It is often said that the longer a child is missing, the less likely investigators will be to find them alive or at all. While rare cases, such as that of Jaycee Dugard, have proven that it is not impossible; it is improbable.
Still, Morgan Nick’s mother Colleen refuses to give up and wants her daughter to know that she and their community have never stopped looking for her.
The Victim
Morgan Chauntel Nick was born on September 12, 1988, in Ozark, Arkansas. Morgan’s mother has repeatedly described her as a shy girl with a big heart.
“She loved cats and apples. She thought that bubble gum was a food group.” — Colleen Nick on her daughter’s personality
Colleen also said that Morgan dreamt of being a circus entertainer and/or a doctor. The two were very close, and Morgan stuck by her mother’s side as often as possible because of her shyness.
The Disappearance
On June 9, 1995, Colleen and Morgan attended a Little League baseball game for family friends in their town of Alma, Arkansas. For the majority of the game, Morgan stayed with Colleen and was even reluctant to leave when some friends asked her to catch fireflies with them.
Colleen was also nervous about her child going off with friends because of the dark summer night and the late hour, however, she eventually relented and gave her permission to go. To an outsider, this may seem irresponsible on Colleen’s part, however, their town was relatively crime-free and people were simply far more trusting in the 90s than they are nowadays.
Friday, June 9, 1995, 10:45 pm: Morgan Nick is last seen alive by her friends, dumping sand from her shoes near her mother’s car. Those same friends reported seeing a “creepy man” talking to Morgan when the child was putting her shoes back on.
The game ended a few minutes later and Morgan’s friends came back to the bleachers without her, telling Colleen that Morgan was waiting at her car. When Colleen went to find her, Morgan was gone.
Shown here in a sketch is the alleged abductor that Morgan’s friends saw speaking with her that night.
According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, this man was approximately 6Ɔ, weighed 180 pounds, and was between the ages of 23–38 in 1995.
Morgan was last seen wearing a green Girl Scouts shirt, denim shorts, and white tennis shoes.
This is a digitally age-enhanced photo of what Morgan could look like if she is still alive today. She would be approximately 32 years old.
(If you have any information about Morgan Nick, her alleged abductor, or anything else relevant to the case, please reach out to law enforcement. The poster with the phone numbers is linked above and at the end of this article.)
The Aftermath
In 1996, Colleen founded the Morgan Nick Foundation, a non-profit which helps families cope with missing children and aids investigators in finding the lost.
Colleen has become an advocate for missing children and adults across the United States. Morgan’s case has been featured on both Unsolved Mysteries and America’s Most Wanted. In the state of Arkansas, the AMBER Alert system has been named ‘the Morgan Nick Amber Alert.’
26 Years Later
As recently as a month ago, a news station released a documentary detailing never-before-seen information about Morgan’s disappearance. It’s called “Still Missing Morgan” and is only available for viewing in Arkansas.
The documentary’s airing resulted in over 200 new tips for investigators, including the description of a red truck with a white camper that was seen near the baseball field the night Morgan vanished.
“Until the day that someone can prove to me that she did not survive, then I’m going to fight for her.”
— Colleen Nick
