BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) \u2014 Losing a loved one is always difficult, but losing a mother can sometimes feel indescribable, especially when that loss leaves even more questions.<\/p>\n
It has been two years since Ana Barbosa went missing. Now, her daughter, Anna Maria Leal Ochoa, is doing everything she can to find the answers she has been desperately seeking.<\/p>\n
“For me, the worst-case scenario would be for it to go cold,” Leal said.<\/p>\n
According to the Kern County Sheriff’s Office, Barbosa was last seen in May 2024 at an automotive shop near North Chester Avenue and Ray Street in Oildale.<\/p>\n
Leal said every day has been a struggle since her mother’s disappearance. She said a voicemail saved on her mother’s phone has helped keep her going over the past two years.<\/p>\n
“You know, I could curl up in a ball and just be the most depressed woman alive. Or I could talk about domestic violence, work on her page, work on her case, and bring awareness to an issue that affects a lot of Kern County,” Leal said.<\/p>\n
According to search warrants, there were allegations of domestic violence involving Barbosa’s husband, Fabian Barbosa. The warrants state he told investigators Barbosa left through the back gate of the automotive shop. The warrants also say he told investigators she “must have unplugged the Wi-Fi,” claiming there was no video recording of her leaving.<\/p>\n
Leal said Barbosa’s husband was interviewed early in the investigation but later became uncooperative.<\/p>\n
“I know that there were issues in the relationship, but is she still here with us? That’s what I don’t know, and that’s what I want to find out,” she said.<\/p>\n
Leal said she will not have closure until she gets answers.<\/p>\n
Her next step is to place a billboard in Bakersfield displaying her mother’s missing person information in hopes it generates new leads.<\/p>\n
“That is the reason why I want billboards, so I can continue to show her story, continue to talk about her and continue to dig up information, because I need to find out what happened to my mom,” Leal said.<\/p>\n
Barbosa is 5 feet, 3 inches tall and weighed about 140 pounds at the time of her disappearance. She has black hair and was last seen near a white pickup truck.<\/p>\n
The Kern County Sheriff’s Office said Barbosa’s disappearance remains under active investigation.<\/p>\n
Anyone with information is asked to contact Kern Secret Witness at (661) 322-4040 or the Kern County Sheriff’s Office at (661) 861-3110.<\/p>\n
Stay in Touch with Us Anytime, Anywhere:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) \u2014 Losing a loved one is always difficult, but losing a mother can sometimes feel…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":401553,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[151,155,153,152,162],"class_list":["post-401552","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield-downtown","tag-bakersfield-headlines","tag-bakersfield-news","tag-kern-county-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401552","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=401552"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401552\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/401553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=401552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=401552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=401552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}