Missing Tennessee woman found at California Walmart, agent says

Nashville, Tennessee (WKRNMore) — A Tennessee woman whose family claims she disappeared while driving with her boyfriend was spotted at a Walmart in California over Memorial Day weekend, police said.

Cheatham County, Tennessee lawmakers said Nicky Alcaraz was spotted at a Walmart in Redding, Calif. on Saturday. County District Attorney General Ray Crouch said the photo was taken when she allegedly sold cell phones at ecoATM, a kiosk that offered payments in exchange for used phones.

Despite the sightings, authorities are still enlisting the public’s help to find her.

Alcaraz set out in a black Jeep with her boyfriend Tyler Stratton and dog to visit family in Orange County, California.

The couple clashed with police in Torrance County, New Mexico, while traveling across the border. Witnesses saw Stratton punch Alcaraz in the face, according to a May 4 report from the Torrance County Sheriff’s Office. The report further said Mr Stratton also claimed to have been beaten and had blood coming out of his mouth and nose.

Neither wanted to press charges, so authorities announced they had allowed Stratton and Alcaraz into the vehicle.

Alcaraz was dropped off in Moriarty, New Mexico, where he called his sister Toni.

“She was crying and upset. I could tell her eyes were already black and she had been beaten pretty badly,” recalled Toni Alcaraz.

Shortly after the game, Toni Alcaraz said a family friend drove to New Mexico, where he met Nicky Alcaraz in an attempt to take him to California.

“When we were supposed to leave that morning, she told Tyler that she had a bad feeling and had to go back and look for Tyler, so he left without her,” said Toni Alcaraz.

Two days later, on May 8, the sisters texted that Nicky Alcaraz was in Arizona finishing a trip to California.

“We haven’t heard anything since Monday morning,” said Toni Alcaraz.

Fears over Nikki Alcaraz’s disappearance are heightened by eerie similarities to high-profile case Gabby Pettit case. The 22-year-old Florida woman left for a transcontinental trip in July 2021 with her fiancé Brian Landry. More than two months later, Petit’s body was found in a Wyoming national park.

Landry was found dead in October 2021 on a reserve in Florida near Noto, who confessed to killing Petito.