Morgan Nick's family reflects on 30-year disappearance
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Monday marks 30 years since Morgan Nick's disappearance, with the Arkansas State Capitol lit up in pink in her honor.
Colleen Nick, Morgan's mother, says she will continue to honor her daughter's legacy and life no matter how many years pass by.
'No mother should have to bear this,' Community members react to Morgan Nick investigation update
Nick spoke of how her daughter had a personality that could light up any room.
'Morgan was just this bright, bubbly little girl,' Nick adds. 'She loved apples and bubble gum; she thought it was a food group. She wanted to grow up to be a circus performer and a doctor.'
The then 6-year-old Morgan Nick was at a Little League baseball game at the Alma Baseball Complex with her mother on the night of June 9, 1995, when she went to catch fireflies with two friends in a parking lot next to the ballpark.
'She really wanted to go,' Nick said. 'She gave me a hug, then kissed me on the cheek, and then climbed down the bleachers with the other kids, and they ran into the parking area 50 yards from where we were sitting. We could very clearly see them playing.'
The friends Morgan was seen with later returned, but she was not with them. Nick says the other kids told her Morgan was in her car, taking sand out of her shoe.
'About that time the game ended, the team we were watching came off the right-hand side of the bleachers,' Nick remembered. 'So, when we were engaged with them cheering and shouting, our backs were to the parking lot for four or five minutes, we were engaged with that team, and when I glanced back – I didn't see Morgan.'
Texas-based company discovers DNA link between Morgan Nick and a potential suspect
Nick goes on to say that after she spoke with the friends Morgan was with, she 'walked over to the car thinking she had just gotten inside, and I opened the doors and Morgan wasn't inside.'
Nick says that night turned into a large manhunt to bring Morgan home, with about 10 different agencies searching on the site.
'We were absolutely determined to find Morgan and believed with all of our hearts we would find her right away,' Nick said. 'Then a few hours went by, a few days, then a few weeks, but still I never thought we would be here 30 years later.'
As time has gone by, Nick says one major thing has changed: the use of technology that has led to a break in the case. Nick came across an article about the Texas-based Othram Labs DNA testing.
'We can work with material that is degraded, very old, very low quantities that no one else would work with,' Othram Labs CEO David Mittelman said.
Over the years, one man remained a constant possible suspect, Billy Jack Lincks. Officers first questioned Lincks weeks after Morgan's disappearance, following another attempted kidnapping involving an 11-year-old girl in Van Buren, just 8 miles away from Alma.
During the press conference held by Alma Police back in October, Police Chief Jeff Pointer stated, 'Police questioned Lincks on August 31, 1995; he denied any knowledge of Morgan's abduction and appeared to be truthful at that time; investigators moved on.'
But with DNA testing advancing, in December of 2023, hair collected from Linck's truck was sent to the Texas lab for testing.
'The bottom line is the physical evidence collected from the truck that Lincks owned when Morgan was abducted strongly indicates that Morgan had been in this truck,' Pointer said.
As for Nick, who was at the press conference that day, she says it was devastating to learn that piece of information.
'It was heartbreaking for us,' Nick said. 'That's not what we wanted, that wasn't what we had fought for the end for Morgan. Our dream was to somehow bring her home to our family, where she deserves to be, but also, if the answer is out there, we would want that.'
Arkansas State Police official speaks on identifying victim in 40-year-old cold case
After the attempted kidnapping in Van Buren, Lincks was convicted of sexual solicitation and later died in prison at 72 in the year 2000.
'It's disappointing to us that he can't be held responsible because he died in prison for the same kind of crimes,' Nick said.
Although Morgan is still missing, she has continued to impact many lives. In 1996, Nick established the Morgan Nick Foundation, set on helping families who have missing loved ones and letting them know they are not alone.
'He (Lincks) took her away from us, he took her away from our family, but he did not extinguish her light, her light shines on. That is why so many lives have been touched,' Nick said.
Nick says that last year, they worked with more than 1500 families in the state, becoming a beacon of hope for others.
'When you have a community of people who can walk together, I think it gives families a lot of strength, a lot of resources help them to stay focused on fighting for their missing person,' Nick said.
Nick says she missed so many moments with her daughter over the past 30 years, but she will make sure Morgan's legacy and light remain brighter than ever.
'I think about it a lot as the 30 years comes up, she was only 6 years old when we lost her, but she has changed the world more than any 6-year-old I know,' Nick said.
Director, mother discuss docuseries about Morgan Nick case
Since the Alma Police's press conference in October, the chief says there's been no new information. However, the case is still being investigated.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fox News
41 minutes ago
- Fox News
Surveillance shows fatal stabbing of Austin Metcalf at Texas track meet, officials say
Amid an ongoing investigation over the fatal stabbing of high school student Austin Metcalf at a Frisco, Texas, track meet, the school district announced it has surveillance footage of the stabbing. The Frisco Independent School District confirmed to Fox News Digital that it possesses surveillance footage of the April 2 incident at Kuykendall Stadium but will not be publicly releasing the video. The fatal altercation between 17-year-old Metcalf of Memorial High School and allegedly 17-year-old Karmelo Anthony, a student at Frisco Centennial High School, unfolded during a rain delay on April 2 at the district track and field championship. Anthony is facing first-degree murder charges. Authorities say that Anthony fatally stabbed Metcalf in the chest. Though the two students reportedly had no prior relationship, a brief altercation escalated quickly. An arrest report obtained by Fox News sheds new light on the pre-stabbing clash after Metcalf reportedly told Anthony that he needed to move out of the Memorial team's tent, a witness told Frisco police. The report noted that Anthony "grabbed his bag, opened it and reached inside it" and said, "Touch me and see what happens." "Austin stood up and pushed the male to get him out of the tent," the arrest report said. The witness told police that Anthony then "reached into his bag and the male took a knife out of the bag and stabbed Austin," per the report. The witness then told the officer that Anthony left the scene after the stabbing. Metcalf, 17, died in his twin brother's arms. Anthony was arrested at the scene and has since been charged with first-degree murder. He and his supporters say he acted in self-defense and that Metcalf pushed him out of the tent. His bond has since dropped from $1 million to $250,000. His bond conditions include house arrest and an ankle monitor, and he will only be able to leave his home with the judge's permission.
