Was Jack Morgan Killed by his Dad for Being Gay?

In December 1996, fifteen-year-old Jack Morgan vanished from his San Diego home after an argument with his father. No clothes taken. No money. No note. Nothing.

Authorities called it a runaway case. His father called it closed — throwing out every photo, every belonging, forbidding Jack's name from being spoken in the house, blocking his mother and aunt from speaking to police, and personally killing a planned America's Most Wanted broadcast that might have found him.

The case file was lost three years later. The investigation shut down for fourteen years.

Now, in an exclusive interview, we sit down with Jack's aunt Dawna Holland — the woman who never stopped looking — who tells us what investigators never publicly revealed: that Jack was gay, that his father was a violent Marine who beat his mother, and that she believes Jack was killed because of who he was.

His brother knows what happened that afternoon. He's never spoken about it. And the weight of that silence has nearly cost him everything.

This is the story of a boy the system failed, a family that refused to forget, and a case that — nearly thirty years later — remains unsolved.

If you have information about Jack Duane Morgan, contact the San Diego Police Department at 1-619-531-2000 or the NCMEC at 1-800-843-5678. NamUs case #19675.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Okay, Phyllis, we're talking about Mariah Hope Allen. Um and she is what, Tia?

SPEAKER_01 0:08

My granddaughter.

SPEAKER_00 0:10

Yeah. Okay. She was seventeen when she was last seen in uh Rosoria County, Texas, and she disappeared on April fifth, twenty eighteen. First of all, can can you tell me um what type of person she was?

SPEAKER_01 0:28

Well, she was always a little angel until that guy got her hooked on whatever he got her hooked on.

SPEAKER_00 0:35

Yeah. Now yeah, and she was a a very beautiful girl and she disappeared. She disappeared after she went to jail. She uh she got in an argument with her boyfriend and then the grandma of the of the boyfriend called the cops or something.

SPEAKER_01 0:54

Yeah, and had them both arrested and they let her out. But they they didn't let him out, but I guess it's because he had some prior warrants or something. I'm not sure of all of his details, but I know that she called me and said she needed eight hundred dollars to let him out. I don't know how much of that detail you know, and I told her I was not giving her$800, but I was coming to get her, and I'd be there because she was in Galveston and I'm in Brazoria, and I said, I will be there. She goes, Well, you need to bring$800. I said, I'm not bringing$800 and I'm not getting that guy out of jail. I am not doing it. I'm coming and getting my granddaughter and I'm bringing her home. She goes, if you're not bringing me$800, don't even bother coming. And then that's the last I heard from her. That's the last I've seen. That's the last I know. I do know that I found out later down the road that she owed her and that guy owed$500 to a drug dealer, and the guy had the title to her car, and that the$300, I don't know what that was for, because the guy wasn't getting out of jail for two weeks anyway.

SPEAKER_00 2:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:12

Because of whatever warrants he had. I don't know. Do they know all the stories?

SPEAKER_00 2:17

Do they know who the drug dealer was?

SPEAKER_01 2:20

Well, obviously they don't because they didn't ever tell me that. I know supposedly, now this is just what I was told by detective the detective is supposedly there was Alex I don't know if I'm gonna say his last name right, McConey, that she was in his car, but she was calling from his phone, and I don't know. Her phone was obviously still at the grandmother's with her stuff in her car. And that's all I could find out about that, and then the next thing you know, we didn't hear from her anymore. You couldn't call when you called, nobody answered the phone. It was just crazy. And then the I asked the guy when he finally got out of jail for her car, her stuff, and her phone, and he goes, No, and I said, if you do not give me her car, all of her stuff and her phone, I'm gonna have you arrested in the morning for being a pedophile.

SPEAKER_00 3:31

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_01 3:32

So this guy wasn't even uh this guy wasn't He was 23 and she was 16 when he got her strung out on drugs.

SPEAKER_00 3:41

Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_01 3:44

Yeah. But the detective has cleared him of any wrongdoing and her missing.

SPEAKER_00 3:52

So Well he he has to know who who did something, you know. If you know what I'm saying, like they should at least I I think they should at least question him as though he knows something, you know.

SPEAKER_01 4:05

They have. Five times. Even had surveillance on him. Wow. And that's when they said that he had nothing to do with it. He said the only wrongdoing I've ever had to do with Mariah is he said I'm the one that introduced her to drugs.

SPEAKER_00 4:21

Yeah. What kind of drugs were they doing? Heroin, fentanyl?

SPEAKER_01 4:26

I don't know. Whatever they were doing, they were smoking it. I don't know anything about drugs.

SPEAKER_00 4:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:32

I've never done them.

SPEAKER_00 4:34

Yeah, I understand. Um so there have you had any tips or anything from other people besides the tips you already told me?

SPEAKER_01 4:46

Uh the only thing I've gotten is the detective says she's probably dead.

SPEAKER_00 4:52

Yeah, I'm sorry.

unknown 4:54

I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_01 4:55

Yeah, I know. And I said, I'll believe that when you bring me a body.

SPEAKER_00 5:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:01

Well, they've had cadavers out looking for her and they have never found, but they've had it out in Hitchcock because the I guess the detective heard that he was in Hitchcock at one time or other after the jail incident. You know, I'm not getting much information anymore. Yeah, and I used to get a lot of information.

SPEAKER_00 5:24

They should follow up with you at least a c every couple months or something, you'd think.

SPEAKER_01 5:29

Well, that's what I would have thought. And I called him last month and he goes, Oh, I've been having surgery and I'm in recuperation. Well, if you're in recuperation, that doesn't keep you from running a computer.

SPEAKER_00 5:41

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:43

But then uh that's just a grandmother that's you know.

SPEAKER_00 5:48

You're in pain. You're in pain.

SPEAKER_01 5:50

Yeah. And I know it's gonna be eight years the fourth.

SPEAKER_00 5:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:55

Since I laid eyes on her when she walked off my porch.

SPEAKER_00 5:59

Yeah. Did you raise them?

SPEAKER_01 6:02

Yep. Wow. Her mom said, give her to her. And then of course when her mom wanted money or wanted to use her, she'd come back and I didn't have any legal, you know, legal, legal papers to her. So, you know, what could I do?

SPEAKER_00 6:23

You did the best you could in a tough situation. You know.

SPEAKER_01 6:26

I did.

SPEAKER_00 6:28

But I'm I'm gonna post an article about this and um get it some traction and uh I'm gonna call you back right after I hang up. Okay.