The month-long search for missing Sacramento mother of four, Whisper Owen, 36, and her baby daughter Sandra McCarty, 8 months, ended Sunday when they were found dead in their car, which was submerged in an irrigation canal under a bridge in San Joaquin County.

As Bay Area News Group reports, Owen and her baby were last seen on July 15 when they were visiting family in Fresno after a doctor’s appointment. They headed back to the Sacramento area around 5 p.m. As Sacramento’s KCRA reports, it’s believed that Owen took a backroads route through Stanislaus County, presumably to avoid getting a ticket for a broken tail light, as reported by SFGate.

KCRA writes that officers from the San Joaquin and Stanislaus County sheriff's offices had previously searched the area where the pair were found on August 8 with no success, prompting Owen’s family to seek additional assistance.

Bay Area News Group writes that Owen’s silver 2006 Chevrolet Trailblazer SUV was located on Sunday through a joint effort between underwater search-and-recovery team, Adventures with Purpose, which used sonar to pinpoint the vehicle’s location, and a diver from Angels Recovery.

As KGO reports, Owen tried to pull her daughter to safety, according to the searchers, but the pair became trapped under the bridge. What caused it is still unclear.

“Our hearts go out to the family,” said Heather Brent, spokeswoman for the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office. “This is absolutely not the outcome that anybody anticipated or wanted.”

Bay Area News Group writes that Owen leaves behind three children, ages 3, 8, and 17.

“It means we can find some way to move forward and accept this loss,” Richard Owen, Whisper Owen’s brother, told CBS Sacramento. “She has other children that have to find a way to move on without their mother or their baby sister.”

Image: Fresno County Sheriff's Office