Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - BREAKING: WAS MISSING NIKKI CHENG'S BODY MOVED? WARRANTS GOING DOWN

Episode Date: March 18, 2025

In a major development in the search for Nikki Cheng Saelee McCain, the Shasta County Sheriff's Office announced that the missing person investigation is now a homicide investigation. Detectives made the determination based on evidence gathered, information from interviews, and the fact that none of Nikki’s family members have heard from her since May 18, 2024. Nikki Cheng Saelee McCain has been missing for ten months, and her husband, Tyler McCain, had remained silent until now. At a press conference alongside Nikki's family and the Shasta County Sheriff's Office, McCain spoke publicly about his wife for the first time. Nervous and struggling to find the right words, he said he didn’t know what to say, apologized to Nikki's family and his children for not being more publicly involved in the search, admitted he had not handled the attention well, and offered a message to Nikki, saying, "We miss you." Detectives with the Shasta County Sheriff's Office Major Crimes Unit, along with agents from Homeland Security and the FBI, served a search warrant at 17277 Olinda Road in Anderson. This was Nikki’s residence when family members first reported her missing on May 22, 2024. Does this mean police believe Nikki's body was moved? Joining Nancy Grace Today: Kaye Ford - Nikki's sister Chloe Saelee  - Nikki's sistee Dwane Cates - Certified Criminal Law Specialist, Criminal Defense Attorney and Partner at Dwane Cates; DwaneCates.com on YouTube and LinkedIn Caryn Stark - Psychologist, Renowned TV and Radio Trauma Expert and Consultant; Instagram: carynpsych, FB: Caryn Stark Private Practice Brian Fitzgibbons  -  Director of Operations for USPA Nationwide Security; Instagram: @uspa_nationwide_security  Shawn Schwaller  - Freelance Reporter at A News Cafe, and Assistant Professor of History at California State University, Chico; X @madprofes      See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Was missing mom Nikki Chang's body moved? As we go to air, warrants going down. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. A break in the case of missing California mom, Nikki Chang. Officials say Nikki is a victim of

homicide. That is a major development in the search for Nikki Chang. As warrants are going down, the theory, one of the working theories is that Nikki's body may have been moved from one location law enforcement is looking at to another. Listen. insurance office, FBI, getting involved. Any efforts that might help my wife home safely. We miss you. Well, look what the cats dragged in. Nikki has been missing, and now suddenly her husband makes a statement. That's right. That's Tyler McCain.

I'm Tyler McCain, the husband of Nikki McCain. First, I'd like to thank the sheriff's office and the FBI for getting involved. Anything to bring my wife home. How about you going out to look for her? Just a suggestion. Let's take a listen to more of Tyler McCain in his first public statement regarding the disappearance of his wife, Nikki. everyone, especially my children, my wife's family, mine as well. I'm just here in support.

So anything that I can do, I want to do that. Okay. Why is he apologizing? That's curious. Why is he apologizing for what? Apologize to everyone, especially my children, my wife's family, mine as well. I'm here to support. So anything I can do, I want to do that.

Really? Okay. Joining me, an all-star panel to make sense of what we know right now. I want to go straight out to Chloe Sealy. This is Nikki's sister joining me in addition to our all-star panel are Chloe and Kay, Nikki's sisters. To Chloe, as the warrants were going down or about to go down, is it true that you met with Tyler McCain? And if so, what happened? Because the last time you and I talked, he was not in communication with Nikki's family.

Yeah. The night before the raid happened, he actually reached out to my brother and wanted to talk to my brother. And after him and Tyler talked, me and my sister realized, wait a second, we need to go talk to Tyler ourselves. And so me and my sister Kay did go to his home and talk to him the Thursday before the raid happened. And what, if anything, did he say of any substance? You know what? Forget of any substance. What did he say? He was sticking to his story for a little bit. I thought that he was going to break.

