CA WHISPER OWEN & SANDRA McCARTY: Missing from Fresno / Atwater, CA - 15 July 2025 - Age 36 & 8 months *Found Deceased*

Mother, infant daughter missing after leaving for doctor’s appointment, family says

The search for a mother and her 8-month-old baby in California continues more than a week since they were last seen by family.

www.wwnytv.com

Mother, infant daughter missing after leaving for doctor’s appointment, family says​

The search for a mother and her 8-month-old baby in California continues more than a week since they were last seen by family.

The mother of Whisper Owen said her daughter and granddaughter were in Fresno, California for a doctor’s appointment and on their way back home to Sacramento when they disappeared.

The missing mother’s car was spotted on traffic cameras in Atwater last Tuesday, which is her last known location.

Owen’s mother, Vickie Torres, was the last person to see her daughter and granddaughter before they vanished.

Torres said she does not know why her daughter was in Atwater. She said she believes her daughter and granddaughter are somewhere between Atwater and Sacramento.

“For me to think that now she drove away and I’m not going to see my daughter again because I can’t find her,” Torres said. “Something has happened. Nobody knows.”

Fresno Police said they do not believe the missing mother and baby are in the Fresno area.

“Something happened to my daughter, she didn’t disappear on her own,” Torres said. “She didn’t run away from this family. She didn’t run away from her other children.”

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.

Media - WHISPER OWEN & SANDRA McCARTY: Missing from Fresno / Atwater, CA - 15 July 2025 - Age 36 & 8 months

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

California mother, 8-month-old daughter missing for over a week, last seen in Merced County

Authorities in the Central Valley are seeking information after a Sacramento County woman and her infant daughter went missing more than a week ago.

www.cbsnews.com

California mother, 8-month-old daughter missing for over a week, last seen in Merced County​

Authorities in the Central Valley are seeking information after a Sacramento County woman and her infant daughter went missing more than a week ago.

According to the Fresno County Sheriff's Office, 36-year-old Whisper Owen of Elk Grove was last seen with her daughter, 8-month-old Sandra McCarty around 5 p.m. on July 15 in Fresno.

The missing mother and daughter were then spotted on traffic cameras in Atwater, in Merced County, after 8 p.m. the same night, deputies said. Owen's mother told CBS Sacramento she believes her daughter stopped to use the bathroom or pick up formula for the baby, as she mentioned before she left Fresno she needed to make a stop on her way back to Sacramento.

The car was spotted on cameras at the intersection of Shaffer and Bellevue Roads.

The pair are believed to be traveling in a silver 2006 Chevrolet Trailblazer SUV with California license plate number 9LKH008.

In an update Wednesday afternoon, deputies said the SUV has damage to the driver's side headlight. The vehicle was last seen by a traffic camera near Shaffer and Bellevue roads in the city of Atwater around 8 p.m. on July 15.

Atwater is about 65 miles north of Fresno.


Vickie Torres, Owen's mother and McCarty's grandmother, told CBS Sacramento she believes they are somewhere between Atwater and Sacramento.

She said she is the last person to talk to Owen before they left her home in Fresno on July 15.

"Something happened to my daughter she didn't disappear on her own. She didn't run away from this family, she didn't run away from her other children," Torres said.

She told CBS Sacramento the family has spent days in Atwater looking for the car or signs of the mother and daughter. So far, she said, they have been unsuccessful.

"I'm hoping the more exposure we get, the more hope that we have of finding her and that precious baby," Torres said.

Torres said her daughter has health issues and, one of the scenarios she fears, is that Owen had a medical emergency behind the wheel of the car. She said they are urging law enforcement to fly over the Atwater area to see hard-to-reach locations.

Torres said Owen did not leave on her own and was in good spirits before she left her home in Fresno on Tuesday. She said Owen shared about a recent family vacation and was planning to come back to Fresno to help her mother move in to a new home.

"For me to think that now, she drove away, and I'm not gonna see my daughter again because I can't find her. Something has happened. Nobody knows," Torres said.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Sacramento woman, her baby missing for almost 2 weeks: 'We just want to find them'

"She didn't run away. She is a new mom. She's got a good home life. She has three other children."

www.kcra.com

Sacramento woman, her baby missing for almost 2 weeks: 'We just want to find them'​

Whisper Owen and her 8-month-old daughter, Sandra McCarty, have been missing for almost two weeks after being last seen driving home to Sacramento from Fresno, leaving their family desperate for answers.

