Police think accused child-killer stopped in Elk City

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Published on Friday, 02 December 2011 13:29

N.J. father Arthur Morgan did not reboard bus after arriving

A New Jersey man accused of killing his 2-year-old daughter by leaving her in a creek still strapped into her car seat is believed to have stopped in Elk City, police say.

Capt. Kennie Shirey said Elk City police were aware Arthur Morgan could be traveling through the area.

According to the Asbury Park Press, Morgan rode a train and buses from New Jersey to Memphis and then continued west. When his bus arrived in Elk City, he did not re-board. Bus schedules suggest he likely arrived in Elk City at about 2:25 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 23, one day after his daughter was found dead. 

"He was on a Greyhound bus and someone picked him up here," said Shirey. "Someone thought they saw him leave in a vehicle."

News reports state Morgan believed investigators were closing in. He was caught six days later in San Diego.

He is charged with murder, interstate flight to avoid prosecution and child custody offenses. He is expected back in New Jersey by the end of the month.

Tierra Morgan-Glover's body was found Nov. 22 in Shark River Park, about 20 miles north of her home in Lakehurst, N.J. Her cause of death was listed as "homicidal violence, including submersion in water."

After fleeing New Jersey, Morgan was the subject of a coast-to-coast manhunt and had been featured on the website of "America's Most Wanted" after the child's body was found.

An FBI spokesman in Oklahoma City declined to say whether the agency had investigated his possible appearance in Elk City. He did say there were many unconfirmed leads about Morgan's whereabouts, but the only confirmed lead of his location was in San Diego.