‘Your Own Backyard’ host reflects on new search at Susan Flores home

By Camille DeVaul · Thu May 21 2026

Lambert discusses evidence, planter boxes, and the Smart family’s hopes during four-day Arroyo Grande investigation

Feature Image by Camille DeVaul

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY — Throughout the four-day search at Susan Flores's home on Branch Street in Arroyo Grande, one familiar figure was alongside media. Watching, observing, and reporting on what investigators were doing at the Branch Street home was Chris Lambert, host and founder of the "Your Own Backyard" podcast.

Lambert's podcast awakened the Kristin Smart case in unexpected ways. Premiering with its first episode in 2019, the podcast renewed interest in the case for the community by detailing the case from the beginning — starting with when the Cal Poly freshman went missing Memorial Day weekend in 1996 to then interviewing people involved with the case, those who knew Kristin, and more. It was the first time Kristin's case had been put together for the public to consume with so much detail.

His work with the podcast is credited with leading to the first-degree murder conviction of Paul Flores in 2022.

On Thursday, May 7 (the second day of the search), while on scene in Arroyo Grande, Paso Robles Press/Atascadero News conducted a one-on-one interview with Lambert as the search for Kristin continued at Susan's home.

We asked him what went through his mind when he realized the sheriff's personnel were searching Susan's property again?

"My first thought, like everyone else's, is what evidence led them back here? Obviously, they could not come back here without new evidence of some kind," Lambert shared. "We've known about the soil vapor samples that were being done ... it's been a couple years that they've been doing that now, and the sheriff's department didn't seem to be executing a search warrant based on that. But now, after the second day of searching, it sort of seems like that was the main sort of reason that they got the search warrant."

Lambert told us that during each search the Sheriff's Office conducts related to Kristin's case, his hope is that they find Kristin. He added that he was happy to see law enforcement returning to Branch Street property and still curious as to what led them back there.

"[I am] very curious about what they're doing in the backyard, and the big hope being that they don't leave this premises without excavating that backyard in some way, particularly the planter boxes, which were installed not long after Kristen went missing," Lambert shared. "If you listen to the podcast, you probably heard the story about the earring that was discovered on this property, the beeping watch that was heard outside of the window in one of the planter boxes. To my knowledge, those planter boxes have never been dug up. And so I hope they don't leave today without digging them up. But we really don't know what took place in the backyard."

We again conducted a one-on-one interview with Lambert following the SLO County Sheriff's press conference on May 8.

We asked Lambert what was his biggest takeaway from the meeting was.

"One of the main reasons that they acquired this search warrant to begin with was based on independent soil sampling that seemed to indicate human decomposition vapors in the soil of the home next door along Susan's fence line," he said. "And then I asked Sheriff [Ian] Parkinson directly, 'Have you duplicated those results since Wednesday with your search?' and he confirmed that they have confirmed what appears to be vapors consistent with human decomposition on Susan Flores' property."

We asked Lambert how the Smart family feels about the search of Susan Flores's property.

"I know that they've been anxious for this search. I know that for the last couple of days, they've just been anxiously watching for updates and waiting for a call from the sheriff and hoping to be updated, but as far as I know, they're just cautiously optimistic as they remain," Lambert said. "And hoping that the extent of this search will finally answer questions, whether Kristen's here or not, that the search won't be so shallow that we don't actually know anything, that it will go until they've completely exhausted every possibility in this backyard."

You can find the full video of both interviews on facebook.com/ThePasoRoblesPress or facebook.com/AtascaderoNews

Following the sheriff's announcement of the search's conclusion on Saturday, May 9, Lambert provided us with the following statement: “I’m waiting to learn the full extent of the areas that were searched and the methods that were used before I draw any conclusions about this newest effort. This location was important, but I don’t believe it was the end of the road for this investigation.”