Niqui McCown
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This is Jessica Knoll, host of the new series Back in Crime. If you're a follower of true crime, you're probably familiar with some of the most shocking stories from our history. Horrific tragedies like the Columbine Massacre. He turned the gun straight at us and shot. Oh my God, the window went out. And the kid standing there with me, I think he got hit. Okay. Oh God. And notorious criminals like cult leader Charles Manson.

In a scene described by one investigator as reminiscent of a weird religious rite, five persons, including actress Sharon Tate, were found dead at the home of Miss Tate and her husband, screen director Roman Poliansky. But what if we were to turn back the hands of time and relive these events as they unfolded? Follow along each week as we take a fresh look at crimes from the past. Back in Crime is available now.

Voices for Justice is a podcast that uses adult language and discusses sensitive and potentially triggering topics including violence, abuse, and murder. This podcast may not be appropriate for younger audiences. All parties are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Some names have been changed or omitted per their request or for safety purposes. Listener discretion is advised. My name is Sarah Turney and this is Voices for Justice.

Today, I'm discussing the disappearance of Nikki McCowan. The summer of 2001 was an exciting one for 28-year-old Nikki. She spent most of her time putting the final touches on her wedding, which was to be held in August. On Sunday, July 22nd, Nikki dropped her fiancé Bobby off at a local Richmond, Indiana tuxedo shop for a fitting with his best man.

Before they went their separate ways, Nikki and Bobby agreed to meet back at their place at 6 p.m., so they could finish addressing wedding invitations. Next, Nikki went to the laundromat like she did every Sunday. She started her clothes, then went to her parents' house, which was only a block away. During her short visit, Nikki told her mom Barbara that two men had been harassing her at the laundromat. Barbara thought nothing of her daughter's story. Nikki was a beautiful woman, and men often hit on her.

Barbara figured that's exactly what was happening. Nikki didn't stay at her parents' house for very long. She had to go back to pick up her clothes, something she was really nervous to do because of the harassing men. Before 3 p.m., Nikki left her parents' house and went back to the laundromat. Her family has not seen or heard from her since. This is the case of Nikki McCowan.

On January 6, 1973, Marilyn Renee Nicole McCowan, known as Nikki, was born to her parents Barbara and Harvey. The McCowan family was tight-knit, and Nikki shared an extra special bond with her older sister Michelle. They looked like twins. Although Nikki was the youngest of 10 McCowan children, she was also the most precocious. While growing up, it became clear to everyone that Nikki had a daredevil side. She would try anything.

Her brother Emmett described Nikki to the PAL item as being a sophisticated tomboy. She was more than willing to climb trees, but she always made sure to keep her shirt clean. As an adult, Nikki was known for her vivacious energy and perfectionist tendencies. She loved sports, Lifetime Channel movies, and brand-name clothes. Emmett said Nikki was known to drive 50 miles for the right outfit.

But that's not all there was to Nikki. She's also incredibly intelligent. Her mother told Unsolved Mysteries that Nikki made the honor roll all the time in high school. And after she went on to college, she was on the dean's list as well. In 1992, when Nikki was 19 years old, she and her boyfriend Stephen welcomed a daughter named Peyton.

Two years later, Nikki took a job as an accountant clerk in the business office of the Montgomery Education and Pre-Release Center, a state prison in Dayton, Ohio. Nikki and Steve's relationship wasn't meant to be, and at some point in 1997, the couple split up, leaving Nikki as a single mom.

Peyton later told the pal item, quote, I remember her being a fun-loving mom for sure. She was the aunt everybody wanted to be around. All of my cousins always came over and hung out with us, end quote. Eventually, Nikki fell in love with a man named Bobby Webster. By the summer of 2001, Nikki and Bobby were living together in Richmond, Indiana, and were engaged to be married. Their rainbow-themed wedding was just a few weeks away in August.

At this time, Nikki was still working for the prison in Dayton, which was about a 45-minute drive from her home in Richmond. She was also enrolled at Sinclair Community College, with the end goal being to join the FBI or U.S. Marshals Service. But Nikki would go missing before she was able to fulfill her dreams. July 22, 2001, was a normal Sunday for 28-year-old Nikki. She and Bobby attended church and pre-marriage counseling.

