True Crime with Kimbyr - What REALLY Happened To Nikki McCain?! Updates & Everything You Need To Know: Part 2

Episode Date: July 2, 2025

In Part 2 of this True Crime with Kimbyr series, Kimbyrleigha uncovers the unsettling dynamics within Nikki McCain’s marriage to Tyler McCain—whose family holds deep influence within the Redding Rancheria tribal government. As red flags surface, questions intensify: Was Nikki’s life at risk long before she vanished? And how did power and silence on the reservation impact the investigation? Through family testimonies and haunting details, Kimbyrleigha reveals the cracks beneath a relationship that looked picture-perfect—until it wasn’t. This is more than a missing person case. It’s about control, legacy, and the terrifying cost of speaking out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tyler had been harming her for years, and this was just the latest episode. I personally feel like with the facts from that report, it was attempted murder. From the bindings to him attempting to put something around her neck, sitting on her, this will matter later on, for sure. But I'm just giving you my opinion from reading all this. If someone is unrecognizable to the point of it being so severe, if she hadn't fled, who knows what would have happened to her? Well, we do. We know. She would have died. She would have been dead. Her sisters realized even after

days past, Nikki's face was still so swollen and black, they thought that she was almost beaten to death, in their words. They saw some light at the end of the tunnel, though, because Nikki had finally been brave enough to report Tyler, and he was finally arrested and taken into custody. But of course, he told a much different story. then Nikki was the one cheating with a woman, and they, the woman, her, are the ones that had an altercation, not him. And that is so far-fetched. Could it be true? Sure. But I think Occam's razor applies here. That is the simplest explanation is usually the truth, not always, but usually. And those who knew Nikki knew that Tyler was the problem. At this point, Nikki's next step was that she was to report to a facility called One Safe Place,

where she could get assisted in obtaining a restraining order against Tyler. Now, I've heard really good things about this nonprofit. They truly help in having a crisis hotline, a crisis intervention in person that you can be a part of, restraining order assistance, and even emergency shelter and housing for victims. Nikki was safe for a while, but this cycle is hard to break. They'd known each other for nearly half their lives at this point. I mean, 16 years, that's a really long time. and Tyler had a way of creeping back into her life.

And I wish the next part wasn't true. But Tyler now had a court date for the exact charges that Nikki filed against him. Now, I'm assuming she did not have a restraining order yet or hadn't filed it or I don't know if she ever did. And some may wonder why. Well, I hate to say this, but a lot of times they don't work anyway. And sometimes they instigate even more violence. But I can't tell you those details because I could. cannot find them. However, what I can tell you is that the court date was approaching, and somehow

Tyler, the guy with many cars in his possession, albeit junk cars, can't drive. But he can't drive them because he had a suspended license, not that he didn't have a vehicle to use. His license was suspended, I believe, because of the gun charges. But in any case, he called Nikki, of all people. and I wonder why. Well, not just because he probably knew how to manipulate her into getting what he wanted, but it was what he really wanted. You just wait.

He asked her, can you please give me a ride to court because, you know, you're the one who got me into this mess, sir? Have you looked in the mirror? It's you. You got yourself here. We know how kind Nikki is, and time had passed. They'd been away from each other. Things had cooled down.

Who knows what Tyler promised this time. but Nikki agreed to drive him. However, Tyler had other plans that included not the courthouse, but his own personal defense attorney's office because that's where Nikki found herself that day. He had her drive right into the parking lot of his own attorney's office, where she was then persuaded to drop all the charges against Tyler. What a nipple. That is so controlling, but this is the type of guy he was. But Nikki stood up for herself. She actually refused. and Tyler wasn't having it. He ran, he got into her car, and he took off, leaving Nikki behind. I don't know how this was resolved. That information was sparse, but what I do know is the pressure was on.

Tyler, he would make all kinds of promises to Nikki if she would just drop the charges. And I wondered, what kind of fines or jail time would he be facing? Because he seemed very hellbent on not being charged and not going to court. So I was curious and I looked up the statutes related to the crimes in California. So far for just 273.5 PC, felony DV, that conviction can result in two to six years in state prison. These offenses are also what's considered three strike offenses. So if you have one, it only takes two more of these instances and you can be facing up to 25 years to life in state prison. Yikes.

