Authorities say a month-long search for a missing Sacramento-area mother and her infant ended on 18 August when a submerged sport-utility vehicle pulled from a San Joaquin County canal was found to contain their bodies. Divers recovered the remains of Whisper Owen, 36, and her eight-month-old daughter, Sandra McCarty, from a 2006 Chevrolet Trailblazer located beneath a bridge on Highway 120 near Oakdale. The SUV was discovered after the volunteer group Adventures With Purpose used sonar equipment to scan the waterway. The San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office dive team handled the recovery, while the Fresno Police Department, which opened the missing-persons case, said formal identification will be confirmed by the county medical examiner. Owen and her daughter disappeared on 15 July after she drove from her Elk Grove home to Fresno for a medical appointment and family visit. Surveillance footage later captured the Trailblazer in Atwater and in Oakdale that same night, but earlier ground and aerial searches along the route yielded no trace of the pair. Relatives expressed frustration at what they regard as a slow investigative response, noting they had flagged the canal area to law-enforcement weeks ago. The California Highway Patrol is now working with sheriff’s investigators to determine how the vehicle entered the water; officials have not released any preliminary findings.