Missing California mom’s family digs for homicide ‘cover-up or cleanup’ as police eye persons of interest

The sisters of a Northern California mother of four are seeking answers after her disappearance was recently ruled a homicide.

Nikki Cheng Saelee-McCain was a 39-year-old mother of four from Shasta County who vanished on May 17, 2024. Her disappearance has since been reclassified as a homicide by the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office. 

In an emotional interview, Kaye Ford and Chloe Saelee opened up to Fox News Digital about the heartbreaking disappearance of their older sister.

“When we initially first had a feeling that she was missing, I just knew right away in my heart something wasn’t right, and I knew something bad had happened to her,” Saelee said. 

CALIFORNIA MOM’S DISAPPEARANCE NOW A HOMICIDE CASE AS DETECTIVE EYE PERSONS OF INTEREST

Ford said that the Northern California family is extremely close, calling and texting each other on a nearly daily basis. After their sister failed to participate in the family’s active group chats, they knew something was awry.

“We, as a family, knew it wasn’t her running off or her just not communicating with the family,” Ford said. “We definitely knew that something probably really bad had happened to her. And we definitely knew that time was in the essence as far as evidence and clues as to what may have happened to her.”

Saelee-McCain’s last contact with her family was on May 18, 2024, when she sent a text message to her family around 12:35 a.m. After the message, she was not heard from again. Her vehicle, a 2002 Chevrolet Avalanche, was found abandoned on May 25, 2024, in western Tehama County. ​

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On March 25, 2025, the family’s worst nightmare became a reality when the sheriff’s office announced that they had identified “persons of interest” in Saelee-McCain’s homicide investigation.

“I’m hopeful that the people who have information will step up,” Ford said. “They may or may not be involved in the actual homicide. They may be involved in a cover-up or the cleanup, whatever else it might be.”

MISSING WISCONSIN TEEN FOUND MORE THAN 2 MONTHS AFTER DISAPPEARANCE

The sisters said that they want any involved parties to come forward so they “have a clean conscience.”

“We’re working really hard to apply the pressure,” Ford said. “Law enforcement has been very diligently working on the case. We don’t see most of their work since a lot of their work is behind the scenes.”

Husband breaks silence

Nearly 10 months after his wife disappeared, Tyler McCain spoke publicly during a press conference on March 10, 2025. 

At the event, which was organized by the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office, McCain expressed remorse for prior domestic abuse allegations and his lack of public involvement in the search for his missing wife.

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“I apologize to everyone, especially my children, my wife’s family, mine as well,” he said. “I’m just here in support, so anything that I can do, I want to do that.”

McCain was charged in December 2023 with multiple felony counts, including corporal injury to a spouse, false imprisonment, criminal threats and assault. The case was dropped in July last year due to Saelee-McCain’s disappearance and the fact that she could not testify against her husband, according to KRCR.

Authorities have not accused McCain of any wrongdoing in his wife’s disappearance.

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Authorities are seeking information about a red truck whose driver may have picked up a man in the area of Highway 36 in western Tehama County near the R Wild Horse Ranch or the Beegum Gorge Bridge between May 18 and May 25, 2024. 

A combined reward of up to $30,000 is offered for information leading to Saelee-McCain’s location.

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Fox News Digital has reached out to McCain’s attorney, the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office and Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-CA-01) for comment.