He did seem emotional and emotional. But then there was a time where Kay did get a little bit confrontational. I understand she just wanted some answers and he did kind of smirk at her as well, too. So he still kind of kept that. I'm not I'm not I'm innocent and I didn't do anything. And again, no one has been named a person of interest. No one has been named a suspect in the disappearance of Nikki Chan. Although I will say to the sisters, it seems like I'm more interested in finding her than he is. Of course, you can't judge a book by its cover.

You know, still waters run deep and all that. But Kay Ford joining me, Nikki's other sister, I refer to them as the sisters. They have been joining me since Nikki went missing, all trying to put her picture out there, put the story out there and hopefully bring Nikki home. Kay, why did you become somewhat confrontational with Nikki's husband? I wouldn't necessarily say I was confrontational, but I did get pretty direct as far as asking him some questions and asking him for specific answers. A lot of those questions I asked, again, like Chloe said, he pretty much stuck with his story.

He did get a little bit uncomfortable with some of the questions, but for the most part, they were consistent with what he, the story he had been sharing. There are a few discrepancies that we did notice, but overall there wasn't a whole lot that changed. What was his demeanor, Kay? He had talked to our brother and said the police had come by earlier that day

to talk to him. We were trying to figure out what he knew said the police had come by earlier that day to talk to him. We were trying to figure out what he knew from the police and what he might know or might be willing to share at that point. And I think I felt like it was the same for him. He was trying to gauge what we might know and what we what we might share with him. So I felt like it was almost a little bit of the back and forth of what can we get from each other as far as information. Got it. Can I ask you, Chloe, Sally, Nikki's sister, has Tyler McCain joined in any of the searches to your knowledge? It's not. Did you ask him why? I'm curious.

I did ask him to come with us on the day of Nikki's birthday. I did go out to his house to put balloons out there for Nikki and me and my brother asked him like, Hey man, like what's going on? Please come help us. And he said he was willing to do whatever. And he said, yeah, he'll do whatever to help us, but he has not offered to come on the searches. And there's Facebook pages of people posting. I go on searches all the time. If you want to come, please come. You guys are more than welcome to come. And he has not taken up that offer to come on the searches. And isn't it true, Chloe, that he has been incommunicado, not in touch with Nikki's family during all of this? He has not been in contact with us.

It was mostly us reaching out to him. But the only time he reached out was that Thursday night when he reached out to my brother to talk. Other than that, he has not. Guys, in the last hours, the husband of Nikki Chen has spoken for the first time, and I want to analyze his demeanor. Again, no one has been named a suspect. I'm looking at him no more than I would look at anybody else. However, in his first public statement, since Nikki goes missing, let's take a look and analyze and learn what we can. Listen. And my husband, Nicky, I think. First of all, I'd like to thank the insurance office, FBI, for getting involved. Any efforts to get my health care, my wife home safely.

We miss you. Chloe, does he normally stutter that much um he usually does mumble a little bit um but uh stuttering i i don't think he stutters very much no but he does mumble a lot because there's a whole lot of uh uh uh i noticed that and i wondered if that was a you know traditional characteristic of his or if he was just doing that when he's discussing his missing wife. So does he normally do that? Yes. No. No. Interesting. You know, again, no one has been named a suspect guys, search warrants going down. One working theory is that Nikki's body has been moved from a relative's home to another location. Let me stress, that's one of many working theories.

We know that bags of evidence have been taken from some of the search locations. But again, this is not the first time that someone has gone public begging for the return of their loved one. Listen. Shanann, Bella, Celeste, if you're out there, just come back. Like if somebody has her, just please bring her back. I need to see everybody. I need to see everybody again. This house is not complete with without anybody here. Well, the next time he saw them was at their funeral and he was convicted of their murder that was from our friends at denver 7 abc chris watts making a i can't really even say heartfelt request for the return of his wife and children brian fitzgibbons joining me director operations of the renowned usPA Nationwide Security.

