A determined search in Central California for a mom and her child daughter lacking for greater than a month ended with the invention of their our bodies in a submerged automobile in a big irrigation canal about 25 miles southeast of Stockton.
Whisper Owen, 36, and her 8-month-old daughter, Sandra McCarty, had been final seen July 15 in Fresno, after Owen introduced Sandra in for a routine checkup, then visited her brother and mom. Owen and her child left round 5 p.m., with Owen hoping to cowl the 155 miles to their residence in Elk Grove close to Sacramento earlier than darkish, a member of the family informed CNN earlier.
On Sunday morning, a bunch that makes a speciality of discovering folks in submerged autos contacted the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Workplace, saying that they had discovered an SUV within the canal that matched the silver 2006 Chevrolet Trailblazer that Owen was driving, sheriff’s workplace spokeswoman Heather Brent mentioned Sunday.
“The family was out there and confirmed that it was them,” Brent mentioned.
The automobile was discovered beneath a bridge over the canal at Freeway 120 and Victory Ave., Brent mentioned, in an agricultural space about 60 miles from Elk Grove.
“Our hearts go out to the family,” Brent mentioned. “This is absolutely not the outcome that anybody anticipated or wanted.”
Jared Leisek, founding father of the underwater-search-and-recovery workforce Adventures with Function, mentioned in a social media publish Sunday that his group “located Sandra McCarty and Whisper Owen with sonar, pinned under a bridge, underwater” within the silver Trailblazer SUV. Working with diver Juan Heredia from Stockton-based Angels Restoration, “we were able to confirm Whisper is inside the vehicle,” Leisek mentioned. “She was doing everything she could as a mother to try to save her daughter,” Leisek mentioned.
Along with her child, Owen had a 17-year-old baby from a earlier relationship and youngsters who’re 3 and eight along with her companion.
Her brother Richard Owen informed CNN earlier he had spent a number of days sleeping in his automobile as he and his spouse frantically traveled highways and again roads looking for his sister.
Owen’s household mentioned earlier she had hypertension that had worsened since she gave beginning, and that they nervous she could have had a medical emergency whereas driving.
On Sunday, Richard Owen mentioned on a GoFundMe web page that he was “little Brother to Whisper Owen and uncle to a beautiful 8 month old little angel named Sandra McCarty. … Unfortunately I don’t know why this has happened to my loving sister and her beautiful daughter.”
Fresno police are investigating the incident, and the San Joaquin County health worker’s workplace will search to find out the reason for demise, Brent mentioned.
Initially Printed: August 17, 2025 at 7:40 PM PDT
