Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Guaranteed human. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.
A gorgeous young Texas mom, Nikki Winder, missing. This after her truck is found on fire. Tonight, where is Nikki Winder? I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories.
Chapter 2: What happened to Nikki Winder and when did she go missing?
I want to thank you for being with us.
Nicole Winder, a mother from Brazos, Texas, is reported missing after leaving her caregiving job abruptly.
Tonight, the search is on for a gorgeous young Texas mom. Her truck found on fire?
Chapter 3: Where was Nikki Winder's truck found and what was its condition?
Straight out to Dave Mack, Crime Stories investigative reporter. What can you tell me? Did nobody know she was missing until her truck was spotted on fire?
That's exactly it, Nancy. That was when they determined that we don't know where Nikki is because the call came in to fire and deputies about a truck possibly on fire. When they arrived, when investigators arrived on the scene, truck fully engulfed in flames. And of course, they start looking for the driver. Well, there's no driver nowhere around. So they find out the car is registered.
It's a 2025 white Chevy pickup truck. And that's the truck there. They find out it is registered to call Winder. And they immediately start tracking back and find out nobody knows where she is. The last time she was seen was an hour earlier leaving her place of work. So we have a one hour window from her leaving work and her truck on fire.
Dave Mack, tell me the fundamentals, the who, what, where, why, when, as much as you know them. We know she's got two sons. Tell me about the location. Where is she missing?
We know that Nikki left her work at three o'clock. Her truck is found two miles away, one hour later on fire. Now, those are the basics of what we know because the information, Nancy, is very, very limited. We only have a couple of pictures. One of the truck that you can see, she was very proud of this brand new 2025 Chevy pickup truck.
So for the enforcement people to find this vehicle on fire is shocking.
Nicole Nikki Winder, a young mom, is missing out of Bryan, Texas, the county seat of Brazos County. That is in the heart of the Texas Brazos Valley. Now, last census, small town, 83,000 people. Now, it's right there on the border of College Station. That's another city in Texas. Dave Mack, what more can you tell me?
Talking about a road called FM 974. Sounds for farm road. It's just north of Highway 21. This is in, as you mentioned, Bryan, Texas, which is in Brazos County.
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Chapter 4: What details are known about the timeline of Nikki's disappearance?
A very rural area where there's not a lot going on. In the area where she went missing, in that two miles from the place of work to where her truck was found, it's just a wild, rural area. Not a lot of buildings.
Joining us, an all-star panel to make sense of what we're learning tonight, I want to go straight out to Brian Fitzgibbons, Director of Operations, USPA Nationwide Security, leading a team of investigators in finding missing people around the world, former Marine Iraqi War vet. It's a lot different, Fitz, when you are looking in a very remote area, for instance, with Nancy Guthrie.
We are looking out in the desert, huge swaths, of land, haven't made it to Mexico yet, still looking there in Arizona. As opposed to in Manhattan, there are traffic lights with traffic cams everywhere. It's very concentrated with a lot of video surveillance, a lot of witnesses. It's a whole other ballgame when you're in a rural area like Bryan, Texas. How do you even start, Bryan?
Yeah, absolutely. And it's important to understand that where Nikki was last seen and where her vehicle was located is a couple miles north of any real population. So you're spot on. This is a very, very remote rural area, farmland, country roads. And what does this tell us? Within a couple of miles of where Nikki was last seen and within 60 minutes of her vehicle was found burning, okay?
So that tells us that this crime took place in haste. This person either found her, she was a target of opportunity, or the person knew Nikki's travel path, where she would be that day.
When you said traffic pattern, Brian, it reminds me very much of another young mother, Kiara Hudson. She had taken out restraining order after restraining order after restraining order against her husband and ex-husband. And she even presented video to the judge of her husband beating her and dragging her around by her hair. As you can see, Brian, the attacks were brutal.
Notwithstanding, a judge in his wisdom let her ex out. He knew her traffic pattern, just like you're saying, Brian Fitzgibbons. She took her children to school in the morning in her SUV. She was so afraid, Brian, she had taken to wearing a bulletproof vest. When her car came to a stop with the children in the car, Brian, he comes up,
with a gun and shoots her in the head to circumvent her body arm. He knew her traffic pattern. He knew exactly where she was going and where she would be and at what time, down to the minute, dropping off their children. Is that what you mean by knowing her traffic pattern?
