ALMA, Ark. — A new development in the Morgan Nick disappearance case was revealed on Tuesday, Oct. 1, during a press conference in Alma.
Alma Police Department (APD) announced that Billy Jack Lincks is officially named a suspect in the disappearance of 6-year-old Morgan Nick.
1995 Disappearance
Morgan Nick disappeared on June 9, 1995. Her mother, Colleen Nick, took Morgan to a little league baseball game in Alma, but she never imagined she would be going home without her daughter.
During the game, Morgan left with some friends to catch fireflies. After a while, Morgan was left by herself and then never seen again.
Since then, the FBI, local authorities, and her family have been seeking answers to her disappearance.
Billy Jack Lincks
In 2021, the FBI linked local World War II veteran and Crawford County native Billy Jack Lincks to Morgan's abduction.
Lincks, a resident of Van Buren since the late 1970s, was caught attempting to abduct an 11-year-old girl eight miles away from the Wofford Baseball Field where Morgan was taken from. Lincks's abduction attempt was just two months after Morgan's disappearance. Chief of Alma Police Department, Jeff Horner, said Lincks was questioned about Morgan's abduction, but he denied any knowledge of it.
Lincks was found guilty of sexual solicitation of a child and sentenced to prison where he later died in 2000. However, he was not investigated as a suspect in Morgan's disappearance until after his death.
New development
On Oct. 1, Alma police announced Lincks as an official suspect after DNA evidence connected his involvement with the six-year-old's disappearance.
Police tracked down the current owner of Lincks's truck, who allowed them to investigate it. The FBI then tested the truck for DNA in 2020 and vacuumed it for evidence. In the collection, investigators were able to find hair. In July 2023, Alma Detective Sean Taylor discovered an advanced DNA system that could test hair with or without roots. Taylor spoke with the FBI to send the DNA evidence to a lab for testing.
On Sept. 27, 2024, the lab's report came back, determining that the hair contained in the evidence sent in belonged to either Morgan's mother, Colleen Nick, or a member of Colleen's family. Officials said nobody in the Nick family was familiar with Lincks and had never been inside the truck. Horner said this physical evidence "strongly indicates that Morgan had been in this truck."
Alma Police Chief Jeff Pointer officially identified Billy Jack Lincks as the main suspect in Morgan's disappearance. However, what happened to Morgan after police believe Lincks took her from the Alma ballpark detectives are still looking into.
Police still have many unanswered questions and ask the public to report any information about this case to 1-800-843-5678.
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