Latest news with #Owen
Los Angeles Times
9 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
2 weeks ago, she left a doctor's appointment with her baby. They haven't been found since
The search continues for a California woman and her 8-month-old daughter who vanished while on their way home after a doctor's appointment, authorities and family said. It's been more than two weeks since Whisper Owen and her daughter, Sandra McCarty, were last seen, according to the Fresno County Sheriff's Office. Authorities say they have no clues in the Sacramento pair's disappearance, and loved ones have been left wondering and searching. '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,' said Owen's mother, Vickie Torres, tearfully. 'And that beautiful little baby. God, I hope, whatever happened, she's with her mama.' In a post to social media, the Sheriff's Office said that no information had been found to explain the disappearance. The Fresno Police Department's Missing Persons Unit is leading the investigation and, as of Wednesday evening, had no new developments to report. '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,' the department said in a statement to The Times. Torres confirmed that Owen and her daughter left Sacramento around 4 a.m. on July 15 and headed south toward Fresno to go to a doctor's appointment for the baby. Owen stopped at Torres' house in Fresno to change Sandra's diaper and then checked in for the appointment at 8:30 a.m., Torres said. Owen then visited her brother's Fresno home until around 2:45 p.m., then stopped to see Torres at her home again before leaving the city around 5 p.m., Torres said. Owen drove a silver 2006 Chevrolet Trailblazer, and a license plate reader recognized her car in Atwater, about 65 miles from Fresno, at 8 that night, according to officials. Torres said that Owen probably stopped in Atwater to get baby formula for Sandra or to use the restroom. Security footage from a smoke shop in Atwater captured Owen parking and then changing her baby's diaper around 7:30 p.m., police said. That was the last sign of Owen, her daughter or her vehicle. Torres said Owen often spends days at a time at her house in Fresno, so her partner wasn't concerned when she didn't return home that night. Three days later, Owen's partner called Torres, asking where her daughter was. 'I'm like, 'What do you mean? She's not here,'' Torres told The Times. 'So then everything started to get scary at that point.' Ever since, Torres said, her family has been tirelessly searching the roads from Fresno to Sacramento, reaching out to businesses whose employees may have seen Owen, putting up fliers and spreading the word on social media. She also said that Owen experienced preeclampsia during her most recent pregnancy, causing her to be hospitalized several times with high blood pressure that continued even after she had given birth. Torres worried that Owen might have had a medical emergency while driving. With no information, it's easy to create troubling scenarios, she said. Torres said the situation has been distressing for the entire family. Owen and her partner are parents to Sandra, as well as a 3-year-old and a 9-year-old. She also has a 16-year-old child from a previous relationship. 'All of these kids are losing their minds,' Torres said. 'I mean, she didn't just run off or anything like that. ... She's got other children, I mean, no.' Owen's partner, whom Torres declined to name and who didn't immediately respond to The Times' request for comment, 'has been constantly searching, and he's exhausting every resource to him,' she said. Torres said she has been frustrated with the lack of information found so far. She has reached out to other agencies, including the Department of Justice, the FBI and the Sacramento Police Department, asking for assistance in the investigation. 'They've all blown me off,' Torres said. Sacramento police said in a statement to The Times, however, that they had assisted Fresno in the investigation. A Department of Justice spokesperson said the agency had posted Owen and her daughter on its public California Missing Persons website. The FBI didn't respond to The Times' request for comment. Torres described her daughter as an outspoken, trusting person who would drop anything to help a stranger in need. 'A lot of people love her,' Torres said. 'I've never met anybody that didn't like my daughter.' Fresno police said that teams were checking family shelters in Sacramento County and surrounding areas for Owen and her daughter. The Fresno Sheriff's Office advised the public to dial 911 if they saw Owen and her daughter or the vehicle.
