Disappearance of Niqui McCown

Marilyn Renee Nicole “Niqui” McCown was 28 when she disappeared from Richmond, Indiana, on July 22, 2001. Her family told WHIO that she had attended church, left her nine-year-old daughter with her mother, and went to do laundry. Surveillance images later placed McCown at the Village Pantry at 3:19 p.m., where she obtained change before going to the neighboring laundromat. She did not return home. [WHIO](https://www.whio.com/news/local/missing-miami-valley-where-is-niqui-mccown/CNORYI5YQFDBTII3JHBVBPNBDE/)

The most significant physical development came months later, when McCown's sport-utility vehicle was found at an apartment complex in Dayton, Ohio. Richmond police retained photographs and other evidence associated with the vehicle. Investigators have said that no criminal charge has ever been filed and no arrest has been made in connection with McCown's disappearance. They have referred to several people as persons of interest over the years, while noting that some were cleared and others died. [WHIO](https://www.whio.com/news/local/missing-miami-valley-where-is-niqui-mccown/CNORYI5YQFDBTII3JHBVBPNBDE/)

McCown remains included in an Indiana State Police missing-person bulletin under her full name and July 2001 missing date. That continuing official listing supports treating the case as an unresolved disappearance rather than declaring McCown dead or labeling the matter a solved homicide. [Indiana State Police](https://www.in.gov/isp/files/Indiana_Missing_Person_Bulletin.pdf)

In 2026, Richmond detectives said they had consulted an Indiana State Police cold-case investigator and were reexamining the stored evidence. They described reviewing whether material from the vehicle—including possible DNA or fingerprints—could now be tested with methods that were unavailable or less capable two decades earlier. The renewed evidence review indicates an active investigative effort within a long-running cold case, but it has not produced a publicly reported resolution. [WHIO](https://www.whio.com/news/local/missing-miami-valley-where-is-niqui-mccown/CNORYI5YQFDBTII3JHBVBPNBDE/)

McCown's daughter and sisters continue to appeal for information and to seek her return or an explanation of what happened. A separate WHIO anniversary report confirms the disappearance date and the family's continuing search. The available record leaves McCown's whereabouts and the circumstances of her disappearance unknown. [WHIO anniversary report](https://www.whio.com/news/niqui-mccown-be-remembered-20-years-after-disappearance-family-seeks-answers/SGFOV4AEC5AHRI6M3EBJEPJ7RI/)