Cops have swooped on the home of Kristin Smart’s killer‘s mother as the 30-year-old murder case took another dramatic turn.

A team from San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Department raided Susan Flores house in Arroyo Grande early Wednesday and were seen handing her a search warrant.

In one image taken by true crime podcasters she appeared to be flipping the bird to the cameraman as officers bagged up items at the property.

Cal Poly student Smart, 19, vanished on Memorial Day weekend in 1996 after a party and has never been seen since.

Paul Flores, now 49, who was long a suspect in the case, was found guilty of first-degree murder in 2022 while his father Ruben was acquitted of helping him.

Sheriffs were spotted at Susan’s house as part of an ongoing investigation that was authorized by a Superior Court judge. They did not release further details.

Smart’s body has never been found but District Attorney Dan Dow vowed Wednesday that officers are still focused on finding her remains.

He said: “Since the jury convicted Paul Flores for the murder of Kristin Smart, the District Attorney’s Office has continued working in coordination with the Sheriff’s Office to fulfill our shared commitment to the Smart family and this community: to bring Kristin home.”

He added that authorities are using “every lawful tool available” in the ongoing effort. A team of local podcasters who have followed the case closely were on the scene during the raid.

Chris Lambert, from “Your Own Backyard,” told the Tribune: “Today was a big surprise for everyone.” He continued: “As far as Flores properties, the Flores family owned this house at the time that Kristin went missing, and it was never very thoroughly searched.

“It’s definitely overlooked. Ruben’s property was the one searched in 2021, which led to the trials.” He said he saw a radar crew deployed to the scene and spotted them scanning the driveway.

He continued: “I would assume what they’re doing here is the same thing they did here, which is scanning the ground to look for anomalies underneath, where soil may have been disturbed, dug up, replaced or anything.”

He added: “The clothing she was wearing that night was never found. The clothing that Paul wore that night was never recovered,” he said. “And so those things could be here as well.” 

Paul was long a suspect in the case and the last person known to have seen Smart alive when he walked her home from an alcohol-fueled off-campus party.

Prosecutors said he tried to rape her and killed her, possibly in his dorm room, on the night of May 25, 1996 when they were both freshman at the school.

He had a black eye when investigators interviewed him and he said he got playing pickup basketball, according to court records.

He later said he bumped his head working on his car after his friends threw water on his story about the basketball game, the documents said.

Ruben was accused of having buried Smart in his yard in Arroyo Grande, a little more than 10 miles from Cal Poly.

Investigators found soil disturbed under the elder Flores’ deck and the presence of blood, but could not link it to Smart through DNA testing.

Smart’s mother and sister cried “for several minutes” while her father and brother appeared “relieved” after Paul Flores’ verdict was read in court.

He was imprisoned for 25 years to life and has been attacked twice by other inmates in jail, including a stabbing in 2024.

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