Morgan Chauntel Nick (September 12, 1988 – disappeared June 9, 1995) is an American girl who was abducted at a
Little League Baseball
Little League Baseball and Softball (officially, Little League Baseball Inc) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizationLittle League baseball
Little League Baseball and Softball (officially, Little League Baseball Inc) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizationAlma, Arkansas. At around 10:30 p.m., Morgan asked her mother if she could catch fireflies with her friends. At first, her mother was uncertain, but eventually let her go. She was last seen at 10:45 p.m. by her friends, emptying sand out of her shoes alone near her mother's car while her group of friends emptied their shoes a few dozen feet away. Morgan's friends reported seeing a "creepy" man talking to Morgan as she was putting her shoes back on.
When the game ended shortly thereafter, Morgan's friends returned without her. They told Colleen that Morgan was at her car, but when Colleen returned to the car, Morgan was not there. She has not been seen or heard from since.
Later developments
On January 15, 2002, police conducted a dig on a private piece of land in Booneville, Arkansas, after they received a tip that claimed Nick might have been buried there. The tip was "so specific" that police decided to dig; a police dog was also used in the search. Police ended the investigation at 9:30 pm and said they did not intend to return to the property.
On November 15, 2010, federal investigators searched a vacant house in
Spiro, Oklahoma
Spiro is a town in Le Flore County, Oklahoma, Le Flore County, Oklahoma, United States. It is part of the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma Fort Smith metropolitan area, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,164 at the 2010 census, a 2.8 ...
for DNA evidence that could show Nick had once been in the house. On December 18, 2017, investigators returned to the house to conduct another search after they received a tip about the case.
Cadaver dogs
A search-and-rescue dog is one trained to find missing people after a natural or man-made disaster. The dogs detect human scent and have been known to find people under water, under snow, and under collapsed buildings.
Applications
A dog w ...
alerted investigators to a well on the property, which they said was the "center of the investigation". The search was called off on December 19, after no evidence was found. As of 2021, new leads in Nick's disappearance continue to be received and "investigated at the local state and federal level".
Aftermath
In 1996, Colleen Nick started the Morgan Nick Foundation, which helps parents cope with the disappearances of children, and helps prevent children from going missing. Her case was shown on both ''
Unsolved Mysteries
''Unsolved Mysteries'' is an American mystery documentary television show, created by John Cosgrove and Terry Dunn Meurer. Documenting cold cases and paranormal phenomena, it began as a series of seven specials, presented by Raymond Burr, Karl ...
'' and ''
America's Most Wanted
''America's Most Wanted'' (often abbreviated as ''AMW'') is an American television program whose first run was produced by 20th Television, and second run is under the Fox Alternative Entertainment division of Fox Corporation. At the time of i ...
'', while Morgan's family and the foundation were featured in 2005 on '' Extreme Makeover: Home Edition'' after the family's house was damaged in a water heater explosion.
The AMBER Alert service is named the Morgan Nick Amber Alert in the state of
Arkansas
Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...
.
In August 2012, Tonya Smith and James Monhart, two previously convicted felons, were arrested for computer fraud after attempting to assume the identity of Morgan Nick.
See also
*
List of people who disappeared
Lists of people who disappeared include those whose current whereabouts are unknown, or whose deaths are unsubstantiated. Many people who disappear are eventually declared dead ''in absentia''. Some of these people were possibly subjected to enfo ...