So that alone would be a lot of. time. And this was the state prosecuting Tyler, not the tribal court. He didn't have any power in this. And then for the false imprisonment PC-236 charge, if convicted, a person can spend up to three years in state prison and a fine of $10,000. And lastly, statute PC-422A, terrorist threats, this is a punishment of up to one year in county jail and a $1,000 fine. So putting that all together, Tyler was looking at possibly significant jail time, and I'm sure there were plenty of witnesses to back up what Nikki had gone through. And as a matter of fact, people had come forward. One neighbor said they saw Nikki running barefoot from her house. Her feet were bloodied. Apparently later we find out

it was from Tyler breaking some glass that she had to walk over. There were marks on her neck when this neighbor saw her. Then another neighbor said they saw Tyler chasing her through the yard with a wrench and actually heard him say he was going to cut her head off. Now this terrified me, because I don't know if you've ever heard of the Taylor Shibusiness case. She literally did that to a guy she was hanging out with while she was on meth. All I could really think about was poor Nikki in this instance because now there's proof people saw him and heard him threatening her in that way. But at least at this point, Nikki was staying with her mother and her sisters. That is until a few months later in the spring of 2023. It was near the end of

March, beginning of April, when Tyler's convincing finally work this time, he was using the kids as bait. He said, listen, Nikki, if we can just get along, we can just work on our relationship, we can get the kids back, and you know that she wanted her kids. And it's his aunt sitting on the tribal council, it's his mother with shared custody. So Nikki complied. And she moved back into the marital home in Happy Valley with Tyler. Mind you, those charges were still pending. Tyler's preliminary hearing on those charges was set for May 7th of 2024. And his court date, and I want you to remember these dates, was set for July 2nd of 2024. So Tyler had a year to convince Nikki not to go through with it.

And Nikki was at the very least willing to try to make it work with Tyler, but she didn't drop the charges. And of course, those close to her were worried. Of course they were. They hated this for her, but she is a grown woman. She can do as she pleases as she will. And maybe she did think, if I get the children back, then I could finally leave Tyler for good and be done with it. I could see that being the plan in her mind. Play nice. Get along with him, get the kids back, get the fuck out of here. But she would never get that chance. Because less than a year after she moved back in with Tyler,

Nikki would go missing. Not just on a random date either. No. Just about 10 days after Tyler's preliminary hearing where he pleaded not guilty to the charges that were still pending against him, Nikki never dropped them. But if she would be unable to make it to the court date,

then the judge would have to drop them. the charges. Sounds like quite a coincidence, doesn't it? That she just disappeared. I don't think it's a coincidence. Could it be? Sure, anything's possible. But we're going to get into some theories, and of course I'm open to what you think because I have no idea. No one does. Only Nikki truly knows what happened. And of course, if someone else was involved, which it seems like they were, since this is now a homicide, they share that secret. For now anyway. At that point, Tyler, He goes to that hearing, and Nikki actually texted her sister, Chloe, that same day, and she said she was going to seek a divorce.

She was exhausted dealing with all the bullshit that she had to put up with with Tyler. He hadn't changed. He wasn't changing. Another year had gone by, and they still didn't have their kids back. She wanted out. So much so. She started looking for apartments, and she even started looking for furniture for her new place once she moved out on her own. And this makes me so angry.

She was making moves. she was trying to leave, and that's the most dangerous time for a woman in a relationship with an abuser when they're trying to get away from them. And Tyler had tried everything. I mean, he even got her a new to her 2002 metallic gray Chevy avalanche truck just recently. And you know he always had cars coming and going because he liked working on that. He even drove at least two different vehicles himself. But a gift and promises. That was not enough to keep Nikki there. She was deterred. determined to leave. So let's jump to May 12th of 2024. That's the last time anyone in Nikki's family physically saw her in person. And then a few days later on May 17th, Nikki allegedly,

and why I'm saying this, number one, we know it's an ongoing investigation, so we say allegedly. But you also have to take into account anyone can use our devices to text, to use social media. it doesn't mean that it was really Nikki any time after she'd been last seen. But because we don't have any evidence yet that's out in the public anyway of CCTV footage, this is what we have to work with. But on May 17th of 2024, Nikki had allegedly been spending time at Jeanette's house. This is Tyler's mom, maybe to visit the kids. And I just wanted to point something out.