Then, Nikki dropped Bobby off at a local tuxedo shop so he and his best man could get fitted for their wedding attire. Before the couple departed, they made plans to meet back up at 6pm to finish addressing their wedding invitations.

Nikki then drove Bobby's faded gray 1990 GMC Jimmy SUV to the Richmond Coin Laundry at the corner of South 10th and South E Street. Now, Nikki was a woman of habit. She went to the specific laundromat every Sunday, always using the first two washers and dryers right inside the building. Nikki started her laundry, then went to visit her parents who lived a block away on 9th Street.

While there, she told them about two men at the laundromat who had been harassing her. She didn't give much detail, but it was clear that she was upset by their behavior. Nikki's mother, Barbara, told Unsolved Mysteries that at that time, she didn't think much of it. Nikki was a beautiful woman, and men were often hitting on her. Before she left, Nikki told her parents she was headed back to the laundromat.

She didn't want to, but she had to pick up her clothes. It was the last time Barbara and Harvey McCowan ever saw their daughter.

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Just go to the App Store or Google Play Store and download the free Ibotta app to start earning cash back and use code CRIME. That's I-B-O-T-T-A in the Google Play Store or App Store. And use code CRIME. After Nikki didn't show up during the night or in the morning, Bobby reported his fiancée missing. He let officers know that Nikki wasn't the type of person to just up and disappear.

Nikki was very close to her family, and she never would have abandoned her daughter, who had just turned nine a week prior. Bobby told detectives that he was especially concerned because Nikki left behind a much-needed medication. She suffered from Graves' disease and required a prescription. Not taking it with her was a major red flag.

Detectives threw around the idea that maybe Nikki had gotten cold feet and ran away. Her family said that there was absolutely no way this was true. Nikki had really been looking forward to her wedding. Her mother Barbara told detectives, "...if you would have seen how much effort she put into the wedding, you'd know. This is what she wanted."

Nikki's sister Michelle agreed, later telling the Dayton Daily News, quote, She was going to have a very big wedding. She was so excited. She was happier than she's ever been in her life, end quote. Nikki had spent a lot of time and money on her wedding. She wanted it to be perfect. She absolutely, without a doubt, would not have disappeared just weeks before.

When detectives asked about the possibility of foul play, everyone said Nikki was friendly and had no known enemies. Even Nikki's ex, Steven, was happy for her upcoming nuptials. But of course, there were the two men who had been harassing Nikki at the laundromat on the day of her disappearance. Maybe they abducted Nikki. That was the only thing they could think of that made any sense. After hearing about the two men, detectives thought it was their most promising lead, so that's where they started.

While detectives followed up on the laundromat lead, officers joined Nikki's family and volunteers in a physical search for Nikki and the GMC. It was tough for any of them to know where to search. They didn't really have any locations to go off of besides the laundromat, and Nikki's family had already looked around there. Desperate, the search parties picked a location and got to work. They spent days searching, but there was no sign of Nikki or the GMC.

Because Nikki hadn't been found and her father was in the military, Nikki's 9-year-old daughter Peyton went to stay with her maternal grandmother Barbara. Peyton later told the PAL item that she remembers being sheltered from the chaos as family members desperately looked for Nikki. She recalled her cousins distracting her while the adults coordinated the searches and hung up flyers in Richmond, as well as Indianapolis and Dayton. They also held a peace march, where they lit candles and prayed together.

Meanwhile, detectives pulled surveillance footage from a convenience store located near the laundromat. At around 2.45pm on July 22nd, Nikki was seen loading clothes into the GMC. She was by herself. She then left the laundromat, quote, under no duress whatsoever, end quote. There was no sign of the two harassing men anywhere. They were back at square one. Now, of course, detectives were looking into other leads, but none of them panned out.

With nothing else to go on, detectives kept a close eye on Nikki's bank accounts and cell phone records. But they haven't been used since July 22nd. Detectives even called around to pharmacies to see if Nikki had filled her prescription. She hadn't. Thinking it would be the key to finding Nikki, Richmond detectives switched their focus to finding the GMC. They called in the Indiana State Police, who used their helicopter to search from the sky. But there was no sign of it anywhere.

