March 18, 2025 • 39 mins
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
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Dwane Cates - Certified Criminal Law Specialist, Criminal Defense Attorney and Partner at Dwane Cates; DwaneCates.com on YouTube and LinkedIn
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Caryn Stark - Psychologist, Renowned TV and Radio Trauma Expert and Consultant; Instagram: carynpsych, FB: Caryn Stark Private Practice
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Brian Fitzgibbons - Director of Operations for USPA Nationwide Security; Instagram: @uspa_nationwide_security
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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.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Was missing Mom Niki 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.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
All break in the case of missing California mom Nikki Chang.
Official say Nikki is a victim of homicide.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
That is a major development in the search for Niki Chang.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
As warrants are going down.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
The theory, one of the working theories, is that Nicky's
body may have been moved from one location law enforcement
is looking at to another.
Speaker 4 (00:48):
Listen, senior efforts to get my health by my phone.
Speaker 5 (01:12):
We miss you.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Well, look what the cat's dragged in.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Nicky has been missing and now suddenly her husband makes
a statement.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
That's Tyler McCain. I'm Tyler McCain, the husband of Nicki 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, Nicki.
Speaker 4 (01:46):
I do really know what safe.
Speaker 5 (01:50):
I haven't been in the other guys, and I've been
done very well with algenis everyone, especially my children anyway,
mine well as well.
Speaker 6 (02:07):
I'm just hearing the part of a centure.
Speaker 5 (02:09):
Any anything that I can do I want to ask about.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Okay, why is he apologizing? That's that's curious. Why is
he apologizing for what A apologized to everyone, especially my children,
my wife's.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Family, mine as well.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
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?
Speaker 1 (02:35):
I want to go straight out to Chloe Ceiling.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
This is Nicky's sister joining me in addition to our
All Star panel are Chloe and Kay Nicky's sisters. To
Chloe as the warrants were going down or about.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
To go down.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Is it true that you met with Tyler McCain and
if so, what happened because the last time you and
I talked.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
He was not in communication issue with Nikki's family.
Speaker 7 (03:01):
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 into
his home and talk to him the Thursday before the
raid happened.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
And what if anything did he say of any substance?
You know what, forget of any substance? What did he say?
Speaker 7 (03:28):
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
(03:49):
of kept that I'm not I'm not, I'm innocent and
I didn't do anything.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
And again, no one has been named a person of interest,
no one has been aimed a suspect in the disappearance
of Nicki Chen, 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. Steal waters run deep and all that.
(04:15):
But Kay Ford joining me Nicki's other sister, I refer
to them as the sisters. They have been joining me
since Nicki went missing, all trying to put her picture
out there, put the story out there, and hopefully bring
Niki home. Kay, why did you become somewhat confrontational with
(04:35):
Nicki's husband.
Speaker 8 (04:36):
I wouldn't Nesslarie 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. The most part, they
(05:01):
were consistent with what he the story he had been sharing.
There are a few a few discrepancies that we did notice,
but overall, there wasn't a whole lot that changed what
was his demaanor k You know, he had talked to
our brother and said the police had come by earlier
that day to talk to him. We were trying to
(05:21):
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.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
Can I ask you, Chloe, say, Nikki's sister, has Tyler
McCain joined.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
In any of the searches to your knowledge?
Speaker 6 (05:52):
Yes?
Speaker 9 (05:52):
Not?
Speaker 1 (05:53):
Did you ask him why? I'm curious.
Speaker 7 (05:55):
I did ask him to come with us on the
day of Nicky's birthday. I did go out to his
house to put balloons out for Nicki 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
(06:19):
I go on search us 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.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
And isn't it true, Chloe, that he has been in communicato,
not in touch with Nicki's family during all of this.
Speaker 7 (06:33):
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.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
Has not Guys.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
In the last hours, the husband of Niki Chan 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 none more than I would look
at anybody else. However, in his first public statement since
(07:08):
Nicki goes missing, let's take a look.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
And analyze and learn what we can. Listen, I'm.
Speaker 6 (07:17):
Nikki between.
Speaker 4 (07:20):
The first office, get involved, any efforts to.
Speaker 8 (07:29):
Get my health, my phone.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
We miss you, Chloe. Does he normally stutter that much?
Speaker 2 (07:41):
He usually does.
Speaker 7 (07:43):
Mumble a little bit, but uh stuttering. I don't think
he stutters very much.
Speaker 8 (07:49):
No, but he does mumble a.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
Lot because there's a whole lot of uh uh uh.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
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.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
So does he normally do that? Yes?
Speaker 2 (08:04):
No?
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Interesting?
Speaker 2 (08:06):
You know. Again, no one has been named a suspect.
Guys search warrants going down. One working theory is that
Nicky's body has been moved from a relative's home to
another location.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Let me stress that's one of many working theories.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
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.
Speaker 10 (08:40):
Listen, Bella, Celeste, if you're out there, just 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 without anybody here.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
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 seven ABC, Chris Watts making
a I can't really even say, heartfelt.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
Request for the return of his wife and children.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
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.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
Did you just see Chris Watts and the blanking.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
I wanted to give him a tissue, except I need
he was called blood of killer, so I didn't.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
So did you see the blanking certainly, Nancy.
Speaker 11 (09:45):
And you know when we look at Tyler McCain's statement
just the other day, Now, what a one eighty that's
taken place since the last time we saw him publicly
holding up the middle finger to Key's family outside the
Shatsa County courthouse.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
Whoa wait a minute, Oh, thank you for refreshing my
recollection as we liked say in court k Ford, Nikki's sister,
did that happen? Did he actually sheet a bird at
the courthouse?
