Missing Mom and 8-Month-Old Daughter Found Dead in Submerged Car a Month After Leaving Doctor’s Appointment

The bodies of a California mother and her 8-month-old daughter who had been missing for more than a month were found in a waterway on Sunday, Aug. 17.

The Fresno Police Department confirmed that two bodies were discovered during the search for Whisper Owen, 36, and her daughter, Sandra McCarty. Their 2006 Chevrolet Trailblazer was located submerged in San Joaquin County, according to a statement obtained by PEOPLE.

ABC affiliate KFSN reported that the remains belonged to Owen and Sandra.

“We have been in contact today with the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Department regarding a search of a waterway in the area of Highway 120 and Victory Road in San Joaquin County,” Fresno police said in an update.

They added that Owen’s 2006 Chevy Trailblazer was found underwater and that two bodies were inside. The Sheriff’s Department and the Coroner’s Office will officially confirm their identities.

The California Highway Patrol is also investigating how Owen’s vehicle ended up in the water.

According to CBS News Sacramento, the search group Adventures With Purpose and diver Juan Heredia discovered the SUV.

Owen’s family told reporters that police had tracked her phone, which last signaled from a waterway near where her vehicle was eventually found.

Owen and Sandra were last seen on Tuesday, July 15, after leaving a doctor’s appointment around 5 p.m. They were on their way to meet family members in Elk Grove (Sacramento County), according to Fox Affiliate KMPH and KFSN.

Her 2006 Trailblazer, which had a broken driver’s side headlight, was later seen on traffic cameras in Atwater around 8 p.m., the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office reported.

Owen’s partner, Robert McCarty, and her two other children were waiting for her at home when she disappeared, KMPH said.

After the discovery on Sunday, Owen’s brother Richard told CBS News Sacramento, “It means we can find some way to move forward and accept this loss. She has other children that have to find a way to move on without their mother or their baby sister.”

Family members said they were not immediately worried when Owen didn’t arrive because she often stayed in Fresno for several days. But by Saturday, July 19 — four days later — they filed a missing persons report, KMPH noted.

Friends of Owen described her as a “loving, attentive mother” and said it was “completely out of character” for her to disappear.

The San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office and Adventures With Purpose have not yet responded to requests for additional information, PEOPLE reported.