Kaye Saelee-Ford, one of Nikki Saelee-McCain’s sisters, holds a poster of her missing sister during a rally in front of the Shasta County Courthouse on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. The rally was held along Court Street before the start of Day 8 of Tyler McCain’s preliminary hearing. Photo by Mike Chapman for A News Cafe. © All rights reserved.
Following eight days of sometimes graphic preliminary-hearing testimony about everything from domestic violence to body decomposition, visiting Judge Thomas Bender rendered a much-anticipated decision late Tuesday afternoon regarding Tyler McCain’s next legal steps.
Tyler McCain appears in Department 41 of Shasta County Superior Court on Friday, Aug. 29, 2025, for his trial readiness conference. McCain has pleaded not guilty in the murder of his wife, Nikki Saelee McCain. Further court proceedings are set for next week. Photo by Mike Chapman for A News Cafe.
Reading from a prepared statement, Bender upheld more than a dozen charges against McCain — including the most serious allegation — that McCain murdered his wife, 39-year-old Nikki Saelee-McCain, whose body has not been found.
Judge Bender’s ruling for an arraignment followed his determination that there was enough probable cause for McCain’s case to move to the next legal step; arraignment.
If, during McCain’s arraignment, he pleads guilty, there will be no trial, and McCain will proceed to sentencing. However, if McCain continues to plead not guilty, then he will face a a jury trial.
Morning rally recognizes Nikki Saelee-McCain
Prior to the start of the preliminary hearing, a tribute was held on the Court Street sidewalk in remembrance of Saelee-McCain.
About 30 people lined the Court Street sidewalk in front of the Shasta County Courthouse on Tuesday morning, Sept. 23, 2025, with signs that read “Bring Nikki Home” and “Justice for Nikki” before the start of Tyler McCain’s preliminary hearing. Photo by Mike Chapman for A News Cafe © All rights reserved.
About 30 people, including members of Saelee-McCain’s close family and their supporters, held the rally in front of the Shasta County Courthouse before the start of McCain’s preliminary hearing.
Tuesday morning witness: Detective Kilee Holroyd
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 source: Shasta County Sheriff’s Office.
Shasta County Sheriff’s Detective Kilee Holroyd, the lead investigator in Saelee-McCain’s May 18, 2024, disappearance and presumed death, was the day’s lone witness, from 9 a.m. until almost 4:30 p.m., barring two short recesses and a lunch break.
Holroyd’s Tuesday-morning testimony touched on a range of topics, focusing on past domestic violence incidents and fighting between the couple.
Tyler McCain, left, is accused of killing his wife Nikki Saelee-McCain, who went missing on May 18, 2024.
Under questioning from Shasta County Assistant District Attorney Sarah Murphy, Holroyd described an interview she had with Chloe Saelee, one of Saelee-McCain’s younger sisters.
According to previous testimony, McCain’s mother, Jeanette Hayward, told Chloe Saelee in December 2023 that she should take her sister to the hospital.
McCain’s mother had contacted Chloe Saelee after seeing Saelee-McCain’s bruised face.
Holroyd said Chloe Saelee told her that her sister had said her injuries happened during an altercation with McCain when he hit her multiple times, and that she blacked out.
The incident on Nov. 29, 2023, led to the filing of domestic violence charges against McCain.
Chloe Saelee also told Holroyd that McCain had accused her sister of cheating on him, and that McCain slammed his wife’s head down and said he was going to kill her.
Saelee-McCain blacked out after being strangled, according to the account, but woke up around 3 to 4 a.m. and was able to leave their house.
“She was in fear for her life,” Holroyd said Chloe Saelee told the detective about her sister.
In a previous incident, Chloe Saelee said her sister told her that one time, McCain had put a gun to her head and threatened to shoot her.
All those instances that Murphy and Holroyd brought up served to show a pattern of domestic violence by McCain in his turbulent relationship with his wife.
Holroyd also discussed her analysis of Saelee-McCain’s cell phone records and how her phone wasn’t used for outgoing calls and texts after the woman was last heard from in the early morning hours of May 18, 2024.
Her body hasn’t been found despite many searches. The Shasta County District Attorney has proceeded with one of the county’s rare no-body murder cases.
In another instance, Holroyd talked about a woman who contacted law enforcement in late November 2024 when she found a burned cell phone and credit cards carrying Saelee-McCain’s name. The woman told the detective that she found the items in Happy Valley about a mile from McCain’s home on Olinda Road.
One of the charges against McCain is forgery. Holroyd said she investigated an incident from May 29, 2024, when a teller said McCain came into her bank to cash a U.S. Treasury check made out to both him and his wife.
McCain had signed the check but it was missing Saelee-McCain’s signature. The teller told Holroyd she couldn’t process the check unless it had Saelee-McCain’s signature as well.
The teller said McCain returned to the bank about an hour-and-a-half later with his wife’s purported signature.
Holroyd said a comparison of Saelee-McCain’s signature and the one on the check didn’t match up, suggesting Saelee-McCain’s signature was forged.
Holroyd discussed interviews that were conducted in February this year with several of Saelee-McCain’s four children.
