‘Chills': Van Buren woman reacts to living near suspect Billy Jack Lincks' old home
After being a person of interest for years, Lincks was named a suspect in Morgan Nick's disappearance Oct. 1, 2024, nearly a quarter-century after dying at Tucker Unit in Central Arkansas in 2000 at the age of 75. Not much of his has withstood the test of time, except for his old home in Van Buren.
'I just got the chills again,' Ashli Rowe said when she learned she lives near Lincks' old residence. 'I was not expecting that at all. It literally made my heart sink.'
'Chasing Fireflies': KNWA/FOX24 special takes a look back at Morgan Nick's disappearance 30 years later
Lincks told investigators he lived at that address during an interview for a separate crime he committed in August 1995, two months after Nick's disappearance. He was later convicted of sexual solicitation of a child after attempting to lure an 11-year-old girl into his truck at a Sonic in Van Buren.
Lincks was sentenced to six years in prison, only serving four before his death.
Rowe was born June 5, 1995 — four days before Nick went missing. She thinks the story that caught national attention may have influenced her mother's 'helicopter' parent tendencies.
Rowe has five children between the ages of 2 and 10. She said she keeps a close eye on the kids out in public, assuming a potential kidnapper could be around the corner.
Arkansas Senate Bill 371 passes, Morgan Nick Foundation shares impact
'It just takes a second,' Rowe said. 'In Walmart, it panics me when my kid walks around the clothing and I can't see him for a split second, because you never know when that person is just watching or there or how long they've been watching you or what their intentions are in their head.'
Rowe said the people who currently live at Lincks' old home have young children. She said her kids have played at the home and ride the bus to school together with them.
Amid the questions that still loom about Nick's disappearance three decades later, Rowe extends her deepest condolences to her mother, Colleen Nick.
'It makes me feel bad because there's no closure for her parents,' Rowe said. 'They have a hole in their hearts.'
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