Dive team finds vehicle belonging to California mother who went missing with her baby

The vehicle belonging to a Sacramento woman who went missing with her baby last month has been found submerged in a central California canal, and authorities say two bodies discovered inside likely belong to the mother and child.

Whisper Owen, 36, and her 8-month-old daughter, Sandra McCarty, were last seen July 15 after visiting family in Fresno, the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office said last month.

The pair had been traveling home in a silver 2006 Chevrolet Trailblazer, which was last captured on a traffic camera in the city of Atwater, north of Fresno, a few hours after they left.

Family had been expecting them in Elk Grove, in Sacramento County, but due to a miscommunication they did not realize Owen was missing for three days, relatives told CNN on July 28.

A non-profit dive team found a vehicle matching the description of Owen’s on Sunday in Oakdale, about 45 minutes north of Atwater, a spokesperson for the San Joaquin Sheriff’s Office said. The bodies of an adult and infant were found in the vehicle, the spokesperson said.

The San Joaquin County Medical Examiner’s Office has “presumptive identification” of the bodies as those of Owen and her daughter, the office said Monday. Earlier, police said the family of the missing woman was at the dive site and identified the vehicle as being hers.

The vehicle was found during a search of a waterway in the area of Highway 120 and Victory Road in San Joaquin County, according to a spokesperson for the Fresno Police Department, which is in charge of the investigation.

The San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office and California Highway Patrol are investigating how the vehicle ended up in the water, police said in a statement.

Investigators do not suspect foul play at this time, Fresno police spokesperson Lt. Larry Bowlan said Monday.