ALMA, Ark. — It's one of the most important programs we've aired in recent years, and you can see it Saturday (April 17) at 12:00 p.m. Still Missing Morgan is a 90-minute documentary focusing on the disappearance of Morgan Nick, who was abducted from an Alma ballpark in June of 1995.
What was it like reporting on this story? I was executive producer at 5NEWS back then. It was my job to make sure our anchors and reporters stayed active on the case. Now we're hearing from a familiar 5NEWS face who spent quite a few weeks assigned to the investigation.
"Back then, it’s a small town. We’re gonna find her. It’s not going to happen here," former 5NEWS anchor Bridget Schultz said.
She remembers how quickly this became a national story.
"We reported it every day. It became national news."
She added, "I’d never seen a story covered like that before and especially in a local market. We’re not the largest market. We’re not an LA or a New York, but for us, we put so much energy into it because it upset everybody in the community. It was like, how did this happen here?"
She says the biggest thing that stands out in her mind about covering the Nick case was how the story just kept getting bigger and bigger.
"The story just developed, and more and more people talked as it went along," she said. "We had to separate the gossip from the reality to find what really happened and to get people to talk."
Like many of us who've been around since it happened, Schultz says the reporting forged many friendships.
"I’m still friends with Colleen today, and when I moved away for a year to New York, she was one of the people I said, "Hey, I’m leaving for a year." I reached out to her because I felt like a part of my life, and we were of hers."
At the end of the documentary on Saturday, there will be a phone number to the FBI you can call if you have any information about the cases.
Still Missing Morgan will air exclusively on Channel 5 and can be watched live on Paramount+.