Search for Northern California woman and infant continues a week after they went missing
Whisper Owen, 36, and her daughter, Sandra McCarty, were last seen traveling in a silver 2006 Chevrolet Trailblazer on July 15, according to the Fresno County Sheriff's Office. Traffic cameras captured the vehicle leaving the city of Fresno around 5 p.m. and hours later in the city of Atwater (Merced County), near Shaffer and Bellevue Roads, just after 8 p.m.
The vehicle has a California license plate of 9LKH008, officials said.
Family members told investigators Owen and her daughter were on their way home to Elk Grove (Sacramento County).
Whisper is 5 feet, 6 inches tall, weighs about 145 lbs, and has blue eyes and brown hair, officials said.
The infant weighs approximately 17 lbs and has green eyes and brown hair.
Anyone who sees them was asked to call 911.
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Los Angeles Times
a day ago
- Los Angeles Times
2 weeks ago, she left a doctor's appointment with her baby. They haven't been found since
The search continues for a California woman and her 8-month-old daughter who vanished while on their way home after a doctor's appointment, authorities and family said. It's been more than two weeks since Whisper Owen and her daughter, Sandra McCarty, were last seen, according to the Fresno County Sheriff's Office. Authorities say they have no clues in the Sacramento pair's disappearance, and loved ones have been left wondering and searching. 'It just makes it really hard for me as her mother to shut my brain off and not constantly imagine what could've happened to her,' said Owen's mother, Vickie Torres, tearfully. 'And that beautiful little baby. God, I hope, whatever happened, she's with her mama.' In a post to social media, the Sheriff's Office said that no information had been found to explain the disappearance. The Fresno Police Department's Missing Persons Unit is leading the investigation and, as of Wednesday evening, had no new developments to report. 'There is nothing in the current missing persons investigations which leads us to believe any foul play is involved with Whisper and her child not being located yet,' the department said in a statement to The Times. Torres confirmed that Owen and her daughter left Sacramento around 4 a.m. on July 15 and headed south toward Fresno to go to a doctor's appointment for the baby. Owen stopped at Torres' house in Fresno to change Sandra's diaper and then checked in for the appointment at 8:30 a.m., Torres said. Owen then visited her brother's Fresno home until around 2:45 p.m., then stopped to see Torres at her home again before leaving the city around 5 p.m., Torres said. Owen drove a silver 2006 Chevrolet Trailblazer, and a license plate reader recognized her car in Atwater, about 65 miles from Fresno, at 8 that night, according to officials. Torres said that Owen probably stopped in Atwater to get baby formula for Sandra or to use the restroom. Security footage from a smoke shop in Atwater captured Owen parking and then changing her baby's diaper around 7:30 p.m., police said. That was the last sign of Owen, her daughter or her vehicle. Torres said Owen often spends days at a time at her house in Fresno, so her partner wasn't concerned when she didn't return home that night. Three days later, Owen's partner called Torres, asking where her daughter was. 'I'm like, 'What do you mean? She's not here,'' Torres told The Times. 'So then everything started to get scary at that point.' Ever since, Torres said, her family has been tirelessly searching the roads from Fresno to Sacramento, reaching out to businesses whose employees may have seen Owen, putting up fliers and spreading the word on social media. She also said that Owen experienced preeclampsia during her most recent pregnancy, causing her to be hospitalized several times with high blood pressure that continued even after she had given birth. Torres worried that Owen might have had a medical emergency while driving. With no information, it's easy to create troubling scenarios, she said. Torres said the situation has been distressing for the entire family. Owen and her partner are parents to Sandra, as well as a 3-year-old and a 9-year-old. She also has a 16-year-old child from a previous relationship. 'All of these kids are losing their minds,' Torres said. 'I mean, she didn't just run off or anything like that. ... She's got other children, I mean, no.' Owen's partner, whom Torres declined to name and who didn't immediately respond to The Times' request for comment, 'has been constantly searching, and he's exhausting every resource to him,' she said. Torres said she has been frustrated with the lack of information found so far. She has reached out to other agencies, including the Department of Justice, the FBI and the Sacramento Police Department, asking for assistance in the investigation. 'They've all blown me off,' Torres said. Sacramento police said in a statement to The Times, however, that they had assisted Fresno in the investigation. A Department of Justice spokesperson said the agency had posted Owen and her daughter on its public California Missing Persons website. The FBI didn't respond to The Times' request for comment. Torres described her daughter as an outspoken, trusting person who would drop anything to help a stranger in need. 'A lot of people love her,' Torres said. 'I've never met anybody that didn't like my daughter.' Fresno police said that teams were checking family shelters in Sacramento County and surrounding areas for Owen and her daughter. The Fresno Sheriff's Office advised the public to dial 911 if they saw Owen and her daughter or the vehicle.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
