Crime and Courts

Tennessee Woman Missing After Starting Cross-Country Trip With Boyfriend, Authorities Say

Nikki Michelle Alcaraz was captured on footage selling her phone at an EcoATM at a Walmart store in Redding, California

Authorities are searching for a Tennessee woman who has been missing for weeks after allegedly setting off on a cross-country trip with her boyfriend, who was accused of punching her earlier this month, in a case that chillingly echoes the 2021 disappearance of Gabby Petito.

Nikki Michelle Alcaraz, 33, also known as Nikki Cunningham, was last seen on surveillance footage Saturday while she sold a phone at a cash machine in California, where she allegedly traveled with her boyfriend, Steven Tyler Stratton, according to information provided by the Cheatham County Sheriff's Office and District Attorney General Ray Crouch of Cheatham County, Tennessee.

Alcaraz was captured on footage selling her phone at an EcoATM at a Walmart store in Redding, California, according to images provided by Crouch. She appears to be dressed in a red shirt while a man in a black hat and shirt stands nearby.

That came a little more than three weeks after a witness told investigators with the Torrance County Sheriff's Office in New Mexico of seeing Stratton punch Alcaraz in the face, according to the incident report obtained by NBC News.

For more on this story, go to NBC News.

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