This house is located in the Redding Ranchiera on the reservation within the jurisdiction of the tribal council, its tribal land. It's actually right next to the Wind River Casino. It's a gated compound right next to the parking lot for the corporate offices of the casino. It also has a creek and lots of land behind it. The closest I could get to a view of the back and that creek and the land was in this position with my Google man on this spot at the casino and back. But as you can see, if you're watching, you can't see much. But online, I was able to find some pictures of this creek. and it is quite large. I'm mentioning this because, well,

it's one of the last places that Nikki was allegedly at before she disappeared. Her mother-in-law's house, where she had faced tensions before, well, let's move on because there's more. Well, apparently, and according to Tyler's mom, Tyler, and Tyler's family, Nikki, Tyler, and Jeanette were all together at Jeanette's,

and they decided to get into Jeanette's car together and drive over to Mercy Hospital. where Tyler's older brother Brian was in critical condition. Now, medical records are obviously private. I can only tell you what I've heard was going on. But before I do, let me tell you who Brian McCain was. It's not exactly an upstanding citizen. Well, it's official record.

So why don't I just read it to you? This is a public notice from the sheriff's office from back on March 5th of 2021. It reads, on Friday, March 5th, 2021, at 8.20 hours, Julie Mitchell, with Holly Bail Bonds, called the Shassa County Sheriff's Office to report the location of a wanted subject. Mitchell reported she was attempting to contact Brian Scott McCain, 40 years old of Reading, due to his failure to appear in court on his bond. While Mitchell was speaking with McCain, he made odd statements and threatened to kill everyone at the Wynn River Casino. Mitchell also spoke with McCain's family members who reside with McCain, and they reported he was becoming aggressive and threatening to kill everyone inside the the residence. The Shasta County Sheriff's Office was familiar with McCain and has received

numerous recent calls for service concerning reports of him shooting a rifle inside a residence. Threats do harm Wynn River Casino staff, statements of suicide by cop, and reports of him walking around the casino property with firearms and knives. McCain also had an active felony warrant out of Taheyma County, please remember that county, for violently resisting an officer, the California Highway Patrol Airship and a Cal Fire Law Officer assisted deputies when they arrived outside the residence at 1961 Redding Ranchier Road in Redding, California, located behind the Wind River Casino, which is another house, I just want to mention this, where the McCain's own on the tribal reservation. Deputies met with the family and they reported McCain was

continuing to act erratic inside the residence and they left the residence because they did not feel safe around him. Deputies attempted to call McCain out of the residence using the public announcement speaker from a patrol vehicle. After multiple calls for McCain to exit the residence and surrender peacefully, he was spotted by the CHP airship overhead, running out of the back of the residence away from the deputies along a canal and towards a residential neighborhood. Deputies gave chase and located McCain in the backyard of a residence on the 1800 block of Red Bank Road. Once located, McCain was held at gunpoint, but continued to be non-compliant with deputies. When additional deputies arrived unseen, McCain became compliant and was taken into custody without

further incident. McCain was arrested and booked into the Shasta County Jail on a fresh charge of 148A1 PC resisting arrest and on his felony warrant. That is the end of that report. So there is a highlight of Brian McCain. Tyler's brother. And also I did some digging on Facebook. It's always nice to get the community's perspective on people they have dirt and information on. And this is also just alleged, of course, but this comment was from a guy familiar with this incident. And he said, threatening his family and Wynn River with assault weapons, fired shots into a residence on Ranchiera, had about 15 law enforcement as residents, spent two months in jail, got out, just had a probation

check and assault weapon, plenty of ammo. And just to top it off, meth, this point. place is not a safe place to live, but where is? That was the end of that comment, and I'm highlighting that one because it paints a picture of someone that is not a stranger to law enforcement, and here was a comment by another guy that said, quote, and just think, he was a Redding Ranchiera tribal council and is from a high-ranking family in the pecking order for Redding Ranchiera tribal members. They're well-known in law enforcement. Just look up the names in Chasta County. Meth makes people do terrible things, but there's a time when you have to pay for those crimes, not be let out three times, to something really heinous happens."