(A News Cafe does not report on children’s names for their protection and privacy.)
One child said the last time she saw her mother was in early May 2024 at a birthday party held at McCain’s mother’s home.
In multiple instances during her parents’ relationship, the child told interviewers that she saw her father and mother chasing each other. The child described times when her mother would put the kids in front of her to shield her from McCain’s confrontations.
Another time the child described being with her mother in the bathroom as McCain banged on the door to get in. The girl described her father as being “possessed” as everyone was screaming and crying.
Another child remembers being 3 or 4 years old when the parents were fighting in the middle of the night, according to the testimony. Holroyd also relayed the child seeing her father punch walls in their house, leaving holes.
Afternoon testimony: Detective Holroyd continues
Tuesday afternoon Detective Holroyd resumed her place on the witness stand where she was questioned for the duration of the hearing for several hours by Assistant District Attorney Sarah Murphy. Many of Murphy’s questions pertained to cell phone data, forensic downloads, license plate reader (LPR) technology, and text messages between Saelee-McCain, her husband, alleged boyfriend, mother-in-law Jeanette Hayward, and other persons of interest, including previous witnesses Justin Karren and Michael Ripley.
Murphy placed on the overhead projector a 13-page timeline, beginning May 17, 2024, extending throughout the investigation. The detailed outline featured a series of small boxes that contained pertinent dates, times, locations, events, calls, texts, downloads, data, and license plate sightings. (Note, due to obscured visibility of the screen from the courtroom spectator seating areas, combined with the judge’s ban on taking photos, ANC was unable to capture images of those projections.)
Time lines, unanswered texts, calls, to Saelee-McCain’s phone
According to Holroyd, on May 18, 2024, at 12:37 a.m., one of the last outgoing text messages from Saelee-McCain’s phone was to her sister Chloe Saelee-Ford, followed by a message to her boyfriend, Luis Barajas, at 2:51 a.m. on May 18, 2024: “I’m going to sleep.”
At 3:08 a.m. on May 18, 2024, Saelee-McCain’s phone lost connection from the network.
From then on, there was a flurry of unanswered attempted texts, calls and voicemails to Saelee-McCain’s phone from a number of people, including her boyfriend, her sister Saelee-Ford, and McCain.
On May 19, 2024, at 3:15 p.m. Saelee-McCain’s phone registered two incoming calls from her husband.
Holroyd said that in an 8:18 a.m. text from McCain to Saelee-McCain on May 21, 2024, he wrote, ” I get a check on Thursday. How are the kids?”
At that point in Holroyd’s testimony, Murphy stopped and asked Holroyd if anyone had reported seeing Saelee-McCain since the middle of the night on May 18.
“No,” answered Holroyd.
According to Holroyd, data points showed that on May 21, 2024 — three days after Saelee-McCain disappeared — her Chevy Avalanche was seen via Win River surveillance footage entering mother-in-law Jeanette Hayward’s property.
On May 21, 2024, at 2:37 p.m. the Avalanche is seen via Win River surveillance leaving Hayward’s place.
At 6:32 p.m. on May 21, 2024, an incoming text message is sent to Saelee-McCain’s device from McCain, “I’m calling the fucking cops right now!!!!!!”
When Murphy asked Holroyd if there were any 911 calls recorded within minutes of McCain’s text regarding calling police, Holroyd said, no, there weren’t.
At 7:47 p.m. on May 21, 2024, the Chevy Avalanche returned to Hayward’s property. It leaves on May 22, 2024, at 11:24 a.m.
Meanwhile, Saelee-McCain’s phone continued to receive numerous attempted messages. According to Holroyd, none of the approximately 20 incoming calls were answered by Saelee-McCain’s device.
On May 22, 2024, at 7:11 p.m. the Clear Creek Landfill surveillance camera picked up Saelee-McCain’s Chevy Avalanche heading west on Clear Creek Road. A few minutes later the Platina Road LPR picked up the Avalanche at 7:17 p.m. heading southwest on Platina Road.
While the Avalanche headed west toward Platina, Murphy said that data showed that McCain’s phone was sitting somewhere in the vicinity of Win River Casino, not far from McCain’s mother’s residence.
According to the Igo LPR, On 4:35 a.m. on May 23, 2024, the Avalanche was driving eastbound on Platina Road, heading toward the Redding area.
“So there’s a period of time when the Avalanche goes out toward Platina, May 22, 2024, at 7:17 p.m., and then reappears heading into Redding on May 23, 2024, at 4:35 a.m.,” Murphy said.
According to Holroyd, that period of time was exactly 9 hours, 13 minutes, and represented a gap of time between 7:17 p.m. on May 22, 2024, to 4:35 a.m. on May 23, 2024, when Saelee-McCain’s Chevy Avalanche was unaccounted for.
Some time on May 23, 2024, McCain’s phone was manually shut off. At 2:22 a.m. on May 24, 2024, McCain’s phone was back on.
At 6:41 a.m. on May 24, 2024, a 911 call that lasted 18 seconds was made from McCain’s phone. Holroyd said there’s no transcript of the call, and explained that due to the high volume of 911 calls received — sometimes hundreds in a day — not all 911 calls have transcripts.
