Missing Sacramento Woman and Infant Found Dead in Submerged Vehicle in Central California Canal

A silver 2006 Chevrolet Trailblazer, belonging to a Sacramento woman who went missing with her baby in July, has been recovered from a central California canal. Authorities confirmed that the bodies of an adult and infant were found inside the vehicle.

Whisper Owen, aged 36, and her 8-month-old daughter, Sandra McCarty, were last seen on July 15 after visiting family in Fresno. The pair had been traveling home when their vehicle was captured on a traffic camera in Atwater, north of Fresno, a few hours later.

Relatives were expecting them in Elk Grove, but due to a miscommunication, they did not realize Owen was missing for three days. This information was shared with CNN on July 28.

On Sunday, a non-profit dive team located a vehicle matching the description of Owen’s in Oakdale, approximately 45 minutes north of Atwater. A spokesperson for the San Joaquin Sheriff’s Office confirmed this development.

Upon reaching the site, the sheriff’s office and dive team discovered the bodies of an adult and infant in the vehicle. The Medical Examiner’s Office will conduct formal identification procedures, but family members of the missing woman were at the dive site and identified the vehicle as hers.

The vehicle was found during a search of a waterway located at Highway 120 and Victory Road in San Joaquin County. The Fresno Police Department, which is overseeing the investigation, provided this information to a spokesperson.

The San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office and California Highway Patrol are currently investigating how the vehicle ended up in the water. According to a police statement, detectives from the Fresno PD have been sent to the scene at Highway 120 and Victory Road to continue the investigation and collaborate with the sheriff’s department on recovery details.

Owen had been in Fresno for a routine checkup for her baby, as her mother, Vickie Torres, shared with CNN last month. They left the city around 5 p.m., aiming to reach home – about 158 miles away – before dark. When she didn’t return home, her partner thought she had stayed behind to help clean up a recently purchased house, her brother told CNN. The partner didn’t realize something was amiss until the following Saturday, when they would typically spend the weekend together.

Upon realizing Owen was missing, her partner contacted her family, leading to the reporting of her disappearance to the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office.