{"id":502783,"date":"2026-10-21T00:44:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-21T00:44:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/502783\/"},"modified":"2026-10-21T00:44:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-21T00:44:08","slug":"kern-county-jury-convicts-man-in-1997-kidnapping-rape-and-attempted-murder-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/502783\/","title":{"rendered":"Kern County jury convicts man in 1997 kidnapping, rape and attempted murder case"},"content":{"rendered":"

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK\/KBFX) \u2014 A 53-year-old man was convicted in the 1997 kidnapping, forcible rape, and attempted murder of Cari Anderson.<\/p>\n

The Kern County District Attorney\u2019s Office said on October 20, 2026, a Kern County jury convicted 53-year-old Michael Allen Fontes of the 1997 attempted murder, kidnapping, and forcible rape of Cari Anderson.<\/p>\n

The DA\u2019s office said on November 24, 1997, at 7 a.m., Cari Anderson was found in a dirt field next to the Golder Empire Transit (GET) facility on Golden State Highway by a GET employee.<\/p>\n

Cari was naked, beaten, and her throat was cut three times, according to the DA\u2019s office. Despite her injuries, Cari survived and was taken to Kern Medical Center.<\/p>\n

A subsequent examination found that she was suffering from hypothermia, had four broken ribs, a collapsed lung, and had been sexually assaulted.<\/p>\n

The DA\u2019s office said despite years of exhaustive investigation by Bakersfield Police Department detectives, they were unable to identify a suspect and the case went unsolved for over two decades.<\/p>\n

In 2019, a sergeant from the BPD\u2019s Cold Case Unit enlisted help from the Oklahoma City FBI Office.<\/p>\n

According to the DA\u2019s office, through the use of DNA techniques, law enforcement identified Fontes as the suspect in the assault.<\/p>\n

Following the new evidence, the BPD arrested Fontes in 2021.<\/p>\n

\"{p}The<\/p>\n

The Kern County District Attorney\u2019s Office said on October 20, 2026, a Kern County jury convicted 53-year-old Michael Allen Fontes of the 1997 attempted murder, kidnapping, and forcible rape of Cari Anderson. PHOTO: Kern County DA<\/p>\n

Cari Anderson lived to hear about the day Fontes was arrested, but died shortly after.<\/p>\n

District Attorney Cynthia Zimmer commented, \u201cI met Cari on the day Michael Fontes was arraigned in court in 2021. She passed away just months later, never knowing that the man who brutally assaulted her and left her for dead would likely spend the rest of his life in prison. With this verdict, I hope Cari can finally rest in peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fontes\u2019 sentencing is set for December 4, 2026, where he faces up to 38 years to life in prison.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK\/KBFX) \u2014 A 53-year-old man was convicted in the 1997 kidnapping, forcible rape, and attempted murder…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":502784,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[151,153,152],"class_list":["post-502783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield-headlines","tag-bakersfield-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502783","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=502783"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502783\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/502784"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=502783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=502783"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=502783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}