Sacramento mother and her 8-month-old baby haven't been seen in nearly 2 weeks, alarming loved ones
Whisper Owen, 36, and her infant daughter, Sandra McCarty, had visited family in Fresno and were heading home when they disappeared. A Northern California mom and her 8-month-old daughter have been missing for over 10 days after driving between Fresno County and Sacramento County earlier this month, family and authorities say. Whisper Owen, 36, and her daughter, Sandra McCarty, were last seen driving in a 2006 Chevrolet Trailblazer on July 15, the Fresno County Sheriff's Office said in a July 23 Facebook post. Owen's family insists she did not 'run away,' but they speculate that she may have suffered a medical emergency behind the wheel. The sheriff's office post includes photos of Owen and Sandra, as well as traffic camera photos of their car in Atwater, Calif., from around 8 p.m. PT on July 15 when they were 'supposed to be heading home to Elk Grove,' a city in Sacramento County. Atwater is less than halfway between Fresno and Elk Grove. The Fresno County Sheriff's Office has turned over the case to the Fresno Police Department, since Owen's last location was in the latter's jurisdiction. The Fresno Police Department does not believe Owen and Sandra are in the Fresno area and does not believe foul play is involved, a spokesperson told Yahoo. Why were the mom and child in Fresno County? Owen, who lives in Elk Grove, had taken Sandra to Fresno for a routine checkup, Owen's mom, Vickie Torres, told CNN. Before going to the doctor's office, Owen stopped by Torres's house in Fresno to change and feed the baby before leaving for the 8:30 a.m. doctor's appointment. After the appointment, Owen visited her brother, Richard Owen, at his house in Fresno. Richard confirmed to CNN that the three were together around 2:45 p.m. on July 15. Owen then reportedly returned to Torres's house for the rest of the afternoon and told her mom she wanted to leave around 5 p.m. to get to Elk Grove before dark. Torres told CBS Sacramento that Owen had mentioned she needed to make a stop on her way home to pick up more baby formula. Mom and child weren't reported missing until days later Four days after Owen was last seen, her partner, Robert McCarty, contacted her family to report that she hadn't come home and he hadn't heard from her. Initially, McCarty assumed Owen had stayed a few extra days because it was common for her to do so when she visited family in Fresno, McCarty told Fox affiliate KMPH. Owen's brother, Richard, told CNN that it was not unusual not to hear from Owen for stretches at a time because she did not have a working phone, noting that the family usually got hold of her by contacting McCarty. After McCarty contacted the family last week, Torres reported Owen and Sandra missing to the Fresno County Sheriff's Office. What police have said The Fresno Police Department has not publicly shared any new information on the case. The Fresno Police Department's Missing Persons Unit, which has been handling the case, is also working with the Sacramento Police Department and the Atwater Police Department, since that is where Owen's car was last seen, a spokesperson told Yahoo. California Highway Patrol also issued an Endangered Missing Advisory alert on July 21. Friends and family worry that 'something horrible has happened' The family's main concern is that Owen may have undergone a medical emergency while driving home. She had been suffering from high blood pressure that had worsened after she gave birth to Sandra, her family told CNN. 'My fear is that maybe there was a medical emergency behind the wheel,' Richard said. 'I can't help but to feel like something horrible has happened.' 'We haven't heard anything about it since, and we haven't heard from her,' Tiffany Machado, a close friend of Owen's, told KMPH. 'Her phone just goes straight to voicemail. We're really concerned about the baby. She's only 8 months old.' Both Richard and Torres said that they do not think Owen intentionally disappeared, noting that she has three other children in addition to Sandra: A 17-year-old from a previous relationship, and an 8- and a 3-year-old with McCarty. 'We, as a family, know she didn't leave on her own,' Torres told CNN. 'Everything is good in her life right now. There's no reason for her to have taken off.' Richard Owen added he had been sleeping in his car while searching the surrounding area where his sister and niece were last seen. 'At this point, I'm not ruling out anything,' Richard told CNN. 'I'm trying to find her in any way possible.'