That's interesting. And I wanted to fact-check all this? Because according to Wikipedia, and that's not always the best source, I know that, but I saw the names of tribal council. And I didn't recall Brian McCain being one of them. But the word was makes a different. And sure enough, I found records from 2011 where it mentioned that Brian McCain was elected treasurer of the tribal council. And then I was able to pull up this state of the tribe publication

from Reading Ranchiera in 2013 and 2014. And Brian McCain was 100% part of the tribal council. There he is in the orange shirt. And to think that would be an orange jumpsuit later. Oh dear. It's off topic. I guess, but in the same publication, I saw Tyler McCain in the small business grant section, shaking hands with a guy holding a check. And it read, Reading Ranchiera provides grant funding to eligible tribal members to promote and encourage entrepreneur and economic self-reliance. In 2013 and 14, 13 tribal members received grants. Well, I was wondering, was Tyler one of them? Because it looks like it. I mean, this was years before all the drama seemed to start.

and Nikki and Tyler's relationship as far as we know. But now you know a little more about his brother, Brian. And apparently, something, something, causes his longs to get to the point of having to be admitted to the ICU in critical condition. And I'm speculating here, but I've heard from my research that smoking certain things can cause that to happen. But, you know, that's just my speculation. This was very heartbreaking for Jeanette, according to what was relayed to others, and she couldn't even drive herself to the hospital that night. She was in such a wreck over the possibility of losing her son.

So like I was saying, she, Tyler, and Nikki rode together in Jeanette's vehicle to the hospital. I would love to see CCTV footage to prove that Nikki was there. Maybe she was. But that's something that I would like to see. But all the while, Nikki or her phone, because remember, we don't know if it was Nikki texting or something. or someone else using her device to text others, but Nikki was texting Chloe, giving her updates on Brian's condition.

And to be fair, Chloe does believe that this was Nikki at the time. You know, sometimes loved ones can tell the style of texting and there were no red flags at the time. Now, this next part can be very confusing. It's still confusing to me, but I kind of know what's going on here. There is a theory of what Nikki's sisters think could have happened. There's a lot of theories.

But in this time frame, two text messages are going to occur. One at 11.30 and one at 12.35. So one at the end of the night and the early morning hours of the next day. So May 17th to May 18th. Without the context of the theory, the text messages can seem odd. I'm going to tell you what the two texts were, and then we're going to circle back to the theory

that's going to make it kind of make sense. The first text message came in at approximately 11.30 p.m. Nikki sent a text to her sister Chloe, and it was very brief, and it was stating that she was driving the Chevy Tahoe that belonged to her mother-in-law, Jeanette. That would be confusing. Why is she telling you that? Why is she mentioning this vehicle? There are some other theories about why, or if it was even her? We'll get to that. The second text message came in about an hour later at 1235 a.m. And this was the last communication that anyone had with Nikki. She texted Chloe again to let her know.

She was driving from her and Tyler's house to Jeanette's to drop off Jeanette's car. So keep those two text messages in mind. Okay, I'm going to put them up on the screen. This is not verbatim. It's just showing you the messages so that you kind of remember what I'm about to talk about. If you were to get these two messages and you're trying to put together what's occurring, You know that allegedly, Tyler, Nikki, and Jeanette got together in her Chevy Tahoe from her house and drove to the hospital in a rush frantically trying to get there. Brian's in the ICU.

So what would make sense is that Nikki was, you know, quickly shooting her sister attacks like, hey, I'm driving the Tahoe. Then she tells her, hey, I'm driving the Tahoe back to Janette's, as in dropping it off. So allegedly Nikki and Jeanette were at the hospital until about midnight. Now we're into May 18th, the early morning hours. Where was Tyler? We don't know. Was he gone? Or did he stay at the hospital?

Because from the information that we have public, it appears that only Nikki and Jeanette left at this time. Maybe Jeanette, still in a state of shock because of the devastation of her son's condition, Nikki drove her home. Now, that's about a 15-minute drive. I have it mapped out. And there has got to be cameras because this is right near the casino. And again, I would love to see that because they'd have to drive right in front of the parking lot to get to Jeanette's place.

