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

[Kapua]

So many things about this case do not make any sense to me.

1. Taking an 8-month-old to a doctor 2 1/2 hours from your home. Granted, she has family in Fresno, but that's a 5-hour round trip with an 8-month-old. Surely, there are pediatricians in the Elk Grove area.
2. Not having a working cell phone when going on a long car trip.
3. Her mom said she left her house at 5 PM, but a surveillance camera catches her two blocks away an hour later.
4. Another surveillance camera catches her 60 miles away in Atwater, which should be an hour drive away, and she's in town at a smoke shop, not just off the freeway.
5. She's driving a car with a damaged left front headlight, but does not appear to be in a hurry to arrive home before dark.

Her mom said she had a $600 food stamp card on her. I wonder if that can be tracked. Apart from that, I'm not even going to guess what happened to them, but again, I hope they are safe somewhere. JMHO

Link: Grandmother begs police to take missing daughter and baby seriously

 

[GraceG]

Hannah vibes?

referencing the “failure to complete” maybe a parenting class.

Could be - the matter was listed in CIVIL court, so I don't think it's related to any child neglect charges. In Califorinia that falls under Penal Code 270 PC, wherein the law criminalizes explicitly anyone who "willfully omits, without lawful excuse, to furnish necessary clothing, food, shelter or medical attendance, or other remedial care for his or her child." (often a misdemeanor)

Note: "Other remedial care" refers to alternate recognized treatments, such as "treatment by spiritual means through prayer alone in accordance with the tenets and practices of a recognized church or religious denomination...". Child Neglect Laws in California | Penal Code 270 PC

So the fact this was a civil matter, I personally don't think the sealed civil case was related to any alleged (based on her Mom' statement to the media) "neglect" charges.

 

[Winterhike]

So many things about this case do not make any sense to me.

1. Taking an 8-month-old to a doctor 2 1/2 hours from your home. Granted, she has family in Fresno, but that's a 5-hour round trip with an 8-month-old. Surely, there are pediatricians in the Elk Grove area.
2. Not having a working cell phone when going on a long car trip.
3. Her mom said she left her house at 5 PM, but a surveillance camera catches her two blocks away an hour later.
4. Another surveillance camera catches her 60 miles away in Atwater, which should be an hour drive away, and she's in town at a smoke shop, not just off the freeway.
5. She's driving a car with a damaged left front headlight, but does not appear to be in a hurry to arrive home before dark.

Her mom said she had a $600 food stamp card on her. I wonder if that can be tracked. Apart from that, I'm not even going to guess what happened to them, but again, I hope they are safe somewhere. JMHO

Link: Grandmother begs police to take missing daughter and baby seriously

Has it been confirmed that the Fresno doctor's visit was with a regular pediatrician? Maybe it was a specialist?

Or maybe they moved to Elk Grove since the baby was born and haven't switched yet? I haven't seen anything suggesting this, just thinking of possibilities since I agree, it is odd to be driving that far (especially to get to an appointment early in the day).

Hopefully investigators have spoken to people who saw her for the medical appointment and confirmed all was well. I wonder if she could have received bad news about the baby's health? The baby looks perfectly fine in photos, just speculating about things that she might have had on her mind.

Those mystery blocks of time have to be related, and especially that hour between leaving her mom's house and being spotted 2 blocks away. Who was she with/what was she doing for that hour?

 

[Knox]

Just curious if any news outlet besides the DailyMail is saying she was at a store in Fresno, an hour after she left her Mom’s house?

If that’s true, she likely made another stop after leaving her Mom’s. I’d like to think LE has requested the purchase record on that -$600 card her Mom mentioned. It would be interesting to know what was bought.

On my way home, nothing to note other than traffic is pretty heavy. We stopped for lunch in Elk Grove, close to 3 1/2 hours to get to Fresno. Unless she was car jacked, this just makes no sense at all.

 

[jillolantern]

Why is he talking about the baby in the past tense?

Can you cite the source that you are referencing that makes you believe this is somehow nefarious?

 

[jillolantern]

Yes, maybe. But that reference to the baby in the past tense ("she WAS such a good baby and she hardly ever CRIED") is really giving me pause.

Why? Are you aware of some study that has been done that points to this as being nefarious?

 

[Daphne_Blake]

Why? Are you aware of some study that has been done that points to this as being nefarious?

It's from an interview he did, I can't find the article it's attached to now but I saw it as well. He spoke about them in past tense (which has been seen in previous cases and can be a red flag that the person knows they're dead because they killed them), and he had zero emotion when saying the baby could have starved to death/been killed by the elements which is weird for what should be a worried father.

Statistically, you're significantly more likely to be murdered by your partner. I'm not saying he did anything to be clear- some people are quite stoic and it could have just been poor choice of words/not thinking straight, but it can be a red flag to look out for past tense use and lack of emotion due to other cases we've seen before.

 

[mlhenn]

Can you cite the source that you are referencing that makes you believe this is somehow nefarious?

I wasn’t the one who posted this but I believe it’s in reference to this article

The search for a Sacramento mother and baby missing after Fresno trip continues

Whisper Owen and her eight-month-old baby, Sandra McCarty, have been missing for two weeks after a trip to Fresno, with the last known sighting of their vehicle in Atwater. For the first time, Owen's longtime boyfriend, Robert McCarty, who is the baby’s father, spoke with KCRA 3 about their...

www.kcra.com

 

[mickey2942]

Police could track her EBT expenditures. It doesn't seem like she has a lot of cash.