Speaker 1 (10:14):
He certainly did.
Speaker 8 (10:15):
As he was approaching clearly, and myself he yep, he
flipped a soft right there.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
Karen Shark, psychologist, renowned TV radio trauma expert, consultant at
Karenstark dot com.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
If you're looking for her, it's Karen with a C. Karen.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
Okay, let's just say before Dwayne Kate's veteran trial lawyer
defense attorney can say it, there is no playbook for grief, okay,
second verse same as the first, feel like I'm in
my old little Methodist back home and making George where
we keep saying the same verse over and over and
over again. No playbook for grief, Okay? But shooting the
(11:08):
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.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
Beyond questionable.
Speaker 12 (11:19):
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 of prise because
he's going to blame everybody else, not yet to what's
going on.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
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 sisters.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
Is day one.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
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 love 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
(12:10):
not a 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
(12:31):
that big around at the top and it caused the
little girl's skin to come off their arms.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
Just hold that thought, and then he makes his plate.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
Yeah, there's bell in Selest right there, Shenan trying to
make the perfect home and the perfect family and the
perfect insta family.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
Well she's dead.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
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.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
To whoever has my children that they please, I mean,
please bring them home.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
To us where they belong. Okay, I cut out the
crying and the snotting part. That's where our friend's 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
(13:39):
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 gonna convict my guy on that.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
Naming pretty much?
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Surely a suspect or a POY person of interest is
a very bad idea. We are not naming a suspect
or pay the Elie Law enforcement has not named one.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
Neither have we. But I would like to point out,
I mean, I'm.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
Chloe Kay, the sisters as I call them, Nicky'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.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
Same pot to stew asking for help. What happened? What happened?
Where is she?
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Did you see her? Did you see your truck? On
and on and on and getting nothing? What do you
think of him McCain coming out with his.
Speaker 8 (14:53):
Statement, we're definitely hoping for more, whether it be what
we've been doing this lee for help. You know, we're devastated.
Let us declare our innocence. That's acknowledge some of the accusations.
That's cleared up right now, or maybe the other way,
like this is why I've been silent, this is why
(15:15):
we haven't shared.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
But yeah, on one or the other.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
So the.
Speaker 8 (15:22):
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.
Speaker 7 (15:45):
Nikki is approximately five feet tall and she weighs about
ninety ninety five pounds. She has dark brown, reddish colored hair.
She was allegedly last seen May eighteenth, twenty twenty four.
Speaker 8 (15:58):
She was importedly picked up her mother in law, Jenette Hayward,
of McCain's house at the Ready Rancheria in Reading, California.
She may have been dropped off her home on Olinda
Road in Happy Valley. Her truck that Tyler recently purchased
for her was found abandoned on Highway thirty six near
Beegham Road. She has been seen or heard from since.
Speaker 13 (16:21):
The search for Nicki Sie 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.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
Chloe Sale.
Speaker 13 (16:35):
Nicki'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.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
Just weeks after missing Nikki, Chang's husband breaks his silence.
His home is raided by the FBI and officials rule
the case side what happened to Niki Chank Sale McCain.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
I'm just wondering if that press conference was used by
Elie 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
(17:26):
cause for that warrant?
Speaker 1 (17:27):
What was the return? The return on a warrant is
what if anything was seized?
Speaker 2 (17:34):
And if you are a true crime aficionado like myself,
you can recall cases such as that of Rex Hureman,
where we saw the FEDS and local lee taking out
bag after bag after bag after.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
Bag after bag of evidence from Rex Human's home.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
That's just an example of when a treasure trope of
evidence is taken from a location.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
Listen.
Speaker 14 (17:58):
Detect Us with the Shasta County Sheriff's Office Major Crimes Unit,
along with agents of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau
of Investigation, served as search warrant at one seven two
seven seven Olinda Rhoade Anderson. This addresses where Nikki Chang
Sale McCain resided when she was initially reported missing my
family members on May twenty second. It was after searching
(18:18):
the Olinda Road property that detectives announcy was no longer
a missing person case.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
This is a homicide.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
What happened inside that residence, what was found that caused
a sudden about face.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
All this time we have been working under.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
The belief that it was a missing person's case, and
now after that search, it was announced Nicki's case is
no longer a search and recovery. Nicky's case is a
homicide investigation. As I said, joining me in an all
star panel, But now I want to go to special
guest Sean Schwaler joining me reporter at a Newscafe dot
(18:54):
Com Assistant Professor at California State University. Sean, thank you
for being with us. Tell me about the raid on
the residence.
Speaker 6 (19:04):
Hi, Nancy.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
So yeah.
Speaker 6 (19:05):
The raid took the course of several hours on last Friday,
and FBI agents were seeing taking bags out of the home,
multiple bags of evidence, searching through the garage, looking at
tools in the garage.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
Sean, you specifically mentioned that tools were examined. I believe
you said in the garage. What do you mean by
that specifically, Sean, Yeah.
Speaker 6 (19:34):
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.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
That is the last thing you want is the FBI
or LA law enforcem sniffing around your garage, examining your tools.
Speaker 15 (20:03):
Nicki Sale McCain sends a text message to her sister
just after midnight on May eighteenth, saying she's driving Tyler
McCain's mother's vehicle back to his mother's home near the
wind River Casino. When Nicki doesn't respond to text from
her family later that morning at seven am and eight am,
the family is concerned. The family immediately begins looking for
Nicki and her Chevrolet Avalanche truck. Nicki has four children
(20:25):
and would never have left them without notice, and an
official missing person report is filed with Shasta County. The
sisters of Nicki Chang Sale McCain say what tip them
off about their sister's suspicious disappearance were the messages they
got from her husband, Tyler McCain. Previously, when Nicky would
leave after a fight with Tyler McCain, Tyler would contact
her sisters telling them to pass along messages to Nicki,
(20:48):
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.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
I don't know.
