(CNN) — The vehicle belonging to a Sacramento woman who went missing with her baby last month has been found submerged in a central California canal, and authorities say two bodies discovered inside likely belong to the mother and child.
Whisper Owen, 36, and her 8-month-old daughter, Sandra McCarty, were last seen July 15 after visiting family in Fresno, the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office said last month.
The pair had been traveling home in a silver 2006 Chevrolet Trailblazer, which was last captured on a traffic camera in the city of Atwater, north of Fresno, a few hours after they left.
Family had been expecting them in Elk Grove, in Sacramento County, but due to a miscommunication they did not realize Owen was missing for three days, relatives told CNN on July 28.
A non-profit dive team found a vehicle matching the description of Owen’s on Sunday in Oakdale, about 45 minutes north of Atwater, a spokesperson for the San Joaquin Sheriff’s Office said. The bodies of an adult and infant were found in the vehicle, the spokesperson said.
The San Joaquin County Medical Examiner’s Office has “presumptive identification” of the bodies as those of Owen and her daughter, the office said Monday. Earlier, police said the family of the missing woman was at the dive site and identified the vehicle as being hers.
The vehicle was found during a search of a waterway in the area of Highway 120 and Victory Road in San Joaquin County, according to a spokesperson for the Fresno Police Department, which is in charge of the investigation.
The San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office and California Highway Patrol are investigating how the vehicle ended up in the water, police said in a statement.
Investigators do not suspect foul play at this time, Fresno police spokesperson Lt. Larry Bowlan said Monday.
“We have sent two Fresno PD – Detectives to the scene at Highway 120 and Victory Road to continue our investigation and work with the sheriff’s department regarding details of the recovery,” the police statement said.
“We continue to provide support to Whisper and Sandra’s family through our detectives and will also provide additional support to the family through our Fresno Police and Fire Chaplaincy.”
Owen had been in Fresno for a routine checkup for the baby, her mother, Vickie Torres, told CNN last month. They left the city around 5 p.m., hoping to make it home – about 158 miles away – before dark.
When she didn’t return home, her partner thought she had stayed behind to help her mother clean up a house she had just purchased, her brother told CNN last month. Her partner didn’t realize something was wrong until the following Saturday, when the two would normally spend the weekend together, Richard Owen said.
Owen’s partner contacted her family – which is when they realized she had been missing for three days — and her mother reported her missing to the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office.
Owen had an outstanding warrant for child abuse, issued in Sacramento County on October 3, 2023, according to Bowlan. Sandra was born after that date. Owen had previously pleaded no contest to felony child abuse in 2021, Bowlan said.
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