Crime Junkie - UPDATE: Niqui McCown

Episode Date: March 1, 2018

In this bonus episode we get the opportunity to talk with Niqui McCown’s daughter, Payton, and get all our left over questions from episode one answered!    For current Fan Club membership options and policies, please visit https://crimejunkieapp.com/library/. Source materials for this episode cannot be listed here due to character limitations. For a full list of sources, please visit https://crimejunkiepodcast.com/update-niqui-mccown/ 

Hi Crime Junkies, this episode is a bonus and being released outside of our normal schedule because I had a really unique opportunity that I felt was really important to get out the info ASAP rather than wait until a Monday. I had the opportunity to meet with Peyton, the daughter of Nikki McCown, who went missing from Richmond, Indiana back in 2001. Yeah, we actually did our very first episode ever on Nikki's case back in December. Right, and I would recommend for anyone who hasn't heard that, or if you can't remember the details of Nikki's case and you need a refresher, go back and listen to episode

one again before you jump into this one. This interview won't be a rehashing of the case or any of the details, rather it's Nikki's daughter giving us her own take on some of the suspects, talking about her life and how it's been since her mom went missing, and where the search for Nikki stands now. So with that warning, if you need to go back and listen to episode one, do that now, we'll be here waiting for you when you're done. And if you do remember the case, then let's jump right in and get to the bonus episode. Okay, Ash, I am really excited for this episode.

We haven't done anything like this before, and it's amazing to be able to get Peyton's take on her mom's case. Yeah, Peyton was only nine when her mom went missing, but she's recently taken over a lot of the media stuff on her family's behalf, and it was incredible to be able to just sit down with her and ask someone all the questions that we had at the end of our first episode. Thank God, I know I hate this, and some of our listeners hate it too, when there's no resolution and we just have to speculate. Ugh, same, same.

So in the episode, there were a couple things that you had only read in one source and couldn't confirm anywhere else. Did you happen to ask her about any of those things? I did, yeah. It was the stuff we talked about at the very end of the episode, and specifically, I got to ask her about that article that said that she had a relationship with Tommy, and Peyton was able to confirm for me that her aunt was definitely misquoted. Okay, so I don't remember him much, but I do know for a fact, like, my mom, it was just

strictly like friend spaces. So I know it's like really weird, because you're like, so well, then why would anybody want for, to be with somebody or want to do something to someone or be, you know, if it was just strictly friends, but you know, people are- No, people want that all the time. That's not weird to me. So I can say that I know for a fact that my mother and Tommy Swett didn't have any type of lover relationship, I mean, I was nine, but I mean, sexual relationship, nothing.

My aunts and everyone else, since they're a little older and they know more about it, they could probably vouch for that a little better than I can, because I was like, she's nine, how the hell is she gonna remember any of that? But I mean, I was always with my mom, unless like, you know, it was she wanted her mommy's day out or something, but it was mostly just her going shopping or if she was going out, she was with Bobby or, you know, someone else, it was never like, oh, I'm going to go be with him because she just kind of looked at him like a big brother and it was more like, oh no, we're just friends and that was that.

So she really didn't have any relationship with Tommy and there wasn't any possibility of the supposed love triangle. Right. What Peyton and I talked a lot about is how it really sucks when a person's misreported and those false statements keep getting retold as truth and it muddies the waters around all of the facts in an investigation. Something else she mentioned that got misreported is that it wasn't Bobby who drove to Dayton right after she went missing to look for her, it was actually Nikki's family.

Oh, wow. That kind of makes him look more suspicious in my mind. Well, yeah, when I talked to Peyton about Bobby, her and her family are kind of split on what they think about him. Her family doesn't have a relationship with him and they still think he might hold the answers. You're really close with Bobby, but your family is kind of like prickly about him. Do they not like him just because they don't like how he acted like they felt it was disrespectful

or do they still, like in the back of their minds, feel like they don't have answers from him? I think some of them still feel like he might know something. Really? So I think that's a lot to do with it and then I think most of it is how he acted when things happened. You know, they still really haven't told me much about what happened, like why they're doing that.

