Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - New Search for Kristen Smart |Crime Alert Saturday Recap 05.08.26

Episode Date: May 9, 2026

Breaking crime news as it happens throughout the day! Follow "Crime Alert Hourly Update" now on your favorite podcast app: https://link.chtbl.com/Crime_Alert Here's Sydney Silvagni with some of our top stories this week: Stay informed, stay safe, and stay ahead with "Crime Alert Hourly Update.” See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Crime alert, hourly update. Breaking Crime News now. I'm Sidney. We're following what is hopefully a major development in a cold case that has gripped the central coast of California for nearly three decades. Investigators in San Luis Obispo County have returned to a familiar location in the ongoing search for the remains of Kristen Smart. On Wednesday, Sheriff's deputies executed a fresh search warrant at a home on East Branch Street in a Royal Grande. This isn't just any property. Public records confirm it's the residence of Susan Flores, the mother of Paul Flores, the man convicted just two years ago of murdering Kristen. News of the raid was first broken by the Your Own Backyard podcast, the investigative series many credit with reviving interest in the case. The podcast creator, Chris Lambert,

noted that this kind of activity after a conviction suggests that investigators have stumbled upon significant new information. It's a surprise. It's a surprise. It's. It's been, you know, three years since the trial ended. And so obviously new evidence had to lead them here, and that's a good sign. Last time that Susan's house was searched with ground penetrating radar, I believe, was in 2000. So it's been 26 years. As Lambert mentioned, it's been decades since this property saw this level of scrutiny. The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office took to Facebook to confirm the activity, stating that a Superior Court judge signed off on the warrant. They were clear about the mission. The department remains firmly committed to bringing Kristen home to her family. Kristen Smart was just 19 years old, a student at Cal Poly when she vanished in May of 1996. It took 26 years to get a conviction. In October 2022, Paul Flores was sentenced to 25 years to life after prosecutors proved he killed Kristen during an attempted rape in his dorm room.

But even with Paul behind bars, the mystery of Kristen's whereabouts remains. Her body has never been found. District Attorney Dan Dow released a statement following the search, saying that while those with knowledge of the body's location could provide answers at any time, his office will continue to use every lawful tool available to find her. The stakes are incredibly high for the smart family. A judge recently ordered Paul Flores to pay over $350,000 in restitution to the family, but they've made a stunning offer.

They will waive that payment entirely if Flores simply tells them where Kristen is. So far, his attorney claims he doesn't know. For Kristen's family, Flores' conviction was only half the battle. I mean, we are beyond grateful that he is in prison, but we would be ecstatic at this point if we were able to lay here to rest, you know, in the presence of our family. Denise Smart remains hopeful her daughter will be found. More crime and justice news after this.

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alleging that local authorities essentially handcuffed the Bureau during the critical first hours after the elderly woman vanished. Nancy Guthrie, the mother of NBC Today Show co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, was last seen on January 31st. at her daughter Annie's home in Tucson. She was reported missing the following day, February 1st, after failing to show up for an online church service. What followed, according to Director Patel, was a period of bureaucratic stalling that may have cost investigators precious time. Appearing on The Hangout with Sean Hannity podcast, Director Patel did not mince words about the friction between the FBI and local police. It is a state matter. It's a state and local law enforcement matter. What we the FBI do is say, hey, we're here to help. What do you need?

what can we do? And for four days, we were kept out of the investigation. The director claims that the breakthrough in the case, an image of an armed, masked man outside Nancy Guthrie's home, only happened because the FBI finally bypassed local hurdles to work directly with tech giants. Patel explains that the ring doorbell at the residence did not have an active subscription to save footage, meaning the data was at risk of being lost forever. When we were finally let in, Sean, look what we did. We went in and got the ring doorbell, And we said, hey, is anyone talking to Google? I called the leadership at Google and I said, look, we know that there was not a subscription

service to capture all of the data that would have been captured had there been a subscription service. But can we go into the cache? Can we go into the data before it's deleted and see what we can find? That's why you have that image because the FBI worked with Google to put that image out. Patel further alleged that the FBI offered the full resources of their world-class laboratory in Quantico, Virginia. to process DNA evidence, an offer, he says, would have yielded results in a fraction of the time.

