LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) -- A woman is under arrest for trying to gain documents to obtain missing girl Morgan Nick's identity.
Tonya Renee Smith, 24, of Hollister, Missouri, a Louisiana State Prison probation violator, has been arrested by Special Agents of the Arkansas State Police Criminal Investigation Division. Smith waived extradition and was brought to Arkansas earlier today.
Smith is being held in the Pulaski County Jail on a charge of felony computer fraud. Bond has been set at $200,000.
Police in Branson, Missouri located Smith last Thursday (August 2nd) after Arkansas State Police alerted local authorities that Smith may be in the Branson area. Since last week CID Special Agents have interviewed Smith and made arrangements to file a criminal charge and return her to Arkansas.
"The arrest of Smith would have likely gone without much public notice had it not been for the cooperative investigative work between the Arkansas Department of Health and Arkansas State Police," said Colonel JR Howard, Director of the Arkansas State Police.
On Saturday, June 23, 2012, a person identifying herself as Morgan Chauntel Nick placed an order through VitalCheck, an Internet based company which supplies certified copies of vital documents. Smith is alleged to have attempted to present herself as Morgan Nick seeking a certified birth certificate.
"Morgan Nick has not been forgotten," said Colonel Howard. "Our CID agents went to work and for almost thirty-six hours Arkansas State Troopers searched across three states for the person presenting herself as Morgan Nick."
Initially agents were uncertain what circumstances may have been associated with the VitalCheck request, specifically whether there was someone who believed she was Morgan Nick or whether someone was attempting to fraudulently capture Morgan Nick's identity.
Morgan was six-years-old when she was abducted from an Alma baseball park on June 9, 1995. The case remains unsolved and Arkansas State Police along with Alma Police officers continue to assign personnel to investigate new leads that occasionally come to the attention of the respective departments.
(Source: Arkansas State Police)