I don't know if they still feel like they have to protect me from it or they just don't want to. They feel like they might ruin the relationship that I have with him. So they're like, you know what, she loves him, we'll just go on and let her do what she wants with him and then we'll just kind of keep an eye on her from the back. Interesting. I just kind of think, you know, really it's just how he went about to weigh a thing, you know, because like I said, when, you know, I watched Disappeared it was really fishy.

Like, you know, there were things on there that I had no idea. So I was like, hello, that happened, like no one wanted to tell me. So you actually learned things when you watched that? Yeah. I did. I don't really care for the Unsolved Mysteries one, but Disappeared. I didn't know there was an Unsolved Mysteries one. Yeah.

That's why, because I don't, I don't really care for it. When I asked Peyton if she agreed with her family's suspicions, here's what she had to say. I can't, I will not say that Bobby knows something because I don't know if he does. And you know, like I tell people all the time, if he can look at me in my face and now look my daughter in the face and still know something and not want to say something, that's a sick individual to me. So do I think he knows something?

No, not really, because I feel like eventually a person would go absolutely psycho if they knew something and was still interacting with their child. So no, I mean, yes, things that he did was really suspicious and it had me thinking, okay, well, why did you do that? But people do things in the heat of the moment and you just kind of got to let, let it go. And my family obviously has a hard time letting things go. And whereas me, I'm like, you know what? We can talk it out.

Let's talk about it. Why did you do it this way? And my family and even me sometimes, we tend to let our emotions get ahead of us besides thinking logically. So even though I let my emotions get the best of me, I'm still out of all of us, the most logical thinker when it comes to things like they're ready to jump the gun. And I'm like, whoa, let's stop and think about this for a second. And they're just like, oh, okay, yeah, I guess that makes sense.

And my team is like, I can't stand it. You know what? I know you can't, but I love you. So it's okay. And Bobby have actually kept a really cordial relationship and she says they try to stay in touch now. Like with Bobby, a lot of people, you know, like you still talk to him and yeah, I do. And it's wild to some people, I guess, because a lot of my family don't talk to him.

And so they're like, well, your aunts and uncles don't talk to him. So why do you talk to him? Why don't they talk to him? I think a lot of them are bitter with him. I think they, a lot of my aunts and my uncles really haven't left July 22nd, 2001. And while everybody else's lives have moved on, they're still there. So they feel like, you know, a lot of things that Bobby did, they didn't like and I can't speak on it because I was nine when a lot of these things happened.

I don't know what happened. I don't know what Bobby's intentions were. He's told me and you know what? I can't say like, no, you're a liar and she's like, okay, well, you know, I think he now sees how it was a little fishy in the beginning, like, okay, I get it. But you know, mom, whether she was here or not would, if Bobby and her didn't work out, she wouldn't want him to be miserable and being happy. And that's what I explained to my aunts and my uncles, like, you know, Bobby has a life

too, and he has to live it. And I talked to him recently and told him, you know what, I want you to go be happy. And I don't want you to feel like if you move on and you find somebody else that it's going to hurt my feelings because it's not everybody else has moved on. So why can't you and he just kind of looked at me like I was crazy, but I was serious. And I mean it from the bottom of my heart. He deserves to be happy just like the rest of us do, like, yes, he loved mom, but mom loved him.

That's who my mother loved. And so I'm never, obviously she's seen something in him and wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. So who am I to be like, you know what, you did this, so you suck. Like, no, I'm still going to let you be in my life. And you know, if one day you want to sit down and talk with me and explain you and my mother's relationship or anything, I'm all for it and you're innocent until proven guilty. Okay, so I have to be honest, Ashley, I don't know if I could do that.

Bravo to Peyton. I know. Seriously. I know. I know. The innocent until proven guilty thing is something I've always believed in, but I have to say, I think it's a lot easier to say that when you aren't missing a family member. If my mom were gone and I thought someone had answers, I don't think I could keep my

composure like Peyton has totally. And that's the one thing I have to tell you about my time with her. I was just so impressed by her grace and her ability to think the best of people. And she refuses to point the finger at anyone and call them guilty until she has proof. Just like Tommy's went like, yeah, he did some things that were suspect, but I can't sit here and tell you, like, yeah, he hurt my mom. Like it's suspect, of course, like you'll always wonder, but we'll never get that answer because he's gone now.

