Family of missing California mom, infant confirms their bodies were recovered from canal
The bodies of a missing California mother and her infant daughter were pulled from a vehicle in an irrigation canal Sunday, their family told sister station KCRA.
According to the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office, its dive team began searching the canal in Escalon around noon after a vehicle that matched the description of the one the missing woman was last seen driving was spotted in the water.
Whisper Owen was headed to Sacramento from Fresno with her 8-month-old baby, Sandra McCarty, on July 15.
Investigators said earlier this week they believe Owen and her baby made it to Waterford and then traveled on Highway 120, east of Escalon. This route, which involves taking backroads, is roughly 50 miles north of Atwater in Merced County, previously reported as the last place their SUV was spotted.
"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," said Richard Owen, Whisper's brother.
The mother and daughter were found in an area that the San Joaquin and Stanislaus County sheriff's offices had searched before. Crews used an underwater drone to search the canal, but they were unable to locate the missing pair. This prompted Owen's family to enlist the help of private divers.
"We were here for 30 minutes, and we were able to find my sister and my niece, and I feel like there wasn't nearly enough effort put forward. And I feel like a better job could have been done," Owen said.
Christopher Waller assisted the divers by using a small sonar ball to detect if Whisper's car was in the canal.
"I was able to throw that in the water and get a good reading," Waller said.
"We acquired a target and then diver one was in the water and verified that the vehicle and verified that they were in the vehicle," Waller added.
After locating the vehicle, the divers contacted the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office, which then retrieved the SUV from the canal.
"Law enforcement didn't step in till 23 days missing, even though we urged them to many times," Owen said.
Owen is now calling for law enforcement to take families seriously when they report missing loved ones. "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," Owen said.