He leads a team of investigators all around the world finding missing people. Former Marine and Iraqi War veteran Brian Fitzgibbons. Did you just see Chris Watts and the blinking? I wanted to give him a tissue, except I knew he was cold-blooded killer, so I didn't. So did you see the blanking? Certainly, Nancy. And, you know, when we look at Tyler McCain's statement just the other day now, what a 180 that's taken place since the last time we saw him publicly holding up the middle finger to Nikki's family outside the Shasta County Courthouse. Whoa, wait a minute. Oh, thank you for refreshing my recollection, as we like to

say in court. Kay Ford, Nikki's sister, did that happen? Did he actually shoot a bird at the courthouse? He certainly did. As he was approaching Chloe and myself, he, yep, he flipped us off right there. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Karen Stark, a psychologist, renowned TV radio trauma expert, consultant at KarenStark.com. If you're looking for her, it's Karen with a C. Karen. Okay. Let's just say before Dwayne Cates, veteran trial lawyer, defense attorney can say it.

There is no playbook for grief. Okay. Second verse. Same as the first. I feel like I'm in my old little Methodist church back home in Macon, Georgia, where we keep saying the same verse over and over and over again. No playbook for grief. Okay, but shooting the bird at the victim's family? Really? Can I just go out on a limb and say that's a little bit out there, a little bit questionable? Beyond questionable. We're talking about someone

we know who has been accused of domestic abuse, right? So this is a very angry, manipulative person. I'm not the least bit surprised because he's going to blame everybody else, not him, for what's going on. I mean, the bird, Karen Stark, the bird giving the finger. Do you see these two sisters on today? They have been leading the charge to find their sister since day one. You know how many times I've asked him to come on and his family to come on? They don't even bother to reply. I find that very disturbing.

Typically, when victims' families want their loved one out at the forefront they'll do anything anything to gain attention to make people look look at her picture look at the tip line nothing nada zip zilch zero it's what I get from him so now now he comes forward you know what I don't know better late than never I'm not sure about. So let's see. There's Scott Peterson. Okay.

The quintessential please come home. Then you've got Chris Watts who just stuffed his wife and children in oil tankers. They were about that big around at the top and it caused the little girl's skin to come off their arms. Just hold that thought. And then he makes his plea. Yeah, there's Bella and Celeste right there. Shanann trying to make the perfect home and the perfect family and the perfect Insta family. Well, she's dead. Her little boy, Nico, died of coffin birth as she died. Okay, what's another great please come home?

Oh, I've got an oldie but a goodie, Susan Smith. To whoever has my children, that they please, I mean, please bring them home to us where they belong. Okay, I cut out the crying and the snotting part. That's my friends at WYFF. And again, I can't stress this enough. If you name a person of interest or a suspect too soon and you're wrong, that will ruin your case when you go to trial because that gives the defense of the real killer, you know, an avenue, not an avenue.

I would say a full on interstate to drive down and say, hey, they thought it was this guy six months ago, not my guy. So you're going to convict my guy on that. Naming prematurely a suspect or a PO.O.I. person of interest is a very bad idea. We're not naming a suspect or P.O.I. The L.E. law enforcement has not named one. Neither have we. But I would like to point out, I mean, Chloe, Kay, the sisters, as I call them, Nikki's sisters, devoted,

loving sisters. What do you think after all this time begging Tyler McCain and his family for help? And I'm including that mother-in-law. I'm putting her in the same pot to stew, asking for help. What happened? What happened? Where is she? Did you see her? Did you see her truck? On and on and on in law i'm putting her in the same pot to stew asking for help what happened what happened where is she did you see her did you see her truck on and on and on and getting nothing what do you think of him mccain coming out with his uh uh uh uh statement we're definitely hoping for more um whether it be what we've been doing, this plea for help, the we're devastated, let us declare our innocence. Let's acknowledge some of the accusations that's cleared up right now,

or maybe the other way of like, this is why I've been silent. This is why we haven't shared. But yeah, one, one, one or the other. So the, what was shared was very, that's not what we expected. We were very surprised that he would come and do the press conference and really just say that. And we urgently need your help to find her. We are pleading with anyone to anyone with information to come forward. This is a call to action to bring our sister home. Nikki is approximately five feet tall and she weighs about 90-95 pounds. She has dark brown reddish colored hair. She was allegedly last seen May 18, 2024. She was reportedly picked up at her mother-in-law, Jeanette Hayward McCain's house

