SCSO Detective Kilee Holroyd leads Tyler McCain away in handcuffs following his arrest. Holroyd was named lead detective in the Nikki Saelee-McCain missing person’s case on May 24, 2024. Photo courtesy of Kaye Saelee Ford’s Facebook page. Photo source: Shasta County Sheriff’s Office.
UPDATE, 2:46 p.m. Friday, Aug. 22, 2025:
Press release from the Shasta County District Attorney’s Office:
“TYLER MCCAIN ARRAIGNED FOR THE MURDER OF NIKKI SAELEE MCCAIN
Friday afternoon, Tyler Scott McCain pled not guilty to murdering his wife Nikki Saelee McCain. Tyler McCain is charged with one count of Murder and a special circumstance that the murder was committed with the intent to prevent testimony, Corporal Injury to a Spouse, False Imprisonment, Criminal Threats, Assault with Force Likely to Cause Great Bodily Injury, Possession of a Firearm and Ammunition After a Criminal Protective Order, Forgery, and various traffic violations.
At arraignment, Tyler McCain pled not guilty to the charges filed against him. A Long Cause Preliminary Hearing was scheduled with no time waiver for September 3, 2025, at 9:00 am. The Preliminary Hearing is currently estimated to take approximately three to five days. Additionally, a Plea Disposition Conference was scheduled for September 2, 2025, at 8:30 am and the Preliminary Hearing will be assigned a courtroom on August 29, 2025, at 8:15 am. All appearances will be held in Department 41, before the Honorable Judge Adam Ryan. Tyler McCain continues to be held without bail, meaning that he is unable to post bail and will remain in custody.”
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For many North State residents, a small sense of collective relief was mixed with a large sense of sadness following yesterday’s press conference regarding the unresolved Nikki Saelee-McCain missing person’s case.
Shasta County law enforcement officials announced yesterday that Tyler McCain was arrested for murder charges connected to the May 17, 2024, disappearance of his wife, Nikki Saelee-McCain, mother of the couple’s four children.
On Wednesday around 10 a.m., McCain was served a detailed search warrant and arrested at his Redding-area community service job.
McCain was booked into the Shasta County Jail Thursday with enhanced nonbailable murder charges. He is also being charged with a long list of additional criminal charges, such as false imprisonment, forgery, reckless driving, DUI, driving with a suspended license and tossing litter on a highway.
Following McCain’s Wednesday arrest, law enforcement officials from multiple agencies searched in and around McCain’s home throughout the day. Law enforcement officials were seen bringing into the home what appeared to be a concrete saw and other heavy tools used to cut into concrete flooring and potentially cut apart walls in the home to find clues regarding Saelee-McCain’s disappearance.
Law enforcement activity at McCain home August 20, 2025. (Source: Facebook.)
Law enforcement activity at McCain home August 20, 2025. (Source: Facebook)
Law enforcement activity at McCain home August 20, 2025. (Source: Facebook.)
Law enforcement activity at McCain home August 20, 2025. (Source: Facebook.)
According to a confidential informant, officials were also seen throughout the day seizing and removing various items from the home.
At 1 p.m. Wednesday, as law enforcement officials raided McCain’s home, a press conference at the Shasta County District Attorney’s Office announced McCain’s arrest.
Shasta County Sheriff Michael Johnson, Shasta County District Attorney Stephanie Bridgett, and two of Nikki’s sisters, Chloe Saelee and Kaye Ford, all spoke at the roughly 18-minute long press conference.
Sheriff pushes back against public criticism
Among other things, Sheriff Johnson, who spoke first at the press conference, pushed back against harsh criticisms some have directed at the SCSO based on some assertions that the agency has not done enough to find Saelee-McCain since she went missing 15 months ago on May 17, 2023, as well as the belief that McCain should have been arrested sooner for his wife’s disappearance.
Sheriff Michael Johnson speaks at Wednesday’s press conference, joined by Shasta County District Attorney Stephanie Bridgett and other law enforcement officials.
“Despite the scrutiny, criticisms, and the incorrect conclusions that people opine on social media, these detectives and the law enforcement agencies involved continue to work tirelessly on the case,” Johnson said.
“I can tell you that probably every day, with exception of maybe a few, somebody from some agency involved in this investigation was working on the Nikki McCain case.”