So, you know, okay, he was, he was found his handprint and DNA was found on someone else's, but there was nothing found in my mom's car. That car was quite clean. So we can't say that he did it, but we can't say that he didn't either. It's just kind of like, we'll never know. And I was always, and I still am that person. I was like, you know what guys, we don't know. So we can't really say in my aunts, hate it, they're like, we hate, we hate that you think

like that. And I'm like, something. I don't know how you do it. You've got to think like that. And it's hard, you know, it's easier to forgive than forget. So you know, I can forgive if Tommy's went did something to him, to my mom, I can forgive him for that eventually if we find out that that happened. But I'm never going to forget that you're the person that did it.

Either way, it goes, we're not going to have the justice we want. So Peyton doesn't even hate Tommy Swint. No, she said that even if she finds out that, yes, for sure he did it, she might hate him, but there's no point in hating him now because there's no proof. And she even said that her heart went out to Tommy's daughter because when he killed himself, she lost a parent too. And Peyton said it's a pain that she wouldn't wish on anyone, even her worst enemy. OMG.

Peyton might be an actual angel for real. I even told her I get where her family is coming from. Like I don't think that I could. I think like I get why they would want to be like, okay, yeah, he did it and I want to be mad at him. And I want it just because even if you don't know where she is, like at least it feels like an answer. It feels good to be able to blame somebody and I get it.

I do. But I don't know. I guess I just, I don't want to be that person to place blame on somebody and then find out they had absolutely nothing to do with it. And then you're like, I hated that person for no reason. So I'm just kind of like, you know what? I'll hate you when I find out if you did something to my mom. Wow.

I know. She is so strong and level-headed. Like she's my hero. So since she didn't blame him without evidence, I wanted to find out what she was feeling when she heard that Tommy Swin had killed himself. And I remember that day vividly, you know, like, you know, we got, I got home from school and they were like, you know, we've got some news and I'm like, okay, what's going on? Like I'm thinking, you know, the worst, like, you know, I found mom, but she's dead or something

like that. Like, you know, um, Tommy was a suspect in another case and they, you know, found his DNA and things and they went to go get him and he killed himself. And I was just kind of like, I was still young, but I was old enough to kind of process this. I was just like, you're just kind of like, what the hell? Like what do I do? Like what do we do now? Like that was the only thing that we had to go off of.

And now we're just here and it's like, it's been eight years later and we're just kind of like, hi, we're still here. Yeah. Ugh, that has to be so frustrating if she won't blame someone until she has proof when the guy who most likely has the proof is dead. Yeah. And that's basically what she said. I asked her if she ever had the fear that Tommy did it, but never told anyone and took

the answers with him. I mean, people pillow talk all the time, right? You know, you're laying down or you're doing something and you're talking to somebody in confidence. You feel like you're talking them in confidence. And sometimes let little things slip and, you know, there might be somebody out there that knows something and if that person does, just like the person that I honestly tipped off for the other case, like you can do that and we don't have to know who you are.

So if Tommy did something to Nikki, it's most likely a girlfriend or an ex-girlfriend or someone close to him that would know about it, right? Yeah. There actually is someone that police think might have helpful information. Um, I know that they are, they've questioned or they want to question a woman that was close with both my mom and Tommy, so her name is and they kind of want to question her, but I couldn't tell you where she is. I asked Peyton if this was the same woman mentioned in that 2017 article.