Vickie Torres, Owen's mother, was the last person to see them on July 15 after a family visit.

“She was here for a doctor's appointment for the baby,” Torres said. “We had a wonderful visit.”

The Fresno Police Department reported that Owen and her daughter were spotted around 8 p.m. on July 15 in the Atwater area of Merced County, more than 60 miles north of Fresno.

"The only thing she had to do was stop and get a can of formula because she was on her last bottle," Torres said.

Andrea McCarty, Sandra’s sister, said no one has heard from them since then.

“Her car is no longer popping up on any traffic cams. Her phone's been off," McCarty said. "Your mind goes through all the terrible possibilities."

 

[Guess Who]

Sacramento woman, her baby missing for almost 2 weeks: 'We just want to find them'

"She didn't run away. She is a new mom. She's got a good home life. She has three other children."

www.kcra.com

Sacramento woman, her baby missing for almost 2 weeks: 'We just want to find them'​

Whisper Owen and her 8-month-old daughter, Sandra McCarty, have been missing for almost two weeks after being last seen driving home to Sacramento from Fresno, leaving their family desperate for answers.

Vickie Torres, Owen's mother, was the last person to see them on July 15 after a family visit.

“She was here for a doctor's appointment for the baby,” Torres said. “We had a wonderful visit.”

The Fresno Police Department reported that Owen and her daughter were spotted around 8 p.m. on July 15 in the Atwater area of Merced County, more than 60 miles north of Fresno.

"The only thing she had to do was stop and get a can of formula because she was on her last bottle," Torres said.

Andrea McCarty, Sandra’s sister, said no one has heard from them since then.

“Her car is no longer popping up on any traffic cams. Her phone's been off," McCarty said. "Your mind goes through all the terrible possibilities."

This article says her phone has been off and another one upstream says she didn't have a phone.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

This article says her phone has been off and another one upstream says she didn't have a phone.

I didn't see anything mention she didn't have a phone? At least not in what's posted. But I did find this article which has much more info. It mentions she hasn't had a working phone for a while. Maybe that's what they meant by the phone being "off"?

Sacramento mother and her 8-month-old daughter have been missing for over 10 days

Desperate family members and authorities in central California are searching for a mother and her 8-month-old daughter, who haven't been seen in almost two weeks since departing Fresno to return to their home near Sacramento.

abc7news.com

Whisper and Sandra were supposed to be "heading home to Elk Grove (Sacramento County) where family members were expecting them," the sheriff's office said on Facebook. Elk Grove is around 158 miles north of Fresno.

But due to a miscommunication, her family didn't realize she was missing for three days, they told CNN Sunday.

Owen was in Fresno for a routine checkup for the baby, her mother told CNN. She visited her mother's house, where she changed and fed the baby, before the 8:30 a.m. appointment.

Afterward, she visited her brother's house. Richard Owen told CNN he last saw his sister around 2:45 p.m. on July 15.

Then, Owen returned to her mother's home, where they ate lunch and played with the baby before she left around 5 p.m., hoping to get home to Elk Grove before dark, Torres told CNN.

But when she didn't return home, her partner thought she had stayed behind to help her mother clean up a house she had just purchased, her brother told CNN. Her partner didn't realize something was wrong until Saturday - when the two would normally spend the weekend together, Richard Owen said.

Owen's partner contacted her family - which is when they realized she had been missing for three days - and her mother reported her missing to the Fresno County Sheriff's Office.

Owen hasn't had a working phone for the past year or so, making it sometimes difficult to communicate with her, according to her brother. Her mother told CNN she typically spoke with her daughter, sometimes using her partner's phone, around twice a week.

Owen suffers from high blood pressure that has been particularly bad since she gave birth, her family told CNN. She was hospitalized multiple times during the pregnancy, according to her mother.

"My fear is that maybe there was a medical emergency behind the wheel, and maybe she had veered off the road," her brother said.

"I can't help but to feel like something horrible has happened," Richard Owen said. "The last time I talked I talked to my sister, she was talking about how good life was. She was just happy. There was no reason for her to want to disappear or to leave."

She has a 17-year-old from a previous relationship as well as an 8- and 3-year-old with her partner. The kids are "all devastated wanting to know if and when they will see their mother again," her brother said.

 

[Kimster]

Well, this isn’t good news. I wonder why she was seeing a doctor all the way in Fresno? Sacramento and Fresno are not close to each other.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Well, this isn’t good news. I wonder why she was seeing a doctor all the way in Fresno? Sacramento and Fresno are not close to each other.

