For 30 years, the mysterious disappearance of six-year-old Morgan Nick from a Little League ballpark in Alma, Arkansas, remained unsolved. However, a crucial clue found in a red truck has now brought new hope to the investigation.
Earlier this week, Alma Police Chief Jeff Pointer announced that Billy Jack Lincks, an Arkansas man who owned the red truck, is the primary suspect in Morgan’s 1995 abduction. This is the first time in three decades that authorities have named a suspect in the case, told The Independent.
Lab tests revealed that hair found in Lincks’ truck matched that of either Morgan’s mother, Colleen Nick, or one of her children, Pointer said during a press conference. None of Morgan’s family members knew Lincks or had ever been inside his truck, according to follow-up interviews.
Lincks had previously been identified as a person of interest in 2021, but it took another three years of investigation for authorities to officially name him as a suspect. Pointer shared that the breakthrough came from a review of Lincks’ past.
Born and raised in Crawford County, Arkansas, Lincks served in the U.S. Army during World War II and worked for Braniff Airlines in Dallas from 1962 to 1974. He later returned to the River Valley area in the late 1970s.
Court documents reveal that Lincks was arrested in 1992 for sexually abusing a young girl. In August 1995, just two months after Morgan disappeared, he was arrested for attempting to abduct an 11-year-old girl at a Sonic in Van Buren, only eight miles from where Morgan vanished. During that investigation, Lincks denied any knowledge of Morgan’s case, and authorities moved on.
Lincks was convicted of sexual solicitation of a child in 1996 and sentenced to prison, where he died in 2000 at age 72. Investigators reopened the case in 2020, eventually tracking down Lincks’ truck, which had changed hands several times since his arrest. Multiple hairs found inside the vehicle were later determined to likely belong to a member of Morgan’s family.
Given that none of the Nick family members had any known connection to Lincks, authorities concluded that Morgan was likely in his truck, leading them to name him as the prime suspect.
Alma Police Chief Pointer emphasized that the investigation remains active as authorities work to uncover further details about Morgan’s abduction and whether Lincks acted alone or had assistance. “The search for Morgan continues,” he said. “We still have questions, including how she was taken, what happened afterward, and if anyone helped Lincks conceal her kidnapping.”
Colleen Nick, Morgan’s mother, who established a foundation for missing children, expressed her grief and determination: “Billy Jack Lincks stole my daughter from us, but he could never take away our love for her. That love and her memory shine on.”