Whisper Owens, missing Fresno mom & baby daughter found dead in submerged car in canal near Oakdale as investigators seek to understand how mom & daughter ended up in the water.
A Sacramento mother of four who was reported missing last month while returning from a doctor’s appointment was this weekend found dead along with her baby daughter.
Whisper Owens, 36, and her 8 month baby daughter, Sandra, were found inside their 2006 Chevrolet Trailblazer, which was discovered submerged in a canal under a bridge on Highway 120 and Victory Avenue near Oakdale, California.
According to the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office, its dive team began searching the canal around noon, Sunday after a vehicle that matched the description of the one the missing woman was last seen driving was spotted in the water.
Sacramento mom chose backroads to avoid getting ticketed
The discovery was made using sonar technology. The volunteer search team confirmed the bodies of both Whisper and Sandra being found inside the vehicle, KCRA reported.
Searchers say Whisper made a desperate attempt to save her daughter during the incident. It had yet to become clear what led to mother and daughter becoming trapped under the bridge.
The pair had been missing since July 15, when Owen drove to see family and go to a doctor’s appointment in Fresno. Her family said she left in the early evening to head back home to Elk Grove Sacramento. Except they never made it back.
Relatives did not know they were missing for several days.
During attempts to locate the missing mom and daughter, family members told KCRA Owens might have been taking backroads because she had a missing headlight and was worried about being pulled over by law enforcement.
Bitter closure for Whisper Owens family
Notice of the discovery led to family members expressing heartache but relief that they had finally discovered what had happened.
‘It means we can find some way to move forward and accept this loss,’ Richard Owen, Whisper Owen’s brother, told CBS Sacramento. ‘She has other children that have to find a way to move on without their mother or their baby sister.’
Adding, ‘If we had found her the next day, she still would have been here in the water, and she still would be gone. And we would all have to make peace with that as a family. But unfortunately, you know, it took a month for us to find her.’
The San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office and California Highway Patrol are investigating how Owen’s SUV ended up in the water.