Speaker 15 (20:57):
I think she's missing.
Speaker 3 (21:01):
The mystery deepens as missing mom Niki Cheng's case becomes
a homicide investigation.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
Searches going down at multiple locations. It's my understanding that
not only was Nicki chain 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
(21:29):
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?
Speaker 1 (21:48):
Did people you said an eyewitness.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
Observed the garage and the home in chief being searched.
Describe what, if anything they could tell you was take
and from the home.
Speaker 6 (22:01):
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 of the tools. There
are also some folks that thought that they saw infrared
kits being brought into the house and CSA testing kits.
(22:25):
Not quite sure if that happened, but there were devices
brought into the house as bags were coming out.
Speaker 1 (22:30):
I wonder what they meant by infrared kits.
Speaker 2 (22:33):
To Brian fitz gibbons Is joining me, Director Operations usp
A Nationwide Security Because when you use illuminol, it's not
really a kit.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
It's more like spray ball of lysol. That's what it is.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
You spray illuminol onto surfaces, the floor, the walls, and
the iron in blood reacts to the iluminol and it
glows like a blue glow. That's how it's actually very
chemically simple. That's why luminol is used, and it's sprayed
(23:15):
like you would squirt lsol. 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?
Speaker 1 (23:37):
Fingerprint kit?
Speaker 11 (23:38):
This could be any number of things, Nancy, And what
it likely what these passers by 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 re sources available for
(24:02):
this search would have gone up quite a bit, you.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
Know, Brian Pitsgibbons, 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 this very very difficult to destroy DNA deoxyribon nucleic acid.
You can't just clean it away with let's just say
(24:24):
lysol that doesn't work, or four nine or agent orange.
You need something that has muriatic acids, 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. So
you've got to really work at getting rid of DNA,
(24:47):
and you got to really work.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
To get rid of any evidence of a cleanup.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
If there is blood, a simple spray with luminol will
show s white marks.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
Okay, just pretend you've got.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
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.
Speaker 1 (25:08):
So yeah, I think you're right about what the witness
believed to be.
Speaker 2 (25:12):
Infrared kit fingerprints. Yeah, not very helpful because Nikki's prince
would be there, the husband's prince 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 Schwaler, So many many bags you stated brown or
(25:34):
black in color, which leads me to think that they
were like plastic trash bags.
Speaker 1 (25:38):
Is that correct?
Speaker 6 (25:39):
Yeah, it sounded like that. Either that or big brown
paper bags that were coming under the house.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
Multiple I would have expected paper bags. Critical subtle, but
critical difference now, guys. Also very probative is the discover
of Nikki's avalanche.
Speaker 9 (26:04):
Listen, A ten thousand dollars reward is established and missing
posters are created and passed around on social media and
physically put up around reading. Eight days into her disappearance,
the Chevy Avalanche that Nikki Sale McCain has been driving
is found abandoned in western Taheima County.
Speaker 7 (26:23):
I think she was afraid, so she wanted to be
I'm your older sister and I'm okay, and she didn't want.
Speaker 1 (26:30):
To scare me.
Speaker 8 (26:31):
We didn't know to which degree it had escalated. The
incident in December was definitely eye opened it for us.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
But she was so terrified, and with good reason.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
When the sisters refer to a previous incident, that's really
where this story starts.
Speaker 15 (26:50):
Listen, Wednesday night, around eight thirty, Nikki Sale McCain is
in her bedroom combing her hair. Her husband of thirteen years,
Tyler McCain arrives home in a strange mood for no
appairent reason. Tyler McCain aggressively jumps on top of nik
holding her on the ground, then dragging her around, yelling
what are you doing? Nicki says, Tyler McCain's eyes are
glazed over. Nicky tries calming her husband, but it doesn't work,
(27:13):
and he holds her down and begins hitting her in
the face. The terror escalates over a three hour period,
with McCain binding Nicki'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.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
The abuse, the terror, the attack on Nicki Chin 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
(27:55):
to K four. Nicki's sister. What was documented at the hospital.
Wore her injuries after this attack, had injuries.
Speaker 8 (28:02):
To her face, Her eyes were swollen. She had injuries
I believe on her her neck and various parts of
her body.
Speaker 2 (28:12):
The a doctor and Deputy Maul described how both of
Nikki's eyes were severely black and both swollen.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
She had been.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
Traumatized all over her whole body. To Chloe, when you
finally got Nikki to tell you what happened, what did
she say?
Speaker 7 (28:37):
She told me that she thought she was going to die.
Speaker 1 (28:40):
Did she describe what happened?
Speaker 16 (28:42):
Yes, she.
Speaker 7 (28:43):
I think when it first happened, it was still kind
of fresh, but I think she was just so shaken up.
She's like, she just came out of nowhere and you
just started attacking me. He was hitting me, and I
know that At one point she did tell me that
he taped her mouth with tape and he had gotten
water and he had poured water all over her face
(29:06):
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 me a blanket? I'm so cold, and
then he came back and started hitting her again. And
(29:28):
I remember she said lots of her head was being hit,
her body was sore, and she said she was really scared.
Speaker 8 (29:37):
She said, I thought I was going to die.
Speaker 2 (29:39):
Sean Schwaller joining us from my newscafe dot com.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
Sean, I want to be clear.
Speaker 2 (29:45):
Tyler McCain was never convicted and the attack on Nikki, he.
Speaker 1 (29:51):
Was charged, but the charges were dropped.
