Morgan Nick

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1:57Voices for Justice is a podcast that uses adult language and discusses sensitive and potentially triggering topics, including violence, abuse, and murder. This podcast may not be appropriate for younger audiences. All parties are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Some names have been changed or omitted per their request or for safety purposes. Listener discretion is advised. My name is Sarah Turney and this is Voices for Justice.

2:30Today I'm discussing the case of Morgan Nick. In 1995, the city of Alma, Arkansas was that city. That city you always hear about in true crime. Very small, only a couple thousand people. But you could find a few hundred of them packing the bleachers and filling the standing room at the local Little League game on any given night. On summer nights, packs of kids would run around together catching fireflies. This was a community who probably wasn't perfect, I mean no community is, but they felt safe. Safe enough to allow their kids the freedom to play a few hundred yards away from their parents without fear.

3:07But like the story goes, that all changed in 1995, when six-year-old Morgan Nick disappeared after being out of her mother's sight for just a few minutes. Her case would quickly become infamous. Arkansas would later adopt the Amber Alert system and name it after Morgan. Although Morgan has helped set that precedent in Arkansas, she still needs our help. She still needs us to share. And so does her family. This is the case of Morgan Nick. In 1995, Morgan was going through a bit of a transition in her life. Her parents, Colleen and John, had recently divorced. By all accounts, it was a very amicable split.

3:49I'm sure that still wasn't easy for Morgan. But by all accounts, she was thriving, and thriving with sass and style. You know, when I research these cases, it can be really hard to understand what these people were really like. To tell you about them in a meaningful way. in a way that I hope gets you to care enough to participate in our calls to action. But that is not the case here. When Colleen talks about Morgan, she just gushes about her, and I can see why. At just six years old, Morgan is a little spitfire. She thinks bubblegum is a food group, and she quit the track team after just one practice.

4:29After filling out all the paperwork and making sure she had all the right clothes and shoes to participate, Morgan tells her mom that no one told her that track involved running outside, out in the heat where she would sweat. So she quits the track team and signs up for Girl Scouts, telling Colleen that this way she can just sit inside and glue stuff, which is much more Morgan style. And it doesn't really seem like Colleen cares that much as long as Morgan is doing something she enjoys. Like I said, the divorce was pretty recent, within the last year, and I'm sure Colleen was still adjusting to everything herself.

5:04So, when Colleen is invited by friends of hers to come watch their kids play in a Little League baseball game on Friday night, June 9, 1995, she thought it would be a great way to get out of the house and get her mind off things. Colleen worked hard to keep her household functioning with three kids. She had 6-year-old Morgan, 4-year-old Logan, and 22-month-old Taryn. In order to spend more time with her kids, and I have to imagine negate some of the costs of childcare for three children, Colleen started a licensed daycare out of her house in Ozark, Arkansas. This was and still is a really small town.

5:40Now, Ozark is about 30 minutes away from the game in Alma, and she'd never been there before, so she wanted to leave the house early to make sure she wouldn't be late to the game. She gives her kids baths and makes their favorite meal for dinner, grilled cheese sandwiches. Now, there'd actually been a lot of rain lately, so this was a makeup game that started later than usual, 9pm. That night, Colleen leaves her two younger children with their grandmother, and opts to just take Morgan to the game. Morgan asks for another grilled cheese sandwich before they go, but Colleen knows that Morgan isn't a big eater and likely won't even finish it, so she tells Morgan no, they gotta get to the game.

6:18So Morgan throws on her new green Girl Scout shirt and they go to the game. When Colleen and Morgan make it to Alma, they park in this kind of makeshift parking area on a hill near the field. Then they find their way to their seats on the bleachers next to Colleen's friends. During the game, two kids keep asking Morgan if she wants to play, but Morgan is very shy and opts to stay with her mom instead. Colleen says that Morgan spent most of the game just trying to untie Colleen's shoes, where Colleen would act surprised, like, oh my gosh, how did these get untied again? Much to Morgan's delight.

