A desperate search is underway in California for a mother and her 8-month-old daughter who seemingly disappeared into thin air nearly two weeks ago after leaving Fresno to head back home near Sacramento.
Whisper Owen, 36, and her baby girl, Sandra McCarty, were last seen on July 15. They had spent the day visiting family in Fresno, and around 5 p.m., they hit the road, aiming to get back to Elk Grove before dark. But they never made it home.
The last known sighting of their silver 2006 Chevrolet Trailblazer was on a traffic camera around 8 p.m. that evening in Atwater, about 66 miles north of Fresno. Since then, there’s been no sign of them — no calls, no updates, no trace. It’s like they vanished off the map.
“I’m desperate to find my daughter and her baby,” Whisper’s mother, Vickie Torres, told CNN through tears. “It’s like she vanished into thin air.”, reported 9News.
The Fresno Police Department is now leading the case, with support from agencies across Northern California. Officials say they have no reason to suspect foul play, but the lack of leads has the family deeply worried.
Whisper was in town for a routine checkup for Sandra and had spent time with her mom and brother before setting off for home. Richard Owen, her brother, told CNN he last saw his sister around 2:45 p.m. on July 15. After that, she returned to their mother’s house for lunch and playtime with the baby before leaving at 5 p.m.
What makes things worse is the delay in realizing she was missing. Her partner assumed she stayed behind in Fresno to help her mom clean a new house. It wasn’t until the weekend — when they usually spend time together — that alarm bells went off. When Whisper’s partner reached out to her family, everyone realized no one had seen her or Sandra in days.
Because Whisper hasn’t had a working phone for over a year, she usually kept in touch using her partner’s device. Her family says it wasn’t uncommon to go a few days without contact, but something about this felt different — and now, terrifying.
Her brother fears a medical emergency may have happened behind the wheel. Whisper has struggled with high blood pressure since giving birth and had several hospitalizations during the pregnancy. “My fear is that maybe there was a medical emergency behind the wheel,” he said. “Maybe she veered off the road.”
Whisper is a mother of four, and her absence is crushing her other children, who are desperate for answers. “She’s just a very loving person,” her mother said. “Everybody loves Whisper.”
The family insists she would never disappear on her own. “Everything is good in her life right now. There’s no reason for her to have taken off,” Torres said.
Richard has been sleeping in his car, searching highways and back roads nonstop. “At this point, I’m not ruling out anything,” he said. “I’m trying to find her in any way possible.”
If anyone has seen Whisper or Sandra, the family is begging them to come forward. “Somebody knows something,” Torres said. “And they need to say something.”