at the home of the father of a San Pedro man who is now considered the “prime suspect” in the 1996 disappearance of college student Kristin Smart, the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office announced Monday.
Authorities served a search warrant at the Arroyo Grande residence of Ruben Flores. He’s the father of Paul Flores, who was arrested about a month ago in the South Bay in connection with an unrelated weapons case.
Flores was previously considered a person of interest in the case, but this was the first time the Sheriff’s Office characterized him as the “prime suspect.”
He was the last person to see the 19-year-old Cal Poly San Luis Obispo student alive before she mysteriously vanished nearly 25 years ago. The two, who were classmates, had left an off-campus party together.
Smart’s body was never found and she was declared dead in 2002.
Authorities first searched Ruben Flores’s home in the 1990s, the Los Angeles Times reported. However, this time they have been authorized to utilize cadaver dogs as well as ground penetrating radar when they comb through the property, according to a statement from the Sheriff’s Office.
“This process could potentially take one to two days to complete,” the statement read. “The search warrant has been sealed. As a result, we are precluded by law from disclosing any further details regarding it.”
A sheriff’s spokesperson said the agency had no further comment on the case and would not be releasing further details amid the active investigation.
Arroyo Grande is about 12 miles south-southeast from San Luis Obispo.
No criminal charges have ever been filed against Flores in the case, though Smart’s family sued him in civil court, according to the Times. In response, Flores denied any wrongdoing.
Last year, investigators served two search warrants — one in February and the other in April — at the San Pedro home belonging to Paul Flores, both in connection to the college student’s unsolved death, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Multiple sources told the Times that those searches were part of an ongoing effort to gather DNA and other physical evidence as they try to piece together what happened to Smart.
Then, on Feb. 11, 2021, Flores was arrested on suspicion of being a felon in possession with a firearm, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
He had a prior conviction for driving under the influence, San Luis Obispo television station KSBY reported.
Flores was released that same day after posting bond, which had been set at $35,000, jail records indicate. The record listed a scheduled court appearance for June 10.