LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) - A mother who is known for helping countless families find their missing children is still on a search of her own.
The unsolved mystery of Morgan Nick's disappearance has taken many twists and turns over the past two decades and remains a very active and open case.
We sat down with Colleen Nick to talk about what she believes will further help the state locate missing children and adults.
In 1995, Colleen said, “I would tell Morgan that we love you and we are looking so hard so you can come home.” Fast forward 23 years, Colleen has yet to give up hope that someday her daughter will come home.
“For our family, it is heartbreaking that we are fighting so hard for her and we still don't know what has happened to her,” said Colleen. June 9, 1995, 6-year-old Morgan Nick disappeared during a little league baseball game in Alma. She was playing with friends in a nearby field next to the parking lot and was last seen a few feet from her mother's car. While her disappearance remains a mystery, her story still resonates in the hearts of many.
"Because of Morgan, other children have come home, other children are protected and have not been taken,” said Colleen. The Morgan Nick Foundation has solved over 40 missing person's cases, but Colleen said there's still work to be done to prevent child abductions. "The trafficking of children is expected to grow exponentially in northwest Arkansas in the next 10 years possibly becoming the trafficking capitol of the United States because of the interstate access,” said Colleen.
Prevention and response are key, she said. Colleen wants Arkansas to be better prepared on our interstates when stopping cars to rescue children. One way is the IPC approach or interdiction for the protection of children which teaches how to spot indicators of child sex-trafficking and conduct roadside investigations.
"This is what Texas learned to do is to recognize those signs and to be able to intervene and Arkansas has had some training on this but we're not implementing it at the moment,” said Colleen.
There are child abduction response teams in the state which include local, state and federal agencies. But Colleen still wants to see more training at the academy level. “We don’t have time to figure it out, that is why the training is so critical. They have to know before the child goes missing who is going to respond, who is going to do what then a child comes home safely,” she said.
Though most of her efforts have been focused on finding children, Colleen doesn't want missing adults to be forgotten, either. “We don't have the manpower to do those things and so we're not serving families who need help," she added.
Her concern is that families of missing adults don't know where to find help. “There are adults who are missing who's family do not have the resources to search for them. They don't where to turn, where to get the help they need and so often law enforcement's response is an adult has the right to go missing if they want to," said Colleen.
Whether someone ran away, walked off or was kidnapped, their families deserve answers. That is why Colleen’s quest to help them is far from over.
"What I don't want is for another family to go through what our family has experienced," she said.
A profound emotional journey no one should have to travel, but each day Colleen keeps pressing on in her unrelenting fight to bring Morgan back home. “I want to be able to look at my child and say I never quit fighting for you. You were worth fighting for and I fought for you every day to come home. So, when it's too hard and when it's too long and when I think about the fact that her 30th birthday is coming up this year, I remember that she's worth fighting for and so I just won't quit," said Colleen.
Human trafficking remains an issue in our society and last year, legislation passed Act 765. It’s a human trafficking course to help school officials recognize when a student may have been exploited.
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