CBS News
an hour ago
- CBS News
109 children rescued, 244 arrested in Operation Soteria Shield, exposing widespread child exploitation in North Texas
Authorities call it a successful round up of child sex offenders, but it also shows how widespread the crime is in North Texas. The Dallas FBI office and some of the 70 law enforcement agencies that participated announced the results of Operation Soteria Shield on Tuesday. These are the faces of the 244 men and women charged with exploiting children for the purpose of sex trafficking or pornography. FBI Dallas It's the end of a month-long investigation by federal and local enforcement of a crime that authorities say is a year-round problem. "The number of offenders arrested and the children rescued in this operation are stunning," said Jay Combs, the U.S. Attorney Eastern District of Texas. "It's stunning to hear them repeated here." Operation Soteria Shield, which began in April, led to the rescue of 109 children. "During this operation, many of the children recognized or rescued were previously unidentified," said Plano Police Department Assistant Chief Dan Curtis. "They'd never been reported missing. They had never had their abuse known to authorities." The operation not only led to arrests and rescues but also to the seizure of terabytes of child abuse sex material through a collaborative effort that started 10 years ago and now includes 70 Texas law enforcement agencies. "What started as a small team with a bold idea has grown into something very powerful," said Greg Willis, the Collin County District Attorney. In a lot of these cases, authorities said the sex offenders never actually meet their victims face-to-face but use technology to coerce them into sending explicit images and videos. The head of the Dallas FBI office said the methods used don't just involve social media but also online gaming systems. "So I think for many of us, I'll speak for my generation, we were raised to be concerned about faceless strangers that might try to contact us or cause harm on the street, but we've moved past that," said Joseph Rothrock, the Dallas FBI Special Agent in Charge. "Again, predators have access to our children in our home through technology." Authorities urge families to use parental controls on any devices kids use and be aware that there are more faces like these still out there.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Going! Going! Almost gone! Milwaukee's abandoned boat 'Deep Thought' set for public auction
Milwaukee County plans to move ahead with publicly auctioning off Deep Thought, the abandoned boat that was stranded on Lake Michigan's shoreline, provided the county can acquire legal ownership before bidding can begin. "The issue with ownership is Milwaukee County does not have title to this property," James Tarantino, deputy director of Milwaukee County Parks told the county's Parks and Culture committee on June 10. "Because it's now been abandoned, and is really more like a sculpture than a boat, we're trying to determine what that legal bill of sale looks like." Tarantino said that the county is primed to list the boat at auction as soon as the legal details are ironed out in the coming days or weeks. Mississippi-based couple Sherry and Richard Wells left Deep Thought on the lakeshore between Bradford and McKinley beaches after running out of gas during a thunderstorm in mid-October. In May, given the questionable nature of the boat's ownership as well as the Wellses' inability to pay for the boat's removal, it was determined that the county was responsible for salvaging the boat. "At the end of the day, I don't want the county to be on the hook for this," Supervisor Steve Taylor said. In May, the county was left with a $50,000 bill from Milwaukee-based company, All City Towing, for removing the abandoned boat that saw many well-wishers bidding the boat farewell. The county received $30,000 in donations from the Daniel W. Hoan Foundation and an anonymous donor to help cover costs for its removal, still leaving a $20,000 dent in the county's coffers. "I think a summer auction is the way to go," said Supervisor Sheldon A. Wasserman, whose district was home to Deep Thought. "Let's strike right now when the interest in the boat is at its highest." County Corporation Counsel attorney Scott Brown has not ruled out filing legal actions to recover costs, potentially in federal court or another state. "Short version of it, I think, at this point, it's what I would call drilling a dry well. I don't know if these people are collectible. From what my understanding is they are of I think modest means," Brown told supervisors. "We could get a judgment against them, but it may not be worth the paper." Brown said he is still evaluating legal avenues. "This is a bad precedent, you know, that somebody can just leave their boat on Milwaukee County property, and we have to take care of it," Supervisor Steven Shea said. "This is about as big a public nuisance as we can get." In May, Wisconsin lawmakers proposed a new bill that could subject any boat owners who abandon their watercrafts for longer than a month to prison time. Supervisors also asked about the possibility of establishing a policy or action plan if a similar situation arises in the future. While Tarantino said he is waiting to see how the state legislation plays out, he is reluctant to establish something as concrete as policy given the unique nature of the Deep Thought incident compared with most boats that moor on Lake Michigan's shoreline. Tarantino applauded the fact that the County Board raised the fees for illegal dumping earlier this year. "That's an example of a policy that we think is a good deterrent," he said. "We are absolutely committed to dealing with these problems as they come up. We're just unfortunately not resourced if this continues to happen more frequently." Contact Vanessa Swales at 414-308-5881 or vswales@ Follow her on X @Vanessa_Swales. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee's abandoned boat Deep Thought headed to public auction
