Apr. 14 Update: SLO County Sheriff’s Department Concludes Search at Ruben Flores Home
Original Story
On Monday, Mar. 16, San Luis Obispo County Sheriff served a search warrant at the Arroyo Grande home of Ruben Flores, father of Paul Flores.
Paul Flores was last seen with missing Cal Poly student Kristin Smart in May of 1996 and has been a person of interest over the years. According to the San Luis County Sheriff, Paul is now the primary suspect.
It has been suspected that Smart’s body may be buried at one of the parents’ homes in Arroyo Grande. Susan Flores, Paul’s mother, lives on East Branch Street just a few miles from Paul Flores’s house, where the search warrant was served on Monday.
This search comes almost a year after four search warrants were served in February 2020, just before the pandemic.
The warrants were for specific items of evidence inside four separate locations in California and Washington.
The two locations in San Luis Obispo County were Susan Flores home on East Branch Street and Ruben Flores home on White Court, both in Arroyo Grande.
The other location in Califonia was at Paul Flores’ residence in San Pedro, and the fourth location at the sister’s home in Washinton State.
The search warrants were limited in scope and sealed by the court. As a result, no further details were released.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) conducted a coordinated search along with the Sheriff’s Department; however, they have not been seen during the current investigation.
Today, day two, at the father’s home, after a full day of working with ground-penetrating radar (GPR) experts and two cadaver dogs, Sheriff Ian Parkinson is overseeing today’s search.
It was reported that Ruben Flores is not allowed at the home during the search and is currently with his wife Susan Flores at her East Branch Street Home.
Set up in the backyard this morning, close to the deck with lattice running along the edge, are two blue “pop-up” tents. Shovels and orange buckets are at the scene as well.
During Monday’s search, a Volkswagen Cabriolet last registered in 2010 and was reported to be registered to Paul’s parents, Ruben and Susan Flores.
According to reports, the Cabriolet was of interest to the parents of Kristin Smart and was never looked at.
At 1:51 p.m. today, the Sheriff’s department started removing the caution tape along with the blue pop-ups.
The forensic team packed up, and at 2 p.m., the Sheriff released a statement that the Smart Investigation Search Warrant has concluded at the home of Ruben Flores in Arroyo Grande. As with any active investigation, they will not be commenting on what, if any, evidence has been discovered. No further information will be released at this time.