Yeah, exactly. So, you know, we have to understand that in this extremely rural area, there's only going to be so many people who live there or frequent that area who would also have the chance to encounter Nikki in her travels. So that limits the size and scope of the investigation right away. And that's certainly one front that investigators will be looking at. Who was there?
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Chapter 5: What investigative steps are being taken to find Nikki Winder?
You can find her at karenstark.com, and that's Karen with a C. Karen, thank you for joining us tonight. My mind leaps immediately to domestic violence because we're not hearing anything about a rape, a sex assault, a theft. It's not even a carjacking because her truck, Wasn't taken. It was set on fire, seemingly as if someone wanted to get rid of some sort of evidence.
But that said, it just screams domestic violence.
That's a very strong post. It does seem like even though it took an hour, they were able to set fire to that truck. And this is because this is there's a good chance they knew that nobody would be there, that no one would be able to identify what was happening. And as your previous guest said, someone seemed to be aware because there she was and she was attacked that quickly.
So perhaps there was, was looking to Get revenge.
Joining us now, Dave Moyer. You know him well. Canine tracker, master trainer, canine tracker, program manager for military contracts, former Navy bomb disposal, master technician. It goes on and on and on with San Bernardino Sheriff's Department. Dave, this could go so many different ways. And I'm very curious why no one seems to be covering her case or demanding her return.
That really intrigues me. So when you looked at this case, first blush, what was your thought?
My initial impression on this was that there was some planning and some logistical planning that went into her disappearance here. Whether or not this is a plan on her part to disappear and start a new life or whether or not this is somebody that she could do.
Wait, did you just say whether she disappeared to start a new life? Is that what you just said?
Yes, ma'am. It's always a possibility that when you see something with so little evidence to go on, that it may be somebody trying to disappear from society in general. I mean, again, it is a possibility. It doesn't sound very likely in this case.
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Chapter 6: What are the challenges of searching in a rural area for missing persons?
To Dave Moyer joining us, San Bernardino Sheriff's Department, how would you determine right off the bat that this was an arson?
What you're looking for is ā Any kind of incendiary devices, any kind of initiation devices, or the presence of any accelerants or chemicals that would precipitate the fire.
You know, having prosecuted many arsons, Dave Moyer, you're absolutely correct. This is what I learned investigating and prosecuting arsons. Very often when an accelerant is used, which is a very common M.O., modus operandi, method of operation, you can actually see with the naked eye, you don't need a magnifying glass, you can see where the accelerant, let's just go with gasoline, was poured.
You can see where the fire started. The burning damage will be much, much more intense and extensive at the location where the fire started. Think of a home. Think of a fire started in a kitchen. The damage done there as opposed to one of the back bedrooms will be much more intense because that is where the fire originated. For example, sometimes Let's just go with the Molotov cocktail.
You'll actually find evidence of the incendiary device, of the accelerant device, such as a glass jar. Here, since it's a vehicle, there's any number of ways to set it on fire. But they knew at the get-go it was arson. So to Karen Stark, I find it very difficult to believe because of statistics.
It's very rare that a female on her own, without any urging, without a co-conspirator, starts an arson fire of a vehicle. Very rare. That's a man thing.
Without a doubt, that's a man thing. And I think we're all aware of that because women are not that aggressive. It's not the kind of thing that a woman would do. They're much more passive. And I can't even begin to imagine, can you, that somebody would want to set their own car on fire. when they're so proud of this new car, this new truck. And it seems improbable to me.
I can't see that at all. Another case that's coming to mind, Brian Fitzgibbons, and you and I worked on this one together, is of Nikki Chang, another young mom. that seemingly vanished off the face of the earth. Suspicion was heightened when a fire erupted at her estranged husband's home. Was he trying to get rid of evidence? And it all goes back to Nikki Chang's truck.
Her truck was full of evidence, including biological evidence that was traced back to Nikki Chang. You know, there's some kind of a connection, Karen Stark, between a person and their vehicle. So often we see women snatched out of their car, and that car bears evidence. It can be blood. It can be some other type of DNA. And we see the car set on fire to get rid of the evidence.
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