Here's where things get a bit fuzzy and confusing. Because first of all, how did Nikki originally get to Janette's? If she was there with her husband, did they drive together in his car and then they left his car at Janette's as well? And if so, wouldn't that mean that a vehicle would be left behind for Nikki to take home where they dropped off by someone? Why? When they have multiple vehicles to use, why would someone drop them off at Jeanette's house? If Tyler's license is suspended, that means Nikki would be driving. So wouldn't Nicky's vehicle be at Janets? Keep these things in mind. Just keep them in your mind. I know these kind of videos can get frustrating, but leave it in the comments. What do you think? This is ongoing. But my biggest question is who took

Nikki and Tyler if they even went to Jeanette's to her house? Because the next part doesn't seem to make sense. But at 12.35 a.m. came that last communication, as I mentioned, the text to Chloe, that Nikki was going to drive to Jeanette's house to drop off Jeanette's car. But think about that for a minute. She goes from the hospital, drops Jeanette off at Jeanette's house. Apparently, there's no other vehicle there for Nikki to take home. So she takes Jeanette's Chevy Tahoe back to her in Tyler's. But then at some point she goes, oh, I'm going to have to take Jeanette's car back in the middle of the night. Why? Confusing, but I do have a theory and so do a lot of other people. And then I was thinking, does the timeline add up? Well, let's see. They leave the hospital at,

let's say, midnight. Nikki drives to Jeanette's, that's 15 minutes. She, let's say, doesn't go inside, just drive straight home after that. That's another 12 minutes or so. Then maybe she goes inside, And something, we don't know what, because we don't have the text messages, something, maybe Tyler or Jeanette had a conversation with her that Jeanette needs the car. Maybe she has somewhere, she has to be with the kids in the morning, I don't know. Or in case Brian's condition got worse that night and Jeanette wanted to leave to go see him again. Whatever it was, the only thing that makes a little bit of sense is there was some kind of urgency to get Jeanette's car back to Jeanette's in the middle of the night.

But whatever it was, it was so important that Nikki, who has been at the hospital for hours, She drove Jeanette's car back to her house. What if she did that? Who was driving Nikki back home? Because now she's in the same situation where she's back at Jeanette's with no car. The road you would take between these two houses passes a bunch of businesses. So again, I would love to see footage, a ring camera from that area showing Jeanette's car, if that's the case. Because you would think that she was communicating with Tyler or Jeanette this whole time.

Wouldn't she be letting her husband know? Like, I need a ride home. I'm stuck here. Where are you? When are you coming back? The communication had to be going on. Right? It also sounds like it could be an alibi timeline. A fake timeline. Something to make it look like. Something bad happened to Nikki when she left her in Tyler's house that early morning. And she was never seen again. Because she was never seen or heard from after this. Chloe wasn't even awake when that text came through. She responded the next morning, not really thinking, much out at the time. She never got a response. She was actually taking care of one of Nikki's daughters who had a soccer game that morning on May 18th, just hours after Nikki's last text. And that morning,

Chloe is searching for her niece's jersey for the soccer game and they can't find it. So they suspect maybe it was left at Janette's since she also has shared custody of the girls. Chloe's fiancé and their niece go over to Janette's to get the jersey. And while they're there, the fiancé has small talk with Jeanette. And you know what she mentions? That Tyler spent the night at the hospital with Brian. So here's the first version of where Tyler was that night with Brian at the hospital. And when someone says someone spends the night to me, that means they were there all night and in the morning they left. But you just wait. This would also mean that Nikki was alone when she drove Jeanette home and then would need a ride back home after she dropped off the car. I hope all this is making sense. I know what is a lot.

Jeanette also mentioned that she was too sad to stay at the hospital so she didn't stick around and went home. She even said things like, I can't believe that I'm going to lose my son and that he's going to die. Now, I do not think he died, but the day progressed as usual except Nikki wasn't texting in her group chat she had with her sisters, which wasn't that weird at first until the next day on March 19th. That's when Tyler actually texted Chloe. And I think it's interesting that he chose to text Chloe, the same person Nikki supposedly last texted, the same person she'd been texting at the hospital. I don't know. That seems significant to me, but maybe she was the closest to her sister Chloe. I don't know. However, Tyler asked Chloe if Nikki was with her. She wasn't. And she let Tyler know

that. And this still didn't raise any red flags because Nikki jumped around a lot, especially if her and Tyler got into an argument. And they assumed that they did because Nikki did what she always did. She would leave and she would go to stay with her mom or another sister. That had been the routine for years and recall that Tyler would call the sisters, trying to see where Nikki was and trying to get on her good side again. He did this all the time every time they had a fight. And that became normal. didn't set off any alarms. What did set off alarms were ominous green text messages that came from Nikki's iPhone. We all know we've all seen them when they turned green something happened. The phone is off, it doesn't have service, and that definitely stands out, especially when you

haven't heard from your loved one in a few days. What was going on? It was now May 21st, and the text were all green. They hadn't had contact with Nikki since that last text message in the middle of the night on the 18th. And then Chloe gets another text from Tyler. This time he says, have you heard from your sister? I think she's missing. First of all, the fact he doesn't say Nikki's name. He doesn't say, have you heard from Nikki? That right there is what is called distancing language. And then he doesn't even call. If he really thought that Nikki was missing, wouldn't that be a phone call type of conversation? Who would text that? It was a lot to take in.

