Weeks of frantic searching ended in sorrow when a Northern California family finally learned the fate of a mother and her infant daughter who vanished during what should have been a routine trip.
A mother and her infant daughter, who had been missing for more than a month, were found dead over the weekend. The mother was identified as Whisper Owens and her eight-month-old daughter, Sandra McCarthy.
On Sunday, August 17, 2025, search teams located Whisper and her eight-month-old daughter inside their 2006 Chevrolet Trailblazer, which was found submerged in a canal beneath a bridge at Highway 120 and Victory Avenue near Oakdale, in Northern California. Sonar equipment was used to detect the vehicle.
The search team reported that both Whisper and Sandra were found inside the vehicle, noting that Whisper appeared to have tried to save her daughter during the ordeal.
Whisper and her daughter had been unaccounted for since July 15, 2025, the day she traveled to Fresno for a medical appointment and to see family. She began the trip back to Sacramento later that evening but never made it home.
According to the Owens family, police traced Whisper’s phone to a location near the canal, which led searchers to the spot where her vehicle was later found lodged beneath a bridge. Inside, both she and her daughter were discovered…