CA CA - Sandra McCarty, 8-months & Whisper Owen, 36, Endangered Advisory, silver 2006 Chev Trailblazer, last seen N Glenn & E Yale, Fresno, 15 Jul 2025

[GraceG]

https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/27/us/sandra-mccarty-whisper-owen-missing-california

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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.

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Owen is an outspoken and outgoing “free spirit” who cherishes her children, according to her mother.

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.

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Richard Owen (brother) told CNN he has spent the past several days sleeping in his car as he and his wife search up and down the highway and comb back roads in the area where his sister was last seen.

More in linked article.

This is scary - I was wondering what "medical condition" they were initially referring to when she went missing. I'm guessing this may be related to post partum preeclampsia which can be very dangerous (seizures, stroke being some of the more serious outcomes). That makes sense, then, the possibility of her having left the road. Postpartum Preeclampsia: Causes, Symptoms & Treatment

 

[Tabirey]

As of 3 hours ago, still not found

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

 

[Inthedetails]

This is scary - I was wondering what "medical condition" they were initially referring to when she went missing. I'm guessing this may be related to post partum preeclampsia which can be very dangerous (seizures, stroke being some of the more serious outcomes). That makes sense, then, the possibility of her having left the road. Postpartum Preeclampsia: Causes, Symptoms & Treatment

I think she had an accident and the car hasn't been found. my opinion.

jmo

 

[meanmaryjean]

This is scary - I was wondering what "medical condition" they were initially referring to when she went missing. I'm guessing this may be related to post partum preeclampsia which can be very dangerous (seizures, stroke being some of the more serious outcomes). That makes sense, then, the possibility of her having left the road. Postpartum Preeclampsia: Causes, Symptoms & Treatment

Post partum pre-eclampsia happens in the immediate PP period (1-2 weeks, 6 weeks at the outside range of the condition). She is well out of danger for that with the child being 8 months old.

 

[meanmaryjean]

I think she had an accident and the car hasn't been found. my opinion.

jmo

Sadly- this is the most likely reason for her disappearance.

 

[pukasonqo2]

Post partum pre-eclampsia happens in the immediate PP period (1-2 weeks, 6 weeks at the outside range of the condition). She is well out of danger for that with the child being 8 months old.

Might not be pregnancy related, many men and women suffer from high BP and take medication for it

 

[GraceG]

Post partum pre-eclampsia happens in the immediate PP period (1-2 weeks, 6 weeks at the outside range of the condition). She is well out of danger for that with the child being 8 months old.

Thank you! I read in the link I had shared that it could happen up to six weeks after birth and just assumed it could continue as an issue if untreated. Her brother had mentioned the high blood pressure in relation to the pregnancy, but perhaps she had that condition prior.

 

[Daphne_Blake]

Her family believes law enforcement isn't doing enough to look for her, maybe because of her past
US mother and 8-month-old daughter remain missing after 10 days

 

[Knox]

Her family believes law enforcement isn't doing enough to look for her, maybe because of her past
US mother and 8-month-old daughter remain missing after 10 days

Her brother has been very vocal on his social media page - he's frustrated and out of his head with worry. Can't say that I blame him.

 

[meanmaryjean]

Might not be pregnancy related, many men and women suffer from high BP and take medication for it

Agreed but hypertension is different that pre-eclampsia. Pre-eclampsia also involves proteinuria, CNS irritability and liver dysfunction.

 

[Toniab329]

Her family believes law enforcement isn't doing enough to look for her, maybe because of her past
US mother and 8-month-old daughter remain missing after 10 days

Maybe the article has been edited, or maybe I skimmed too fast, but I don't see anything indicating that? It says they're frustrated, but I didn't see that they think it's because of her past.

 

[mickey2942]

I am just wondering why she didn't have a working phone. Even a cheap one from Walmart to have minutes on? Even non working phones can often still contact 911.

I am also curious, why her partner did not reach out when Whisper had not called the other children for 3 days? When my kids were little, I always called them every day if I was not with them. Odd. Because if she was with her family, she would have borrowed a phone from them to contact the other children. And why does she travel that far for a medical appointment for her child? Why doesn't she have a provider closer to her home?

 

[JakeVernon]

Welcome to Websleuths!!

I’ve seen this exact thought expressed by many other locals too. Thanks for coming here. As a local, do you know if there are other cameras along that route that may have caught her vehicle?

I’ve seen a lot of talk about water and the possibility of an undiscovered vehicle accident. What are your thoughts on that?

Did you know there are live webcams on highway 99? Caltrans CCTV Map

 

[TMich6811]

Atwater resident: what gets me is why she would be on that side of town if she was just stopping at the store to buy anything since target and Walmart are right off the highway. 5 corners (Shaffer/Bellevue) this is 2 miles across town. So she had to have been visiting someone here to have any reason to drive through town.

Going back to this - are there many places to get in an accident that no one wouldn’t see you? Realistically?

 

[TMich6811]

Zooming out - that really is a detour off the road for a stop?

 

[mickey2942]

Going back to this - are there many places to get in an accident that no one wouldn’t see you? Realistically?

Well, not if she took CA-99. But if she went the back way, on the patchwork of county roads, yes.

 

[Winterhike]

Her brother mentioned the damaged/missing headlight several times. What if a series of things happened:
* she had some sort of delay between leaving her mom's house and the sighting in Atwater. Maybe it was innocent, like the baby had a blowout and she had to stop and buy supplies to get cleaned up. Or maybe it was something else; something she was planning but didn't tell her family about
* she drove that far into Atwater to connect with a backroads route she knew to continue up toward home because she realized she wouldn't be home before dark and thought she was less likely to get stopped for the headlight on the backroads
* she had a wreck on the backroad route and hasn't been spotted yet

Just theorizing. Maybe her brother is thinking along these lines and that's why he's out driving the backroads.

 

[mickey2942]

There are dead areas away from the CA-99, on the county roads. No cell service, even in California. If she did have a flat or something on the highway, California Highway Patrol automatically comes out and provides safety tows off the highways.

Something about the whole story doesn't make sense though. Some important information seems to be missing.

 

[Knox]

Did you know there are live webcams on highway 99? Caltrans CCTV Map

I did know that, but they don’t record.

 

[Knox]

Her brother mentioned the damaged/missing headlight several times. What if a series of things happened:
* she had some sort of delay between leaving her mom's house and the sighting in Atwater. Maybe it was innocent, like the baby had a blowout and she had to stop and buy supplies to get cleaned up. Or maybe it was something else; something she was planning but didn't tell her family about
* she drove that far into Atwater to connect with a backroads route she knew to continue up toward home because she realized she wouldn't be home before dark and thought she was less likely to get stopped for the headlight on the backroads
* she had a wreck on the backroad route and hasn't been spotted yet

Just theorizing. Maybe her brother is thinking along these lines and that's why he's out driving the backroads.

Family has stated all along they worry she suffered a health crisis.