If you remember an episode one, the article said that Nikki actually called a friend that day and the friend stated that Nikki told her she was going to stop off at a drug store. Yeah. I mean, they say she's still around. I mean, she's, I wouldn't say she's hiding, but I mean, she's flowing into the radar for the last 16 years, so I don't know where she's at. If you put her in front of me, I couldn't pick her out to you, so. So I, you know, I don't know her, the chimney of her and Tommy's relationship and to be

honest with you, I don't care, but I just feel like if Tommy ever said something to her, she knows something. It'd be nice to know what she knows. Were her and this lady close friends? Was it normal for her to be calling or was just a random person? Peyton says she thinks that they were friends, so it isn't weird. They actually work together. I also asked Peyton where she would have called from and she said it was probably a pay phone,

but she doesn't know where that pay phone was. If it was in Richmond, Indiana, Dayton, Ohio. So she has no idea where that call was made from. And not knowing where she made her last call and not knowing where her mom was actually abducted is one of the hardest things for her because she feels like she doesn't even know where to start. I always tell people like, you know, my mom, we can't say that she was abducted here in Richmond, but we really can't say that she, anything happened to her in Dayton.

But we kind of figured it happened between Richmond and Dayton because her truck was found in Dayton. So it's hard to say exactly what happened and that's kind of where this case turns cold. Like, you know, just like, okay, her truck was found, but it was clean. Totally wiped down inside and out, right? Yeah. The laundry was still in the back.

Floated up. Yeah. Yeah. That's something that stuck with me about this case. And a lot of our listeners have mentioned it too, there's no crime scene. I know. I've always just assumed something happened at the laundry mat because we know she was there.

But Peyton's right. We don't actually know where she even encountered the person who took her. We just know somewhere between the laundry mat and her old apartment in Dayton where her car was found, something happened. I was thinking about the apartment that her car was found. There's no way it was a coincidence that her car was there and she used to live there, right? Yeah.

I actually asked Peyton about that. First, I wanted to confirm that she and her mom did in fact live there at some point. I can't remember where I saw it, but like one place said that your mom used to live in that apartment complex. Is that true? Yeah. We lived in there. I remember, we used to, funny story again, me and my cousin, somebody had some oysters

and me and my cousin took the oysters and threw them at people's doors and got in trouble for it. But, you know, yeah. We used to live there and my dad actually lived there as well at the time that my mom disappeared. So. Your real dad lived at the apartment, so is he the one that found, like, saw the car? No.

I don't know who found the car, but it was parked on the opposite side of where my dad lived, but my dad lived in that apartment complex as well. And it was kind of like, are they trying to set my dad up, trying to make it look like he knew something? Yeah, that's weird. And yeah, so it was weird. But my dad, you know, obviously complied with everything. Yeah.

He passed with flying colors and, you know, they're like, oh, no, Peyton didn't do anything. But obviously, you know, they look at the ex-boyfriend and things like that. Yeah, you have to. Yeah. Nope, they did find it where, because my dad lived there too. And that's interesting, though, like someone either, like, I mean, it seems like it wouldn't be a coincidence. Yeah.

Someone who knew your mom lived there or like you said, and was trying to set him up. Weird. Yeah, that is weird. I didn't really saw that. Yeah. Oh my God, I never even considered someone who might have been trying to set her ex up. I hadn't either, but I also had no idea Peyton's dad even lived there. Yeah, I don't feel like we ever heard anything about Peyton's dad.

Yeah, Peyton said he was obviously vetted pretty hard by police and cleared. But he doesn't really talk about it at all. She said she really doesn't know what her dad's thoughts were on the whole case until they were recently interviewed for a crime watch daily that actually aired February 19th. We sat down and we looked at pictures of me and my dad and my mom and, you know, they kind of sat in a talk with us both and, you know, what he said. I almost cried. I did almost cry when my dad was talking about me and I, but I held it together.

And I think the guy, Jason, interviewing us was like, look, because I had like, I was congested. So I was like sniffling and I think he thought that I was crying. So like he was kind of like waiting to see if he needed to comfort me or not. But I was like, I got this dude, like this is nothing. But yeah, I almost cried. I looked up at the light and like pretend that I was just like not really listening to my dad.

But really I was trying not to cry because, you know, I, maybe my dad don't really talk about my mom. Like, you know, I'll ask him, you know, what was mom like, you know, how do you mom meet? But like, we don't talk about how mom disappearing affected him at all. And I, to this day, still really don't know, except for last Saturday when he, you know, said that it hurts him to watch me have to grow up without a mom. And you know, I'm like, dad, don't make me cry, like stop, all right, that's enough. But so I'm anxious to see what he has to say about it.

