WASHINGTON D.C., DC — Whether consciously or not, the Morgan Nick case transformed how law enforcement and communities approach missing person cases. This change quickly began at the federal level after Morgan's 1995 disappearance.
In January 1996, then-President and former Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton signed an executive order mandating missing children's pictures be posted in federal facilities.
"Knowing that [Clinton] knows about [Morgan] personally, that she's not just another story to him, gives me hope that he will work with us to bring about more changes for our children," Morgan Nick's mother, Colleen Nick, said to 5NEWS in 1996.
In a press conference, Colleen joined with other parents of missing children and addressed reporters across the country at the White House after the executive order was signed. These parents were pivotal in pushing Clinton to sign the order.
"We know that everybody is looking for her. The more people who know about her, including the president, the more we're going to get changed for missing children," Colleen said.
Lawmakers like President Joe Biden, who was serving as a senator then, backed Clinton's decision to make finding missing children a national priority.
"What's changed as the nature of these abductions have become known to the American public and the extent of them, we're finally figuring out as a nation that this is not a local problem," Biden said at the 1996 press conference.
In addition to Morgan Nick's case, the order partly stemmed from the search for missing Florida child Jimmy Ryce.
When Jimmy was reported missing, his parents attempted to post his pictures in federal buildings, but several were taken down. Unfortunately, Jimmy's body was found a month before the White House press conference. His mother, Claudine Ryce, believed circulating photos of Jimmy could have saved his life.
After some federal buildings did not allow his parents to post the photos, they and other parents of missing children realized there was a national need to require getting a missing child's photo out in public.
After signing the order, Clinton also agreed to tape a public service announcement with the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children, which aired on television stations across the country. The PSA aired nationwide with an abducted child's picture hours after they were taken.
"We get our children's pictures in front of you, and you look at them, then we're going to find our children and we're going to bring them home," Colleen said in 1996. "This is the only way we're going to get them home."
After nearly 30 years, the investigation into Morgan Nick's disappearance is still underway. Although all these years have passed since Colleen and other parents were pushing for change in the White House, she has taken a different approach to helping families like hers.
The Morgan Nick Foundation provides a network of resources to families of missing children, educates kids about safety and prevention, and, most importantly, helps them get the word out.
Now that technology has advanced since 1995, it is a lot easier for organizations to circulate a child's photo.
Today, Colleen and others working for the Morgan Nick Foundation are constantly getting the word out about missing people in the state of Arkansas.
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