A Sacramento County woman and her 8-month-old daughter were found dead inside their vehicle in a canal near Oakdale, according to family members.
Whisper Owen and her baby daughter Sandra McCarty had been missing since July 15. They were last seen in Fresno, and traffic cameras later captured Owen’s vehicle in the Atwater area that same night, authorities confirmed.
The California Highway Patrol issued an Endangered Missing Advisory after their disappearance.
On Sunday, the search group Adventures With Purpose and diver Juan Heredia searched a rural area west of Oakdale. Owen’s family told CBS News Sacramento that police had pinged her phone, placing the last signal near a canal. Searchers then discovered her vehicle pinned under a bridge. Inside, they found the bodies of Owen and McCarty.
Crews removed an SUV from a canal near Oakdale after the bodies of a mother and her daughter were found.
“It means we can find some way to move forward and accept this loss. She has other children that have to find a way to move on without their mother or their baby sister,” said Richard Owen, Whisper’s brother.
The San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office search team responded to the scene and confirmed finding an adult and an infant inside the vehicle.
The California Highway Patrol will investigate how the SUV ended up in the canal. The Fresno Police Department also sent two detectives to assist with the ongoing investigation.
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