And my dad, I think that's where I get a lot of my, not wanting anybody to know my emotions because he was, he was always been someone that's like, doesn't really show his emotions much. Doesn't, I've never seen my dad cry ever. She takes after her dad a lot, she says, trying to stay strong in front of the cameras. And when I asked her if it was to protect herself or to not give the person who took her mother the satisfaction of knowing they hurt her, this is what she said. No, I think it's a little both.

You know, I'm really, I protect myself when it comes to a lot of things. And I think that's part of it. But also, you know, just in case that person's watching, like, I don't want you to see me sad. Like, okay, yeah, you took my mom, but I'm still doing good. Like, yes, I miss her absolutely freaking lately, but I'm doing good. I'm living. I've got a daughter.

I've got a husband. I've got a life of my own now, and you didn't take that away from me. I won't give you, you took my mom, you have that satisfaction, but I will not give you my life. And that satisfies me. Oh, slow clap for Peyton. Am I right? Yes.

Yes, totally. She says she won't let her guard down because as far as she knows this person could still be watching her. Because you never know, because we don't know anything. So it's like, are we being watched still? Like is the person still out there? It's so hard to tell, like we are really just what it feels like back in square one to the day that it happened.

Like we don't know what's going on. We don't know what happened. We don't know who did it. We don't know why they did it. And we really haven't had very many leads and it's just kind of like, it sucks. Like you just kind of want to scream at the top of your lungs, like, are you done? Like is this game over to you? Like what type of sick person can play this game for 16 years, like, haha, I know what

happened. And just like, I couldn't imagine being that sick person. I couldn't imagine looking at a child in their eyes and being like, yep, I know what happened to your mom, but I'm not going to say anything. Um, that's kind of terrifying to think that this person could still be out there watching Peyton's every move. I know. Like I said, she has been able to stay so incredibly strong through this.

And she feels like she's at a point in her life where she's ready to be strong enough for the whole family who were strong for her when she was a kid. Since I'm older, like I have stepped up a lot and, you know, I get a hold of people, you know, like you and I do all like the, the networking and, you know, emailing pictures and, you know, really just, I've stepped up a lot as I've grown older and I'm her daughter. So I feel like that's my right, that, that's my position, like, thank you, you guys for doing that. But now I'm going to take the torch from you because you guys have been doing it for so

long. I know you're tired. I asked her now that she has stepped up if it's overwhelming getting questions from everyone for a very personal problem that she doesn't even have answers to. It's hard to tell people's intentions sometimes when it comes to this because sometimes people are just nosy and then sometimes people genuinely care and I learned that a little while, you know, closer to when I was in high school, like I've learned with this case, like, you know, people, some people are just really nosy and they just kind of want to know what's

going on. They don't really care about my mom. They don't care about my family. They just are nosy. Yeah. So people are ridiculous sometimes, especially in this town, like they, it's such a small town, so it's like, this is like a big thing to happen here. So everybody's all about like the drama that entails with it.

And I like to tell people my life was not the young and the restless. I'm not a soap opera. So if you want to tune in to something like that, it comes on channel seven, 1230 to 130. No, we know that because my grandma watches it. So, oh my God. So, yeah. That would be really frustrating to have people constantly in your business, not because they care or want to help.

Yeah. And my grandma says that people often don't know what to say to her. So they just say, sorry. People can tell me that they're sorry all the time, but it's going to sound selfish, but sorry doesn't do anything for me anymore. It doesn't ease the pain. It doesn't make me feel better. It's just like, okay, that's another empty sorry that I'm getting from someone because

they really don't know what to say to me, which is okay. I always tell people, I don't want your pity. I don't want your sorrows. Just, you know, pray for me and my family that we get the answers that we want and keep it pushing because that's what I'm doing. I mean, I guess that's all you can do. I just can't imagine how this event has changed and shaped her. I actually brought that up.