at the Reading Rancheria in Reading, California. She may have been dropped off at her home on Alinda Road in Happy Valley. Her truck that Tyler recently purchased for her was found abandoned on Highway 36 near Begum Road. She has been seen or heard from since. The search for Nikki Saley McCain continues, extending now onto tribal land. The Wind River Casino granted permission for family, friends, and concerned citizens to come together on two days to search the grounds and by plane. Chloe Saley, Nikki's sister, tells local news reporters that the area is close to where McCain was last seen or heard from. Other parts of tribal grounds remain private due to tribal sovereignty.

Access has to be requested and granted before an area can be searched. Just weeks after missing mom Nikki Chang's husband breaks his silence, his home is raided by the FBI and officials rule the case a homicide. What happened to Nikki Chang's Saley McCain? I'm just wondering if that press conference was used by LA law enforcement to poise themselves outside of one of the locations that were searched, and that would be the residence Nikki shared with her husband, Tyler McCain, as he was at the presser. That remains to be seen, but I'm very anxious to learn what was the PC probable cause for that warrant? What was the return? The return on a warrant is what, if anything, was seized. And if you are a

true crime aficionado like myself, you can recall cases such as that of Rex Heuermann, where we saw the feds and local LE taking out bag after bag after bag after bag after bag of evidence from Rex Heuermann's home. That's just an example of when a treasure trove of evidence is taken from a location. Listen. Detectives with the Shasta County Sheriff's Office Major Crimes Unit, along with agents of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, served a search warrant at 17277 Olinda Road, Anderson. This address is where Nikki Chang's Saley McCain resided when she was initially reported missing by family members on May 22nd. It was after searching the Olinda Road property that detectives announced it was no longer a missing person case. This is a homicide. What happened inside that residence?

What was found that caused a sudden about face? All this time we have been working under the belief that it was a missing persons case. And now after that search, it was announced Nikki's case is no longer a search and recovery. Nikki's case is a homicide investigation. As I said, joining me in all-star panel, but now I want to go to special guest Sean Schwaller, joining me, reporter at anewscafe.com, assistant professor at California State University. Sean, thank you for being with us. Tell me about the raid on the residence. Hi, Nancy. So yeah, the raid took the course of several hours on last Friday and FBI agents were seen taking bags out of the home, multiple bags of evidence, searching through the garage, looking at tools in the garage.

Sean, you specifically mentioned that tools were examined, I believe you said, in the garage. What do you mean by that specifically, Sean? Yeah, eyewitness accounts reported that there was a lot of time spent going through tools in the garage. Now, Tyler is known to kind of scrap cars and work on cars and there's cars all over the property and his garage is filled with all kinds of tools. And officials spent a lot of time just digging through those tools. That is the last thing you want is the FBI or LA law enforcement sniffing around your garage examining your tools. Nikki Salia McCain sends a text message to her sister just after midnight on May 18th,

saying she's driving Tyler McCain's mother's vehicle back to his mother's home near the Wind River Casino. When Nikki doesn't respond to texts from her family later that morning at 7 a.m. and 8 a.m., the family is concerned. The family immediately begins looking for Nikki and her Chevrolet morning at 7 a.m. and 8 a.m., the family is concerned. The family immediately begins looking for Nikki and her Chevrolet Avalanche truck. Nikki has four children and would never have left them without notice, and an official missing person report is filed with Shasta County. The sisters of Nikki Chang-Saley McCain say what tipped them off about their sister's suspicious disappearance were the messages they got from her husband, Tyler McCain. Previously, when Nikki would leave after a fight with Tyler McCain, Tyler would contact her sisters,

telling them to pass along messages to Nikki. Tell her I love her. Tell her I'm sorry. But this time, he didn't. This time, when he texted the sisters, he texted, I think she's missing. I don't know. I think she's missing. The mystery deepens as missing mom Nikki Chang's case becomes a homicide investigation. Searches going down at multiple locations. It's my understanding that not only was Nikki Chang home, her residence searched extensively with multiple bags of evidence removed. Immediately after that search, this case was pronounced to be a homicide investigation. We also understand that the mother-in-law home has also been searched. Everybody on the panel, please jump in. Correct me if I'm wrong on any of these

