A mother whose six-year-old daughter was abducted nearly 30 years ago has spoken out after police identified the primary suspect in her case.
On the night of June 9, 1995, six-year-old Morgan Nick was taken from a parking lot following a little league baseball game in the town of Alma, Arkansas.
Despite having only a suspect's description and few other leads, law enforcement spent "thousands of hours investigating more than 10,000 leads," per WRTV.
It has taken almost three decades for a "major development" to emerge. When Morgan initially went missing, police received a description of a suspect who was "described as white, 6 feet tall, with a medium to solid build, a moustache and a 1-inch beard" and was seen watching the young girl, according to the Morgan Nick Foundation.
He was reportedly driving "a red truck with a white camper shell" and was "allegedly involved."
"One of the early persons of interest was Billy Jack Lincks, a resident of Van Buren, Arkansas. Lincks was arrested on August 29, 1995—roughly 12 weeks after Morgan’s disappearance—for sexual solicitation of a child. Lincks used his red truck during the offense," the Alma Arkansas Police Department shared in a Facebook post.
However, on August 31, 1995, when police questioned Lincks about Morgan’s abduction, he “denied any knowledge of Morgan's abduction” and “appeared to be truthful,” so “investigators moved on.”
Since then, the investigation has persisted without any significant breakthroughs, until October 1, when the Alma Police Department announced they are now focused on a single suspect.
In July 2019, Alma Police detectives began reviewing the initial stages of the investigation, which led them “once again” to Lincks, who, as reported by 5NEWS, had been arrested in 1992 for sexually abusing a young girl.
Authorities were able to locate the red truck Lincks owned in 1995, which had changed hands several times over the years. Detectives conducted an “in-depth examination of the vehicle for evidence.”
The following year, the FBI Evidence Response Team analyzed the truck and discovered “hair” samples. In 2023, the evidence collected was sent to Othram Laboratory in Texas for advanced analysis.
By 2024, it was “determined” that the hair found in the truck belonged to either Colleen Nick, one of her siblings, or one of her children.
“Follow-up interviews of members of the Nick family revealed that none of them knew Billy Jack Lincks and that none of them had ever been in his truck,” Alma Police continued in their statement.
“Physical evidence collected from the truck that Lincks owned when Morgan was abducted strongly indicates that Morgan had been in his truck.”
Alma Police detectives concluded they had “reached a point” where they could “concentrate on a single suspect to determine the circumstances surrounding Morgan's abduction.”
Unfortunately, Lincks passed away in 2000, leaving Morgan’s mother, Colleen Nick, to face a painful truth.
She shared with the Mail Online on Tuesday: “There’s probably a one percent chance she’s still alive—but really I don’t think there is.” She added, “Now I just want to know where Morgan is.”
Morgan’s mother expressed gratitude to the “army of supporters, advocates and heroes” who have “rallied to uncover the truth about her disappearance.”
She emphasized that while a man “stole Morgan” from her, “her dad, Logan and Taryn,” he “didn’t see that he could never win.”
Nick concluded: “Because our love for Morgan—her memory, her voice—outlasted his life. And that love continues to shine. Morgan’s heart shines on.”
The Alma Police are urging anyone with information that might help resolve the case to contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678).