At the end of July, Richmond Police Captain Bill Shake told the PAL item that the case is unusual, stating, quote, people don't just drop off the face of the earth, end quote. He could only recall two daylight abductions in his career, but even in those cases, there were clues. With Nikki's, detectives had nothing. Detectives again turned their focus, this time to Nikki's fiancé Bobby Webster.

According to Unsolved Mysteries, detectives thought he'd been acting very strangely in the days following Nikki's disappearance. His indiscretions including canceling the wedding instead of postponing it in case Nikki showed up again. He went a step further and requested a full refund from the reception hall, which he was given.

Bobby also tried to return his wedding band to the store, but the manager refused to give him any money because Nikki was the one who paid for the ring. Her name was on the receipt, not Bobby's. Then, according to Unsolved Mysteries, an argument between Bobby and the manager ensued, and Bobby had to be escorted from the store. When detectives asked Bobby about his behavior, he explained that he was just trying to get some money back to help fund the search for Nikki.

They needed cash for flyers, and he wanted a cell phone to make things easier. Bobby later told Unsolved Mysteries that he didn't feel like the wedding was important. What was important was finding Nikki and making sure she's okay. Detectives asked Bobby to take a polygraph, and at first, he refused. He eventually came around, though, and according to detectives, he ended up failing.

A detective told Unsolved Mysteries that one of the questions asked was, quote, did you have anything to do with the disappearance of Nikki? End quote. When Bobby responded no, the needle jumped off the chart according to detectives. The detective actually said, quote, so not only did he fail it, I mean he failed miserably. End quote.

But Bobby countered this allegation, telling Unsolved Mysteries that he and his attorneys have never seen the results of this alleged failed test. He says he asked detectives to send it to his attorney, and they said no, so take that for what you will. For 105 days, there was absolutely no sign of Nikki McCowan. Then, finally, on November 3rd, detectives got the lead they were hoping for.

This is when Dayton, Ohio police were called to check an abandoned vehicle in the parking lot of the Meadow of the Catalba apartment complex. Officers showed up and found a GMC Jimmy SUV. They ran the plates, which came back as belonging to Bobby Webster, Nikki's fiancé. Officers looked over the GMC and noticed that one of the doors was ajar, and the lock punched out.

They looked around inside and found that the ignition had been tampered with, and the stereo system and car battery were both missing. However, there were no signs of violence or a struggle. In fact, Nikki's clean and neatly folded laundry sat undisturbed in the back seat. The GMC was towed back to the police station, where it was searched with a fine-tooth comb. Sadly, no fingerprint or DNA evidence was located.

For two days, authorities canvassed the area and searched the apartment complex as well as the surrounding woods. They didn't find Nikki's body or any physical evidence. During their canvass, investigators found out that residents had seen the GMC in the parking lot since as early as August or September.

While the lot was frequently patrolled, the GMC hadn't stood out to any patrol officers for many reasons. One, someone had moved the car multiple times, so it appeared to be in use. And two, the GMC had Ohio plates, something you'd expect to see in an Ohio parking lot.

The canvases provided detectives with another important detail. Nikki had ties to the apartment complex. She and her ex-boyfriend Stephen had lived there in 1997. He was still in the same apartment. But this was a sprawling complex, and his apartment was in a completely different area than where the GMC was found. Of course, detectives did speak with Stephen, and found out that he was at work at the time Nikki reportedly went missing.

He was eliminated as a suspect after his alibi was verified, and he passed a polygraph. Back at Square One again, detectives continued investigating Nikki's ties to Dayton, hoping to find some answers there. Nikki worked in Dayton, so it wasn't that out of the ordinary for her to drive there. However, she hadn't told her parents or Bobby that she was going to Dayton, so it seemed like a lead that needed to be followed up on. Next, detectives went to the prison to speak with Nikki's co-workers.

They were especially interested in speaking to the ones Nikki considered friends. That led them to Darlene, who lived less than a mile from the apartment complex the GMC was found in. Darlene and Nikki had been friends for years. She told detectives that on the day Nikki disappeared, Nikki made a phone call to Darlene.

Now, reports do vary on what was said during this conversation, but I did have the chance to speak with Nikki's sister, Michelle. And as far as she knows, Nikki and Darlene only talked about hair and nail vitamins. After speaking with Darlene, detectives start thinking it was possible Nikki left the laundromat, drove toward the store in Dayton, and something bad happened along the way.