Speaker 6 (29:56):
Why right right after the court proceeding Star did for
the domestic violence charges against Tyler right after that. That
started on May seventh, and Nikki went missing on the eighteenth,
right after the case started in the courts. And then
in July of fifth, twenty twenty four, DA Stephanie Bridget
(30:17):
dismissed the domestic violence case against Tyler.
Speaker 2 (30:20):
So bottom line, Sean Schwaller, the case was dropped because
Niki couldn't be found to be the witness.
Speaker 1 (30:26):
Correct.
Speaker 6 (30:26):
That's correct, and that is what the DA said, that
Niki was needed to be there to be in court,
despite the fact that there was a very very detailed
report taken by Deputy Mall in the hospital when Niki
was hospitalized.
Speaker 2 (30:40):
Sadly, under the constitution Dwayne Capes the sixth Amen that specifically,
every defendant has a right to cross examine witnesses against him,
and in this case, without Niki, he would be denied
his rights under the constitution.
Speaker 16 (30:55):
Correct The district attorney did their correct thing by dismissing
the case, because again, if she didn't just miss the
case and he went to trial and won, for 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 limitations in California on felonies,
(31:17):
and so they have a couple more years 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.
Speaker 1 (31:35):
Crime stories with Nancy Grace.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
Karen start joining me renowned psychologist at Karenstark dot 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 US is homicide,
not heart attack, not stroke, it's homicide. And two, when
(32:05):
the woman is trying to leave an abusive relationship, explain.
Speaker 12 (32:10):
That's an alarm. And that's what I thought immediately, and
I'm sure her family did too.
Speaker 15 (32:15):
The sisters of Nicki Chang Slee McCain say what tip
them off about their sister's suspicious disappearance were the messages
they got from her husband, Tyler McCain. Previously, when Nicky
would leave after a fight with Tyler McCain, Tyler would
contact her sisters, telling them to pass along messages to Nicki.
Tell her I love her, tell her I'm sorry. But
this time he didn't. This time when he texted the sisters,
(32:38):
he texted, I think she's missing. I don't know. I
think she's missing.
Speaker 8 (32:43):
Our mission is clear. We must bring Nicki home. Your
help is critical and we welcome any support from those
who know and love her. We have connected with the
missing person's community, including Gabby Patito's mother. Gabby Patito was
found after it hit from soul social media, and we
haven't lost hope. We just asked that you continue to
(33:04):
please keep Nicki in your thoughts, but more importantly, don't
forget about her.
Speaker 1 (33:09):
Get the word out on social media.
Speaker 7 (33:11):
We're using hashtag Where's Niki.
Speaker 2 (33:14):
There was a thirty thousand dollars reward in the search
for Niki chan number five to three zero two four
five six five four zero.
Speaker 1 (33:24):
The sister said it so much.
Speaker 2 (33:25):
More eloquently than I ever could. Any information matters. It's
my understanding that multiple theories abound, one of them being
that Nicki's body was moved to Chloe Seally. Have you
heard that theory?
Speaker 7 (33:46):
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 we're moved from where she was
last killed into another location.
Speaker 8 (34:01):
Yes, we've heard that.
Speaker 1 (34:02):
Okay, four, have you heard similar theories?
Speaker 8 (34:05):
I have you know? To echo what Clee said, we
have heard the where the attack took place and potentially
where she was actually killed, or two different locations, and
then once she was killed at one location and then
moved potentially when law enforcement might be looking for her,
(34:26):
and then potentially moved back there. So we have heard
that there have been many moves and many and transported
many of different vehicles.
Speaker 2 (34:34):
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.
Speaker 1 (34:48):
For each other. And since I've us Scott Paterson so often,
why not again?
Speaker 2 (34:52):
Now, As you will recall, when Scott Peterson was on
the run just before his arrest and 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 ten thousand dollars, camping gear,
(35:15):
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 around of golf at Tory Pine's golf club.
Speaker 1 (35:33):
Yeah, they said that.
Speaker 2 (35:35):
Okay, then let's see family sticking together. All in the family.
We've got the case of the two missing Kentucky moms.
Now charge is a whole network of family and friends.
These two beautiful women murdered over custody. They were taking
(36:01):
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
Gillian Kelly and now sitting behind bars. Mother in law
(36:23):
Donna Adelson charged along with her son who's been convicted
and the murder of her son in law.
Speaker 1 (36:32):
Uh, there's the brother, please get him. A Bobby pen
charged in the murder.
Speaker 2 (36:39):
Of her son in law, Professor Markel Why over child custody.
Speaker 1 (36:47):
Then you've got Caitlin.
Speaker 2 (36:49):
Armstrong who went on the run to Costa Rica after
murdering her victim.
Speaker 1 (36:54):
There she is.
Speaker 2 (36:55):
She even had a plastic surgery to complete makeover. A
world class bike rider, A cyclist Maureen dead over.
Speaker 1 (37:06):
A boyfriend, Colin Strickland.
Speaker 2 (37:09):
She was found in Costa Rica under her assumed name,
having used her sisters ID and passport. Sister never charged.
What families will do to protect each other, including a murder.
Speaking of protecting, don't even get me started on the
(37:30):
tribal land that has only given limited access and 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
(37:50):
tribal territory is not under the jurisdiction of local law
enforcement or even the US government. To Karen Stark, weigh in.
Speaker 12 (38:00):
Nancy, if you take a look at the domestic violence
that she reported, and we know she went to the hospital,
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
(38:21):
an awful lot that's suspicious here. This man can 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.
Speaker 1 (38:45):
Chloe, Nikki's sister, what is your message tonight?
