(CNN) Authorities believe two remains recovered inside the car of a Sacramento woman who vanished with her infant last month are probably those of the mother and kid. The car was found submerged in a canal in central California.
The Fresno County Sheriff’s Office reported last month that Whisper Owen, 36, and her 8-month-old daughter, Sandra McCarty, were last seen on July 15 after traveling to Fresno to see relatives.
The silver 2006 Chevrolet Trailblazer that the couple was driving home was last seen on a traffic camera a few hours after they departed in the city of Atwater, which is north of Fresno.
According to family members who spoke to CNN on July 28, they had been expecting them in Elk Grove, Sacramento County, but because of a misunderstanding, they were unaware that Owen was missing for three days.
This silver 2006 Chevrolet Trailblazer was being driven by Owen and her daughter. | Fresno County Sheriff’s Office via CNN Newsource
About 45 minutes north of Atwater, in Oakdale, a non-profit diving team discovered a car that matched Owen’s description on Sunday, according to a San Joaquin Sheriff’s Office official. According to the spokeswoman, the car contained the bodies of an adult and a baby.
The bodies have been presumed to be that of Owen and her daughter by the San Joaquin County Medical Examiner’s Office, the office announced on Monday. According to authorities, the missing woman’s family was there at the diving site earlier and recognized the car as belonging to her.
A representative for the Fresno Police Department, which is leading the investigation, said the car was discovered while searching a waterway near Highway 120 and Victory Road in San Joaquin County.
According to a police statement, the California Highway Patrol and San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office are looking into how the car got into the water.
According to Fresno police spokesperson Lt. Larry Bowlan, investigators do not currently suspect foul activity.
According to the police statement, two Fresno Police Department detectives have been dispatched to the area at Highway 120 and Victory Road in order to continue our investigation and collaborate with the sheriff’s department on the specifics of the recovery.
We are still offering assistance to the family of Whisper and Sandra through our detectives, and we will continue to do so through our Fresno Police and Fire Chaplaincy.
Vickie Torres, Owen’s mother, told CNN last month that her daughter had been in Fresno for a regular checkup. Around 5 p.m., they departed the city in the hopes of arriving home, which was 158 miles distant, before nightfall.
Her brother told CNN last month that when she failed to come home, her partner assumed she had stayed behind to assist her mother in cleaning a newly bought property. According to Richard Owen, it wasn’t until the following Saturday, when they would often spend the weekend together, that her partner realized something was off.
Her mother reported her missing to the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office when Owen’s boyfriend got in touch with her family and they discovered she had been absent for three days.
Bowlan said that on October 3, 2023, a child abuse warrant was issued in Sacramento County for Owen. After that date, Sandra was born. According to Bowlan, Owen had previously entered a no contest plea to felony child abuse in 2021.