I wanted to know what it was like for her to lose her mom at just nine years old. From the outside looking in, yeah, it was a pretty poopy, shitty childhood, but I would play sports. I did things that any normal child would do, but, you know, I just did it without a mom. And, you know, I, it was very, like, it's not like I lost my mom to cancer or, you know, she died in the car or something like that. Somebody took her from us and that's the only difference between me and another child. Somebody took my mom and, but my grandmothers and my aunts and my dad and Bobby made sure

that I still was able to go out and play. But still, you know, at school and stuff like that, like, kids are, kids are kind of cool. You know, working with kids, you know, working with kids, like, you know, they don't really have a filter. So, you know, kids used to come and tell me stories all the time, like, yeah, we seen your mom that day and somebody was dragging her across the country and, you know, obviously as a nine, 10-year-old, that is some traumatizing crap to hear. So, you know, I go home and I tell my grandma, like, you know, such and such that they seen

mom and, you know, obviously my grandma was livid because, I mean, who wouldn't be? As a parent, as a grandparent, when you hear something obviously about your child, but they're also talking to your grandchild about it, like, no, we don't do that. So we had a conference with my teacher and my teacher had to talk with the class and be like, you know what, Peyton's mom, off limits. We don't talk about her unless Peyton was to talk about her. Ugh, I've said this before, but kids are the actual worst. I know, I know.

But even through all of this, Peyton still made the best of her situation and I even asked her how. How did you take this awful thing that happened to you and not let it define you? Definitely like, went left instead of going right. And I could have been that kid that was just terrible and, you know, use my mom as a ledge as an excuse as to why my life sucked, but that's not anywhere. So she didn't let it consume her, but I have to imagine it changed the way she interacted with people, even if just to make her more aware of the world and the evil that is in

it. Oh, yes. Peyton is living by all of the crime junkie life rules. I don't really trust many people. Like I, my friends probably hate it, but we go everywhere in a group. We don't go to the bathroom alone. We don't do anything by ourselves. If you're leaving in the dark and you're going home, you need to call me when you get

home. I'm that friend that's like, no, no, no, where are you going? Who's this guy? Like what? No, we're not leaving with you. Sorry. You can meet us wherever, but we're not going where you're going. Sorry.

That's not happening. And I mean, my friends are probably thankful for it now because I probably saved them from a lot of embarrassment, but you know, it's just, I'm just really protective over the people I love. Oh my God. That's so great. Yeah. It turns out even before this happened though, Peyton and her mom were crime junkies.

Because my mom was real into things like that. Like she probably would have loved this podcast if, you know, she was around still and, you know, we watched unsolved mysteries all the time and, you know, snapped and all that kinds of stuff because she was into that stuff. Like she's going to school for that. And what was she going to school for? Well, criminal justice was her major. And then she wanted to actually be a U.S. Marshall.

I can remember watching crime shows with my mom thinking like, this is like, this will never happen to us. And then, you know, you wake up one morning and you are living that crime show now. Like you are that, you are one of the many people who these crime shows are going to get a hold of and want to know and talk to you about your mom's case. And you're like, I never in a million years would have thought this would have happened to me. Oh, that's so true.

We consume so much true crime and obviously all of our listeners do too. And it's so easy to kind of start to think you've almost become immune to it. Yeah. Like nothing bad can happen to you because you've seen it all. It's why we do crime, junkie life lessons. We try to make them funny, but they're actually real rules to live by. So as we were wrapping up this interview, I asked Payton if it's gotten easier as she's gotten older.

You know, it's very hard some days. Some days are a lot easier than others. I take them day by day. Now being a mother, I realized a lot of the things that why my mother did certain things and I protect Nicolette, which is her name. She's named after my mom. And Payton says that she misses even the mundane things about having a mom around. I get anything just have an argument with her.

It's something so petty that, you know, my friends are like, I cannot say my mom. And I'm like, I wish I could say that, you know, like I wish I could call you and be like, you know, my mom gets on my nerves and let me tell you why. So it's really hard, but you learn to kind of live with it. You learn to kind of cope with, you know, okay, she's not here physically, but she's here spiritually. And, you know, you've got all these memories and I've got all these pictures and my aunts and them have stories out the wazoo.

