Niqui McCown

Case background and investigation

Marilyn Renee Nicole "Niqui" McCown, 28, was a mother who worked at a prison in the Richmond, Indiana area and was engaged to Bobby Webster, with a wedding planned for August 18, 2001, according to NBC News Dateline. On Sunday, July 22, 2001, she was doing laundry at a laundromat in Richmond.

Richmond police detective Mike Wright told Dateline that investigators found store video showing McCown at a Village Pantry near the laundromat at 3:19 p.m. that day, getting change and leaving. It is the last confirmed sighting of her. According to the Crime Junkie podcast's case summary, her family reported her missing to Richmond police the next morning.

In November 2001, about four months later, the black GMC Jimmy she had been driving, which belonged to her fiance, was found near the Meadows of Catalpa apartment complex in Dayton, Ohio, roughly an hour from Richmond, Dateline reported. Detective Wright said there was no sign of a struggle in the vehicle, though some parts, possibly including the battery, were missing.

Police have interviewed dozens of friends, relatives and co-workers. According to Dateline, Wright said that her fiance and her former partner are not considered persons of interest; her fiance died in 2021. A person of interest was identified but never charged.

The case remains open with the Richmond Police Department. In 2024 Dateline reported that detectives had searched wooded areas around Richmond and obtained a computer for forensic review. In 2026 Wright told Kicks 96 News that detectives were working with an Indiana State Police cold case investigator to re-examine evidence, including items recovered from the vehicle, for possible new DNA or fingerprint testing. Her family marked the 25th anniversary of her disappearance with a vigil in Richmond on July 22, 2026, according to Western Wayne News.