At 11:43 a.m. on May 24, 2024, McCain’s phone texted Saelee-McCain’s phone, “I love you. I’m so sorry for everything.”
Remote, rugged, expansive terrain
Murphy asked Holroyd if it was possible to drive to the coast from the McCain’s Olinda Road property within a 9-hour time period. Holroyd responded yes, in fact, a drive to the coast from that vicinity would take about 3-and-a-half hours.
Murphy asked Holroyd to describe the terrain along Highway 36 to the coast, and then asked if that area is expansive.
“Yes,” replied Holroyd.
Holroyd later expounded on the nature of that rural, western Shasta County area.
“It’s a vast area of land,” Holroyd said. “It’s very, very rural. There are cliffs and drop-offs.”
Murphy summarized the challenges faced by searchers looking for Saelee-McCain.
“If a body is out there, it’s like a needle in a haystack,” Murphy said. “It’s roads, off roads, off roads.”
Surveillance cameras
Holroyd spent a great deal of time testifying about surveillance cameras, including those that spotted McCain family vehicles at Mercy Medical Center on May 17, 2024, (where McCain’s brother had been admitted), and various times when McCain-affiliated vehicles were picked up on surveillance cameras outside Win River Casino near McCain’s mother’s home on Rancheria Road, as well as a surveillance camera on Clear Creek Road near the entrance to the Clear Creek Road landfill that recorded McCain’s Chevy Avalanche.
Holroyd explained that there are several other “license plate reader” (LPR) cameras that also recorded vehicles owned by or affiliated with McCain. LPRs include one on Airport Road, and one on Platina Road, monitored by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
For example, at the Platina Road LPR, on May 22, 2024, at 7:17 p.m., the McCain’s Chevy Avalanche was spotted traveling southbound on Platina Road, away from Redding.
Later, on May 23, 2024, at 4:35 a.m. the Platina Road LPR recorded the same Chevy Avalanche, this time driving northbound on Platina Road, heading toward Redding.
On May 23, 2024, at 5:52 a.m. the Platina Road LPR spotted a southbound Ford Explorer that was registered to Michael Ripley, related to McCain by marriage. According to Holroyd, Ripley’s Explorer was heading in the direction of “Platina proper”.
Later, Michael Ripley’ Ford Explorer was spotted on the Platina Road LPR on May 23, 2024, at 11:45 p.m., this time heading northbound on Platina Road toward Redding.
Holroyd and Murphy discussed other examples of LPR “hits” at various locations that spotted other “vehicles of interest” affiliated with McCain and his many travels with various friends and family members throughout Shasta and Tehama counties. Murphy and Holroyd also provided information about multiple “trackers” on McCain vehicles, authorized via multiple search warrants.
Of particular note was tracker activity picked up by Holroyd regarding McCain’s 1999 Chevy pickup on June 23, 2024.
Holroyd said she’d become suspicious about a break in McCain’s routine activity pattern on June 23, 2024. The tracker showed that McCain was traveling southbound on Happy Valley Road to Gas Point Road, a route he’d not taken since she’d placed the tracking device on McCain’s truck approximately one month earlier.
The tracker showed that McCain’s circuitous travels with some stops included Happy Valley Road, Gas Point Road, Lower Gas Point Road, a small cemetery, the four-corners Platina Road intersection, the Igo Store, Clear Creek Road, and Cloverdale Road. At one point during Holroyd’s surveillance of McCain, the two passed each other in their respective vehicles. McCain eventually ended back on to Platina Road. During his travels McCain stopped at some of the places for anywhere between a few minutes up to 20 minutes, before resuming his drive.
Later, after McCain returned to his mother’s home near Win River Casino, Holroyd retraced McCain’s route and searched the areas where he’d stopped. She did not locate anything to explain McCain’s inexplicable travels.
Saelee-McCain’s family maintains hope, resolve
Mey Chao-Lee, left, and Tammie Jones hold signs in support of Nikki Saelee-McCain in front of the Shasta County Courthouse on Tuesday morning, Sept. 23, 2025. Chao-Lee helped to organize a rally where about 30 supporters showed up before the start of Tyler McCain’s preliminary hearing. Photo by Mike Chapman for A News Cafe. © All rights reserved.
Tuesday was an especially long and emotional day for the Saelee-McCain family at the Shasta County Superior Courthouse where Saelee family and close friends continuously show up for every court date. They take up an entire front row, on the opposite side of the courtroom from McCain, who spends most court days with his bowed head in his hands, or his hands pressed over his ears. Tuesday, he remained silent, and never looked up.
Following the hearing, Kaye Saelee Ford, sister of Nikki Saelee-McCain, spoke about her family’s thoughts, reactions, and plans.
“We were hopeful for this outcome,” said Saelee-Ford.
“Sarah, Toby, Kilee, and the whole Shasta County Sheriff’s Office team far exceeded anything we could have expected. We are grateful for the time and work they’ve put into this case. We are ready for the next steps, and will keep fighting.”
McCain remains without bail in the Shasta County Jail.
Click here to read previous stories about Nikki Saelee-McCain reported on A News Cafe.
###