I wonder if she had an already established relationship with her OB in Fresno? She's got other kids. And her mother lives there.

 

[Kimster]

I wonder if she had an already established relationship with her OB in Fresno? She's got other kids. And her mother lives there.

Yeah, it must have something to do with her mother living there. Maybe that’s where she grew up and the doctor is a family doctor?

Sometimes I follow these cases and I wish things were different. Like I wish she would’ve found a doctor closer to home and then she would’ve never been on that trip.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

New information fuels search for missing Sacramento mother, baby weeks after disappearance

It's been more than three weeks since Whisper Owen and her eight-month-old baby, Sandra McCarty, were last seen, and on Friday, authorities released new information in the search.

www.kcra.com

The search for a Sacramento mother and baby missing after Fresno trip continues​

For the first time, Owen's longtime boyfriend, Robert McCarty, who is the baby’s father, spoke with KCRA 3 about their disappearance.

"She was just such a good baby, and she hardly ever cried and when she did, it was just something wrong," McCarty said.

The last time he saw them he said was on Tuesday morning, July 15, when the Sacramento mother and her baby were headed down to Fresno.

"She woke me up as she was leaving so I can pull my car out so she could back out,” said McCarty. “She had to get down to Fresno for the doctor's appointment."

When Owen and Sandra didn’t return home later that day, McCarty assumed they stayed with family in Fresno.

"For her not to have a phone or whatever is not unusual,” said McCarty. “So not talking to her like typically is not uncommon."

After three days without contact, McCarty called Whisper's mother, Vickie Torres, on Friday morning.

"Her mom's like, 'What do you mean she's not there,' you know?" said McCarty.

Torres told him Owen had left her home in Fresno around 5 p.m. on July 15 to head back to Sacramento.

"I have no idea where they could be and why they would be, you know, not in contact with anybody is totally not like her," McCarty said.

"So just keep an eye out, man, because I don't see how this car could disappear," McCarty said.

He has visited Atwater at least four times in the past week to search the area where Owen was last seen.

"I really hope that they are okay and that they're not, you know, hurt or if you know, if they passed that, you know, they didn't have to sit there, you know, dying from exposure, starvation or no water," he said.

 

[Kimster]

New information fuels search for missing Sacramento mother, baby weeks after disappearance

It's been more than three weeks since Whisper Owen and her eight-month-old baby, Sandra McCarty, were last seen, and on Friday, authorities released new information in the search.

www.kcra.com

The search for a Sacramento mother and baby missing after Fresno trip continues​

For the first time, Owen's longtime boyfriend, Robert McCarty, who is the baby’s father, spoke with KCRA 3 about their disappearance.

"She was just such a good baby, and she hardly ever cried and when she did, it was just something wrong," McCarty said.

The last time he saw them he said was on Tuesday morning, July 15, when the Sacramento mother and her baby were headed down to Fresno.

"She woke me up as she was leaving so I can pull my car out so she could back out,” said McCarty. “She had to get down to Fresno for the doctor's appointment."

When Owen and Sandra didn’t return home later that day, McCarty assumed they stayed with family in Fresno.

"For her not to have a phone or whatever is not unusual,” said McCarty. “So not talking to her like typically is not uncommon."

After three days without contact, McCarty called Whisper's mother, Vickie Torres, on Friday morning.

"Her mom's like, 'What do you mean she's not there,' you know?" said McCarty.

Torres told him Owen had left her home in Fresno around 5 p.m. on July 15 to head back to Sacramento.

"I have no idea where they could be and why they would be, you know, not in contact with anybody is totally not like her," McCarty said.

"So just keep an eye out, man, because I don't see how this car could disappear," McCarty said.

He has visited Atwater at least four times in the past week to search the area where Owen was last seen.

"I really hope that they are okay and that they're not, you know, hurt or if you know, if they passed that, you know, they didn't have to sit there, you know, dying from exposure, starvation or no water," he said.

Huh? Why did I think they found the car?

 

[Guess Who]

New information fuels search for missing Sacramento mother, baby weeks after disappearance

It's been more than three weeks since Whisper Owen and her eight-month-old baby, Sandra McCarty, were last seen, and on Friday, authorities released new information in the search.

www.kcra.com

The search for a Sacramento mother and baby missing after Fresno trip continues​

For the first time, Owen's longtime boyfriend, Robert McCarty, who is the baby’s father, spoke with KCRA 3 about their disappearance.

