SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif., Sept. 9 (UPI) -- Authorities digging for clues related to the 20-year disappearance of college student Kristin Denise Smart said they have found "items of interest."
Sheriff's deputies, FBI agents and wildlife officials in San Luis Obispo, on California's central coast, recently renewed searching for the remains of Smart, a former student of California Polytechnic State University who vanished without a trace in May 1996.
The federal and local authorities are digging at three excavation sites about half a mile from where Smart was last seen alive. Smart was 19 when she disappeared and officially declared dead in 2002.
"Items of interest have been recovered and are now being analyzed. No announcement about the discoveries is expected so as not jeopardize the ongoing criminal investigation," the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.
Digging will continue Friday but details of what has been found may not be revealed. In addition to the digging, authorities are offering a $65,000 reward for information that cracks the case.
Doug G. Ware contributed to this report.