facts, because every fact matters. Straight back out to Sean Schwaller joining me. Sean, can we talk about the search? Did people, you said an eyewitness observed the garage and the home in chief being searched. Describe what, if anything, they could tell you was taken from the home. Well, I heard that black or brown bags were, several bags were removed from the home over the course of several hours, in addition to, you know, the authorities looking through the garage quite a bit at the tools. There are also some folks that thought that they saw infrared kits being brought into the house and CSI testing kits. Not quite sure if that happened, but there were devices brought into the house as bags were coming out. I wonder what they meant by infrared kits.

Brian Fitzgibbon is joining me, Director of Operations, USPA Nationwide Security. Because when you use aluminum luminol it's not really a kit it's more like a spray bottle of Lysol is what it is you spray luminol onto surfaces the floor the, and the iron in blood reacts to the luminol and it glows like a blue glow. That's how, actually very chemically simple, that's why luminol is used. It's sprayed like you would squirt Lysol. So that wouldn't necessarily require a kit. It would require

maybe a flashlight or a specialized flashlight to see the blue shine. But what do you believe that could possibly have been when the witness describes an infrared kit? What could they have meant? Fingerprint kit? This could be any number of things, Nancy. And what it likely, what these passersby were likely seeing were tools and equipment being used to test for cleaning agents. You know, there's a number of new technologies out there that, especially with the FBI's involvement, the resources available for this search would have gone up quite a bit. You know, Brian Fitzgibbons, you would think by now most people, I mean, unless you've

been under a rock in a cave on the other side of the world, you would know that it's very, very difficult to destroy DNA, deoxyribonucleic acid. You can't just clean it away with, let's just say Lysol. That doesn't work. Or 409 or Agent Orange. You need something that has muriatic acid, such as like a black swan solvent to actually break down and get rid of DNA. In fact, actually even bleach, which can degrade it, but it doesn't get rid of DNA. In fact, actually even bleach, which can degrade it, but it doesn't get rid of DNA.

So you got to really work at getting rid of DNA and you got to really work to get rid of any evidence of a cleanup. If there is blood, a simple spray with luminol will show swipe marks. Okay. Just pretend you've got mud on the floor and you take a paper towel and you do it like that. That's what it looks like under luminol. It's very visible that a cleanup occurred. So yeah, I think you're right about what the witness believed to be infrared, an infrared kit. Fingerprints, not very helpful because Nikki's prints would be there. The husband's prints would be there. Thousands husband's prints would be there. Thousands of them.

So that's going to be very, very difficult to isolate prints of any probative nature. Back to you, Sean Schwaller. So many, many bags, you stated brown or black in color, which leads me to think that they were like plastic trash bags. Is that correct? Yeah, it sounded like that. Either that or big brown paper bags that were coming out of the house, multiple bags. I would have expected paper bags. Critical, subtle, but critical difference. Now, guys, also very probative is the discovery of Nikki's avalanche. Listen.

A $10,000 reward is established and missing posters are created and passed around on social media and physically put up around Redding. Eight days into her disappearance, the Chevy avalanche that Nikki Salie McCain has been driving is found abandoned in western Tehama County. I think she was afraid. So she wanted to be, I'm your older sister and I'm okay. And she didn't want to scare me. We didn't know to which degree it had escalated. The incident in December was definitely an eye-opener for us.

But she was so terrified. And with good reason. When the sisters refer to a previous incident, that's really where this story starts. Listen. Wednesday night around 8 30, Nikki Salem McCain is in her bedroom combing her hair. Her husband of 13 years, Tyler McCain, arrives home in a strange mood. For no apparent reason, Tyler McCain aggressively jumps on top of Nikki, holding her on the ground, then dragging her around, yelling, what are you doing? Nikki says Tyler McCain's eyes are glazed over. Nikki tries calming her husband, but it doesn't work, and he holds her down and begins hitting her in the face. The terror escalates over a three-hour period, with McCain binding Nikki's wrists and ankles together with tape, putting tape over her mouth so she couldn't speak properly, rolling his wife onto her stomach.

