The disappearance of Nikki Cheng Saelee McCain, the Shasta County woman who went missing last May, has turned into a homicide investigation, the Sheriff’s Office announced.
The sheriff’s office in their announcement on Friday night did not say what specific pieces of new information they uncovered in the case but said detectives have identified persons of interest in her slaying, and they are withholding their names so as to not compromise the investigation.
Sheriff’s Capt. Chris Edwards said investigators are asking for the public’s help in identifying the driver of a red truck who may have picked up a man in the area of Highway 36 in the western portion of Tehama County near the R Wild Horse Ranch or the Beegum Gorge Bridge between May 18 and May 25, 2024.
Nikki Cheng Saelee McCain of Shasta County was last heard from on May 17, 2024. The 2002 Chevrolet Avalanche she drives was found in Tehama County on May 25.
Family last heard from McCain on May 18, although earlier reports from the sheriff’s office had indicated the family lost contact with her on May 17. A week after her disappearance, the sheriff’s office said they located her 2002 pewter-colored Chevrolet Avalanche on Saturday, May 25. At that time, the sheriff’s office did not disclose where they found the pickup, except that it was in western Tehama County.
Since then, little new information has come out about the case.
Her family, friends and supporters have held rallies outside Shasta County Superior Court to raise awareness about her. One of those, held on July 5, 2024, brought out a sizable crowd to protest charges filed in December 2023 against her husband, Tyler McCain, were dismissed.
He was charged back in 2023 with domestic violence, assault, false imprisonment and making criminal threats against his wife, but the charges were dismissed last July because she was not available to testify.
The new developments in the disappearance case follow a press conference her family held on Monday, March 10 to plead that anyone with information about Nikki McCain come forward.
On Friday, sheriff’s office detectives, working with FBI and Homeland Security agents, served a search warrant at 17277 Olinda Road, the Happy Valley home where she lived when her family members reported her missing on May 22, 2024. The sheriff’s office said it was the second time investigators served a search warrant at that home.
Based on evidence they gathered, information they learned from interviews and that no one in the family has heard from MCain since May 18, investigators determined the Shasta County woman was a homicide victim, the sheriff’s office said.
The sheriff’s office also disclosed they served numerous other search warrants in their investigation into her disappearance, and they’ve interviewed family members, friends and acquaintances of Nikki McCain, including people who reported information about her missing person case to authorities.
A combined reward of up $30,000 still stands for anyone who provides information that leads authorities to Nikki McCain’s location, the sheriff’s office said. Anyone with a tip about the case should contact the sheriff’s office Major Crimes Unit by calling 530-245-6135 or by emailing MCU@shastacounty.gov.
(This story was updated to add new information.)
This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Shasta County missing woman Nikki McCain was homicide victim: sheriff