And you know, I talked to my dad about her every now and then my grandfather, which is my dad's dad tells me all kinds of stories about her all the time. So I have these memories of her, but it's like, I just wish she was here and I'm doing anything and everything that I can to make sure that my daughter at least has somewhere to go where she can know that that's if my mom is dead, that she has somewhere to go. And my grandma is resting here. I asked Peyton, if not knowing, is a different kind of pain than if she were to find out that her mom had passed away and when?

I think it will be. I think it'll be a pain that we can kind of overcome though. This pain is just kind of like, we don't know anything, so how can we get over something we don't know. But with once we find out, I feel like, you know, we can do what we have to do to, you know, bury her or whatever it is that we want to do and then we'll have somewhere to go to visit her. We'll have, we'll know, we'll have the answers and we'll know what happened and we can just

kind of like this part of our life to rest, so to speak and move on from it and then really work on healing. She says it's the strength that she gets from her family that keeps her going. And while they've had their ups and downs through this end, the end of the day, their family and if this tragedy has taught her anything in life, it's that nothing matters more than family. I think that a lot of people probably fail to realize that like your family is like your biggest advocate when something traumatic happens in your life and sometimes some people

push themselves away from their family and then some people, it brings them closer and I'm glad that our family was brought closer instead of being kind of pushed away and just never really speaking to one another because it's rough. It is definitely, I mean, I've said it probably a million times today, but it's definitely hard and I wouldn't wish it on anybody. I wouldn't want anybody to feel this pain. I wouldn't want anyone to go through this because the not knowing factor is what's so hard on this and like, what do we do?

That's so true. I've seen a lot of stories about a tragedy happening and it just rips the family apart. Yeah. It takes a strong family to stick together and actually work together to try and get answers. And I think Nikki's family has done an amazing job at that. And I asked Peyton as a final note, if there was anything she wanted to say to the listeners of our show, you know, I would like to thank everybody, you know, because with this type of case, it's so hard to keep it in the media in, you know, out in the open because it's

been 16 years and everybody's going like, Oh, okay. But you know, when July rolls around like, Oh yeah, okay, Nikki McCann, like she's missing. But so it's nice to know that people still think about us and pray for us and we appreciate the prayers and the love and support and, you know, we haven't given up and we won't just thank you. And, you know, if anybody out there knows anything, you don't have to say, Hey, my name is Peyton and I know how to Nikki McCann just, you know, Hey, I know how to Nikki McCann and this is where she's at this who did it and you'll find your answers from this person

and, you know, to that person out there, like I'm going to fight for my mom until the day I die. So don't think you've got it easy because you've fallen under the radar these last 16 years, like you've got about another 16 years ago, but so I'm in here for the long run and I will find answers and I will hunt for answers until I find what I'm looking for and I find my mom. And I mean, now that I've got a two year old, I've have all the motivation in the world to go find what happened to her grandma.

I don't want to hit that 20 year mark, you know, it's four years away, but I don't want to hit that 20 year mark and I'd rather not. So I'm going to do my best to fight and even if we hit 19 years, 364 days, like we didn't want 20 years. So I'm in it for the long run and I just need people to know that I'm not giving up. There's a quote that Peyton's grandma says on the disappeared special at the very end and Peyton reiterated it to me in our interview, she said, someone needs to give a damn for all of the Nicky's out there.

And what this episode is all about and what Crime Stoppers is all about is we want Nicky's story out there and we want everyone to give a damn about her. Someone has been keeping a secret for too long and if you know something, you need to help this family. Definitely. Peyton wants justice for her mother, but more than that, she needs to know where her mom is. So even if you want to remain anonymous, you can call the Richmond police at 1-756-983-7250.

Thank you Crime Junkies for listening to our bonus episode. I hope you enjoyed the extra content this week. If you want more information on Crime Junkies and want to know where to follow us on social media, you can go to crimejunkie.com Crime Junkie is written and hosted by me, all of our music, including our theme, comes from Justin Daniel. Crime Junkie is an audio chuck production. So what do you think, Chuck? Do you approve?