Tyler McCain sits on her back, pulling her hair back, forcefully pulling her head back and telling her he's going to kill her. The abuse, the terror, the attack on Nikki Chain lasted for hours and hours and hours, and she managed to escape. She then went to the hospital where the attack was documented. This is not a he say, she say. Straight out to K4, Nikki's sister. What was documented at the hospital? What were her injuries after this attack? She had injuries to her face. Her eyes were swollen. She had injuries, I believe, on her

neck and various parts of her body. The doctor and Deputy Maul described how both of Nikki's eyes were severely blackened, both swollen. She had been traumatized all over her whole body. To Chloe, when you finally got Nikki to tell you what happened, what did she say? She told me that she thought she was going to die. Did she describe what happened? Yes. She, um, I think when it first, um, happened, it was still kind of fresh, but I think she was just so like shaken up. She's like, he just came out of nowhere and he just started attacking me. He was hitting me. And I know that at one point she did tell me that he, um, he taped her mouth, tape and he had gotten water and he had poured water all over her face to where she couldn't breathe. And she said that she thinks that he was trying to drown her.

And then she did say it did go on for a really long time. She didn't know how much time had passed, but she did say she remembered waking up on the cold floor. She was soaking wet. And she said, Tyler, please, can you get say she remembered waking up on the cold floor. She was soaking wet. And she said, Tyler, please, can you get me a blanket? I'm so cold. And then he came back and started hitting her again. And I remember she said lots of her head was being hit. Her body was sore. And she said she was really scared. She said, I thought I was going to die. Sean Schwaller joining us from a news cafe dot com. Sean, I want to be clear. Tyler McCain was never convicted in the attack on Nikki.

He was charged, but the charges were dropped. Why? Right. Right after the court proceedings started for the domestic violence charges against Tyler, right after that, that started on May 7th and Nikki went missing on May 18th, right after the case started in the courts. And then in July of 5th, 2024, DA Stephanie Bridget dismissed the domestic violence case against Tyler. So bottom line, Sean Schwaller, the case was dropped because Nikki couldn't be found to be the witness, correct? That's correct. And that is what the DA said, that Nikki was needed to be there to be in court, despite the fact that there was a very, very detailed report taken by Deputy Maul in the hospital when Nikki was hospitalized. Sadly, under the Constitution, Dwayne Cates, the Sixth Amendment specifically,

every defendant has a right to cross-examine witnesses against him or her. And in this case, without Nikki, he would be denied his rights under the Constitution, correct? The district attorney did the correct thing by dismissing the case because, again, if she didn't dismiss the case and he went to trial and won, or the case was thrown out once they impaneled the jury, then double jeopardy would attach and she would never be able to prosecute him for that again. By dismissing the charges, there's a three-year statute of limitations in California on felonies. And so they have a couple more years to try to to try to try to find Nikki. And if they find her, then and she's dead. I don't know that these charges will come up, but there may be other kinds of charges. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.

Karen Stark joining me, renowned psychologist at Karen Stark dot Grace. Karen Stark joining me. We're now on Psychologist at karenstark.com. Karen, the single most dangerous time for a woman is, one, when she's pregnant. Believe it or not, the number one cause of death amongst pregnant women in the U.S. is homicide, not heart attack, not stroke. It's homicide. And two, when the woman is trying to leave an abusive relationship, explain. That's an alarm. And that's what I thought immediately, and I'm sure her family did too.