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Scotsman
14 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
Edinburgh Festival Fringe: The Canadian comedian running a free bike hire scheme for performers
Dion Owen is from Montreal, Canada Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter, get the latest news and reviews from our specialist arts writers Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... A Canadian comedian who runs a free bike hire scheme for performers during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe is looking to expand his service amid unprecedented demand. Dion Owen, who lives in Montreal, Quebec, where he runs a bike maintenance shop alongside his comedy career, is in his third year running the Cyclopath Free Bike Programme for Fringe Artists. The scheme involves him renovating dozens of used bikes to hand out to artists and producers during the festival season. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Dion Owen fixes a bike to be handed out to a Fringe performer. | The Scotsman He said he was set to give out around 120 bikes this year, up from 70 last year. However, he has had more than 300 requests from would-be cyclists. Mr Owen estimates the scheme removes thousands of car trips from city roads and saves artists thousands of pounds in public transport and taxi fares. He said: 'The programme has successfully supported artists of diverse ages, experience levels and cycling abilities, including those who required custom-built balance bikes to participate. 'Most artists lose money coming here. We try to gear our offer towards those who are facing financial barriers. For those young, ambitious artists who are doing numerous shows a day, it's invaluable for them to be able to get around - they get there in two minutes. Others are taking their kids around Edinburgh, they can cycle past the beautiful lake near Arthur's Seat, it's wonderful. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'My favourite quote from last year was a lady who told me when she returned her bike 'the Fringe was awful. I lost a lot of money, but the bike was amazing'.' Mr Owne added: 'It's just a lovely way to get around in the city. Also, it is good for people's mental health.' This week, Edinburgh City Council revealed a 'soft launch' of its own cycle hire scheme of electric bikes, set to be brought in four years after a previous system, known as Just Eat bikes, collapsed due to a range of issues. Edinburgh's previous cycle hire scheme failed for a number of reasons, including the city's many hills. Picture: Jane Barlow | PA Mr Owen, who funds his scheme through £1,000 from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, with additional match funding from The Counting House, where he uses buildings to store his bikes and also performs his comedy sets, said more was required to expand the organisation to meet demand. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Working in partnership with the Bike Station, Mr Owen, who has a bike themed show, Cyclopath - Stand Up and Songs, hires a second mechanic to help work on the renovated machines. He said he hoped any increase in funding could see him hire a storage facility, where the bikes could be stored year round and potentially utilised by the Bike Station in between Fringe seasons. 'It seems the demand is there for at least 300 bikes that are stored year round and they could be loaned out to members of the Scottish community, but then during [the] Fringe would be made available. So I'm trying to find funding and a location specifically to be able to store the bikes. The fleet could slowly build.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad
Global News
18 hours ago
- Global News
‘Garbage everywhere': Woman calls out partying campers at Alouette Lake
A B.C. woman is speaking out about etiquette and enforcement, after recording a video of shocking backcountry behaviour. Kristena Owen and a group of friends captured the scene over the weekend, after paddleboarding to one of the East Beach camping sites on Alouette Lake in Golden Ears Provincial Park. Owen said the group had no illusions they would be alone in unspoiled nature, but said what they encountered went far beyond simply sharing a campground with strangers. The 18-site backcountry camp spot, she said, was instead overrun by a group of 60 to 80 partiers. 2:02 B.C. Day campers shamed online for leaving trash near Harrison Lake 'They had music blasting like really, really loud. There was garbage everywhere,' she said. Story continues below advertisement 'Their music was going all day long, and just like all day long from the boat launch, they were bringing groups of people to their kind of gathering.' Owen said the rowdy crowd ignored designated campsites and had tents all over the beach and blocking the trails to the outhouses and the bearproof food caches. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy They also weren't using those food caches, she said, leaving coolers, trash, dirty dishes and Timbits out overnight. At one point, she said a group of girls from the crowd came to tell her a bear had been through their campsite — something she said was no surprise. 'Unless you are actively cooking and eating, your camp is supposed to be clean. Your garbage is supposed to be put away. You can't leave things out,' she said. 'They probably had, that you could count in the videos, I want to say 12 coolers, and I'm sure there were more that we didn't see. They had bags of garbage. What you can actually see in the video is an improvement from what it was there before.' According to Owen, things got worse overnight when the revellers set off a bear banger in contravention of the fire ban, and cranked up a karaoke machine to full volume at 12:30 a.m. Story continues below advertisement She said when she went to ask them to turn the music down, the group was less than friendly. 1:52 Show Your Love campaign: Tofino and Ucluelet urge visitors to respect environment 'I begged. I was like, 'Please you guys like you're not the only people here, there are 18 sites, there are children trying to sleep, like this is incredibly unfair, unkind,' and they laughed at me and they mocked me and they said, 'Oh you know maybe next time you go camp on the other side of the lake,'' she said. Owen said her group was determined not to let the partying ruin their trip. But when they returned to an area with phone service, they reported the group to the RCMP and conservation officers. BC Parks said it deployed rangers to the beach on Monday to patrol and conduct a cleanup, and that it will continue to monitor the site and increase its presence. Story continues below advertisement 'We remind all backcountry users of their obligation to recreate responsibly,' it said, referring would-be campers to BC Parks' responsible recreation guidelines. 'In shared spaces, we ask all visitors to act with courtesy and consideration towards others enjoying the park.' While the site has since been cleaned up, frustration remains. Owen said she hopes going public about the incident will lead to both better enforcement and etiquette from other campers in the backcountry. 'I wouldn't say it ruined our trip, but it made us really mad, and … we were incensed at the disrespect for nature and the land, but also, you're not the only people here,' she said. 'And so to hear that the officers are going to be or the rangers are going be regularly monitoring, watching the area now, I thought that's a win.'