But that led to another question. Even if Nikki did drive to Dayton, why was the GMC found at Stephen's apartment complex? Why would she go there? According to Unsolved Mysteries, this question caused detectives to circle back to Nikki's fiancé Bobby Webster. They wondered, what if Bobby did something to Nikki, then drove the GMC to Stephen's apartment to shift the focus onto Stephen instead of him?

Bobby remained adamant that he didn't have anything to do with Nikki's disappearance. He said that he loved her more than he loved himself. Some of the detectives on the case were convinced that Bobby was the person responsible for whatever happened to Nikki, but others weren't so sure. There were two other people who quickly became persons of interest, Nikki's co-worker Darlene and Darlene's 35-year-old boyfriend, Tommy Swint.

Now, while we don't know much about Darlene or what her involvement is alleged to be, we do know quite a bit about Tommy. The Dayton Daily News reported that he was born in 1966 and raised in Alabama. At 20 years old, he joined the Marines and was stationed in Japan and Panama for a time. Tommy left the service in 1990 and moved to Dayton, where he met Lisa, his wife of 10 years.

In 1994, Tommy started working as a corrections officer at the Montgomery Education and Pre-Release Center. There, Tommy befriended Nikki. Her sister later said Tommy became a close friend of Nikki's. She looked at him as a big brother. Tommy also befriended Darlene, the co-worker Nikki spoke to on the day of her disappearance. Eventually, even though he was still married to Lisa, Tommy started dating Darlene.

By July 2001, they were living together in a residence located less than a mile from the apartment complex the GMC was found abandoned in. Of course, all of this was suspicious to detectives, but being friends with Nikki and living near where her car was recovered is not enough to arrest someone, let alone two people on murder charges. So, the investigation continued.

In December 2001, detectives provided the public with an update. According to the Dayton Daily News, a detective said that they were leaning toward the theory that Nikki, quote, likely met with foul play after she drove to Dayton to meet someone, something transpired, end quote. The detective also said, quote, I don't think she is alive at this time. The investigation is related to Dayton, possibly with ties to the prison, end quote.

He appears to be referring to Darlene and Tommy. However, they are not publicly named as persons of interest for many years to come.

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By April 2002, tips in the case of now 29-year-old Nikki McCowan's disappearance were drying up. The family was desperate for answers. Nikki's sister Michelle told the PAL item, quote, It's a pain that never goes away. It's worse than death. You can't move on, because Nikki may be out there needing your help, end quote.

Michelle spoke with the Dayton Daily News about what it was like seeing her niece growing up without a mother. She said, quote, End quote.

They worked hard to keep the case in the public eye by speaking with local and national news media, writing politicians, organizing remembrances, and much more. Their hard work paid off, and in May 2002, the Unsolved Mysteries crew arrived in Richmond to film the segment on Nikki.

Her mother, Barbara, spoke to the Dayton Daily News about filming, stating, quote, End quote. In July, on the one-year anniversary, the Powell item published a multi-page story on Nikki's disappearance.

Richmond detectives said Bobby remained a person of interest, and would most likely always remain one until Nikki was located, or until they had evidence to completely clear him. However, with that being said, detectives were switching their focus to Nikki's two Dayton co-workers. Again, they didn't name names, but they did add, quote, we feel strongly about these people, end quote.

Before the year was over, Nikki's case was featured on the Montel Williams Show, in addition to Unsolved Mysteries. For years, there were no solid leads. The family continued hosting remembrances. At the fourth year anniversary event, 13-year-old Peyton addresses the crowd. According to the PAL item, she told her parents to kiss their children each day before they go to sleep, because they never know which kiss will be their last.

She didn't want them to end up like her, spending years missing a loved one. When it came time for Nikki's sister Michelle to speak, she said, quote, End quote.

Nikki's mother, Barbara, voiced her frustrations with what little evidence the investigation into Nikki's disappearance had turned up. Barbara said, quote, End quote.

In July 2006, for the fifth year anniversary, Nikki's family and the Midwest Coalition for the Missing hosted a celebration of life for Nikki, as well as for families and law enforcement who were looking for missing people. Around 100 people attended, which meant the world to the family. Nikki's sister Terry told the PAL item that the community was just there for them, pointing to three billboards about Nikki's disappearance that had recently been donated.