Speaker 7 (38:48):
My message is that if anyone is involved or know
if something, please come forward. You don't want to you
don't want to be in trouble for this. So if
you know anything, please come forward, because if you don't
come forward, then consequences are going to be a lot tougher.
Speaker 2 (39:06):
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,
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Was missing Mom Niki 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.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
All break in the case of missing California mom Nikki Chang.
Official say Nikki is a victim of homicide.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
That is a major development in the search for Niki Chang.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
As warrants are going down.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
The theory, one of the working theories, is that Nicky's
body may have been moved from one location law enforcement
is looking at to another.
Speaker 4 (00:48):
Listen, senior efforts to get my health by my phone.
Speaker 5 (01:12):
We miss you.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Well, look what the cat's dragged in.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Nicky has been missing and now suddenly her husband makes
a statement.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
That's Tyler McCain. I'm Tyler McCain, the husband of Nicki 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, Nicki.
Speaker 4 (01:46):
I do really know what safe.
Speaker 5 (01:50):
I haven't been in the other guys, and I've been
done very well with algenis everyone, especially my children anyway,
mine well as well.
Speaker 6 (02:07):
I'm just hearing the part of a centure.
Speaker 5 (02:09):
Any anything that I can do I want to ask about.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Okay, why is he apologizing? That's that's curious. Why is
he apologizing for what A apologized to everyone, especially my children,
my wife's.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Family, mine as well.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
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?
Speaker 1 (02:35):
I want to go straight out to Chloe Ceiling.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
This is Nicky's sister joining me in addition to our
All Star panel are Chloe and Kay Nicky's sisters. To
Chloe as the warrants were going down or about.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
To go down.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Is it true that you met with Tyler McCain and
if so, what happened because the last time you and
I talked.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
He was not in communication issue with Nikki's family.
Speaker 7 (03:01):
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 into
his home and talk to him the Thursday before the
raid happened.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
And what if anything did he say of any substance?
You know what, forget of any substance? What did he say?
Speaker 7 (03:28):
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
(03:49):
of kept that I'm not I'm not, I'm innocent and
I didn't do anything.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
And again, no one has been named a person of interest,
no one has been aimed a suspect in the disappearance
of Nicki Chen, 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. Steal waters run deep and all that.
(04:15):
But Kay Ford joining me Nicki's other sister, I refer
to them as the sisters. They have been joining me
since Nicki went missing, all trying to put her picture
out there, put the story out there, and hopefully bring
Niki home. Kay, why did you become somewhat confrontational with
(04:35):
Nicki's husband.
Speaker 8 (04:36):
I wouldn't Nesslarie 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. The most part, they
(05:01):
were consistent with what he the story he had been sharing.
There are a few a few discrepancies that we did notice,
but overall, there wasn't a whole lot that changed what
was his demaanor k You know, he had talked to
our brother and said the police had come by earlier
that day to talk to him. We were trying to
(05:21):
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.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
Can I ask you, Chloe, say, Nikki's sister, has Tyler
McCain joined.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
In any of the searches to your knowledge?
Speaker 6 (05:52):
Yes?
Speaker 9 (05:52):
Not?
Speaker 1 (05:53):
Did you ask him why? I'm curious.
Speaker 7 (05:55):
I did ask him to come with us on the
day of Nicky's birthday. I did go out to his
house to put balloons out for Nicki 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
(06:19):
I go on search us 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.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
And isn't it true, Chloe, that he has been in communicato,
not in touch with Nicki's family during all of this.
Speaker 7 (06:33):
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.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
Has not Guys.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
In the last hours, the husband of Niki Chan 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 none more than I would look
at anybody else. However, in his first public statement since
(07:08):
Nicki goes missing, let's take a look.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
And analyze and learn what we can. Listen, I'm.
Speaker 6 (07:17):
Nikki between.
Speaker 4 (07:20):
The first office, get involved, any efforts to.
Speaker 8 (07:29):
Get my health, my phone.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
We miss you, Chloe. Does he normally stutter that much?
Speaker 2 (07:41):
He usually does.
Speaker 7 (07:43):
Mumble a little bit, but uh stuttering. I don't think
he stutters very much.
Speaker 8 (07:49):
No, but he does mumble a.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
Lot because there's a whole lot of uh uh uh.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
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.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
So does he normally do that? Yes?
Speaker 2 (08:04):
No?
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Interesting?
Speaker 2 (08:06):
You know. Again, no one has been named a suspect.
Guys search warrants going down. One working theory is that
Nicky's body has been moved from a relative's home to
another location.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Let me stress that's one of many working theories.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
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.
Speaker 10 (08:40):
Listen, Bella, Celeste, if you're out there, just 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 without anybody here.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
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 seven ABC, Chris Watts making
a I can't really even say, heartfelt.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
Request for the return of his wife and children.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
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.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
Did you just see Chris Watts and the blanking.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
I wanted to give him a tissue, except I need
he was called blood of killer, so I didn't.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
So did you see the blanking certainly, Nancy.
Speaker 11 (09:45):
And you know when we look at Tyler McCain's statement
just the other day, Now, what a one eighty that's
taken place since the last time we saw him publicly
holding up the middle finger to Key's family outside the
Shatsa County courthouse.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
Whoa wait a minute, Oh, thank you for refreshing my
recollection as we liked say in court k Ford, Nikki's sister,
did that happen? Did he actually sheet a bird at
the courthouse?
Speaker 1 (10:14):
He certainly did.