“We have used search and rescue, we have used volunteers, friends, family – advocates within the community have all contributed and looked in drainage ditches, properties, rural areas, waterways, trying to locate Nikki for the family and trying to give us the next piece for this case.”
Sheriff says Redding Rancheria Tribe leaders have cooperated
Sheriff Johnson also said during the press conference that rumors and speculations that the Redding Rancheria has not cooperated with the SCSO and other law enforcement agencies in the search for Saelee-McCain are false.
Tyler McCain and several of his family members are enrolled members of the Redding Rancheria Tribe.
Attacks on Redding Rancheria Tribe
Without evidence, scores of people have accused the Redding Rancheria Tribe of essentially trying to block law enforcement attempts in their search for Saelee-McCain since she first went missing. Furthermore, many have gone to social media to call for a boycott of Redding Rancheria’s Win-River Casino, verbally attack and threaten the Redding Rancheria Tribe, and request that the tribe disenroll McCain.
Posted anonymously on Justice for Nikki Facebook group page.
“It’s time to drop some Indians for fun,” said one Redding-area resident on social media following Saelee-McCain’s disappearance.
Others on social media have expressed racist stereotypes with such comments as, “The tribe gets away with so much,” and “It’s no secret that most of them are alcoholics and drug addicts.”
Some have also called for the “good ol’ boys” to round up McCain’s family members – many of whom have had close relationships with convicted criminals, or have criminal records of their own – to teach the McCains “a lesson”.
Shasta County DA makes bold claims
Following Shasta County Sheriff Johnson’s statements at Wednesday’s press conference, Shasta County District Attorney Bridgett stepped to the microphone to speak.
DA Stephanie Bridgett speaks at Wednesday press conference.
District Attorney Bridgett emphasized that going forward, neither the DA’s office nor the SCSO will release any information regarding the case, aside from court hearing updates related to McCain’s charges.
District Attorney Bridgett, like Sheriff Johnson, thanked the multiple agencies that have helped with the case, including the SCSO, the Redding Police Department, U.S. Homeland Security, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Cal FIRE Law Enforcement.
First no-body murder case in Shasta County history
Saelee-McCain’s body has yet to be located. However, state law does not require a body to charge someone with murder. According to Bridgett, the murder charges against McCain is the first “no-body” homicide case in Shasta County history.
Because of this relatively unusual legal distinction, the Shasta County District Attorney’s Office faces some unique challenges that might include establishing the fact of death, reconstructing the crime scene, and identifying and collecting different kinds of evidence.
District Attorney Bridgett did not mince words.
“Despite not finding her body, we have been provided with overwhelming evidence to prove that not only is Nikki dead, but that Tyler McCain is responsible for her murder,” Bridgett said.
Murder charge with enhancements to prevent testimony
Tyler McCain has been charged with one count of murder, and a special circumstance that the murder was committed with the intent to prevent testimony in a domestic violence case pending against McCain at the time of Saelee-McCain’s disappearance. Saelee-McCain filed domestic violence charges against McCain in early 2024 regarding a late 2023 incident.
The intent to prevent testimony enhancement charge against McCain elevates the murder charge from a sentence of 25-years-to-life, to a sentence of life without parole. It also makes McCain ineligible to be released on bail.
McCain is also being charged with multiple felony domestic violence charges stemming from the 2023 incident where he allegedly attacked and severely assaulted and terrorized Nikki, and numerous other criminal offenses.
In early 2024, after Nikki went missing, the Shasta County District’s Attorney’s Office dismissed the charges without prejudice – meaning they could be refiled in the future.
DA Bridgett also addressed at the press conference the anger some have directed at the DA’s office for dismissing the domestic violence charges against McCain.
“Proving that McCain caused Nikki’s disappearance back in July of 2024 would have compromised the homicide investigation and our ultimate ability to file the charge of murder, and the enhancements of committing that murder with the intent to prevent her testimony.”
Domestic violence charge recap
As previously reported by A News Café, Shasta County Sheriff’s Deputy Gerry Maul responded to Mercy Medical Center on Dec. 1, 2023, after receiving a report that Saelee-McCain visited the hospital to seek medical help after she was reportedly severely assaulted by Tyler at their Happy Valley home a few days earlier, on Nov. 29, 2023.
