A man who followed the case of a missing mother and her 8-month-old daughter helped volunteer divers locate their bodies in a submerged SUV in a San Joaquin County canal Sunday, bringing an emotional end to a month-long search.
Whisper Owen and her daughter, Sandra McCarty, were last seen on July 15 after leaving a doctor’s appointment in Fresno. Authorities later pinged Owen’s phone near a rural canal, but initial searches failed to locate the vehicle.
Chris Waller, a Waterford resident, said he began reaching out to Adventures With Purpose: a volunteer dive team known for recovering vehicles in missing persons cases, offering local knowledge and support. Waller gathered surveillance footage from area businesses that showed Owen’s damaged SUV passing through Waterford and Oakdale the night she disappeared…