Coroner identifies elderly Taft man in heat-related death

by BakersfieldNow Staff Tue, September 8, 2026 at 9:20 AM Kern County Coroner's Office KBAK/KBFX BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK/KBFX) — The Kern County Coroner's Office has identified a man who died of heat as 88-year-old Oscar Irvan Bench of Taft. The coroner's report said Bench was found dead on August 9, 2026, at around 12:54 p.m. in the 200 block of South Street in Taft. The report said an autopsy was conducted, and the cause of death was determined to be hyperthermia, and the manner of death was an accident. The death was listed as heat-related.