Deputy Maul’s incident report noted that the area around both of Saelee-McCain’s eyes was blackened severely and swollen, and that it appeared as if she had been hit in the face multiple times.
Saelee-McCain told Deputy Maul that her husband attacked her when she arrived home on the evening of Nov. 29, 2023. According to Saelee-McCain, her husband pinned her to the ground and dragged her around while repeatedly hitting her in the face and yelling at her.
Saelee-McCain claimed her husband had a glazed and scary look in his eyes. She told Deputy Maul that she believed her husband periodically used methamphetamine. She also reported that her husband pulled out pieces of her hair and poured cold water on her while pinning her down on the ground.
According to the SCSO incident report, McCain allegedly beat up his wife for approximately three hours in their home on the evening of Nov. 29, 2023. Saelee-McCain said McCain bound her ankles, and placed a piece of tape over her mouth. Saelee also said McCain turned her on her stomach and sat on top of her.
According to Deputy Maul, Saelee-McCain “said she thought she was going to die, that Tyler might actually intend to kill her.”
According to two of Nikki’s sisters, Chloe Saelee and Kaye Ford, the SCSO, and multiple sources who spoke with A News Café, many believed Nikki had been the victim of McCain’s bouts of domestic violence dating back to roughly 2020.
New details released about Saelee-McCain’s disappearance
Up until Wednesday’s press conference, the only information that had been released to the public regarding Saelee-McCain’s last use of her phone was that she was last heard from on Sat., May 18 when she texted her younger sister Chloe Saelee, at about 12:35 a.m.
As previously reported by A News Café, Saelee-McCain’s brief text said she was driving the truck that belonged to her mother-in-law Jeannette Hayward. Earlier, Saelee-McCain had accompanied her mother-in-law to the hospital to visit Hayward’s other son — Saelee-McCain’s brother-in-law – Brian McCain, who was in the hospital because of a medical emergency.
In their August 20 press release, however, the Shasta County District Attorney’s Office said Saelee-McCain’s phone last connected to the network at her home on Olinda Road just after 3 a.m. on Saturday, May 18, 2024.
“Based on witness statements and forensic data, Tyler McCain and Nikki were at the home together in the early morning hours on Saturday, May 18, 2024,” said the Shasta County District Attorney’s Office media release.
Saelee-McCain was last heard from at 12:35 a.m., however, nearly three hours later, her phone was connected to the network at her home and she and McCain were both at their home when Saelee-McCain went missing.
New information about Nikki’s vehicle: ‘overwhelming odor of decomposition’
The Shasta County District Attorney’s Office media release also shared new information about Saelee-McCain’s Chevrolet Avalanche that was found in western Tehama County parked along Highway 36 seven days after she went missing on May 25, 2024.
“An overwhelming odor of decomposition was emitting from the truck-bed, which had an enclosed Tonneau-style covering,” said the media release.
The media release also shared the following new-to-the-public information:
“A white sheet with apparent blood and various staining was located in the truck bed. Multiple items including the sheet and apparent blood were submitted to the California Department of Justice – Bureau of Forensic Services, where testing confirmed the blood belonged to Nikki. Further forensic analysis of items recovered from the vehicle’s interior and truck bed provided overwhelming support that Tyler McCain was the primary source of DNA on items unrelated to blood or bodily fluids.”
New confidential informant
The Shasta County District Attorney’s Office media release also shared new information about a confidential informant who provided a statement to detectives that Tyler McCain admitted to the informant to killing Nikki on May 18, 2024.
No additional information was released about the confidential informant.
Saelee-McCain’s driver’s license located
In addition to the new information shared about Saelee-McCain’s cell phone connection and truck, and the confidential informant, the DA’s office media release said McCain was found to be in possession of Saelee-McCain’s driver’s license during an April 1, 2025 traffic stop conducted on McCain.
“During the traffic stop, detectives located Tyler McCain’s wallet in his back right pocket. Upon further inspection, detectives located Nikki’s California Driver’s License which had partial burn damage to it,” said the media release.
McCain had a history of connections to fires when law enforcement officials located Saelee-McCain’s burned driver’s license in McCain’s possession.
