Deputies Conduct Second Raid At San Pedro Home Of Kristin Smart's Classmate
SAN PEDRO (CBSLA) – For the second time in the past three months, authorities searched a San Pedro home belonging to a person of interest in the 1996 Northern California disappearance of Kristin Smart.
At around 7 a.m. Wednesday, Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies served a search warrant at the home of 43-year-old Paul Flores, located at 938 W. Upland Ave.
The warrant was for "specific items of evidence," the sheriff's department said. However, the exact purpose was sealed by a court.
A neighbor, wishing to be identified only as Mike, talked about the first time a warrant was served at the home.
"I didn't see anything this morning but I know this is the second time they've been here. Last time they were here with the FBI," he said. "He's pretty quiet, he really never talks to anybody. Just comes out and throws out his trash."
"There's a possibility for everything right? I feel like they're reaching for a reason so they might have evidence that might point towards him," he said.
In May of 1996, Kristin Smart of Stockton disappeared while a freshman at California Polytechnic State University. She was last seen leaving an off-campus party. Her body has never been found.
Flores was a fellow student at Cal Poly at the time of Smart's disappearance and is believed to be the last person to see her alive.
Back on Feb. 5, the FBI and the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office (SLOCSO) searched Flores' home. He was detained in an LASD squad SUV, handcuffed, questioned, and then released by deputies after signing some paperwork.
It was one of four search warrants served that day by San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's deputies. Two others were in San Luis Obispo County and the fourth was in Washington state.
On Jan. 29, SLOCSO disclosed that it had taken two trucks into evidence that had belonged to family members of Flores back in 1996.