Speaker 8 (10:15):
As he was approaching clearly, and myself he yep, he
flipped a soft right there.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
Karen Shark, psychologist, renowned TV radio trauma expert, consultant at
Karenstark dot com.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
If you're looking for her, it's Karen with a C. Karen.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
Okay, let's just say before Dwayne Kate's veteran trial lawyer
defense attorney can say it, there is no playbook for grief, okay,
second verse same as the first, feel like I'm in
my old little Methodist back home and making George where
we keep saying the same verse over and over and
over again. No playbook for grief, Okay? But shooting the
(11:08):
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.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
Beyond questionable.
Speaker 12 (11:19):
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 of prise because
he's going to blame everybody else, not yet to what's
going on.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
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 sisters.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
Is day one.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
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 love 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
(12:10):
not a 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
(12:31):
that big around at the top and it caused the
little girl's skin to come off their arms.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
Just hold that thought, and then he makes his plate.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
Yeah, there's bell in Selest right there, Shenan trying to
make the perfect home and the perfect family and the
perfect insta family.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
Well she's dead.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
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.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
To whoever has my children that they please, I mean,
please bring them home.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
To us where they belong. Okay, I cut out the
crying and the snotting part. That's where our friend's 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
(13:39):
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 gonna convict my guy on that.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
Naming pretty much?
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Surely a suspect or a POY person of interest is
a very bad idea. We are not naming a suspect
or pay the Elie Law enforcement has not named one.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
Neither have we. But I would like to point out,
I mean, I'm.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
Chloe Kay, the sisters as I call them, Nicky'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.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
Same pot to stew asking for help. What happened? What happened?
Where is she?
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Did you see her? Did you see your truck? On
and on and on and getting nothing? What do you
think of him McCain coming out with his.
Speaker 8 (14:53):
Statement, we're definitely hoping for more, whether it be what
we've been doing this lee for help. You know, we're devastated.
Let us declare our innocence. That's acknowledge some of the accusations.
That's cleared up right now, or maybe the other way,
like this is why I've been silent, this is why
(15:15):
we haven't shared.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
But yeah, on one or the other.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
So the.
Speaker 8 (15:22):
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.
Speaker 7 (15:45):
Nikki is approximately five feet tall and she weighs about
ninety ninety five pounds. She has dark brown, reddish colored hair.
She was allegedly last seen May eighteenth, twenty twenty four.
Speaker 8 (15:58):
She was importedly picked up her mother in law, Jenette Hayward,
of McCain's house at the Ready Rancheria in Reading, California.
She may have been dropped off her home on Olinda
Road in Happy Valley. Her truck that Tyler recently purchased
for her was found abandoned on Highway thirty six near
Beegham Road. She has been seen or heard from since.
Speaker 13 (16:21):
The search for Nicki Sie 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.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
Chloe Sale.
Speaker 13 (16:35):
Nicki'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.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
Just weeks after missing Nikki, Chang's husband breaks his silence.
His home is raided by the FBI and officials rule
the case side what happened to Niki Chank Sale McCain.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
I'm just wondering if that press conference was used by
Elie 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
(17:26):
cause for that warrant?
Speaker 1 (17:27):
What was the return? The return on a warrant is
what if anything was seized?
Speaker 2 (17:34):
And if you are a true crime aficionado like myself,
you can recall cases such as that of Rex Hureman,
where we saw the FEDS and local lee taking out
bag after bag after bag after.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
Bag after bag of evidence from Rex Human's home.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
That's just an example of when a treasure trope of
evidence is taken from a location.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
Listen.
Speaker 14 (17:58):
Detect Us with the Shasta County Sheriff's Office Major Crimes Unit,
along with agents of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau
of Investigation, served as search warrant at one seven two
seven seven Olinda Rhoade Anderson. This addresses where Nikki Chang
Sale McCain resided when she was initially reported missing my
family members on May twenty second. It was after searching
(18:18):
the Olinda Road property that detectives announcy was no longer
a missing person case.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
This is a homicide.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
What happened inside that residence, what was found that caused
a sudden about face.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
All this time we have been working under.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
The belief that it was a missing person's case, and
now after that search, it was announced Nicki's case is
no longer a search and recovery. Nicky's case is a
homicide investigation. As I said, joining me in an all
star panel, But now I want to go to special
guest Sean Schwaler joining me reporter at a Newscafe dot
(18:54):
Com Assistant Professor at California State University. Sean, thank you
for being with us. Tell me about the raid on
the residence.
Speaker 6 (19:04):
Hi, Nancy.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
So yeah.
Speaker 6 (19:05):
The raid took the course of several hours on last Friday,
and FBI agents were seeing taking bags out of the home,
multiple bags of evidence, searching through the garage, looking at
tools in the garage.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
Sean, you specifically mentioned that tools were examined. I believe
you said in the garage. What do you mean by
that specifically, Sean, Yeah.
Speaker 6 (19:34):
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.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
That is the last thing you want is the FBI
or LA law enforcem sniffing around your garage, examining your tools.
Speaker 15 (20:03):
Nicki Sale McCain sends a text message to her sister
just after midnight on May eighteenth, saying she's driving Tyler
McCain's mother's vehicle back to his mother's home near the
wind River Casino. When Nicki doesn't respond to text from
her family later that morning at seven am and eight am,
the family is concerned. The family immediately begins looking for
Nicki and her Chevrolet Avalanche truck. Nicki has four children
(20:25):
and would never have left them without notice, and an
official missing person report is filed with Shasta County. The
sisters of Nicki Chang Sale McCain say what tip them
off about their sister's suspicious disappearance were the messages they
got from her husband, Tyler McCain. Previously, when Nicky would
leave after a fight with Tyler McCain, Tyler would contact
her sisters telling them to pass along messages to Nicki,
(20:48):
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.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
I don't know.
Speaker 15 (20:57):
I think she's missing.