A few months later, the McCowan family announced a $100,000 reward for information about Nikki's disappearance. The offer was only valid for a 20-day period that month. They were very hopeful that that large amount of money would bring some much-needed answers. But sadly, no solid tips were reported. There wouldn't be any significant movement in the case until the summer of 2007.

On July 16th, Nikki's friend and co-worker Tommy Swint had been sworn in as a police officer in the Dayton suburb of Trotwood. Not long after, a Richmond detective called the Trotwood police to report that Tommy was a person of interest in Nikki's disappearance. This news came as a surprise to Trotwood. Tommy hadn't mentioned anything about it during his interview and background check process.

Tommy had been honest about a few indiscretions. He told them about a written warning he'd received in 2006, after he threatened a female captain at the prison, reportedly telling her, quote, If I have anything to say to you, I will say it in the parking lot. You don't know who you are messing with. I'm Officer Swint, end quote. Tommy also admitted to passing bad checks in 1992, a charge he pleaded guilty to.

However, he did not tell them he'd been arrested by the military police in 1990. In December 1989, Tommy went AWOL and fled to Dayton where he had relatives. Six months later, he was arrested.

While waiting to find out his fate, Tommy wrote a letter requesting his discharge from the Marines. In the letter, Tommy described his childhood, claiming that his father never told him he loved him, that he'd experienced significant racism growing up in the South, and that he was the only one of his siblings to graduate. He said his dream was to be a military police officer, but he ended up as a grunt.

The Marines ended up discharging Tommy under other than honorable conditions, and he moved back to Dayton where he applied to be a police officer. After he was turned down, Tommy applied at the prison, where he was hired on as a corrections officer. After hearing that Tommy had lied about many things during the hiring process, Trotwood officials confronted Tommy and explained to him that because he did not disclose pertinent information to them, he had a choice to make, resign or be terminated.

He resigned. But it would be a while before the public was told about Tommy's resignation, and the fact that he was a person of interest in Nikki's disappearance. Finally, on October 13th, authorities announced Tommy had been a suspect since November 20th, 2001, less than three weeks after the GMC was found in Dayton. Detectives said they had tried talking to Tommy on numerous occasions, but he refused to be interviewed or take a polygraph.

On October 7th, Tommy and his attorney held a press conference, where Tommy admitted detectives spoke with him shortly after Nikki went missing. Tommy said it should be noted that detectives were speaking with all of Nikki's co-workers, not just him. He said detectives asked him about Nikki's friends, her relationships, and her family. He says it was just routine questioning.

Tommy claimed he was never told he was a person of interest or suspect in the case. That's why he didn't bring it up during the hiring process for the Trotwood Police Department. Tommy added that he wasn't sure why the matter was an issue now, instead of before he was hired as an officer. They had six years to bring it up. Why now, he wondered. Tommy later sued the Powell item and a reporter for defamation, because they published a story stating Tommy was a person of interest in Nikki's case.

He also went after the Trotwood and Richmond departments. The case was dismissed. Following the press conference, Tommy continued refusing to speak with detectives about Nikki's disappearance. But there wasn't enough evidence to make an arrest, so detectives kept searching. For the seven-year anniversary, WTHR reported Tommy's friend John told detectives Tommy kept a collection of newspaper clippings and TV reports about Nikki's disappearance.

John also said Tommy's, quote, Because more and more evidence was pointing toward Tommy, Nikki's sister Michelle spoke with WTHR about the true nature of Nikki and Tommy's relationship. While Tommy and Nikki's relationship was mostly based on friendship, it did appear to become romantic at some point. Michelle said Tommy would take Nikki out to eat, buy things for her, and give her money.

Nikki looked at Tommy as sort of an older brother, a good friend that happened to be male. Michelle said, quote, I know Tommy Swint liked her more than just a sister. He liked her as a good friend, or he wanted a relationship, end quote.

When Michelle spoke with the pal item about Tommy, she said that he'd been aggressive toward Nikki on more than one occasion prior to her disappearance. Michelle recalled a particularly bad incident that occurred after she stopped by Nikki's house. As she walked up, she heard screaming. When she opened the door, she saw Nikki lying on a chair with her foot on Tommy's chest as he pressed himself over her.