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
Sacramento mother and her 8-month-old baby haven't been seen in nearly 2 weeks, alarming loved ones
Whisper Owen, 36, and her daughter, Sandra McCarty, had visited family in Fresno and were heading home when they disappeared. A Northern California mom and her 8-month-old daughter have been missing for over 10 days after driving between Fresno County and Sacramento County earlier this month, family and authorities say. Whisper Owen, 36, and her daughter, Sandra McCarty, were last seen driving in a 2006 Chevrolet Trailblazer on July 15, the Fresno County Sheriff's Office said in a July 23 Facebook post. Owen's family insists she did not 'run away,' but they speculate that she may have suffered a medical emergency behind the wheel. The sheriff's office post includes photos of Owen and Sandra, as well as traffic camera photos of their car in Atwater, Calif., from around 8 p.m. PT on July 15 when they were 'supposed to be heading home to Elk Grove,' a city in Sacramento County. Atwater is less than halfway between Fresno and Elk Grove. The Fresno County Sheriff's Office has turned over the case to the Fresno Police Department, since Owen's last location was in the latter's jurisdiction. The Fresno Police Department does not believe Owen and Sandra are in the Fresno area and does not believe foul play is involved, a spokesperson told Yahoo. Why were the mom and child in Fresno County? Owen, who lives in Elk Grove, had taken Sandra to Fresno for a routine checkup, Owen's mom, Vickie Torres, told CNN. Before going to the doctor's office, Owen stopped by Torres's house in Fresno to change and feed the baby before leaving for the 8:30 a.m. doctor's appointment. After the appointment, Owen visited her brother, Richard Owen, at his house in Fresno. Richard confirmed to CNN that the three were together around 2:45 p.m. on July 15. Owen then reportedly returned to Torres's house for the rest of the afternoon and told her mom she wanted to leave around 5 p.m. to get to Elk Grove before dark. Torres told CBS Sacramento that Owen had mentioned she needed to make a stop on her way home to pick up more baby formula. Mom and child weren't reported missing until days later Four days after Owen was last seen, her partner, Robert McCarty, contacted her family to report that she hadn't come home and he hadn't heard from her. Initially, McCarty assumed Owen had stayed a few extra days because it was common for her to do so when she visited family in Fresno, McCarty told Fox affiliate KMPH. Owen's brother, Richard, told CNN that it was not unusual not to hear from Owen for stretches at a time because she did not have a working phone, noting that the family usually got hold of her by contacting McCarty. After McCarty contacted the family last week, Torres reported Owen and Sandra missing to the Fresno County Sheriff's Office. What police have said The Fresno Police Department has not publicly shared any new information on the case. The Fresno Police Department's Missing Persons Unit, which has been handling the case, is also working with the Sacramento Police Department and the Atwater Police Department, since that is where Owen's car was last seen, a spokesperson told Yahoo. California Highway Patrol also issued an Endangered Missing Advisory alert on July 21. Friends and family worry that 'something horrible has happened' The family's main concern is that Owen may have undergone a medical emergency while driving home. She had been suffering from high blood pressure that had worsened after she gave birth to Sandra, her family told CNN. 'My fear is that maybe there was a medical emergency behind the wheel,' Richard said. 'I can't help but to feel like something horrible has happened.' 'We haven't heard anything about it since, and we haven't heard from her,' Tiffany Machado, a close friend of Owen's, told KMPH. 'Her phone just goes straight to voicemail. We're really concerned about the baby. She's only 8 months old.' Both Richard and Torres said that they do not think Owen intentionally disappeared, noting that she has three other children in addition to Sandra: A 17-year-old from a previous relationship, and an 8- and a 3-year-old with McCarty. 'We, as a family, know she didn't leave on her own,' Torres told CNN. 'Everything is good in her life right now. There's no reason for her to have taken off.' Richard Owen added he had been sleeping in his car while searching the surrounding area where his sister and niece were last seen. 'At this point, I'm not ruling out anything,' Richard told CNN. 'I'm trying to find her in any way possible.' Solve the daily Crossword
