The search for Sacramento resident Whisper Owen and her eight-month-old daughter Sandra McCarty tragically concluded yesterday, as their bodies were recovered from a vehicle submerged in an Escalon irrigation canal. The discovery was shared by Whisper's family with KCRA 3. San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office confirmed that its dive team was dispatched to the canal after a grey Chevy — the same model Owen was last seen driving — was spotted beneath the waters.
An earlier search of the canal by local sheriff's deputies turned up nothing, prompting frustration among relatives. Richard Owen, Whisper's brother, told ABC10, “We try to bring closure to the family, and nobody wants to have a missing son or daughter without knowing where to go and cry for them.” Despite the grim resolution, the family expressed a degree of solace in being able to begin the grieving process for their lost loved ones — "It means that we can start finding some way to move forward," Richard Owen said in the interview with ABC10.
The search and recovery effort intensified when the family enlisted the help of private divers, who located the car and its unfortunate occupants within half an hour. This led to questions about the effectiveness of previous efforts by law enforcement agencies. A participant in the recovery, Christopher Waller of Waterford, assisted divers using a small sonar ball device, which helped locate Owen's vehicle submerged in the canal. "I was able to throw that in the water and get a good reading," Waller said in a statement to KCRA 3.
After the grim discovery, the next steps involve determining how the vehicle ended up in the canal. The California Highway Patrol, in conjunction with the sheriff's office, is conducting a parallel investigation. However, for the grieving family, the focus shifted towards ensuring a more thorough and urgent response in future cases of reported missing persons. "I don't want an apology. They don't need to apologize. I'm talking to bring my sister back. What I want from them is the next time a family says that they know for a fact that something happened, take it seriously. Do the due diligence," Richard Owen emphasized in his interview with KCRA 3.
Meanwhile, the Fresno Police Department, which had been investigating the disappearance of Owen and McCarty since they vanished on July 15, is also continuing its investigation. As reported by ABC10, two detectives have been sent to the scene. The car was found under a bridge, not far from where Whisper Owen was last seen on July 15, while traveling back to Elk Grove from a doctor's appointment in Fresno. The Fresno Police Department's Lt. Larry Bowlan announced they are waiting for further developments in the case.