Michelle told the pal item, quote, Nikki was like, help, get him off me. He's trying to rape me. And he just kind of laughed it off like he was playing. Then he started chasing us both around the house. There were just so many times he tried to do things like that, like he was playing around. But I looked at it like, if I wasn't there, what would have happened? End quote. Michelle said she warned Nikki to stay away from Tommy, but she didn't.

Nikki really thought Tommy was somebody that cared about her. She didn't think a bad thing about him. But again, none of that information was enough to bring murder charges. It was only enough to keep the focus on Tommy. Meanwhile, Dayton detectives were actually looking into Tommy for an unrelated cold case. The 1991 murder of Tina Marie Ivory.

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In 2020, in a small California mountain town, five women disappeared. I found out what happened to all of them, except one. A woman known as Dia, whose estate is worth millions of dollars. I'm Lucy Sheriff. Over the past four years, I've spoken with Dia's family and friends, and I've discovered that everyone has a different version of events.

Hear the story on Where's Dear. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. On December 17th, 1991, a tree trimmer was working in the Dayton suburb of Jefferson Township when he found a trash heap of broken furniture and junk. When the trimmer looked closer, he noticed a quilt, which was taped closed and formed in the shape of a body.

After removing the tape, the body of 33-year-old Tina Marie Ivory was discovered. She'd been beaten and strangled to death. Tina's body was covered in two plastic trash bags, which were taped together. One bag was over her legs, the other was over her head and torso. Tina was nude from the waist down. Her underwear, pants, jacket, and shoes were located inside the bag and had been over her legs.

She was still wearing all her jewelry. There were four semen stains on the back of Tina's jacket and one on the front, but all the stains belonged to different men, which made sense considering Tina was a known sex worker. There was also a blood stain on the quilt. It didn't belong to Tina. Daytona detectives looked for Tina's killer, but for 16 years, there had been no leads or suspects.

Then, in November 2007, a month after news of Tommy's ties to Nikki's case went public, a confidential informant called Dayton police to suggest they look into Tommy Swint as a possible suspect in the murder of Tina Marie Ivory. Knowing Tommy was tied to Nikki's disappearance, detectives wanted to investigate the tip as thoroughly as possible. They interviewed Tommy's friends and family, many of whom talked about Tommy's penchant for sex workers.

It was a promising start, and the ball was now rolling in Tina's case. In April 2008, Dayton detectives asked Richmond police to share Tommy's DNA sample with them. The following month, a lab matched Tommy's DNA to one of the semen stains on the back of Tina's jacket. In addition, they found that Tommy couldn't have been excluded from the blood stain on the quilt. Next, detectives spoke with a former girlfriend of Tommy's, who said Tommy had once dated Tina.

After she was shown a photo of the quilt Tina was wrapped in, the ex said it looked familiar to a quilt Tommy had carried around in his car when they dated. Detectives also spoke with the former girlfriend's nephew, who lived with her when she dated Tommy. He told detectives that around the time Tina was last seen, he remembered seeing a blood trail leading from the basement window, through the grass, up to the trunk of Tommy's car.

He also noticed a blanket missing from his bed in the basement. When shown a photo of the quilt, he said it was very familiar. A different girlfriend told the Dayton Daily News that Tommy had threatened to kill her, her mother, and her son. In 1998, she filed a temporary restraining order against Tommy due to a death threat. She fully believed that he was capable of murder. Months later, in October, detectives went to speak with Tommy at the house he shared with his wife.

They showed him a photo of Tina and the quilt her body had been wrapped in, and he said he'd never seen either. But detectives didn't believe him. Following this meeting, Tommy packed up and moved to Alabama where he'd grown up. At the same time, a lab worker located a partial fingerprint on the adhesive side of the tape that had been wrapped around Tina's body. The original investigators missed it.

Hoping to match the print to Tommy, detectives obtained a search warrant for his fingerprints, then set off for Alabama. After getting the fingerprints, detectives again showed Tommy a picture of Tina. He repeated that he didn't know her, but this time he added that he thought she was pretty. Detectives then just outright asked Tommy if he killed Nikki, and he said no. Detectives then told him that his DNA matched evidence at the scene.

