Nikki Alcaraz found: Missing Tennessee woman found safe with boyfriend Steven Tyler Stratton in California. Police release new bodycam video showing the extent of the couple’s dysfunctional relationship as the man is arrested on unrelated charges.
A Tennessee couple who vanished almost one month ago as they traveled west across the country amid fears that a mother of two had may have met foul play at the hands of her boyfriend was found safe in California.
Nikki Alcaraz and Steven Tyler Stratton, both 33, were located on Tuesday on the 100 block of 4th Street in Eureka, not far from the Oregon border.
The missing woman’s family had feared the worse after New Mexico police previously released images of the woman with bruising along her body and face after the couple becoming embroiled in a physical altercation at a roadside destination on May 4.
Missing woman insisted she was fine and didn’t need help
Newly released body-cam video on Tuesday showed the extent of the woman’s injuries, as both boyfriend and girlfriend display visible signs of physical trauma.
Alcaraz was seen over the weekend about 150 miles away at a Redding Walmart. Surveillance cameras saw her at an ecoATM as she sold her cellphone for $75, the dailymail reported.
Alcaraz’s boyfriend, Stratton, was also with her at the time, as the pair had been traveling in Alcaraz’s black Jeep.
Alcaraz insisted she was fine and did not require any help, while a check by police on Stratton found the man had an outstanding warrant for his arrest by law enforcement in Tennessee.
Bodycam video shows dysfunctional relationship
Stratton was taken into custody without incident following his failure to appear in court back in Tennessee on a theft-related charge.
Alcaraz was officially no longer considered to be a missing person.
The couple had set out on the open road almost one month ago to embark on a cross-country road trip, when things suddenly appeared to take a turn on May 4 in Torrance County, New Mexico.
A truck driver placed a 911 call upon witnessing Stratton punch Alcaraz in the face, according to a Torrance County Sheriff’s Office report.
Stratton told a deputy he had also been hit. Newly released bodycam video shows him with blood coming from his mouth and nose. Alcaraz is seen with a black eye telling the deputy she wants to press charges.
When asked if she wants to press charges, Alcaraz nods and answered: ‘Yeah’ before revealing that she would like to see his ‘a** in jail’ while holding back tears.
During questioning, the couple admitted to cops that they were drunk after drinking shots of Fireball whisky before the fight. The couple deny being on any substances when asked.
‘He punched me in the eye,‘ Alcaraz tells the deputy, video shows.
‘How is he related to you,’ the responding officer was heard asking Alcaraz, who responds ‘We’ve been together 16 years… we’re boyfriend/girlfriend.’
‘But I’m done, I want his a** to go to jail, I’m over it,’ Alcaraz repeats.
Torrence County Sheriff’s officials released an incident report stating that Alcaraz could be heard screaming in the background of a 911 call to police during the May 4 incident.
During the 911 call, Alcaraz, could be heard screaming in the background. The police report stated the man, Stratton, was ‘standing over her’ before he ‘punched her in the face.’
Tennessee woman refuses to leave toxic boyfriend
The responding officer said he saw the 2013 Jeep in a small rest area and he noticed red marks on Alcaraz’s face and fingerprint marks on both of her arms.
He also observed Stratton had ‘blood coming from his mouth and nose area.’
Blood spatter on the passenger side door of the Jeep and blood on the ‘running board’ was observed by the deputy. Both disputed they’d been driving the vehicle. Neither pressed charges.
Both were then given rides by responding police, with Nikki dropped off in Moriarty, where she called her sister Toni, and a friend met her to stay the night in a motel.
But the following day, Alcaraz insisted she needed to find Stratton and drop him off at a homeless shelter.
The missing woman’s jeep was located by a license plate reader near Flagstaff, Arizona, on May 8, with Alcaraz messaging her sister to say she was planning to complete her trip. It was the last the family heard from Alcaraz.
The woman never returned her concerned family’s calls, leading to them fearing Alcaraz had come in harm’s way.
The couple was finally located on Tuesday in a Walmart parking lot in Redding, California.
