Bakersfield, CA…California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) officials are looking for an offender who walked away from a Bakersfield re-entry facility on Sunday, Sept. 11. Stephen Beavers, 30, was transferred from Wasco State Prison to the Male Community Re-entry Program (MCRP) in Kern County on Aug. 19. After being notified at approximately 7 p.m. Sept. 11 that Beavers’ GPS device had been tampered with, staff initiated an emergency search.

Notification was immediately made to local law enforcement agencies. Within minutes, agents from CDCR’s Office of Correctional Safety were dispatched to locate and apprehend Beavers.

Beavers is a white male, with partially gray hair and blue eyes. He is 6 feet tall and weighs 184 pounds.

He was admitted to CDCR on May 28, 2010, from Kern County to serve a six-year sentence for possession of a controlled substance, first-degree burglary and receiving stolen property. He was scheduled to be released to probation in December 2016.

The MCRP allows eligible offenders committed to state prison to serve the end of their sentences in the re-entry center and provides them the programs and tools necessary to transition from custody to the community. It is a voluntary program for men who have approximately 180 days left to serve. The program links offenders to a range of community-based rehabilitative services that assist with substance use disorders, mental health care, medical care, employment, education, housing, family reunification and social support.

Anyone who sees Beavers or has any knowledge of his whereabouts should immediately contact law enforcement or call 911.

Since 1977, 99 percent of all offenders who have left an adult institution, camp, or community-based program without permission have been apprehended.