Daily Mirror
20 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Desperate search for missing mum and 8-month-old baby who 'vanished into thin air'
Whisper Owen, 36, and her 8-month-old daughter Sandra McCarty vanished without a trace about two weeks ago with their family not sounding the alarm for three days due to a misunderstanding A desperate search has been launched to find a mum and her baby after they seemingly vanished into thin air. Whisper Owen, 36, and her 8-month-old daughter Sandra McCarty were seen last on July 15, according to California's Fresno County Sheriff's Office. The pair were last seen departing Fresno to return to their home in Sacramento almost two weeks ago. Owen's mum Vickie Torres tearfully told CNN: "I'm desperate to find my daughter and her baby. It's like she vanished into thin air." The pair left Fresno when they visited family around 5pm on July 15, the sheriff's office said. It comes after a couple planned a Morocco trip 'to sacrifice their five-year-old son in desert'. A traffic camera last captured their vehicle, a silver 2006 Chevrolet Trailblazer at about 8pm in Atwater, some 66 miles north of Fresno. But neither has been since since with officers working to determine what happened to them. The Fresno Police Department, which is leading the investigation, told CNN they believe Owen and Sandra are not in the Fresno area. There is nothing that suggests foul play is involved in their disappearance, CNN was told. The family was not aware she was missing for three days due to a miscommunication. Owen had been in Fresno for a routine check up for the baby, her mother said. She visited her mum's house where she changed and fed the baby before the 8:30am appointment. Afterward, she visited her brother's house. Richard Owen said he last saw his sister at about 2:45pm on July 15. When she did not return, her partner thought she stayed behind to help her mum clean a house she had bought, her brother said. Her partner did not realise anything unusual had happened until the Saturday when the two would typically spend the weekend together. Owens suffers from high blood pressure and that it had been noticeably bad since she gave birth. She was hospitalised several times during the pregnancy. "My fear is that maybe there was a medical emergency behind the wheel, and maybe she had veered off the road," her brother said. "I can't help but to feel like something horrible has happened," he added. "The last time I talked I talked to my sister, she was talking about how good life was. She was just happy. There was no reason for her to want to disappear or to leave." Torres has urged anyone with information about her daughter and granddaughter to contact the police. "Somebody knows something and they need to come forward," she said.
New York Times
a day ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Tiny Love Stories: ‘He Watched My Father's Feet'
Young, Hungover and at Home With Each Other The summer before 9/11, we were in Brooklyn — broke, sunstruck, hating our jobs, dreaming big, both aspiring artists. Most nights ended with fried chicken at an East Village gay bar. That's what led to this photo, taken after an all-nighter, on a bench in Tompkins Square Park. Josh, my gay best friend, gave me safety, humor and the kind of platonic queer love I didn't yet know how to name. We've lived through abuse, heartbreak, a studio fire, family deaths and cross-country moves — and we still talk daily. People don't say it enough: A gay bestie can save your life. — William J. O'Brien Owen and the Dragon I met my husband, Owen, at a party. We were both wearing St. George and the Dragon medallions — and took this to be a sign. Owen was brilliant but self-absorbed. I worked hard but was self-lacerating. Once, Owen joked: If he died in a car accident, I'd respond, 'It's my fault.' But if I died the same way, he'd reply, 'Who's Carole?' We both laughed; it was slightly true. We split after seven years. Recently, Owen died. I was moved to be included in his will. Owen hadn't forgotten me, and I knew his death was not my fault. — Carole Levin Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