Speaker 3 (21:01):
The mystery deepens as missing mom Niki Cheng's case becomes
a homicide investigation.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
Searches going down at multiple locations. It's my understanding that
not only was Nicki chain 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
(21:29):
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?
Speaker 1 (21:48):
Did people you said an eyewitness.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
Observed the garage and the home in chief being searched.
Describe what, if anything they could tell you was take
and from the home.
Speaker 6 (22:01):
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 of the tools. There
are also some folks that thought that they saw infrared
kits being brought into the house and CSA testing kits.
(22:25):
Not quite sure if that happened, but there were devices
brought into the house as bags were coming out.
Speaker 1 (22:30):
I wonder what they meant by infrared kits.
Speaker 2 (22:33):
To Brian fitz gibbons Is joining me, Director Operations usp
A Nationwide Security Because when you use illuminol, it's not
really a kit.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
It's more like spray ball of lysol. That's what it is.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
You spray illuminol onto surfaces, the floor, the walls, and
the iron in blood reacts to the iluminol and it
glows like a blue glow. That's how it's actually very
chemically simple. That's why luminol is used, and it's sprayed
(23:15):
like you would squirt lsol. 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?
Speaker 1 (23:37):
Fingerprint kit?
Speaker 11 (23:38):
This could be any number of things, Nancy, And what
it likely what these passers by 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 re sources available for
(24:02):
this search would have gone up quite a bit, you.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
Know, Brian Pitsgibbons, 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 this very very difficult to destroy DNA deoxyribon nucleic acid.
You can't just clean it away with let's just say
(24:24):
lysol that doesn't work, or four nine or agent orange.
You need something that has muriatic acids, 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. So
you've got to really work at getting rid of DNA,
(24:47):
and you got to really work.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
To get rid of any evidence of a cleanup.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
If there is blood, a simple spray with luminol will
show s white marks.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
Okay, just pretend you've got.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
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.
Speaker 1 (25:08):
So yeah, I think you're right about what the witness
believed to be.
Speaker 2 (25:12):
Infrared kit fingerprints. Yeah, not very helpful because Nikki's prince
would be there, the husband's prince 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 Schwaler, So many many bags you stated brown or
(25:34):
black in color, which leads me to think that they
were like plastic trash bags.
Speaker 1 (25:38):
Is that correct?
Speaker 6 (25:39):
Yeah, it sounded like that. Either that or big brown
paper bags that were coming under the house.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
Multiple I would have expected paper bags. Critical subtle, but
critical difference now, guys. Also very probative is the discover
of Nikki's avalanche.
Speaker 9 (26:04):
Listen, A ten thousand dollars reward is established and missing
posters are created and passed around on social media and
physically put up around reading. Eight days into her disappearance,
the Chevy Avalanche that Nikki Sale McCain has been driving
is found abandoned in western Taheima County.
Speaker 7 (26:23):
I think she was afraid, so she wanted to be
I'm your older sister and I'm okay, and she didn't want.
Speaker 1 (26:30):
To scare me.
Speaker 8 (26:31):
We didn't know to which degree it had escalated. The
incident in December was definitely eye opened it for us.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
But she was so terrified, and with good reason.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
When the sisters refer to a previous incident, that's really
where this story starts.
Speaker 15 (26:50):
Listen, Wednesday night, around eight thirty, Nikki Sale McCain is
in her bedroom combing her hair. Her husband of thirteen years,
Tyler McCain arrives home in a strange mood for no
appairent reason. Tyler McCain aggressively jumps on top of nik
holding her on the ground, then dragging her around, yelling
what are you doing? Nicki says, Tyler McCain's eyes are
glazed over. Nicky tries calming her husband, but it doesn't work,
(27:13):
and he holds her down and begins hitting her in
the face. The terror escalates over a three hour period,
with McCain binding Nicki'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.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
The abuse, the terror, the attack on Nicki Chin 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
(27:55):
to K four. Nicki's sister. What was documented at the hospital.
Wore her injuries after this attack, had injuries.
Speaker 8 (28:02):
To her face, Her eyes were swollen. She had injuries
I believe on her her neck and various parts of
her body.
Speaker 2 (28:12):
The a doctor and Deputy Maul described how both of
Nikki's eyes were severely black and both swollen.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
She had been.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
Traumatized all over her whole body. To Chloe, when you
finally got Nikki to tell you what happened, what did
she say?
Speaker 7 (28:37):
She told me that she thought she was going to die.
Speaker 1 (28:40):
Did she describe what happened?
Speaker 16 (28:42):
Yes, she.
Speaker 7 (28:43):
I think when it first happened, it was still kind
of fresh, but I think she was just so shaken up.
She's like, she just came out of nowhere and you
just started attacking me. He was hitting me, and I
know that At one point she did tell me that
he taped her mouth with tape and he had gotten
water and he had poured water all over her face
(29:06):
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 me a blanket? I'm so cold, and
then he came back and started hitting her again. And
(29:28):
I remember she said lots of her head was being hit,
her body was sore, and she said she was really scared.
Speaker 8 (29:37):
She said, I thought I was going to die.
Speaker 2 (29:39):
Sean Schwaller joining us from my newscafe dot com.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
Sean, I want to be clear.
Speaker 2 (29:45):
Tyler McCain was never convicted and the attack on Nikki, he.
Speaker 1 (29:51):
Was charged, but the charges were dropped.
Speaker 6 (29:56):
Why right right after the court proceeding Star did for
the domestic violence charges against Tyler right after that. That
started on May seventh, and Nikki went missing on the eighteenth,
right after the case started in the courts. And then
in July of fifth, twenty twenty four, DA Stephanie Bridget
(30:17):
dismissed the domestic violence case against Tyler.