He responded, quote, I have nothing to say about that, end quote. Detectives tried further, but Tommy ended the interview, stating, quote, With all due respect, we need to bring this interview to a close. I am sure I will see you again. My attorney would not want me to get into this, end quote. But then the results came in. Around a month later, the crime lab matched the fingerprint from the tape to Tommy's left middle finger.

On February 3rd, 2010, just before noon, a grand jury indicted Tommy for the murder of Tina. Within an hour, officers were approaching Tommy's Alabama house. But before he could get taken into custody, Tommy completed suicide, taking any knowledge of Tina's murder and Nikki's disappearance with him. The McCowan family was absolutely devastated over Tommy's death.

Her sister Tammy told the pal item that her hope for answers had been replaced with anger. She said, quote, Justice is supposed to prevail, and I don't feel like it has prevailed, end quote. Michelle added, quote, I really felt that he knew what happened to my sister, and if the police ever found out that he did, I wanted to look him in his eyes and say to him how I feel about him, end quote. Detectives were frustrated as well.

One told WTN2 News that she believes Tommy was responsible for Nikki's disappearance. She said, quote, I'm 99% that he is involved in her disappearance. Not having him here does make it hard to find physical evidence. And without physical evidence, it's hard to prove a crime happened, end quote. Another detective told the PAL item, quote, I feel the investigation was going in the right direction.

I wish I could have spoken with him before he killed himself. Is the case closed? No. We still have some things we're working on. Whether or not Tommy Swint is responsible at this point is the family's decision." The McHowans say they're not giving up until they find Nikki. Which brings us right to our call to action. Since Tommy Swint's death, there have been no other solid leads in Nikki's case.

Her family is still hoping that someone will come forward with any information they know. Nikki's sister Tammy said, quote, We're hoping that maybe out of the goodness of their heart that they will see everything's changed. And we just want an answer of where our sister is and what happened. I want to know more than anything. Don't get me wrong. I do want justice. End quote. They added that it just isn't the family's focus right now.

Unfortunately, Nikki's mother passed away on July 21st, 2020, just one day prior to the 19th anniversary of Nikki's disappearance. Barbara died without knowing what happened to her baby. No one should ever have to endure that sort of pain. Peyton told the PAL item, quote, End quote.

Peyton remains devastated over her grandmother's loss, but it has only made her more motivated than ever to find her mother. Peyton told the PAL item, quote, End quote.

To this day, the McCowan family is actively searching for Nikki. Peyton told the PAL item, quote, I want to get back out there. I want to start doing footwork again. I want to post the flyers. I want to go around. And I want everyone to go back and look at the case and see where we missed. Even when we find answers, it's going to be something that we've got to live with for the rest of our lives.

But that closure, I think, would help us out a lot. End quote. Before I go, I want to let you know that authorities have tested Tommy's DNA against other unsolved cases, including the murder of another sex worker. But he has not yet been linked. That doesn't mean he didn't play a role in Nikki's disappearance.

Detectives and the McCowan family are still looking for any and all tips regarding Tommy and his possible involvement, as well as any other tips you may have. This case is still open. Now, even if you don't have any information about this case, there is still a way for you to help. You can like the family's Facebook page, Missing Nikki McCowan. Knowing that people still care about Nikki gives the family hope.

Her sister Michelle told the PAL item, quote, End quote. End quote.

As a reminder, Marilyn Renee Nicole "Nicki" McGowan was last seen on July 22, 2001, in Richmond, Indiana. Nikki is black, 5'2", with brown eyes and brown hair. At the time of her disappearance, Nikki was 28 years old and weighed 115 pounds.

She was last seen wearing a bright pink and purple floral swimsuit top, dark colored shorts, diamond earrings, and a white gold bracelet. Today, she would be 49 years old. Anyone with information can call the Richmond Police Department at 765-983-7247. You can also submit tips at helpfindnickiemcowen.wordpress.com.

But as always, thank you, I love you, and I'll talk to you next time. Voices for Justice is hosted and produced by me, Sarah Turney, and is a Voices for Justice Media original. This episode contains writing and research assistance by Haley Gray, fact-checking by Lina Gukuluk, and editing assistance by Bill Bertschinger. If you love what we do here, please don't forget to rate and review the show in your podcast player.

It's an easy and free way to help us and help more people find these cases in need of justice. And if you'd like to go above and beyond to support the show, we do have a Patreon page at patreon.com slash voices for justice.