All preliminary indications are that the death of Realtor Mark Ponder was an accident, the coroner's office concluded Thursday afternoon. An autopsy found no signs of trauma and all other findings were consistent with an accidental drowning, the coroner's office reported.
The official cause of death, however, will be listed as ''pending'' until toxicology tests can be completed.
Ponder, 38, was found floating in the Kern River near the Panorama Bluffs late Wednesday morning. Sheriff's deputies had been looking for him since early Sunday morning, when he allegedly was involved in a disturbance near a northwest Bakersfield home in which he was temporarily living.
Also Thursday, the California Department of Real Estate confirmed its regulators were trying to suspend Ponder's real estate license because he allegedly didn't disclose he had been convicted last year of a third DUI.
All relevant information is supposed to be furnished when real estate professionals seek to renew their licenses. Not disclosing the crime -- and the four-month sentence that was imposed -- constitutes fraud, the DRE alleged.
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Here is the original story on his death from Wednesday afternoon:
A body pulled from the Kern River near the Panorama Bluffs this morning was that of troubled Bakersfield Realtor Mark Ponder, the coroner has confirmed. He was 38.
The body was discovered by a jogger at about 11:30 a.m. near where the river crosses under Manor Street. The coroner said the death was an apparent drowning, but an autopsy was set for Thursday to confirm the exact cause of death.
Ponder was the owner of Westchester Realty on F Street downtown.
Sheriff's deputies had been looking for him since last weekend when a man reported Ponder had thrown a beer bottle at him. If true, that would have constituted assault with a deadly weapon.
Deputies said the supposed attack happened at Ponder's house in northwest Bakersfield. He was last seen running from the area in a swim suit. The victim was not seriously hurt.
On Monday morning, 17News received an email from a sender claiming to be Ponder.
''I was threatened in my own home by an uninvited and very intoxicated guest at 3 a.m.,'' the email said.
His attorney told 17News he expected the case to be dismissed when a full investigation was completed.
Ponder was a real estate broker in good standing, but he has had trouble with the law.
The Kern County Superior Court website lists 11 cases against him, but some were dismissed without conviction.
He was convicted three times of drunken driving, and sentenced in 2004, 2005 and 2008, respectively, to two days, 20 days, and four months in jail. He was sentenced in 1990 to 46 days in jail for resisting arrest.
He was charged in 2003 with petty theft and assault with a deadly weapon, but those charges were dismissed.