After everything Nikki had been through, this was a very heartbreaking moment where her sisters truly thought that something bad could have happened. They wanted to understand what Tyler meant. What do you mean she's missing? Why would she be missing? Well, he explained that he stayed at the hospital

till about 1.30 or 2 a.m. So I'm going to be keeping track of all this. This is what he said. Apparently, his sister came to pick him up and take him home. my first thought was like that wasn't that long to stay after Nikki and his mom supposedly left why didn't he just leave with them but i understand his brother was in the hospital i get it he probably wanted to stay as long as he could until maybe you get super tired and now he's saying

his sister drove him back to where him and nicky lived he said when he got there nicky wasn't there This won't be Tyler's only version of the events, but his first version, he said he found out that Nikki was still at his mom's house since she had driven the car over to return it to her. And he drove over there and picked her up. And he also had a witness, his friend Justin, also known by his nickname Too Tall. Too Tall lives in a trailer on Nikki and Tyler's property. And he says he went with him to his mom's house to go get Nikki. Why? That was my first thought. Why? Why do you need a chaperone to go 12 minutes to go get your wife at 2 a.m.? Tyler says when he arrives, that Nikki and him get into an argument over what I don't know. He wasn't specific. If this is even true, maybe it was. Maybe she was mad that she was stranded for a couple hours. And driving back and forth, everyone has a cell phone. Why not just pick her up on your way home from the hospital with your sister? It doesn't. It doesn't make sense. And this was his first version. He says that Nikki then stormed off into the night on the tribal reservation all alone. But his story evolved. Of course it does. And then it becomes, oh no, wait a minute. No, we drove back home and then we got into an argument. And then Nikki called

an Uber and she left. And that's the last time Tyler saw her. Well, Uber has records. So that should be really easy to verify or even rule out. But this is all allegedly what Tyler said in the beginning. He's being pressed by different people and he gives different versions. There's one where he flat out says, I don't know. I don't know where it was that we got into an argument, but she's gone on her own accord, her own free will. Why would this woman need to take an Uber?

They have multiple vehicles. Answer me that. because we're going to get into her Chevy avalanche that was gifted to her by Tyler just a few weeks before this. Remember that? She had her very own truck. So why would she need to call an Uber? Again, not making any sense. And maybe that's why he keeps changing his story. A crime is only as good as the cover-up if Tyler's involved, like many people believe he is. He must not have been that great at planning ahead because his stories don't make sense. They don't add up. And there's a lot of holes in them. Well, Nikki's brothers then decide to put some pressure on Tyler

because maybe he'll crack and tell them the truth if they confront him. His new version is back to the story of the lesbian love affair. This time, Nikki and Tyler get into an argument, and then her girlfriend comes and picks her up. So what's the girl's name? Shouldn't that be easy? She's one call away. We can just corroborate that story. Simple. But the story doesn't stop evolving. In other versions, Tyler says that Nikki has a secret boyfriend and that she's left to be with him in Vegas. Really? Wouldn't her sisters know that? I mean, some of you all have sisters, right?

You're going to tell them if you have a secret boyfriend. I mean, she told her sister she was getting a divorce. She told her sister she was getting an apartment and getting furniture, so why not talk about this guy you met? Wouldn't it be easy to just ask what happened to her if that was the case? or wouldn't it be easy to just ask Jeanette? Because wouldn't she know? I mean, if Nikki was at her house, like Nikki told Chloe, and she was driving her back at 1245, and she had driven her to the hospital and been with her for hours, and then she dropped her back off at home, wouldn't Jeanette just easily say, oh yeah, this is what happened and be able to explain everything? Well, they asked Jeanette, and I guess

memory loss must run in the family. I guess that's where Tyler gets it from, because when they asked Jeanette, she has a really bad memory, and she has no recollection of that night. Until she goes with the Uber story. But instead of it picking her up at Tyler's, the Uber picked Nikki up at Janette's. What? I mean, at this part, the sisters start calling around. Was Nikki at one safe place? Was she at their mother's house?