Speaker 2 (30:20):
So bottom line, Sean Schwaller, the case was dropped because
Niki couldn't be found to be the witness.
Speaker 1 (30:26):
Correct.
Speaker 6 (30:26):
That's correct, and that is what the DA said, that
Niki was needed to be there to be in court,
despite the fact that there was a very very detailed
report taken by Deputy Mall in the hospital when Niki
was hospitalized.
Speaker 2 (30:40):
Sadly, under the constitution Dwayne Capes the sixth Amen that specifically,
every defendant has a right to cross examine witnesses against him,
and in this case, without Niki, he would be denied
his rights under the constitution.
Speaker 16 (30:55):
Correct The district attorney did their correct thing by dismissing
the case, because again, if she didn't just miss the
case and he went to trial and won, for 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 limitations in California on felonies,
(31:17):
and so they have a couple more years 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.
Speaker 1 (31:35):
Crime stories with Nancy Grace.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
Karen start joining me renowned psychologist at Karenstark dot 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 US is homicide,
not heart attack, not stroke, it's homicide. And two, when
(32:05):
the woman is trying to leave an abusive relationship, explain.
Speaker 12 (32:10):
That's an alarm. And that's what I thought immediately, and
I'm sure her family did too.
Speaker 15 (32:15):
The sisters of Nicki Chang Slee McCain say what tip
them off about their sister's suspicious disappearance were the messages
they got from her husband, Tyler McCain. Previously, when Nicky
would leave after a fight with Tyler McCain, Tyler would
contact her sisters, telling them to pass along messages to Nicki.
Tell her I love her, tell her I'm sorry. But
this time he didn't. This time when he texted the sisters,
(32:38):
he texted, I think she's missing. I don't know. I
think she's missing.
Speaker 8 (32:43):
Our mission is clear. We must bring Nicki home. Your
help is critical and we welcome any support from those
who know and love her. We have connected with the
missing person's community, including Gabby Patito's mother. Gabby Patito was
found after it hit from soul social media, and we
haven't lost hope. We just asked that you continue to
(33:04):
please keep Nicki in your thoughts, but more importantly, don't
forget about her.
Speaker 1 (33:09):
Get the word out on social media.
Speaker 7 (33:11):
We're using hashtag Where's Niki.
Speaker 2 (33:14):
There was a thirty thousand dollars reward in the search
for Niki chan number five to three zero two four
five six five four zero.
Speaker 1 (33:24):
The sister said it so much.
Speaker 2 (33:25):
More eloquently than I ever could. Any information matters. It's
my understanding that multiple theories abound, one of them being
that Nicki's body was moved to Chloe Seally. Have you
heard that theory?
Speaker 7 (33:46):
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 we're moved from where she was
last killed into another location.
Speaker 8 (34:01):
Yes, we've heard that.
Speaker 1 (34:02):
Okay, four, have you heard similar theories?
Speaker 8 (34:05):
I have you know? To echo what Clee said, we
have heard the where the attack took place and potentially
where she was actually killed, or two different locations, and
then once she was killed at one location and then
moved potentially when law enforcement might be looking for her,
(34:26):
and then potentially moved back there. So we have heard
that there have been many moves and many and transported
many of different vehicles.
Speaker 2 (34:34):
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.
Speaker 1 (34:48):
For each other. And since I've us Scott Paterson so often,
why not again?
Speaker 2 (34:52):
Now, As you will recall, when Scott Peterson was on
the run just before his arrest and 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 ten thousand dollars, camping gear,
(35:15):
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 around of golf at Tory Pine's golf club.
Speaker 1 (35:33):
Yeah, they said that.
Speaker 2 (35:35):
Okay, then let's see family sticking together. All in the family.
We've got the case of the two missing Kentucky moms.
Now charge is a whole network of family and friends.
These two beautiful women murdered over custody. They were taking
(36:01):
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
Gillian Kelly and now sitting behind bars. Mother in law
(36:23):
Donna Adelson charged along with her son who's been convicted
and the murder of her son in law.
Speaker 1 (36:32):
Uh, there's the brother, please get him. A Bobby pen
charged in the murder.
Speaker 2 (36:39):
Of her son in law, Professor Markel Why over child custody.
Speaker 1 (36:47):
Then you've got Caitlin.
Speaker 2 (36:49):
Armstrong who went on the run to Costa Rica after
murdering her victim.
Speaker 1 (36:54):
There she is.
Speaker 2 (36:55):
She even had a plastic surgery to complete makeover. A
world class bike rider, A cyclist Maureen dead over.
Speaker 1 (37:06):
A boyfriend, Colin Strickland.
Speaker 2 (37:09):
She was found in Costa Rica under her assumed name,
having used her sisters ID and passport. Sister never charged.
What families will do to protect each other, including a murder.
Speaking of protecting, don't even get me started on the
(37:30):
tribal land that has only given limited access and 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
(37:50):
tribal territory is not under the jurisdiction of local law
enforcement or even the US government. To Karen Stark, weigh in.
Speaker 12 (38:00):
Nancy, if you take a look at the domestic violence
that she reported, and we know she went to the hospital,
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
(38:21):
an awful lot that's suspicious here. This man can 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.
Speaker 1 (38:45):
Chloe, Nikki's sister, what is your message tonight?
Speaker 7 (38:48):
My message is that if anyone is involved or know
if something, please come forward. You don't want to you
don't want to be in trouble for this. So if
you know anything, please come forward, because if you don't
come forward, then consequences are going to be a lot tougher.
Speaker 2 (39:06):
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,
Host
Nancy Grace
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