6:53But Morgan is six, and while this does entertain her for much of the game, just as it's wrapping up around 10.15pm, the two kids ask Morgan to play again. They specifically ask if she wants to go catch fireflies with them. And to Colleen's surprise, Morgan actually wants to go. But Colleen isn't so sure. Even in the 90s, in these cities that felt so safe, Colleen was very protective of her kids. She walked them to and from the bus stop each day, while other parents consider her to be a helicopter mom. So, as Colleen resists letting Morgan go, this criticism kind of plays in her head, and her friends also encourage her to let Morgan go play, reminding her of how safe the area is.

7:36Plus, this area was not huge. It was a baseball field with a double gate and two small parking areas you can see from the bleachers. There were no bathrooms, no concession stand. The kids wouldn't be playing far. And the game was almost over. Morgan would be away from her but still within her sight for maybe 15 minutes. So Colleen says yes. And she says Morgan was so excited. She threw her arms around her mom and gave her a big kiss on the cheek. Then Colleen watches as Morgan walks down the bleachers and runs to the parking area with the two other kids. Colleen has her eyes on Morgan for a few minutes.

8:16and then starts watching the game again until it ends just a few minutes later around 10.30pm. But in just those few minutes that Colleen took her eyes off Morgan, she was gone. This episode of Voices for Justice is sponsored by Chewy. When I think about the holidays, I think about tiny moments with my dogs, the ones that really make the season bright. And that's why I'm joining Chewy Claws, who's out here making pet wishes come true. It's a really cool program. From November 4th to December 24th, share your pet's wish at chewy.com slash chewyclaws. It could actually become real, but I think the best part is that it helps others too.

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11:10It's just after 10.30pm on Friday, June 9th, 1995. After attending a Little League game with friends, Colleen Nick can't find her 6-year-old daughter Morgan anywhere. After going to catch fireflies with two other kids, they come back without Morgan when the game ends. The kids, 10-year-old Ty and 8-year-old Jessica, tell Colleen that Morgan sat down next to Colleen's car on the hill to dump sand out of her shoes. Now, Ty actually stayed behind for a second to see if Morgan was going to come back with them, but he figured she was just going to stay at her mom's car instead of going back to her on the bleachers.

11:46So, of course, Colleen and her friends stay behind to help search for Morgan, as they see dozens of cars and hundreds of people leave the scene. At 11.07pm, Morgan is officially reported missing to the Alma Police Department, which is conveniently actually really close to the field. Police are there in minutes. Now, at first, police assumed that Morgan was probably just hiding somewhere, or maybe a parent or grandparent picked her up by mistake. We know that these things happen. So, officers go to the ball field, assess the situation, and realize pretty quickly that it's probably more serious than they anticipated.

12:23The LMA PD admits that the search for Morgan that night was pretty disorganized. It was basically just a bunch of officers and everyone left at the baseball field walking around the area looking for Morgan. Now, the police department does bring in extra lights to help search the nearby fields, but it was really just a lot of people screaming Morgan's name looking in any direction they could think of. But to the Alma PD's credit, they do secure the scene that night. They also pick up anything they think they might be able to recover DNA from. Cigarette butts, cans, anything. And they get to work talking to people still at the scene.

12:59Of course, they really want to talk to the two kids that were playing with Morgan. The kids tell the police what I've already told you. They last saw Morgan dumping the sand from her shoes near her mom's car. But then, they tell the police something that will be the cornerstone of this investigation for decades. The kids saw a man near Colleen's car where they were playing. They describe him as white, tall, with a scruffy beard. He was also wearing shorts and had a hairy stomach and chest. So it seems that at some point, he may have had his shirt off or, like, lifted it up or something. They also tell the police that the man was sitting in a red truck smoking a cigarette.

13:37And it wasn't just a normal red truck. It had a really distinct white camper on the back that they noticed right away. Because it didn't really fit. It just wasn't the right size. Again, the Omepede wastes no time, and they get this to the public immediately. They actually released two different composite sketches based off what these kids told them. And, of course, the description of the red truck. While massive searches for Morgan were being conducted, investigative teams got to work interviewing as many people as they could and sifting through the leads that were beginning to pour in. And this is a case with a lot of leads, so stick with me.

