A heartbreaking discovery has been made in California: the vehicle belonging to Whisper Owen, a Sacramento woman who went missing with her 8-month-old baby, Sandra McCarty, last month, has been found submerged in a canal. Inside the vehicle, authorities discovered the bodies of an adult and an infant.
Whisper Owen, 36, and Sandra McCarty were last seen on July 15th after visiting family in Fresno, according to the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office. They were traveling home in a silver 2006 Chevrolet Trailblazer, which was last spotted by a traffic camera in Atwater, north of Fresno, shortly after their departure.
The family expected them to arrive in Elk Grove, Sacramento County, but a miscommunication delayed the realization that Owen was missing for three days, relatives informed CNN on July 28th.
On Sunday, a non-profit dive team located a vehicle matching the description of Owen's in Oakdale, approximately 45 minutes north of Atwater. The San Joaquin Sheriff’s Office confirmed the finding.
The sheriff’s office and the dive team responded to the scene, where they discovered the remains of an adult and an infant inside the vehicle. While the Medical Examiner’s Office will formally identify the bodies, family members of the missing woman were present at the dive site and identified the vehicle as belonging to her.
The vehicle was located during a search of a waterway near Highway 120 and Victory Road in San Joaquin County, according to a spokesperson for the Fresno Police Department, which is leading the investigation. The San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office and the California Highway Patrol are now investigating the circumstances surrounding how the vehicle ended up in the water. The family of Whisper Owen has expressed concerns, stating they “don’t feel like the authorities are taking this matter seriously.” The investigation is ongoing.