There has been one sexual assault recently in the Lake Isabella area, but reports of a serial rapist and murder are nothing but rumors, the Sheriff's Department said Monday morning.
The department issued the statement to combat rapidly spreading stories of multiple rapes and of the Halloween rape and murder of a teenage girl.
Those stories are either rumor or hoax, the department said.
"These rumors are being generated by the public and are being spread throughout the Kern River Valley and elsewhere," a sheriff's statement said.
"An additional rumor surfaced stating a young female was sexually assaulted, stabbed and her body dumped into the Borel Canal. The Kern County Sheriff’s Office has investigated and found nothing to substantiate this rumor."
There also is a photograph circulating of a suspected rapist, the sheriff’s office said. That photo is a hoax, the department said.
The one genuine assault took place about two weeks ago and is being investigated by Sr. Deputy Scott Lopez. Anyone with information about that attack is urged to call Lopez at 760-549-2100.