"She was just such a good baby, and she hardly ever cried and when she did, it was just something wrong," McCarty said.

The last time he saw them he said was on Tuesday morning, July 15, when the Sacramento mother and her baby were headed down to Fresno.

"She woke me up as she was leaving so I can pull my car out so she could back out,” said McCarty. “She had to get down to Fresno for the doctor's appointment."

When Owen and Sandra didn’t return home later that day, McCarty assumed they stayed with family in Fresno.

"For her not to have a phone or whatever is not unusual,” said McCarty. “So not talking to her like typically is not uncommon."

After three days without contact, McCarty called Whisper's mother, Vickie Torres, on Friday morning.

"Her mom's like, 'What do you mean she's not there,' you know?" said McCarty.

Torres told him Owen had left her home in Fresno around 5 p.m. on July 15 to head back to Sacramento.

"I have no idea where they could be and why they would be, you know, not in contact with anybody is totally not like her," McCarty said.

"So just keep an eye out, man, because I don't see how this car could disappear," McCarty said.

He has visited Atwater at least four times in the past week to search the area where Owen was last seen.

"I really hope that they are okay and that they're not, you know, hurt or if you know, if they passed that, you know, they didn't have to sit there, you know, dying from exposure, starvation or no water," he said.

I can understand not having a cell phone on you, but I sure don't understand not letting your sig other know your travels, especially with a baby in tow and that far of a trip. At least a call to let them know how the appointment went, at the least. I also can't understand the sig other not inquiring about the dr appt and wanting to know when she was headed home. Something with this doesn't sit right with me. Her mother and the sig other obviously had each other's numbers. She easily could have used mom's phone and he could have called her mom's phone just as easily before the 3 days.

 

[Tresir]

So 64 miles plus 106 miles. Travel would be the best part of 3 hours with the stop at Atwater after about an hour's drive. The road looks pretty dead straight. Do they have traffic cameras on these roads?

How do they know she stopped at Atwater?

 

[Kimster]

So 64 miles plus 106 miles. Travel would be the best part of 3 hours with the stop at Atwater after about an hour's drive. The road looks pretty dead straight. Do they have traffic cameras on these roads?

How do they know she stopped at Atwater?

I have assumed she gassed up there. That's what Atwater is to me, a place to get gas, water, or food.

 

[Tresir]

Ok, here is a screenshot of all the traffic cams on the route from Fresno to Sacramento so they must know that Atwater was the last place her vehicle was seen. Have they got store video of where she purchased the formula?

Perhaps she then went on minor roads after that. Here is a map screenshot showing the cams.

 

[Tresir]

That sure is a lot of driving for just one day, with a baby as well. 340 miles round trip. Plus the doctor's appointment and visit to mom's all in one day.

Is it possible she decided to take a stop overnight somewhere and something happened?

 

[Kimster]

That sure is a lot of driving for just one day, with a baby as well. 340 miles round trip. Plus the doctor's appointment and visit to mom's all in one day.

Is it possible she decided to take a stop overnight somewhere and something happened?

It really is a long drive! I've done it many times, but not back and forth in one day. That's why I mentioned it early on. I would have found a new doctor before making trips like that one.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

The missing mother’s car was spotted on traffic cameras in Atwater last Tuesday, which is her last known location.

The car was spotted on cameras at the intersection of Shaffer and Bellevue Roads.

There's a supermarket. A Walgreens. Some restaurants.


Certainly if she got back on 99 her car would have been seen again... Otherwise it's a pretty small search area.
Maybe she took one of the smaller highways?

 

[Guess Who]

There's a supermarket. A Walgreens. Some restaurants.
View attachment 26257

Certainly if she got back on 99 her car would have been seen again... Otherwise it's a pretty small search area.
Maybe she took one of the smaller highways?
View attachment 26258

And surely there is more video from businesses and residences in the area, too

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

And surely there is more video from businesses and residences in the area, too

Yes. The camera mentioned isn't even on the camera map. Not a highway DOT camera.

 

[Guess Who]

There's a supermarket. A Walgreens. Some restaurants.
View attachment 26257

Certainly if she got back on 99 her car would have been seen again... Otherwise it's a pretty small search area.
Maybe she took one of the smaller highways?
View attachment 26258

A liquor store, gas station, McDonalds...so many things she might or might not have gone to right there.