Brother of missing Tennessee woman claims truck driver had to PULL her boyfriend off her after he was seen punching her in the face - and she was last seen leaving motel 'on a mission to find him'

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The brother of a missing Tennessee mother-of-two has claimed her boyfriend attacked her in their vehicle with such aggression that a truck driver had to intervene and pulled him away from her.

Nikki Alcaraz, 33, was last seen on May 6 in Moriarty, New Mexico.

Two days before, she was seen in an alleged violent dispute with her boyfriend, Tyler Stratton, 33,  as they were traveling. The pair set out on a road trip from Nashville to Southern California in her black Jeep Wrangler, with her dog.

Now Alcaraz, Stratton, the dog and vehicle are all missing and relatives are concerned. There is no evidence they are dead, but the family of Alcaraz say it is highly unusual for her to vanish.

'He beat her up pretty badly,' said Josh Alcaraz. 

He told Fox 10 that a passing driver stepped in to help his sister. 

'A truck driver had to pull him off of her, call the police, the police picked him up, took him a couple exits down and dropped him off.' 

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Tennessee couple Tyler Stratton and Nikki Alcaraz are both missing after embarking on a cross-country trip from Tennessee to Southern California several weeks ago - in a case that harks back to the 2021 disappearance of the ill-fated travel blogger Gabby Petito

Alcaraz, seen here with a black eye after a May 4 altercation with her boyfriend, set out on the excursion sometime in early May, departing her home a few miles outside Nashville. The photo comes from a missing person's poster

Somewhere along the way, the 33-year-old mother vanished, cops say - with witness accounts and police reports now indicating that some sort of struggle transpired shortly before her disappearance, as they piece together what happened

After the attack, Alcaraz called her sister, and a friend in New Mexico came to meet her and stay the night in a motel with her.

The friend intended to continue the road trip with Alcaraz, but she wanted to try and find Stratton - who had not been seen since he was separated from Alcaraz.

Alcaraz left the Super 8 motel in Moriarty, a town about 40 miles east of Albuquerque, around 7am on May 6 and has not been seen since.

'We are kind of lost,' her brother said. 'We don't know what to do.' 

He said that Alcaraz had driven the route many times, and it was unlike her to be out of contact.

'She's done that drive so many times,' he said. 

'She can do it in two days with her eyes closed, you know, so it's really, really concerning that it's been so long.

'We would like everybody to keep their eyes open, and if you see the Jeep, if you see him, if you see her, call somebody. Call the police.'

The case bears eerie parallels to the 2021 disappearance of travel blogger Gabby Petito, who was interviewed by police after passersby saw her boyfriend Brian Laundrie attacking her. 

Neither wanted to press charges: he strangled her to death not long after, before taking his own life.

Alcaraz was photographed by police with a black eye. Stratton told police he too had been left with scrapes and bruises from their fight. 

A witness told responding officers that they saw Stratton - who, like Laundrie, is wanted for an unrelated offense - punch her in the face. 

But neither wanted to press charges. 

Alcaraz's sister, Toni, said Alcaraz told her she wanted to find Stratton on the morning of May 6 because she had a 'bad feeling', she told WKRN. 

Toni said her sister was 'on a mission' to find Stratton. It is unclear if she did.

Two days later, on the morning of May 8, Alcaraz texted her sister to say she was in Arizona with plans to complete her trip. It is unclear if she was alone, or with Stratton and the dog.

Alcaraz's 2013 black Jeep Wrangler was located by a license plate reader near Flagstaff, Arizona, on May 8 - the same day she had texted her sister to tell her she was in Arizona. 

As officials search for leads to find Stratton and Alcaraz, Toni told the outlet that she is worried that something may have happened between the two.

'I am scared something happened to them, whether they got in another fight or if they crashed her Jeep somewhere.

'I talk to her almost every day, so I am scared something happened to them,' she said. 

'It's a trip she's done hundreds of times.'

Speaking to Pix11 News on Sunday, Alcaraz's sister, Toni Alcaraz, recalled how she received a frantic call from Nikki the day cops said she got into a fight with Stratton - days before she was last seen

The pair departed Tennessee in early May in this black Jeep, which has yet to be located. The car belongs to Alcaraz, and was last located by a license plate reader in Arizona on May 9

Also missing is Alcaraz's pet dog, who accompanied the pair during what was supposed to be 2,000 mile, few-day trip

As officials search for leads as to the location of the disappeared pair, Toni told the outlet that she is worried that something may have happened between the two leading to her sister's disappearance

Speaking to the station on Sunday, Toni explained that she and other relatives are frantically searching for their missing relative, with help from the Moriarty Police Department.

Federal officials have yet to involve themselves in the search, which has so far failed to turn up any leads. 

Despite the grim parallels with the case of Gabby Petito, Toni is hopeful her sister is still alive.

'I don't think she is dead out there somewhere, but it's all a possibility at this point, and I am really scared of that, but I'm praying that's not the case,' she said.

Of the similarities to the Petito case, she further remarked: 'All the stories like that that seem to happen and seem to happen more often make it more terrifying.'

Despite the grim precursor provided by the headline-case surrounding Petito, who was found dead two months after her fight with Laundrie, Toni said she is hopeful her sister is still alive 

In the meantime, Tennessee DAs are working to compile evidence from law enforcement in both New Mexico and Arizona in hopes of locating any of the missing party.

District Attorney General Ray Crouch said this week that his office has requested nationwide extradition for the still-missing Stratton, who is wanted for failure to appear on a probation violation stemming over an unrelated theft charge.

Officials have yet to produce any evidence that indicates Alcaraz is dead - with her case currently being treated like that of a missing person. 

Both Alcaraz and Stratton remain missing as of Monday. 

DailyMail.com has reached out to Crouch's office for comment regarding the search.