Morgan Nick's family reflects on 30-year disappearance
Colleen Nick, Morgan's mother, says she will continue to honor her daughter's legacy and life no matter how many years pass by.
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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.'
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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.'
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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.
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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.
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