As advertisements appeared one after another on a digital billboard along the freeway Wednesday morning, Robin Johnson knew a familiar face would soon pop up.
She’d just have to wait.
Watch NBC 5 free wherever you are
WATCH HERE“Waiting to see his face on that billboard is compared to waiting for justice,” said Robin Johnson.
Her family has gotten used to waiting by now.
Get top local stories delivered to you every morning with NBC DFW's News Headlines newsletter.
SIGN UP It has been nearly eight years since her nephew, Armani Dante Morgan, 27, died after vanishing in Oak Cliff.
Morgan’s skeletal remains were discovered several weeks later in a field not far from his Oak Cliff home.
Dallas police say the cause of death was ruled undetermined, but the case has been investigated as a homicide.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
The case remains unsolved.
“This has been an uphill battle trying to keep attention to his case,” she said. “Staying in touch with the police, trying to get them to test the case evidence.”
There is renewed hope with each flash of his face.
“That’s him,” said Johnson, looking up at the billboard. “That’s Armani. Wow.”
She has faith that a new digital billboard located along I-30 Eastbound, just east of the U.S. 75 interchange, will lead to a break in the cold case and finally answer: Who killed the 27-year-old, how and why?
“I’m just praying that one witness,” said Johnson. “We just need that one witness to come forward.”
NBC 5 profiled the cold case in 2023.
Morgan’s case is featured on Solve the Case, a national online database launched by North Texas police detective Aaron Benzick.
The nonprofit profiles cases from across the country involving homicide, unidentified remains, missing persons and fugitives.
Solve the Case combines law enforcement information on each case, as well as media reports and a forum for cyber sleuths to comment.
“You can learn points of interest on there, you can look at the places where things are known about this case, information on this case and get familiar with it,” said Benzick.
There is also a section for anyone wishing to come forward with information.
COLD CASE: ARMANI MORGAN LAST SEEN IN JUNE 2017
In Morgan’s case, he was last seen at the Royal Crest Apartments in June 2017.
Several weeks later, a passerby discovered skeletal remains along a road near Bushman Park, also in Oak Cliff and close to Morgan’s home.
Morgan’s death was among a string of cases involving the LGBTQ community that the Dallas Police Department asked for the public’s help in solving that summer.
Armani, who identified as gay and sometimes dressed in women’s clothing, had reportedly been threatened and suffered acts of violence in the weeks and months leading up to his disappearance.
“He suffered multiple violence against him,” said Johnson. “This is not random. These are people he knew.”
During a press conference about several assaults and murders involving trans women, police prefaced by saying there was no indication any of the cases were connected.
Dallas police on Wednesday told NBC 5 there is no new update on the case.
Benzick, who is not a member of the Dallas Police Department, hopes the billboard helps crack the case.
“With that information that comes forward, that can help supplement law enforcement,” he said. “We want to partner with them and not just have it all in their hands, where they do everything. We want to partner with media [and] with our community and get this case out there.”
Benzick and Johnson are especially thankful for the new digital billboard campaign provided by Lamar Advertising of DFW.
It brings Johnson comfort knowing others care about the young man she loved dearly.
“Armani was the first grandson in the family amongst a group of women,” she said. “I watch the grief on his mother’s face every day and it’s hard to watch.”
She hopes her nephew’s face will jog memories and touch hearts.
“I just want everyone to look at that face and if it was your loved one and you wanted someone to come forward with information on what happened to him, that’s where we are today,” said Johnson.
The veteran police detective knows someone knows something and is appealing to anyone Morgan’s killer or killers may have confessed to.
“By us being here today talking about Armani’s case, we don’t know when we’re going to hit somebody in a way, they’re going to see this differently and be like: ‘I’ve known what happened to Armani. I know the details.’ That’s weighed heavy on them,” said Benzick. “I guarantee you: People I have talked to who have known facts of a case and held that inside, they’ve needed to get that off their chest and when they start talking about it, the way they feel getting it out, it changes their own life by doing something good like that and that’s what we hope this spark creates.”
You can find more information about Morgan’s case on the Solve the Case website.
Anyone with information can also contact Detective Michael Yeric #7178 of the Special Investigations Unit at 214-671-3677.