The sisters of Nikki Chang-Saley McCain say what tipped them off about their sister's suspicious disappearance were the messages they got from her husband, Tyler McCain. Previously, when Nikki would leave after a fight with Tyler McCain, Tyler would contact her sisters, telling them to pass along messages to Nikki. Tell her I love her. Tell her I'm sorry. But this time he didn't. This time when he texted the sisters, he texted, I think she's missing. I don't know. I think she's missing. Our mission is clear. We must bring Nikki home. Your help is critical and we welcome any support from those who know and love her. We have connected with the missing persons community, including Gabby Petito's mother. Gabby Petito was found after a tip from social media

and we haven't lost hope. We just ask that you continue to please keep Nikki in your thoughts but more importantly don't forget about her. Get the word out on social media. We're using hashtag where's Nikki. There is a $30,000 reward in the search for Nikki Chan number 530-245-6540. The sister said it so much more eloquently than I ever could. Any information matters. It's my understanding that multiple theories abound. One of them being that Nikki's body was moved to Chloe Sealy. Have you heard that theory? Yes, I've heard that theory. And I've also heard other theories as well, that she was moved from one car to another car and moved from where she was last killed into another location.

Yes, we've heard that. Kay Ford, have you heard similar theories? I have. You know, to echo what Chloe said, we have heard where the attack took place and potentially where she was actually killed are two different locations. And then once she was killed at one location and then moved, potentially, when law enforcement might be looking for her and then potentially move back there. So we have heard that there have been many moves and transported many different vehicles.

Again, no one has been named a person of interest or a suspect in this case. Now, there have been many cases in the history of crime, of course, where families have really stuck together covering for each other. And since I've used Scott Peterson so often, why not again now? was on the run just before his arrest in the murder of Lacey and the unborn child, Connor, he was caught in a brand new Mercedes Benz bought under his mother's name with his brother's driver's license with $10,000, camping gear, a water purifier, and a year's worth of Viagra. Now, the family said, no, he wasn't trying to escape law enforcement. He was trying to escape the media so he could get in a round of golf at Torrey Pines Golf Club. Yeah, they said that. Okay, then let's see.

Families sticking together, all in the family. We've got the case of the two missing Kentucky moms. Now, charged is a whole network of family and friends. These two beautiful women murdered over custody. They were taking the children at issue to a children's birthday party and it turned into a double homicide. Now under arrest, multiple family members of the alleged killer. That's Veronica Butler and Jillian Kelly. And now sitting behind bars, mother-in-law Donna Adelson, charged along with her son, who's been convicted, in the murder of her son-in-law. Oh, there's the brother. Please get him a bobby pin.

Charged in the murder of her son-in-law, Professor Markell. Why? Over child custody. Then you've got Caitlin Armstrong, who went on the run to Costa Rica after murdering her victim. There she is. She even had a plastic surgery and a complete makeover. A world-class bike rider, a cyclist, Marine, dead over a boyfriend, Colin Strickland. She was found in Costa Rica under an assumed name, having used her sister's ID and passport. Sister never charged. What families will do to protect each other, including murder? Speaking of protecting, don't even get me started on the tribal land that has only given limited access in the search for Nikki. The tribal land, let me point out, Tyler McCain is a direct descendant of an original

tribal elder, Art Hayward. That's something to think about. And of course, tribal territory is not under the jurisdiction of local law enforcement or even the U.S. government. To Karen Stark, weigh in. Nancy, if you take a look at the domestic violence that she reported, and we know she went to the hospital, if you take a look at the fact that he had contradictory stories, that she disappeared right after she was worried about her life, and she said she was threatened. Even though we don't have a suspect in this case, there's an awful lot that's suspicious here. This man can't have his ego affected.

He needs to come across well. He's a narcissist. He's a liar. And I really feel like we have to take a look at what's going on that all of a sudden he's changing. He's not being angry. He's coming across well. Everything is extremely suspicious. Chloe, Nikki's sister, what is your message tonight? My message is that if anyone is involved or know something, please come forward. You don't

want to, you don't want to be in trouble for this, right? So if you know anything, please come forward because if you don't come forward, then consequences are going to be a lot tougher. This has changed from a missing person to a homicide case. And I advise anyone that knows anything to come forward now and speak. Get a deal. It certainly beats a death penalty. Nancy Grace signing off. Goodbye, friend. This is an iHeart Podcast.