14:16Investigators are made aware of an attempted abduction at a laundromat around the same time as Morgan went missing. A man matching the description of Morgan's possible abductor pulled a 4-year-old girl into his truck with a white camper at the Alma laundromat. laundromat. Now, thank God this girl's mom ended up seeing her and getting her back. But after speaking with the girl's mom, they create a new sketch, a third sketch if you're keeping count. This is released to the public on June 13th, just three days after the first two came out. The next day, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children begin running TV commercials featuring Morgan.

14:55Utilizing the media was a major strategy for these investigators. They wanted to get information about Morgan, these sketches, and especially information about this red truck out to the public as much as they could. They wanted everyone to be on the lookout for what they believed was an older, red Ford pickup, specifically noting the white camper shell didn't quite fit, creating a gap between the cab and the camper. Which is why I will keep repeating it to you in this episode. Now, at this point, while investigators are utilizing the media to the best of their ability, They know they can't do it on their own.

15:31I mean, they could, but they know it'll be much more effective if someone from Morgan's family participates too. But this just wasn't Colleen or Morgan's father John's focus. Before we even go there, by all accounts, both of Morgan's parents are 100 % cooperative. And as far as I could find, investigators have never suspected that either of them was involved in any way. They just don't want to do media, and I don't blame them. Dealing with a situation like this is impossible enough to go through privately, but doing it in front of the world makes it just that much harder. But Colleen and John do it for Morgan, and they soon discover how powerful the media can be, along with the downsides they initially feared.

16:16While the media focuses on Morgan's mom Colleen, John is kind of pushed to the side. In one press conference, John began speaking, and was quickly told by a reporter that they were there to hear from the mother, not from him. And John responds in a very human way, and honestly more patient than I may have been. He basically says, fine, I didn't want to talk to you either. So Colleen really takes over most of the media at this point, which again makes sense and is so normal today. In so many of the cases I cover, I speak with families that have one person that does media. Either this person is kind of chosen by elimination, like in my case, no one else wants to do it, or that person is chosen because they are either perceived best by the media or just the most well-spoken.

17:03Of course, I had to put my big disclaimer in here that all cases are different. But this is 1995, and there weren't really conversations about ethical true crime coverage. So they go after John, and the public eats it up. While he's still there at many press conferences and events for Morgan and is actively participating in her investigation, he's slammed as being cold or less caring. This is something I found in even recent discussions about John. Which I just want to remind everyone out there that doing things behind the scenes and in front of the world are two very different things, and honestly different skills.

17:44It's really hard to equate these experiences to things that people might relate to, but the only way I can really think about it is like this. I'm sure a lot of you experienced the confidence that came with, like, creating a really great school project. But then when you're asked to present that project, you're terrified. So imagine that, like, times a million. That's the expectation the media had of both John and Colleen Nick. Basically to be the perfect grieving parents for the camera, against all odds and reason. Now, like I said, the public really did seem to feel for Colleen. But in my opinion, they were pretty judgmental of John.

18:25So much so that the police decide to make a statement that John cared about Morgan very much and was fully cooperative. Now, the reason I'm bringing it up isn't to be on my soapbox. It's because this was a distraction. Investigators were already looking into and keeping a close eye on Morgan's parents. They didn't need the public's help there. They needed them to be on the lookout for the tall man in the red truck. Luckily, after some time, Morgan's case got enough attention that the message came through. And really, the entire town, state, and neighboring states became obsessed with spotting the old red Ford pickup truck with the white camper.

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19:48For the key to our survival, three of you must quest to the sea of monsters. Let's go do the impossible. I'm not going to let some stupid monsters stand in my way. Percy Jackson and the Olympians, new season now on Disney Plus and Hulu. Learn more at DisneyPlus.com slash What's On. In the days after Morgan went missing, the media really picks up around her case. Leads are pouring in, massive searches are being conducted, and it feels like the whole world is on the lookout for the red truck believed to be involved in her disappearance. One man in a red truck is pulled over and arrested on suspicion of being involved, only to be released.

