Whisper Owen, Sacramento mother of four & 8-month-old daughter, Sandra McCarty continue to remain missing 12 days after going to a doctor’s appointment in Fresno and failing to return after detour to buy baby formula.
A California mother-of-four and her 8-month-old daughter continue to remain missing more than twelve days after leaving a doctor’s appointment.
Whisper Owen, 36, and her infant daughter, Sandra McCarty disappeared while driving back home following a doctor’s appointment in Fresno on July 15, when they failed to make it back to their Sacramento home.
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Unusual detour stop?
The difference between the two California cities is just on 170 miles, taking an average of 2 and half hours to drive home.
The mother and child were last spotted just northwest of Fresno, in Atwater, where a traffic camera pinged Owen’s silver 2006 Chevrolet Trailblazer at around 8 p.m., according to the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office.
Torres said she does not know why her daughter was in Atwater.
‘The not knowing, it’s brought me to a point where I’m — it’s a cross between anger and numb,’ the missing woman’s mother, Vickie Torres told local KCRA. ‘I’m terrified. I’m just terrified.’
Torres said she didn’t know how or why her daughter had come to be in Atwater, with the relative saying that her daughter had briefly postponed the long ride home to stock up on baby formula.
Torres said Owens was last seen in Atwater, which was located about halfway between Fresno and her home in Elk Grove, Sacramento.
#Missing Whisper Owen (36 yrs.) and child Sandra McCarty (8 months) of Elk Grove, Sacramento County, California, were last seen Tuesday, July 15, 2025.#Sacramento #California #WhisperOwen #SandraMcCarty https://t.co/lHr3rF8Zs7 pic.twitter.com/58efe8vPpA
— Chromosphere.com (@ChromoSphereCom) July 27, 2025
Did Sacramento mom choose to go off radar of her own accord?
‘The only thing she had to do was stop and get a can of formula because she was on her last bottle,’ Torres said.
Owen’s car has since stopped posting on traffic cams since the day she was last seen stopping at Atwater. All calls to Owen’s phone continue to go to her message bank with the phone turned off.
Owen’s partner reported her and the baby missing when they failed to come home that night, with the rest of the family learning about the disappearance a few days later.
‘We just want to find them before it’s too late,’ Sandra’s older sister, Andrea McCarty told KCRA.
‘Her car is no longer popping up on any traffic cams. Her phone’s been off,’ she said. ‘Your mind goes through all the terrible possibilities.’
The family said they do not believe Owen would run away with the baby, saying the family enjoys a good home life and that she would never leave behind her three other children.
McCarty said the family has driven to Atwater to try and find clues as to what may have happened to the missing mother and child.
The family is now urging anyone from Atwater to Sacramento to check their security cameras for even a flash of her car’s appearance in the hopes that it could lead to some answers.
Added Vicky Torres, ‘Something happened to my daughter and her baby daughter and police are not taking it seriously.’
Fresno Police said they do not believe the missing mother and baby are in the Fresno area. It remained unclear if police now believe the mother left of her own volition.
