Mystery remains after girl, 6, vanished from baseball game almost 30 years ago
Almost 30 years after a six-year-old girl disappeared from a Little League baseball game, her mum still has no idea what happened to her little girl who was last seen catching lightning bugs with friends.
The mystery of Morgan Nick's disappearance remains unsolved, over 28 years after the title girl vanished while at a Little League game with her mum in Alma, Arkansas. Despite the FBI naming a person of interest, the truth about what happened to the young girl may never be known.
Morgan was last seen standing by her mum's car at around 10.45pm on June 9, 1995, where she had stopped to empty sand from her shoes. The little girl had asked her mum if she could go and join other youngsters who were catching lightning bugs.
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Morgan disappeared in June 1995, with her mom maintaining hope her little girl is still alive (Courtesy of Nick Family)
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"I just looked up as they were running across. She had on her little green Girl Scout T-shirt," Colleen remembered. "But I looked at her running across with them and I turned back to the game."
Despite advancements in the case, Morgan is still missing, with her relatives holding onto hope that she is alive. In response to her daughter's disappearance, Colleen established the Morgan Nick Foundation to offer immediate help to families of missing children.
Catching lightning bugs before she was last seen
On the night she disappeared, Morgan asked her mum if she could join her friends to catch fireflies at around 10.30pm. Initially hesitant, Colleen eventually agreed, not knowing it would be the last time she saw her daughter.
"Finally, against my better judgment, I told her that she could go and play, and she threw her arms around my neck and gave me a big hug," Colleen remembered. "We could see them very clearly, and the last time that I turned to look, Morgan was running back and forth playing."
15 minutes later, Morgan was seen by her mum taking sand out of her shoes near the car while her playmates were close by. Some people saw a man looking at Morgan as she played, and her friends said they saw a "creepy" man chatting to her as she put her shoes back on.
Colleen has spent almost 30 years wondering what happened to her daughter (ABC News)After the game, Morgan's pals came back without her. When Colleen asked where Morgan was, they said she was at the car, but Morgan was gone when Colleen checked.
Morgan's mum rang 911 straight away and looked everywhere for her daughter as it got dark. She said: "It's the worst terror that any parent can ever feel. There's such a sense of it not being real, somehow. It does not seem possible that your child could be missing, that someone could have taken your child."
Red pickup truck and red herrings
A witness who saw the man watching Morgan also noticed a red Ford pickup with a white camper that vanished when Morgan did. This truck became a key clue in the case.
Witnesses described the man driving the truck as a white, 6ft tall man with a medium to solid build, a moustache and a short beard. Over the years, numerous tips about the missing young girl were reported, including one suggesting her body was buried on private land in Booneville, Arkansas.
After getting the "specific" tip-off, police carried out a dig on January 15 2002, even bringing in a police dog to assist. But by 9.30pm, they wrapped up the investigation, stating they had no plans to return to the property.
Mum appeared 'completely normal' moments before vanishing while walking dog
A huge search was sparked after Morgan disappeared (ABC News)On November 15 2010, an empty house in Spiro, Oklahoma, was searched by federal investigators for DNA evidence that could prove Morgan had been there. On 18 December 2017, investigators returned to the house to conduct another search based on a tip-off.
Cadaver dogs led investigators to a well on the property, which they said was the "centre of the investigation". However, the search was called off the next day after no evidence was found.
Breakthrough after two decades
In November 2021, police finally announced a potential breakthrough in the case - they named a person of interest. Billy Jack Lincks was named in relation to the case due to his physical proximity, characteristic match with the sightings and the fact he owned a red Ford pickup truck incredibly similar to the one spotted in the car park where Morgan disappeared.
The FBI has asked for information about Lincks, a World War II veteran from Crawford County, Arkansas. After serving in the army, he worked at Braniff Airlines in Dallas, Texas, from 1962 to 1974 before returning to Van Buren, Arkansas, in the late 1970s.
In August 1995, two months after Morgan disappeared, an attempted abduction occurred in Van Buren, eight miles from where Morgan was last seen. A man, thought to be drunk, made inappropriate comments to a young girl and tried to lure her into his car with money. When she screamed and ran away, the man crashed his car into a telephone pole.
Morgan was last seen by her mom's car, emptying sand from her shoes (Courtesy of Nick Family)Witnesses provided license plate numbers that matched a red Ford pickup truck with a white cab - the same type of vehicle last seen with Morgan. The man was arrested for the attempted kidnapping, and his truck was impounded. Local news outlet KHBS reported that Lincks had a criminal record for child sex abuse dating back to 1993, two years before Morgan's disappearance.
He was given a suspended sentence at the time, on the condition that he would attend counselling. However, two months after Morgan disappeared, Lincks was charged and later found guilty of sexually soliciting a child following an attempted abduction of an 11-year-old girl. He died in prison while serving this sentence in 2000.
"I think the part that bothers me the most is that the [alleged] perpetrator is deceased, which means at the end of the day... there's no justice," said Colleen. "That no one is held accountable.
"No one has to stand and face us for what they did, that there's just no justice for Morgan in this. And that's something I have a really hard time getting my head around."
Lincks' truck was eventually sold at auction, before being recovered by the police. The vehicle was searched at this point, but it's unclear if it had been searched when he was arrested. Over a decade later, new evidence emerged.
DNA found after 25 years
Blood, blonde hair matching Morgan's colour, and mysterious fibres were discovered. Unfortunately, the blood and hair samples didn't contain enough DNA information to link them to Morgan.
However, a blue-green cotton fibre found trapped under the seats and in metal parts of the truck provided the FBI investigators with a crucial piece of evidence. They thought these fibres might have come from Morgan's Girl Scout t-shirt, which she was wearing during the Little League game. Later analysis confirmed that the fibre was a match.
Morgan had been at a Little League game with her mom when she disappeared (Courtesy of Nick Family)FBI Special Agent Ruben Gay shared: "The lab technician was able to determine that it is highly unlikely that the fibres found within the truck would come from a different material," On November 9, 2021, the FBI released a statement on Lincks.
"Whether it was through school, work, church, or any social activity, we need information about Lincks and details about his entire life," the agency appealed. They added, "Remember, every piece of information about Lincks' life is important - no detail is too small or insignificant."
Living in hope
In 2023, an investigative docuseries aired on Hulu about Morgan's disappearance, called Still Missing Morgan. The series was made by renowned filmmaker Ridley Scott and provided exclusive insight into the ongoing search for Morgan, whether she was alive, and if not, where her body might be.
Coleen still carries hope that she'll find her daughter. She explained: "The possibility is that two per cent [of missing children] do survive.
Colleen set up a foundation to help other families of missing children in her daughter's name (ABC News)"That means that until someone can prove that Morgan didn't survive, the possibility remains that she survived until someone can prove it.
"My fight is for that small percentage in case Morgan fell into that two per cent for the possibility, the tiny little possibility. As long as that possibility is there, that's my fight to bring."
* An AI tool was used to add an extra layer to the editing process for this story. You can report any errors to [email protected]
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