ALMA, Ark. — Since the local documentary "Still Missing Morgan" aired on Channel 5 last Saturday, the Alma Police Department has been receiving a lot of new tips about the case.
They say they have gotten around 150 leads since it aired and a lot of the leads are new leads that have never been called in before.
“When you get new information, especially that number of leads on a 26-year-old case. The important thing with Morgan’s case, it is an old case, but it’s never been a cold case, we’ve constantly had someone working on it,” said Jeff Pointer, Alma Police Chief.
Pointer says it’s very encouraging and before the documentary aired, they would average a lead or two a week. He says it’s not surprising to get new leads but on some, they question why they didn’t call sooner. He says some are understandable circumstances.
“The person they think did this is deceased or they thought someone else reported it, so some of those things are understandable why they haven’t called that information in,” Pointer said.
Captain Brett Hartley says they are working through those leads one at a time and asks for understanding from the public that they are a very small department and it’s not possible for them to contact everyone back.
“With an open investigation, we can’t comment back to the public on the particular leads that they are bringing in to us," he said. "I need them to understand that we are getting them, we are reviewing them, we are working them, and they are very important to us."
The Alma Police Department hopes with "Still Missing Morgan" airing again at a different time of day that it will generate even more leads. They encourage anyone with information to not speculate that someone has called in and call for yourself.
"Still Missing Morgan" will re-air this Saturday, April 17 at noon commercial-free on Channel 5.