Missing Mom and 8-Month-Old Daughter Found Dead in Submerged Car a Month After Leaving Doctor’s Appointment

Whisper Owen, 36, and her daughter, Sandra McCarty, were last seen in California on July 15

The bodies of a mother and her 8-month-old daughter missing in California for over a month have reportedly been found in a canal.

On Sunday, Aug. 17, search crews confirmed that Whisper Owen, 36, and her daughter, Sandra McCarty, were discovered inside a submerged 2006 Chevrolet Trailblazer under Highway 120, reported ABC affiliate KFSN.

The search group Adventures With Purpose and diver Juan Heredia had been searching for the missing mother and daughter when they made the discovery, according to CBS News Sacramento.

Owen’s family told the outlet that police had pinged the missing mother’s phone, and it had last responded from the canal in the area she was found.

The San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office’s search team also responded to the scene, confirming an adult and an infant had been found in the vehicle, CBS News Sacramento noted. The California Highway Patrol will now investigate how the vehicle ended up submerged in the water.

Owen and Sandra vanished after they left a doctor’s appointment around 5 p.m. local time and headed towards Elk Grove (Sacramento County) to meet family members on Tuesday, July 15, per Fox Affiliate KMPH and KFSN. 

Owen’s distinct 2006 Chevrolet Trailblazer, which had damage to its driver’s side headlight, was later spotted on traffic cameras in Atwater around 8 p.m. local time, per reports from the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office.

According to KMPH, Owen’s partner, Robert McCarty, and her two other children were waiting for her at home when she disappeared.

After the bodies were discovered on Sunday, Owen’s brother, Richard, said, “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,” according to CBS News Sacramento.

As Owen often visited her family in Fresno and would sometimes spend multiple days there, her partner, Robert, said they did not initially worry when she did not arrive, KMPH previously reported. On Saturday, July 19 — four days after the mother and daughter were last seen — the family filed a missing persons report.

The outlet previously noted that friends of Owen said she was a “loving, attentive mother,” and that it was “completely out of character” for her to suddenly go missing.

The California Highway Patrol, the Fresno Police Department, the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office and search group Adventures With Purpose didn’t immediately respond when contacted by PEOPLE for additional information.