Morgan Nick. Credit: NCMEC
A hair recovered from Billy Lincks’ truck 29 years after he allegedly abducted 6-year-old Morgan Nick has been confirmed to belong to the young girl through relationship testing.
“The physical evidence from the truck that Lincks owned when Morgan was abducted [in 1995] strongly indicates that Morgan had been in this truck,” said Jeff Warner, Chief of the Alma Police Department (Arkansas).
Morgan’s disappearance
On June 9, 1995, Morgan went to a little league baseball game with her mother. She was playing with friends in the parking lot as it got dark. Around 10:45 pm, Morgan’s mother realized was no longer in the parking lot—or anywhere nearby.
At the time, police received a suspect description, as well as the sighting of a red truck with a white camper shell that was allegedly involved in the crime. The truck belonged to 67-year-old William “Bobby” Lincks, a local World War II veteran.
Twelve weeks later, Lincks was arrested for sexual solicitation of a child after trying to lure an 11-year-old girl into his red truck. This occurred 8 miles from the ballfield where Morgan disappeared. After his arrest, police questioned Lincks about Morgan, but he denied any knowledge of her or her abduction. Officials believed him and moved on.
New developments
In July 2019, then-lieutenant Brett Hartley went back to the beginning to review Morgan’s case. During that process, he spoke with an individual who inspired him to revisit the possibility that Lincks could be the abductor.
Hartley was able to track down the current owner of the red pickup, who gave permission for police to search the vehicle. On July 28, 2020, an FBI Evidence Response Team examined the truck, producing several vacuum canisters of evidence.
Despite a nearly 30-year gap and the truck changing hands multiple times, the FBI recovered blonde hair from the truck. In December 2023, the hair was sent to Othram for analysis. Even without a root ball, scientists successfully extracted DNA from the hair and built a comprehensive DNA profile. The profile was then compared to a reference sample submitted by Morgan’s mother. The relationship testing showed a first-degree relationship between the two samples—providing, for the first time, direct evidence that Morgan was in Lincks’ truck at some point.
“I can tell you today that this investigation is not over,” said Warner. “It is ongoing and active. In the wake of this development, we are working to expand our understanding of Lincks and his activities. This includes, for example, additional interviews and reinterviews of known associates and locating any additional physical evidence.”
Lincks died in prison in 2000 while incarcerated for an unrelated crime.
“We’ve reached a point where we can concentrate on one suspect and the circumstances surrounding Morgans abduction,” said Warner. “How was she taken from the ballfield? What happened next? Did Lincks have help abducting Morgan or concealing his crime all these years? Where is Morgan now? We’re hoping someone has the missing puzzle piece we need.”
Although the Alma Police Department is small, a part-time investigator is solely dedicated to Morgan’s case. After her abduction Morgan’s mother founded the Morgan Nick Foundation with a mission to educate children and teenagers about personal and online safety, aiming to prevent child abductions. The foundation plays an important role in supporting families and local law enforcement in missing person cases involving both children and adults.