6-year-old Morgan Nick was last seen in Alma, Arkansas on June 9, 1995. She was abducted from the parking lot of a Little League baseball field as she was playing with other children.
Background
Morgan Chauntel Nick was born on September 12, 1988 to parents Colleen and John Nick. She was the eldest of three children.
In 1995, the family resided in Ozark, Missouri. Morgan was described as a shy and quiet girl. She loved cats and had a kitten that she adopted from a shelter. She was a Girl Scout.
Disappearance
On June 9, 1995, the Nick family were invited by a family friend to attend a Little League Baseball game at Alma Baseball Complex on West Main Street in Alma, Arkansas, about thirty minutes away from Ozark.
The game started around 9:00 pm, and Morgan was sitting in the bleachers the whole time with her mother. Around 10:30 pm, two kids, a boy and a girl a few years older than Morgan, came up and asked Morgan to go catch fireflies.
Her mother was initially hesitant, but gave in and let Morgan go play with the two kids after she was told by other parents that the area was safe and children often played in the nearby parking lot.
At 10:45 pm, Morgan was last seen by the two kids, emptying sand out of her shoes near her mother’s car, while they emptied their shoes a few dozen feet away in the parking lot.
Shortly after, the two kids returned to their parents as the game ended, but Morgan Nick was nowhere to be seen. Morgan never returned to her mother that evening and hasn’t been seen since.
Her family subsequently filed a missing person’s report with the Alma Police Department when they couldn’t find her.
Investigation
According to her friends, Morgan Nick was last seen talking to an unidentified white male in the parking lot. The man is described as being 6 feet tall with a medium to solid build, a mustache, and a 1-inch beard. He was believed to be between 23-38 years-old.
The man allegedly drove a red Ford pickup with a white camper shell that was seen parked in the area the evening that Morgan disappeared.
DNA Evidence Found in Truck Links Billy Jack Lincks as Suspect
In 1995, Billy Jack Lincks became a suspect in Morgan’s case after he attempted to abduct an 11-year-old girl in Van Buren, Arkansas, two months after Morgan’s disappearance. He owned a red pickup truck at the time.
Billy Jack Lincks was born in Crawford County, Arkansas. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II and later worked at Braniff Airlines in Dallas, Texas, between 1962 and 1974. In 1995, he was a resident of Van Buren, Arkansas.
Lincks was questioned, but denied having any knowledge of Morgan Nick’s disappearance. He was convicted of felony sexual indecency with a child in March 1996, and died in state prison at age 72 in 2000.
In 2020, authorities reopened the case and were able to find the red pickup truck that Billy Jack Lincks owned in 1995. Multiple samples including strands of hair were recovered and sent to a lab that specializes in forensic genealogy.
On October 1, 2024, authorities announced that fibers found in the red pickup truck were a close match to the DNA to Morgan Nick’s mother or to her child, “strongly indicating that Morgan Nick had been in the truck”.
Whereabouts
Foul play is strongly suspected in Morgan Nick’s disappearance. In November 2021, authorities named Billy Jack Lincks as a person of interest in Morgan’s case.
In 1996, Morgan’s mother, Colleen Nick, started the Morgan Nick Foundation, which aims to provide a support network to parents and families of missing children and adults in Arkansas.
The circumstances of Morgan Nick’s disappearance remain unclear and her case is currently classified as missing. A $60,000 reward is being offered for information leading to Morgan Nick’s discovery.
Appearance
Physical Description:
White female born on September 12, 1988. Morgan has blonde hair and blue eyes. She stood 4’0 tall and weighed 55 pounds at the time of her disappearance.
Distinctive Physical Features:
Morgan had five visible silver caps on her molars.
Clothing and accessories:
Morgan was last seen wearing a green Girl Scout t-shirt, blue denim shorts, and white tennis shoes.
Investigating Agency
If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Morgan Chauntel Nick please contact the Alma Police Department at (479) 632-3333, the Arkansas State Police (479) 783-5195, or the Morgan Nick Foundation at (479) 632-6382.
