Mother and 8-Month-Old Daughter Missing for Over Two Weeks After Routine Doctor Visit

A trip to visit family and a doctor turned into a missing-person case after a Sacramento mother and her infant daughter vanished without a trace, leaving their family and police scrambling for answers.

Whisper Owen, 36, and her 8-month-old daughter, Sandra McCarty, have been missing since mid-July after a trip to the doctor in Fresno, California. Despite sightings on traffic cameras and visits with family earlier that day, they never made it home to Elk Grove.

On July 23, 2025, the Fresno County Sheriff's Office posted a message on Facebook explaining that the mother and daughter had last been seen on July 15, 2025. They were in a 2006 Chevrolet Trailblazer with a damaged side headlight.

Whisper's mother, Vickie Torres, who lives in Fresno, spoke to the LA Times in a report from July 31, providing more details. They had left Sacramento at approximately 4 a.m. that morning for a doctor's appointment scheduled at 8:30 a.m. for Sandra.

However, she visited Vickie first to change the baby's diaper and later went to the appointment. Afterward, Whisper went to her brother Richard Owens' house before visiting her mother again.

Authorities tracked Whisper's vehicle using traffic cameras. Footage showed that she and her daughter left the Fresno city limits at 5 p.m. that day after departing Vickie's house.

Police said CCTV footage from a smoke shop in Atwater, roughly an hour and a half from their home and directly along their route, showed that Whisper parked and changed her baby's diaper there around 7:30 p.m.

However, the car was last seen around 8 p.m., near Shaffer and Bellevue Roads, still in Atwater. They disappeared afterward. In the days since, their family has received no information, and authorities still have no updates on the case.

However, the police department issued a statement to the LA Times, clarifying, "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."

Vickie also explained that Whisper often stayed at her house, so Whisper's boyfriend and Sandra's father — whom she declined to name — was not immediately alarmed when she and the baby didn't return that night.

However, three days later, he called asking about Whisper. That was when the nightmare began. "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," Vickie said to the LA Times. "And that beautiful little baby. God, I hope, whatever happened, she's with her mama."

The distraught mother worried that her daughter may have had an emergency on the road because she suffered from preeclampsia during her pregnancy, and her high blood pressure remained even after giving birth.

Sandra isn't Whisper's only child. She and her partner share a nine-year-old and a three-year-old. Additionally, Whisper has a 16-year-old daughter from a previous relationship.

Vickie said that her daughter would never have abandoned them and described her as someone whom most people loved. The family has since been searching the roads between Fresno and Sacramento, hoping to find some clues.

They have talked to business owners, made fliers, and spread the word on social media. On July 21, her brother, Richard, wrote on Facebook that there were still no leads and asked his friends for prayers.

Sandra's older sister, Andrea McCarty, also posted a message on Facebook, asking for help. She repeated some of the information shared by police, including her timeline and her car model. Additionally, Andrea revealed that Whisper's phone was off and thanked everyone for spreading the word.

So far, authorities have checked family shelters in both areas. They also said that Whisper is around 5'6", 145 lbs. with blue eyes and brown hair, while her daughter is 1'10", 17 lbs. with green eyes and brown hair. Anyone who sees them is encouraged to call 911.