Sheriff’s Office, FBI begin excavation at Cal Poly for Missing Kristin Smart

The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Department says there has been a new development in the Kristin Smart disappearance case.

An ongoing investigation led authorities back to the Cal Poly Campus where the Sheriff’s Office, with assistance from the FBI, have started an excavation process on a hillside area of the campus for evidence in the Smart case.

The 19-year-old freshman was last seen alive on the Cal Poly campus on May 25, 1996. Over the past several years, the Sheriff’s Office has assigned more personnel to the case and developed more leads, said Parkinson in a Tuesday afternoon live press conference.

“The leads led us to this location at Cal Poly. We brought in human remains detection dogs from the FBI in Quantico, Virginia,” said Sheriff Parkinson.

The Sheriff said it has also brought in the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to minimize the impact of the environment during the excavation process.

40 investigators, including 25 with the FBI will remain on scene for approximately four days.

Sheriff Parkinson said there are other locations of interest but declined to comment further due to the nature of this active investigation.

He added that Paul Flores, who was the last known person to see Smart alive, remains a person of interest in the case.

Parkinson noted the Smart family, which lives in Stockton, has been kept up-to-date with the last developments.