Was she with a friend? I mean, she had really great friends. You would think of all the resources that Nikki had. She would have someone to turn to, someone to get a ride from if she needed sisters and brothers and family in the area. And if she was truly running away and needed help, I don't think she would be silent. Nobody else does either. And after no one could find her, her family finally reported Nikki missing on May 22nd of 2024, four days after her last text message.

The Shasta County Sheriff's Office opened a missing person's investigation and from the start, there were red flags. This was not the typical missing person's case. Nikki had left behind her children and cut off all contact with a family that she was very close to, which immediately suggested foul play or duress. That wasn't the Nikki that anyone knew. Not to mention the timing, just a few weeks before Tyler was due in court on the DV and additional felony charges. Sheriff's detectives wasted no time in pursuing leads on Nikki's disappearance. They began retracing her last known steps and interviewing those close.

closest to her, and that's when they hear from Too Tall. Remember, the guy who lived on the property? Well, he seems to corroborate one of Tyler's versions of his story. He said that Tyler asked him if he could do him a favor. Nikki was at the house with Jeanette's car. She needed to return Jeanette's car to Jeanette's house, and he wanted Too Tall to follow Nikki in his car and then drive her back home. Too Tall said, sure. And that is what he said happened. He and Nikki drove over to Janets with him following behind. They went inside, they hung out for a little while, and then he drove Nikki back to her house. He says when they got there, Tyler was at home hanging out in the garage and Nikki was doing some laundry. Stop right there. Let's think about the timeline.

12.35 a.m. Nikki or Nikki's phone is texting Chloe saying, she's driving to Jeanette's. If that's the case, Tyler says he didn't come home until after 2 a.m. He was at the hospital. until 2 a.m. So that timeline doesn't add up unless too tall and Nikki spent, oh, I don't know, maybe a good hour and a half two hours at Jeanette's hanging out in the middle of the night after her son was in critical condition at the hospital. And then they went back home and then Tyler was back because his sister gave him a ride. But then why didn't he just swing by his mom's house? Because he's already on a ride. It's making my head spin. It doesn't make sense. Then, Tootal says that sometime afterward, he saw Nikki get into an Uber and leave.

When pressed about whether he was sure it was an Uber, he begins to question himself. Now saying he can't really remember that it could have been one of her friends. Well, I'm sure one of those friends or Uber records could rule all of this out or confirm it. It's interesting. And what's also interesting is that no one who supposedly saw Nikki that night, Jeanette, Tyler or Too Tall could give police a description of what Nikki was wearing. And this was just days after they last saw her. Now, I try to give people the benefit of the doubt time and time again. So I try to think, okay, what if I was in that situation?

I was trying to think, I guess it depends on who it is if I would remember what they're wearing. If it was my husband, maybe. But all the days kind of fall into one another. I don't think I could remember that. But then I was thinking, could I remember, let's say, John's dad who came here last weekend. No, I can't. So I don't know if that's a red flag or not, but it's certainly not helpful, right? Because we know when someone goes missing, and I mentioned this earlier, we want to know specifics so that people could be on the lookout. What were they wearing? How tall are they?

Do they have any distinguishing features? But what's really strange is that this whole time, not only is Nikki missing, but her vehicle is also gone. Remember what I told you that I was was going to talk about her new to her 2002 Chevy Avalanche. Well, it wasn't at her house. That's strange. Here's what stood out. The car was never registered before it was given to Nikki, so Tyler never got it legally recorded. When interviewed, Too Tall said the last person he saw driving the avalanche was actually Tyler, so that's a red flag. And Tyler hadn't talked to the police yet. They tried going to his house on two occasions and he wasn't there. So around 6 p.m. on May 23rd, this was the day after Nikki was reported missing, Chloe took it upon herself to go over to Tyler and

Nikki's house. She wanted answers. She actually hoped that her sister would be back home safe and sound. But instead, she ran into Tyler. And she began asking him questions. And he still insisted that he had no idea where Nikki was. But when pressed about her truck, Tyler gave a really weird response. He told Chloe, according to her, that it broke down near a bridge on Bowman Road. Now, I'm assuming he means while he was driving it. So Chloe asked, you know what, do you need a ride back out there? I can take you there.