20:28Another man in a red truck gets pulled over so many times that he writes on the back of it in shoe polish that he wasn't involved. They also have troopers at every campground in Arkansas on the lookout for this truck. Investigators also collect information from everyone they can who attended the game that night. They ask everyone for information about the vehicle they drove, as well as the information about any other vehicles any guests may have been driving. And pretty soon, they find an image of a red truck on home video. Now, we are talking 1995 home video quality, so it's rough. But it's definitely a red truck with something white in the back.

21:08Some say it looks like a camper. Others say it could be like a white door with windows or maybe just a window in the bed of the truck. But not long after this discovery, the media announces that the truck is red, but it's a Mazda and belongs to a parent of one of the kids at the game who's been cleared. But it wasn't long before a major tip came in. Just a few weeks after Morgan goes missing at the end of June, a man named Albert Harvey says he thinks he may have seen the man and Morgan. This is what he says happened. It was just a normal Saturday afternoon at his job as a gardener when he saw a man matching the description of Morgan's possible abductor try to break into his truck.

21:50And he notices that the man had a small blonde girl with him. When the man saw Harvey notice him, he grabs the girl by the wrist and runs to a nearby thicket. From here, Harvey calls the police. And this sparks a huge 16-hour search for Morgan. There were people on foot, dogs, people on horses, four-wheelers. They brought in a helicopter. And they came up with nothing. They don't see a man matching the description or a blonde girl or Morgan anywhere. But of course, just because the search didn't produce the results they were looking for, the police don't want to dig into this. If that was Morgan, this could be huge.

22:32So they asked Harvey to come down to the station for a polygraph test. And he fails. Then the truth comes out. Harvey admits that while he did see someone trying to get into his truck, he didn't see a little blonde girl with him. Harvey says that after a co-worker told him about Morgan's disappearance, he may have gotten a little carried away. In fact, that's exactly what he told the police. Quote, I had got a little bit too carried away. I'm sorry, y 'all, to cause all this confusion. End quote. Okay, so normally I really try not to take you guys down these paths that I know don't lead anywhere.

23:13But I really do think it's important to discuss things like this. Because these things do happen, and more often than you might think. Now, sometimes it's malicious, sometimes it's innocent, sometimes people just want to be a part of a true crime case. And sometimes they just lie, for whatever reason. Now, they did threaten to charge Harvey with filing a false police report and interfering with government operations, but I couldn't find if they followed through on that. Honestly, selfishly, maybe this is coming from a place of spite from where I'm at in my life. I hope they did. There's just no excuse for this behavior.

23:52Because not only is it a huge waste of time, money, and resources that could have been used effectively for Morgan, or maybe another case, but this was of course devastating to Morgan's family. For days, they sat thinking that this could be it. Colleen described how she felt, quote, he took her away from us all over again, end quote. I honestly can think a few things more cruel to do to a family with a missing loved one than something like this. At this point, Morgan's mother Colleen refused to leave Alma. From what I could find, it seems like she slept at the fire station near the ball field where Morgan went missing.

24:36Remember, she was only 30 minutes from her home, but for her, that was too far. Her life was looking for Morgan at this point. I just can't even imagine how devastating this was for her and the whole family. But before long, there was another major lead. A real one. On August 30th, an 11-year-old girl is eating at a Sonic fast food restaurant in Alma with her two younger brothers when a man pulls up in a red pickup truck, no camper shell. He eventually lures all three kids into an alley and then offers the 11-year-old girl money to get in his truck and come home with him, and she runs to a Sonic employee and asks them to call the police.

25:20Luckily, they are able to identify the truck and the driver as 70-year-old Billy Jack Links. He was born and raised in Crawford County, Arkansas. He was a veteran and worked for an airline in Dallas for about 10 years before coming back to Arkansas permanently. When investigators run a background check on him, they discover this wasn't the first time Links had done something like this. He was actually placed on a suspended sentence for sexual abuse of a young girl just three years prior in 1992. So at this point, it's his second known incident. They arrest Lynx and impound his truck. But investigators do not confirm whether this was the same truck that may have been involved with Morgan's disappearance.