We have Quantico, Best Lab in the World. I had a fixed-wing aircraft on the ground ready to move it immediately through the night. Did they just say no? And they said, we're sending it to Florida. The Pima County Sheriff's Department is firing back, issuing a statement insisting that coordination with the Bureau began without delay and that the FBI was notified promptly by both the department and the Guthrie family. They defended their evidence processing as being based on operational needs and maintain that their local labs work in close partnership with Quantico. Despite the finger pointing, the grim reality remains. Nancy Guthrie is still missing, and no suspect or motive has been identified. The Guthrie family has offered a $1 million

reward for her recovery. If you have any information, please call a Pima County Sheriff's Department at 520351-4900 or 1-800-call FBI. As the legal world waits with baited breath for an official ruling from the South Carolina Supreme Court regarding convicted killer Alex Mardaw's high-profile appeal, the rumor mill has officially shifted into overdrive. We're talking about the June 2021 murders of Maggie and Paul Mirdaw, a case that gripped the nation, and we may be on the verge of seeing those double murder convictions completely vacated. The latest firestorm began over the weekend when podcaster Mandy Matney informed listeners a reliable source confirmed a bombshell. The state's high court has reportedly already reached a

decision. According to Matney, all five justices have voted unanimously in favor of Alex Murdoch receiving a new trial. She noted that the official opinion should be released any day now, adding that she shared the information as a warning for her audience to be prepared for what's coming. To clarify the legal mechanics, technically the Supreme Court doesn't just order a new trial. The five justices are actually weighing whether to reverse a controversial January 2024 decision made by former South Carolina Chief Justice Gene Toll. Justice Toll previously denied Murdo's request for new proceedings. If the current Supreme Court reverses that decision, the entire case is remanded back to the circuit court level. Essentially, the case would start from square one. If that happens,

the ball lands back in the court of South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson. His grand jury division led the initial prosecution, and it would be up to him to decide that the state has the appetite and the resources to try Alex Murdoch a second time for the deaths of his wife and son. Murdo was once a kingmaker in the South Carolina Low Country. A prominent personal injury attorney from Hampton County, he came from a legal dynasty that had controlled the local prosecutor's office for generations. But that legacy shattered on the night of June 7, 2021. Prosecutors say Murdoe used a shotgun and a rifle to execute his wife, 52-year-old Maggie Murdaugh, and his younger son, 22-year-old Paul Murdaugh, at the family's sprawling, 1,700-acre hunting estate, known as Mozel.

The motive? The state argued that Murdaugh's life was a house of carts. He was allegedly drowning in millions of dollars of stolen client funds and a decades-long opioid addiction. Prosecutors insist he killed his family to create a sympathy alibi, hoping the tragedy would stall the investigations into his financial fraud. In March 23, after a six-week trial, a jury took less than three hours to find him guilty of both murders. The signs have been pointing to a vacated conviction since February 11th when the justices heard oral arguments. During that hearing, lead prosecutor Creighton Waters was subjected to intense questioning from the bench. The justices zeroed in on documented jury tampering and alleged jury rigging,

specifically scrutinizing the 11th hour dismissal of juror Myra Crosby, better known as Egg Lady. Many legal analysts believe removing her was the decisive factor in securing that unanimous guilty verdict back in 2023. Further fueling the fire was the mysterious absence of the Supreme Court's advance sheet last week. This is a preview of upcoming decisions typically published every Wednesday at 10 a.m. When it didn't appear, speculation went into a tailspin. While the court hasn't explained the delay, the timing is certainly conspicuous. At the heart of this appeal is Rebecca Becky Hill, the former Colleton County Clerk of Court. Murdoz's defense team argues she improperly influenced the jury violating the Sixth Amendment. While prosecutors argue her actions didn't change the verdict,

the justices seemed skeptical back in February. If these convictions are vacated, it changes everything. Murdaugh is currently serving two life sentences for murder, but he is also serving decades for a web of financial crimes. If the murder charges are reset, those financial sentences could be revisited as well. The implications here are massive. This isn't just about one man. It's about how South Carolina handles juror misconduct in the spotlight. After 19 days of emotional testimony, Tanner Horner has been sentenced to death for killing a young girl, He was supposed to be delivering a Christmas present to. A Terrant County, Texas jury heard closing arguments from both sides Tuesday morning.

Defense attorney Susan Anderson pleaded with jurors to be merciful in deciding Horner's fate. Quote, I want you to vote for life. Sentenced Tanner to life in prison without the possibility of parole. But District Attorney James Stanton made a strong rebuttal. Quote, was Tanner merciful? Was Tanner vengeful? Did he show remorse? No, and I think that's important. The jury took roughly two and a half hours to come to the decision Horner should face execution. Horner remained stoic as the verdict was read, only speaking to agree

to appointed counsel for his automatic appeal process. The uncle of victim Athena Strand was the only family member to address Horner in court yesterday. You did not just take a life you destroyed family. He took a little girl who trusted the world and repaid that innocence with violence. He chose to cause pain that of the last generations. But I want you to know that you are nothing. You are a footnote in a theme story. Her name will forever be remembered. Her name will forever be celebrated and everyone will forget.

The rest of Athena's family says they are not yet ready to comment on the outcome of the trial. Horner, a former FedEx driver, pleaded guilty to the 2022 kidnapping and capital murder of 7-year-old Athena Strand just as the trial began, leaving the jury to decide his punishment. The details of the crime are haunting. Horner was delivering a Barbie doll intended as a Christmas gift for Athena when he struck her with his van. He told investigators that although she wasn't seriously injured by the vehicle, he panicked and strangled her to death in his van to keep her from telling her father or stepmother. Following Athena's murder, Horner wrote a letter to Athena's family, in which he claimed he could no longer stay silent, despite his legal team's advice.

