On June 9, 1995, Morgan Nick and her mother, Colleen Nick, went to a Little League baseball game in their town of Alma, Arkansas. At around 10:30 p.m., Morgan asked her mother if she could catch lightning bugs 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. 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 search 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, 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 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. 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 and America's Most Wanted, 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. 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. You are here: On the evening of June 9, 1995, Morgan Chauntel Nick was kidnapped while playing with friends just yards away from her mother during a little league game in Alma, Arkansas. A massive investigation ensued, and continues, but Morgan Nick remains missing.
After Morgan's kidnapping it became apparent there was a need for an organization which could provide immediate assistance to the families of missing children.
Colleen Nick, Morgan's mother, realized this need and determined to fight for Morgan and for the hundreds of children that go missing each year; and in 1996, The Morgan Nick Foundation was launched.
The Morgan Nick Foundation (MNF) provides a support network to parents and families of all missing children. The focus of the MNF falls into three categories:
Intervention - provided for any family of a missing child. MNF provides on-site support through trained search and rescue workers; prints and disseminates flyers of missing children; works as a liaison with law enforcement and media; coordinates local and national resources for the searching family; provides hope, encouragement, resources, empowerment and and on-going support to both the immediate and extended family members of a missing child. MNF also hosts an annual conference entitled Project Hope for families with long-term missing children. The conference focuses on issues surrounding the on-going search.
Education - provides FREE safety skills and abduction prevention education to children, parents, teachers and communities. MNF utilizes a safety curriculum entitled "NetSmartz" provided by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, as well as the FREE curriculum "Keys to Safety" provided by the Arkansas Attorney General's Office.
Legislation - advocating for legislation that protects the rights of children. MNF was instrumental in Federal Mandate signed by President Clinton for Missing Children, as well as the Megan's Law legislation that requires sex offender registration and notification of said registered offender.
The Adam Walsh Child Protection And Safety Act Of 2006
Project Jason-Voice for the Missing: 12/13/05 Campaign for the Missing 2006
The Morgan Nick Foundation believes that to reduce the number of child abductions in the future, we must educate our children and empower them with the skills necessary to protect them from the possible dangers of abduction. We can make a difference... one child at a time.
