Kristin Smart's body not found, search ends at home tied to killer despite signs of remains

"Investigators ended a search for Kristin Smart's body at the home of her killer's mother on Saturday without recovering a body, a day after Sheriff Ian Parkinson said soil testing detected the presence of human remains. San Luis Obispo County sheriff's deputies joined by soil scientists and ground radar experts and armed with a search warrant have been at the Arroyo Grande home of Susan Flores since Wednesday. Investigators are trying to determine if convicted killer Paul Flores concealed his victim's body at the home after killing her nearly 30 years ago."

""We did not recover Kristin Smart," the sheriff's office said in a statement Saturday after the search in the 500 block of East Branch Street concluded. "Detectives will be evaluating any evidence we have recovered to aid in the investigation." Parkinson's office reiterated a refrain heard since Paul Flores' sentencing to life in prison three years ago. "The Sheriff's Office remains fully committed to finding Kristin and bringing her home to her family. No further information is available.""

"Parkinson on Friday revealed that the soil tests were positive for remains. "We believe that, based on what we're looking at, evidence, wise scientific evidence, that human remains were there at one time," he said. "So we can't call it Kristin, but you know, we think there's, there's evidence to support human remains there." Investigators believe Smart's body may have been moved multiple times."

Investigators ended a search for Kristin Smart’s body at the home of Susan Flores, mother of convicted killer Paul Flores, without recovering a body. Deputies, soil scientists, and ground radar experts searched the 500 block of East Branch Street under a search warrant. The sheriff’s office stated that detectives would evaluate evidence recovered during the search. Sheriff Ian Parkinson previously reported that soil testing was positive for human remains and said scientific evidence suggested remains had been present, though they could not confirm they were Kristin Smart. Investigators believe Smart’s body may have been moved multiple times, and large amounts of data were collected for analysis.

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