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Search warrant served in LA County in connection to Kristin Smart cold case

The search warrant was for “specific items of evidence” at the home of Paul Flores, according to the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office.

LOS ANGELES COUNTY, Calif. — A new search warrant was served, Wednesday, at the Los Angeles County home of a person of interest in the cold case disappearance of Kristin Smart.

The search warrant was for “specific items of evidence” at the home of Paul Flores, according to the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office. Flores was the last person seen with Smart before she went missing back in 1996.

The SLO Sheriff’s Office was assisted in the search by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office.

In early February, four search warrants related to Smart’s disappearance were served at locations in California and Washington state -- Two locations searched were in San Luis Obispo County, one was in Los Angeles County and the fourth was in Kenmore, Washington.

Wednesday’s warrant search was only served at one location. No other details about the search warrant have been released because it’s been sealed by the court.

The investigation into Smart’s disappearance remains ongoing, the sheriff’s office said. No other information is expected to be released regarding Wednesday’s search warrant.

Background on the case

Kristin Smart disappeared in 1996 after leaving an on-campus party at Cal Poly University, San Luis Obispo.

Smart was officially declared dead in 2002, and the case was turned over to the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office. In 2007 Flores' mother's home was dug up and searched throughout for Smart's remains.

In 2016, the FBI excavated a site on the edge of the college campus on a hillside about half a mile from where Smart was last seen. The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office's Spokesman Tony Cipolla told The Los Angeles Times FBI officers discovered "items of interest," but did not say what they were.

In mid-January 2020, according to the Stockton Record, Kristin's mother, Denise Smart, said she was contacted by the FBI and told, "Be ready. This is really going to be something you don't expect. We want to give you the support you need.

Read more about the Kristin Smart case from ABC10

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WATCH MORE: Evidence recovered related to Kristin Smart case during warrant search in San Luis Obispo

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