But he works on cars. He knows how to fix them. He's got a bunch of them on the property. So why did he just leave it there? You mean to tell me he had no way of going back and getting this car that broke down or he didn't report it or tell anyone? and then he declined Chloe's offer and said, no, don't worry about it. My friend's going to take me over there. We're going to take care of it. I don't know where on Bowman Road he's talking about,

but it was about a 24-minute drive to get to Bowman Road. And from what I saw on the maps, it was definitely out in the middle of nowhere, just surrounded by land. Now, Nikki's brother went to Bowman Road looking for bridges that very night because they were so focused on finding any clue as to where Nikki was. I'd be doing the same thing. And I actually kind of did. I used Google Maps and I tried to find a bridge on this road and I couldn't even find one. I didn't see any water in this area. I mean, it could have been like an overpass that could be considered a bridge, but I followed it until it turned into a different road. Well, that night, while Nikki's brother is out there trying to see what happened to Nikki, he sees a local guy walking around and

he stops to ask him questions. This is a guy that lived in that area. And coincidentally, when this man is asked about seeing a gray Chevy avalanche, the guy was like, wait a minute, there was someone out here and they were getting out of a car in this one area nearby. And he thought it looked odd. Like they were kind of abandoning the vehicle. And that's why he took note of it. Because he was local to the community and he did not recognize this person. So then the sisters and their husbands and viances get together, and that weekend they go to the same spot on Bowman, and they see the very same guy again.

He tells them the very same story, but they can't find the truck. And that has got to be so frustrating, but it wasn't long before there was a break in this case. On May 30th, the Shasta County Sheriff's Department announced that back on the 25th, the Chevy Avalanche had been located.

Now, what's interesting, Is remember I told you to remember a county name? Tahama. Tahama County, remember that county? Well, that was the county that Brian McCain, Tyler's brother, had been arrested in in the past. And it's out of the way. The truck wasn't located near Bowman Road. It was about 40 minutes away on the side of the road on Highway 36, which is literally in the middle of nowhere. I mean, on Google, it's like a desert. A perfect place to desert a car. Now, some reports say, It was in a wooded area, and there aren't that many wooded areas until you get really up there. It's more canyon-y. I think the real forest area is closer to the end of Tahama County.

The reason I'm going so deep on this part is because allegedly, there are reports that say it was found close to a property that was owned by Tyler's family. Could this be true? Sure. Especially since we know Tyler's brother, Brian, had an arrest record from the same county. Also, Bowman Road is on the way to Highway 36, so that's interesting. But finding Nikki's avalanche confirmed to many people that she hadn't simply run away to start a new life. It's not a place where you could just walk away from. The vehicle's location was miles away from anywhere Nikki normally went, and it raised

immediate suspicions of foul play. Investigators combed the truck in the surrounding area for any evidence, but they did not find Nikki or any additional clues that were ever made public thus far. And I wanted to clarify that there was burn damage on this truck, but it was there prior to it going missing. Here's a picture and you can clearly see it on the side. I mentioned this because some people think that it was burned while it was out there and that is not what happened. But there are fires involved in this case that we will get to. But with the discovery of the abandoned truck, the sheriff's office intensified their investigation. And so did the public. They were scouring highway third.

places near Nikki's home, anywhere they could think of, but nothing was found. Detectives obtained multiple search warrants early in this case, including a thorough search of Nikki and Tyler's home on Orlando Road, and forensic specialists scoured the house for any signs of a struggle or clues to Nikki's whereabouts. Investigators also quietly began looking into Nikki's inner circle, including Tyler, given his past, and allegations of DV, but no arrests were made, and there were no persons of interest announced in the beginning. Nikki was just missing.

And it's tough on families because missing persons cases are not like what we see or what we're used to seeing in homicide cases. It's much different. Law enforcement don't have as many resources at their disposal. That is why charities collect money for people who are missing so that you can pool resources together and people can help. The community can help. But just wait. Because the reason I'm even doing this case is because, of an update and I'm sure, I mean I've already mentioned it, but I'm sure you've heard. Let's get there in

time order so you can follow along.