What is interesting here, do adults have the right to just "drop out"? People have done it, most recently, Hannah K.

Disappearance of Hannah Kobayashi - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

There is so far no indication of foul play.

 

[Winterhike]

Police could track her EBT expenditures. It doesn't seem like she has a lot of cash.

What is interesting here, do adults have the right to just "drop out"? People have done it, most recently, Hannah K.

Disappearance of Hannah Kobayashi - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

There is so far no indication of foul play.

I think single adults with no dependent children sort of do have this right (but their loved ones also have the right to react with panic, anger, or other emotions).

But that's not what we have here, IMO. She has 3 other minor children and most relevantly, she has the baby with her, the baby who has another parent whether his media interviews make him look concerned or not.

 

[Kitsey]

I don't think this is a case of foul play and I'm cautiously optimistic that mom and baby will resurface soon.

 

[Gigglingtoes]

The fact that police have reiterated they “do not believe she is in the area” anymore and don’t suspect foul play is kind of like reading between the lines for me.

 

[riolove77]

This case is local to me; I live in San Joaquin County, work in Stockton and live about 25 miles south of Elk Grove. I can't believe how little I've heard about this case. I'm hoping they turn up safely, but the whole trip home seems odd to me...should not have taken three hours from Fresno to Atwater. There were definitely some lengthy stops there. Hopefully the EBT card can tell authorities more.

 

[TMich6811]

Dbm

 

[jillolantern]

It's from an interview he did, I can't find the article it's attached to now but I saw it as well. He spoke about them in past tense (which has been seen in previous cases and can be a red flag that the person knows they're dead because they killed them), and he had zero emotion when saying the baby could have starved to death/been killed by the elements which is weird for what should be a worried father.

Statistically, you're significantly more likely to be murdered by your partner. I'm not saying he did anything to be clear- some people are quite stoic and it could have just been poor choice of words/not thinking straight, but it can be a red flag to look out for past tense use and lack of emotion due to other cases we've seen before.

I appreciate the kind reply. I was actually asking why people think that the use of past tense is nefarious. I have searched and was not able to find anything like an academic paper or study showing such. There doesn't seem to be any evidence that the use of past tense is relevant in any way.

ETA I understand why it COULD be and why people have formed opinions. I just can't find any evidence that such opinions are warranted.

 

[Inthedetails]

I appreciate the kind reply. I was actually asking why people think that the use of past tense is nefarious. I have searched and was not able to find anything like an academic paper or study showing such. There doesn't seem to be any evidence that the use of past tense is relevant in any way.

ETA I understand why it COULD be and why people have formed opinions. I just can't find any evidence that such opinions are warranted.

An FBI report on statement analysis mentions the importance of noticing the tense of verbs. I'm not applying anything to this particular case, just pulling up the first document that popped up when I googled. I'm sure there are better/more recent reports to be found for anyone who has interest.

The FBI report uses Susan Smith as a case study. (I am NOT suggesting the Smith case has anything in common to this one, just pointing out it is the example in the report.)

BBM:

"The use of past or present tense also is significant when referring to missing persons. In such cases, the norm is to describe the person in the present tense, as in, "I just pray that Jenny is all right." When children are missing, in the parents' hearts and minds, the children remain alive, sometimes long after the point of reason. As evidenced in the Susan Smith case, use of past tense almost immediately after the alleged abduction showed a significant deviation from the norm."

A "deviation from the norm" is an interesting topic to discuss, imo. That's why it gets attention on threads, imo.

https://cdn.ymaws.com/cicentre.com/resource/resmgr/articles/statement_analysis.pdf

 

[Kapua]

I don't think this is a case of foul play and I'm cautiously optimistic that mom and baby will resurface soon.

As of yesterday, they've been missing 3 weeks and had, according to her mom, a $600 EBT card. As I always say, you can go so far with a limited amount of money. If they are OK and on their own, they will resurface when the money runs out, which it will do shortly. If they are OK and don't resurface soon, they could be with a family member or friend who is helping them, or in a women's shelter. We will see. JMHO

 

[GraceG]

As of yesterday, they've been missing 3 weeks and had, according to her mom, a $600 EBT card. As I always say, you can go so far with a limited amount of money. If they are OK and on their own, they will resurface when the money runs out, which it will do shortly. If they are OK and don't resurface soon, they could be with a family member or friend who is helping them, or in a women's shelter. We will see. JMHO

An EBT card won't provide lodging, nor gas for the vehicle, nor most restaurant food/prepared meals. So that somewhat restricts a lot of travel expendedures, planned or otherwise.

Question> Do any of you know if the use of an EBT card can be tracked to a date/time/location? (Like a bank card could be).

 

[mickey2942]

An EBT card won't provide lodging, nor gas for the vehicle, nor most restaurant food/prepared meals. So that somewhat restricts a lot of travel expendedures, planned or otherwise.

Question> Do any of you know if the use of an EBT card can be tracked to a date/time/location? (Like a bank card could be).

Yes. I know this is easily done. Police would have to submit a warrant for the information to the company that services that card, and they can get a print out of transactions.

California EBT Cardholder Website

www.ebtproject.ca.gov

 

[Gigglingtoes]

Can’t the boyfriend login and see what she bought ?…