Horner wrote, So many were affected by my breakdown, not just your family, but my own as well. He admitted to countless nights of being unable to sleep, writing that he prays for the family but acknowledges the permanent void he created. quote, you'll never get to see your baby girl grow up, and I'm sorry. And I will make sure that every person in this world knows that she was loved and that she wanted to live. And we want her in our lives. And I'm very sorry to help. Three weeks ago, Athena's mother, Maitland Gandy took the stand.

Gandhi described the physical pain of the loss, stating it felt like she was having a heart attack. when she first heard her daughter was missing. She revealed the heartbreaking toll on her family, admitting she lied to Athena's three-year-old sister for over a year, telling her Athena was staying with her father and couldn't come to the phone because she was sleeping or at school, incapable of finding words to explain what happened. When asked if she had watched the video of Horner killing her daughter,

Gandy said she could only stomach a few minutes, sharing her sympathy for the jury who had to watch it, telling them no one, especially Athena, asked for what happened in those final moments. All the innocent people that do have to watch that. I am so sorry. I'm sorry to you, and I'm sorry to y'all too. Because none of us, not Athena, not me, not anyone in this room, besides Tanner Horner, asked for what's on that video in Athena.

Definitely. In the Texas Panhandle, a community is reeling from a weekend of senseless violence that turned a young celebration into a battlefield. The Amarillo Police Department is currently hunting for two suspects following a targeted shooting at a house party that left two teenagers dead and ten others fighting for their lives. According to official statements from the APD, the tragedy unfolded early Saturday morning, May 2nd, around 2 a.m. Investigators said the party actually began at a different location before moving to an apartment complex on South Coulter Street. It was there amidst a gathering of juveniles and young adults that the night took a deadly turn. Police believe several individuals were asked to leave the original party location. However, instead of moving on, these individuals allegedly followed the partygoers to the South Coulter Street complex.

Once there, they attempted to force their way into an apartment and opened fire. The weapon used has been described by authorities as a rifle-style weapon, and the carnage it caused was caught on harrowing home security footage. In the video, which has since been shared by police to aid in the investigation, you can see the absolute chaos as dozens of gunshots ring out, sending people running for their lives across the property. When the smoke cleared, 17-year-old Ezekiel Rudy Almazahn and an unnamed 16-year-old boy were dead. At least 10 others were rushed to local hospital. with various injuries, including several suffering from gunshot wounds. While a Glock 9mm handgun was recovered on a landing outside one of the units, the sheer number of cartridge casings found in a nearby alley suggests multiple weapons were utilized in the assault. Amarillo Police Chief Thomas Hover has confirmed that this was not a random act of violence. He stated that the suspects have a direct affiliation with the targeted location and were

known to at least one person at the party. Despite this connection, the suspects remain at large. Chief Hover has condemned the unacceptable criminal behavior and is urging anyone with doorbell or security footage from the South Coulter Street area to come forward. Moving to Louisiana, a courtroom in Baton Rouge is the setting for a trial that has horrified the nation, centering on a pattern of cruelty that ended the life of a four-year-old girl. Roxanne Record, 57, is facing a jury this week on first-degree murder charges. Prosecutors alleged she didn't just kill her granddaughter, China record. She tortured her. The incident dates back to April 2022. According to Assistant District Attorney Dana Cummings,

the punishment began when Little China took a single sit from a whiskey bottle left on a kitchen counter. In retaliation, prosecutors say Roxanne Record forced the child to her knees and made her consumed the remainder of a 750-millimeter bottle of 80-proof Canadian mist whiskey. All the while, the child's mother, Kaja record, allegedly stood by and watched her daughter die. The medical evidence in this case is staggering. When first responders arrived at China's Wallace Street home, they found her unresponsive. An autopsy later revealed her blood alcohol content was 0.680. That is more than eight times the legal limit for an adult driver. During opening statements, the prosecution painted a bleak picture of China's life, alleging she was marginalized by her grandmother,

who never liked her and treated her differently than the other children in the home. It was a household where China's own siblings were reportedly conditioned to believe she was stealing if she tried to access food or water. The defense led by attorney Caitlin Falcas isn't denying the tragedy, but is arguing it was a horrific accident rather than a premeditated murder. They claim Record attempted CPR to save the girl and that the state cannot prove the specific intent required for a first-degree murder conviction. If the jury disagrees, Roxanne Record faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole. The mother, Kodja Record, will face her own day in court later this summer. For the latest crime and justice breaking news, be sure to

tune in tomorrow on your favorite podcast app. With this crime alert, I'm Sidney-Silvani. This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed human.