The Disappearance Of 6-Year-Old Morgan Nick Remains Unsolved 30 Years Later
On June 9, 1995, Colleen Nick decided she and her 6-year-old daughter, Morgan, needed a "girls' night out" (per Blytheville Courier). As reported by Unsolved Mysteries, the mother and daughter agreed to attend a Little League baseball game in Alma, Arkansas, for their special evening together.
Blytheville Courier News reports the weather was perfect for a baseball game, and Colleen and Morgan were having a great time. Colleen said Morgan's friends asked her to join them as they were playing games in an open field next to the ballpark. Morgan said preferred to spend time with her mother and turned her friends down. However, at approximately 10:30 p.m., Morgan asked her mother if she could join the other children while they looked for fireflies.
Colleen said she was apprehensive about letting her 6-year-old daughter run around in the dark. However, the other parents reassured her that the children customarily played in the field next to the ballpark during the Little League games. Although she was not entirely comfortable with the idea, Colleen reluctantly gave Morgan permission to go play with her friends. According to Blytheville Courier News, Colleen said, "The last time I turned, I saw [Morgan] running across a hill in single file" with two other children.
Witnesses reported seeing a man in a red pickup truck
Blytheville Courier News reports the baseball game ended at 10:45 p.m. As the Little League players left the baseball diamond and met up with their parents, the children who were looking for fireflies also returned from the nearby field. Colleen was terrified when she realized Morgan was not with her friends. Colleen said, "From the time I checked and saw the two kids coming back, I had this horrible feeling."
When she questioned the other girls, they told Colleen that Morgan got sand in her shoes and was sitting on the ground near her mother's car emptying them out. However, when Colleen ran to her car, Morgan was nowhere to be seen. The girls later revealed they were approached by a man driving a red pickup truck while they were playing in the field. Authorities immediately began looking for the red pickup truck and organized a search of the field where the children were looking for fireflies. As reported by Blytheville Courier News, an estimated 300 volunteers joined the search throughout the weekend. Unfortunately, no sign of Morgan Nick was ever found.
Morgan Nick's mother tried to remain hopeful
Morgan Nick, who was described as 4 feet tall and approximately 55 pounds, was last seen wearing a green Ozark Area Girl Scouts T-shirt, denim shorts, and white sneakers. Although her friends noted they were approached by the man in the red pickup truck, Blytheville Courier News reports nobody actually saw Morgan getting into, or being forced into, the truck. Nevertheless, authorities considered the man a person of interest and continued their search for the red truck.
Colleen and the rest of her family were devastated. However, she managed to maintain a degree of hope that her daughter would be found alive. During an interview with Unsolved Mysteries, she said, "It's the worst terror that any parent can ever feel. ... It does not seem possible that your child could be missing, that someone could have taken your child. I believe and I hope every single day that I get up, that today is the day that Morgan comes home. And every night when I go to bed and she's not back yet, I know that I'm one day closer to getting her back."
Billy Jack Lincks was identified as a person of interest in 2021
According to Blytheville Courier News, authorities received multiple reports that Morgan Nick was seen at numerous locations throughout the United States. Unfortunately, none of the sightings were able to be verified. Several people also confessed to having abducted or killed Morgan, but all of the confessions were determined to be false.
In 2021, more than 26 years after Morgan Nick vanished without a trace, the Federal Bureau of Investigation identified a man named Billy Jack Lincks as a person of interest in the child's abduction and possible murder. As reported by The Tennessean, Lincks died in prison in 2000 while serving time on an unrelated charge. However, he attempted to abduct another young girl only two months after Morgan vanished. Authorities were specifically interested in Lincks, as the attempted abduction occurred only 8 miles from the field where Morgan was last seen.
KARK reports Lincks approached an 11-year-old girl who was having lunch with her brothers. Lincks, who was driving a red pickup truck, reportedly made inappropriate sexually related comments to the girl and offered her money to accompany him back to his home.
Local authorities never collected blood or hair evidence from Lincks' truck
As she was frightened for her safety, KARK reports the girl began screaming and fled the area. Billy Jack Lincks also attempted to leave the scene. However, he drove his truck into a utility pole, and witnesses were able to record his license plate number before he drove away. Using the license plate number, authorities eventually located Lincks and charged him with the sexual solicitation of a child.
Now-retired Van Buren Police Detective Kevin Johnson said he and his colleagues were aware that Morgan Nick was abducted just 8 miles away and that witnesses in that case also reported seeing a man in a red pickup truck. Therefore, he reported the details of the incident and arrest to state and federal authorities. KARK reports Lincks was interviewed by state and federal authorities, and his truck was searched for what Johnson assumed was evidence in Morgan's disappearance. Although the evidence local authorities collected, which included duct tape, a machete, and rope, was secured and placed in storage, other evidence — like blood and strands of hair — was left inside the vehicle.
Billy Jack Lincks remains the only known person of interest in Morgan Nick's disappearance
Now-retired Van Buren Police Detective Kevin Johnson said he did not collect the blood evidence or hair strands, as it was not standard procedure in 1995 (via KARK). He is unsure whether state or federal authorities collected those samples when they had possession of the truck. State and federal authorities were unable to confirm whether they had blood or hair samples from the truck.
The Tennessean reports Billy Jack Lincks, who was born and raised in Arkansas, served in the United States Army during World War II and lived in and about Dallas, Texas from 1962 to 1974 before returning to Arkansas in the late 1970s. Authorities said Lincks may have spent time in other states, including Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee, and Oklahoma. Law enforcement officials encourage anyone who may have known Lincks or may have information about his whereabouts around the time Morgan went missing to contact authorities.