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Nikki Alcaraz, a 33-year-old mother of two from, Nashville, Tennessee, vanished without a trace while on a road trip with her boyfriend, Tyler Stratton, in early May. The duo, who have not been seen for three weeks, reportedly embarked on a cross-country trip with a pet dog to visit family in Orange County, California.
On Sunday, May 28, Nikki’s concerned sister Toni Alcaraz local outlet KNRN-TV, the duo who left in the the missing woman’s black 2013 Jeep Wrangler, had a run-in with cops on May 4 in Torrance County, New Mexico. The jeep sports a “Mama Tried” sticker, camo seats, and a “BGL3539” tag.
On May 4, sheriff’s deputies in Torrance County, New Mexico, pulled the couple over after receiving a report that Tyler Stratton had struck his girlfriend, Nikki Alcaraz. During the domestic stop, Stratton, who had blood coming from his mouth and nose, told authorities that he was also attacked, and both declined to press charges.
Toni Alcaraz told the outlet that Nikki called her sobbing after she was attacked by Stratton.
“Her eye was already turning black and you could tell she was beat up pretty badly.”
Following the incident, a concerned family friend reportedly drove to Arizona to extricate Nikki from a troubling situation on May 6. However, Nikki reportedly declined to leave, stating that she was going to try to find her boyfriend, who had left their lodging.
“That morning when they were supposed to leave, she told him that she had to go back and find Tyler because she had a bad feeling, and so he left without her.”
According to Toni Alcaraz, the family friend was the last to see her sister alive on May 6 before she vanished.
On May 8, Toni reportedly received a text from Nikki saying she intended to complete the road trip and hasn’t heard from her after the couple’s phones were turned off, leaving family members to fear the worst.
Shortly after Nikki’s family lodged a missing person’s report in Arizona, in the ensuing weeks, officials in Cheatham County, Tennessee, began working with law enforcement agencies in New Mexico and California to try to locate the mother of two. In a Facebook Post, Cheatham County Sheriff’s Office s appealed for information and said:
“Due to a history of domestic assault, we believe she is in danger.”
Concerns mount as Nikki Alcaraz's disappearance likened to Gabby Petito's case
Nearly three weeks after Nikki Alcaraz, who also goes by Nikki Cunningham, vanished alongside her boyfriend Tyler Stratton, she was spotted at a Walmart in Redding, California on Saturday, May 27. District Attorney General Ray Crouch said she sold her phone at an ecoATM at Walmart. Authorities are still asking for the public’s help in locating the missing woman.
The fear over Nikki Alcaraz’s disappearance has been heightened as the case bears eerie similarities to the high-profile Gabby Petito incident. The concerns were amplified after District Attorney General Ray Crouch requested a nationwide extradition for Stratton wanted on an unrelated arrest warrant for theft.
The resemblance between both the cases was highlighted by multiple news outlets, as details of Alcaraz’s disappearance resemble that of Floridian Gabby Petitto, who went missing during a cross-country trip with her fiancé, Brian Landrie, two years ago.
Petitto and Laundrie were also stopped by police after a domestic incident in Utah, where authorities let them drive off without pressing any charges. Pettito, who vanished shortly after, was found dead in Wyoming in September 2021. Landrie was found a month later alongside a notebook in which he confessed to killing his girlfriend.
The recent image of Nikki Alcaraz captured at Walmart showed the missing woman smiling. Another image captured, what appeared to be a man, presumably her boyfriend standing beside her as she sold her phone.
Nikki Alcaraz is 5 feet 6 inches tall with brown eyes and black/brown hair. Authorities asked people with information regarding Nikki’s whereabouts, to call Moriarty, New Mexico police at 505-832-6060 or 505-834-2705.
