Police in California have found the Tennessee couple who vanished almost one month ago as they travelled westwards across the country.
Nikki Alcaraz and Steven Tyler Stratton, both 33, were located by the Eureka Police Department at 7:15am on Tuesday morning after someone called in to report the sighting of a missing person having previously noticed the pair on Monday night.
They were found on the 100 block of 4th Street in Eureka, not far from the Oregon border.
Alcaraz had previously been seen at the weekend about 150 miles away at a Redding Walmart. Surveillance cameras saw her at an ecoATM as she sold her cellphone for $75.
Her boyfriend, Tyler Stratton, was also with her at the time they were found by police and was arrested.
If you or someone you know is suffering from domestic violence, please contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233 (SAFE).
Missing Tennessee couple, Nikki Alcaraz and Steven Tyler Stratton, both 33, have been located after disappearing almost one month ago. They were found in Redding, California on Tuesday
The pair were found on Tuesday having vanished almost one month ago while road tripping from Nashville to Orange County, California
The couple were found on the 100 block of 4th Street in Eureka, California on Tuesday morning
Eureka Officers found Alcaraz and Stratton both found inside their black Jeep and cooperated with the police officers at the scene.
Alcaraz insisted that she was fine and did not require any help, while a check by police on Stratton found he had an outstanding warrant for his arrest by law enforcement in Tennessee.
Stratton was taken into custody without incident following his failure to appear in court back in Tennessee on a theft-related charge.
California investigators have also been in touch with Moriarty, New Mexico Police to inform them that Alcaraz is no longer considered to be a missing person.
The couple had set out on the open road almost one month ago 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 witness saw Stratton punch Alcaraz in the face, according to a Torrance County Sheriff’s Office report.
Stratton told a deputy that he had also been hit. Video shows him with blood coming from his mouth and nose.
A local news station managed to obtain shocking body camera footage following the fight between the couple.
Video sees both of them bloody and bruised with Nikki, covered in bruises and sporting a black eye telling the deputy she wants to press charges.
Torrance County Attorney’s Office in New Mexico released 10 bodycam videos in the immediate aftermath of the vicious brawl.
The couple were separated and dropped off in separate locations with no charges pressed against either.
Shocking new bodycam footage showed the mother-of-two showing police multiple bruises after a drunken fight with her boyfriend telling cops she wanted to see his ‘a** in jail’
In one of the videos that was released, a noticeably distraught Alcaraz is seen standing next to the bystander who called the cops after he saw the mother-of-two being ‘slapped’ and ‘punched in the face.’
‘I’m a truck driver, as I was driving by I seen her on the ground and I see that dude over there slap her and punch her in the face,’ said the bystander.
‘He punched me in the eye,’ Alcaraz adds.
‘How is he related to you,’ the responding officer is heard asking Alcaraz who responds ‘We’ve been together 16 years… we’re boyfriend/girlfriend.’
When asked if she wants to press charges, Alcaraz nods and answers: ‘Yeah’ before revealing that she would like to see his ‘a** in jail’ while holding back tears.
‘I just wanted to make sure she was ok,’ the bystander is heard saying.
Responding officers then ask if the man she is with, later identified as Stratton, is ‘on anything’ to which Alcaraz responds ‘not that I know of no.’
‘But I’m done, I want his a** to go to jail, I’m over it,’ she repeats.
Torrence County Sheriff’s office earlier released an incident report in which it was revealed that Alcaraz could be heard screaming in the background of a 911 call to police during the May 4 incident.
Torrance County Attorney’s Office in New Mexico released 10 bodycam videos in the immediate aftermath of the vicious brawl. A witness to the fight is seen, left
In one of the videos a noticeably distraught Alcaraz is seen standing next to the bystander who called police after he saw the 33-year-old being ‘slapped’ and ‘punched in the face’
Video shows that Alcaraz was heavily bruised with marks on her arms and face while Stratton was also covered in blood streaming from his nose and mouth
Following questioning, police released the pair with no charges after separating them and taking them to different locations
In the call the woman, later identified as Alcaraz, could be heard screaming in the background. The police report stated that the male, Stratton, was ‘standing over her’ before he ‘punched her in the face.’
According to the report by Torrance County Sheriff’s Office obtained by DailyMail.com both Alcaraz and Stratton were ‘intoxicated.’
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 that Stratton had ‘blood coming from his mouth and nose area.’
The responding officer said that Alcaraz had said they’d dropped off a friend in Amarillo, Texas, before picking up a bottle of Fireball whisky, which she and Stratton both drank.
Alcaraz claimed that Stratton had ‘started to hit her for no reason’ and when they got to the rest area she jumped out of the vehicle but he ‘caught her.’
She also claimed to have a bruise on her chest and her back.
The report identified the alleged assailant as ‘Thomas,’ but the sheriff’s office confirmed with DailyMail.com that it meant Stratton.
Stratton claimed that Alcaraz had also hit him, allegedly striking him to the mouth ‘for no reason’ and that she continued to hit him while they were traveling.
He stated that, ‘Nikki does blackout after drinking liquor’ but he ‘did not want her to go to jail.’
Blood spatter on the passenger side door and blood on the ‘running board’ had been observed by the deputy and both disputed they’d been driving the vehicle. Neither pressed charges.
The pair departed Tennessee in early May in this black Jeep, which was seen in a Redding, California parking lot on Tuesday morning
Alcaraz vanished just days after getting into a ‘drunken dispute’ with her boyfriend was also heard ‘screaming on a 911’ call made by a bystander
Alcaraz was seen on a surveillance camera at the weekend trying to sell her phone at an ecoATM in Redding, California
Alcaraz, Stratton and their dog set out on a road trip from Nashville to Southern California and were in an altercation in New Mexico on May 4.
A police report filed by Torrance County Sheriff’s Department shows the mother-of-two with a black eye after witnesses said they saw Stratton punch her in the face.
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 that she needed to find Stratton.
Her 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.
The couple were finally located on Tuesday in a Walmart parking lot in Redding, California.