As previously reported by A News Café, on July 3 a fire ripped through a portion of McCain and Saelee-McCain’s 3.5-acre Olinda Road residence.
The fire led to nearby evacuations and destroyed several vehicles allegedly belonging to McCain, who claimed the fire was sparked by a hot catalytic converter that came into contact with dry grass. McCain was cited for starting the 98-acre fire, but was not arrested.
On July 2, the day before McCain caused the Olinda Fire, the Yolla Fire burned 19 acres beside a remote residential property in western Shasta County owned by Tyler McCain’s cousin, Tara Webb, and her husband Joshua Webb. The Webbs reside in a home located on that parcel of land.
Tyler McCain had a suspended driver’s license and multiple convictions for driving on a suspended license when he was pulled over by law enforcement officials in April of 2025. A News Café previously reported at length about McCain’s troubling criminal history, which includes numerous Shasta County driving-related offenses.
Saelee-McCain’s sisters express gratitude
Following Bridgett’s short statement at the press conference, Chloe Saelee and Kaye Ford stepped to the microphone to make a statement on behalf of their family.
“We want to express our deepest gratitude to the Shasta County Sheriff’s Department, all law enforcement investigators, and the District Attorney’s Office for their tireless work in bringing justice for my sister,” Chloe Saelee said.
Saelee-McCain’s sisters at press conference with their partners.
“To the community, thank you for standing by us – your prayers, support, and strength have reminded us that we are not alone in our journey.”
After the press conference, Chloe Saelee and Kaye Ford shared short statements with A News Café regarding the news that McCain had been arrested for murdering their sister, among other charges.
“It’s a huge step,” Ford said. “We are hopeful for closure.”
“The unwavering support from the Nikki community has kept her story alive, and we are hoping they continue to be by our side as we fight the next battle.”
Chloe Saelee told A News Café she is overwhelmed with many emotions.
“Me and those who loved Nikki can slowly start the healing process,” Chloe Saelee said. “I know that the fight isn’t over, but we have a good support system who will be fighting the next chapter with us.”
15 months of Nikki Saelee McCain news
If you live in the North State, it’s hard to have not heard about the disappearance of Nikki Saelee-McCain in the last 15 months.
Since Saelee-McCain first vanished, posters about her disappearance have been plastered throughout the greater Shasta County area. A billboard along Interstate 5 in Anderson still shares Saelee-McCain’s photograph, and information about her disappearance with tens of thousands of drivers and passengers who daily travel down that stretch of highway.
On May 4, 2025, a community candlelight vigil was held in Saelee-McCain’s name, as well as for other missing persons, and missing and murdered indigenous women in the North State.
“Justice for Nikki” bumper stickers cover the bumpers of vehicles throughout the North State.
Facebook group pages, such as Justice for Nikki, have helped keep Saelee-McCain’s story alive. Volunteers — friends, family and many of who’ve never met Saelee-McCain — have spent endless hours searching for her in remote creeks, foothill ravines, mountainous areas, and the towns and winding waterways that dot Shasta County’s Upper Sacramento Valley flatlands.
Consequently, a community has formed around Saelee-McCain’s disappearance. New friendships have been forged. People across Shasta County’s political divide have shown they can put politics aside and find common cause in their search for Saelee-McCain.
Like District Attorney Bridgett, scores of people watching the case from near and far are united in their unwavering belief that Tyler McCain is guilty of murdering Saelee-McCain. They want justice in Shasta County’s first ever “no-body” murder case.
Tyler McCain’s murder trial will likely take months, if not years, to reach its final conclusion.
Saelee-McCain’s family, friends, and supporters have demonstrated that they are there for the long haul. Now, they’re taking a deep breath of relief after McCain’s arrest. They know the road leading to McCain’s conviction is long. They’re prepared to take a stand during the next chapter in the long-awaited justice for Nikki Saelee-McCain.
Meanwhile, despite McCain’s arrest for the murder of his wife, the $30,000 reward offered by the SCSO, the Redding Rancheria, and Kingsman Philanthropic still stands. The reward is offered to the person who can provide information about what happened to Saelee-McCain, including facts regarding the location of her body. If you have any information please contact the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office at (530) 245-6135.
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