Previously on Vanished...
Wallace Rainer is a federal judge.
Are you going to tell Dad?
You promise me that you will break this off, and I will not tell him that it was you.
And the fact that you're not out there leading the charge for my nomination...
I'm waiting for the hearings.
What's going on?
You're being blackmailed-- your wife for your vote.
You only have to watch the news to know how much is riding on Judge Rainer's confirmation.
- You should tell your father. - What?
I'm pregnant.
Your daughter should be what now... eleven?
- What do you want? - For you to disappear.
Jessica, why are you really here? It's been five years.
Quinn might have Sara with her.
FBI! Stay where you are!
What are we looking at?
Christo found a data stream coming into Quinn's laptop.
My God. It's Sara.
Freeze it there. Blow it up.
All right, run that translation.
Pull the... No!
We lost her.
They found the feed. They're getting too close.
My God.
I know this is difficult.
But we are really pressed for time.
Where did this come from?
It was being transmitted live to a computer.
Did you trace it?
We tried, but the signal was cut off about 2 1/2 hours ago.
Do you think Sara's still being held there?
We have no reason to believe otherwise.
Now please...
does anything in that room look familiar to you?
What do you see?
I see my wife praying that her husband will do
everything in his power to bring her home safely.
If these people want Wallace Rainer confirmed to the Supreme Court,
if that's what it'll take to save Sara's life, fine.
They've got my vote.
Sir.
This is our best lead so far.
My people are tearing this apart pixel by pixel,
but you got to give us a chance.
The Judiciary Committee is scheduled to meet first thing Monday morning.
You've got two days.
He's going to give in to the demands.
Voting to confirm Rainer.
Yeah.
Okay, let's go back to motive.
Who stands to benefit the most from Sara Collins' kidnapping?
That would be the honorable Judge Rainer himself.
But Graham, do we really think that a Federal judge
would resort to kidnapping and blackmail?
Either he's that desperate to get on the court,
or somebody really wants to put him there.
I have to have a full BGC on Rainer.
Bureau's gone over his background for the nomination process.
If I pull his packet, it'll send up red flags from here to DC.
- That's why I haven't done it already. - Then we're...
We can't touch him.
Then we're going to have to fly under radar.
How?
You know how the system works,
and neither of us can request that information without it becoming
- part of the case file. - That's right.
We're going to need to outsource.
- Occupied! - Judy?
I'm on deadline!
Judy, you better get out here.
Damn it.
Come on.
What the hell is so important?
Looks like you just got scooped.
But 12 years ago?
Is it possible your memory's grown fuzzy?
No, I remember it like it was yesterday.
And you had no idea who this young woman was?
- Bodies wash up here, now and then. - What is this?
Somebody falls overboard off a booze cruise, you know?
But she had a name tag on her like a waitress wears.
It said "Nicky," and I-I assumed the police would figure out Nicky who,
and I-I pretty much forgot about it.
Until you saw the news report on Sara Collins' disappearance?
Yes, I saw that good-looking reporter, Judy something,
saying how the Senator's wife led a double life.
And she went by the name Nicky Johnson.
But you believe that was simply a case of mistaken identity,
that the body you found 12 years ago
is the real Nicky Johnson?
From what I saw, she was the spitting image of the Collins woman.
And I could see how anyone would mix the two up.
But you can take my word for it:
Nicky Johnson's dead.
Thank you.
Local authorities are exhuming the body recovered a dozen years ago,
long considered a Jane Doe, and buried in a pauper's grave
here at this church cemetery,
but it now appears that the wild stories of Sara Collins' secret past
are nothing more than that:
- stories. - You bitch.
Outside of Gloucester, Massachusetts, this is Tiersa Adams reporting.
All right, get me an address on the Gorton's Fisherman.
Judy, phone!
- Take a message! - It's Mr. Nagel's office.
He wants you upstairs.
Now.
That was terrific. Thanks for the call.
I'm happy to do it.
You know, I-I really hope they find that Collins woman.
I caught your performance.
Yeah, how'd I do?
You said all the right things.
Well, I aim to please.
Permission to come aboard?
Granted, if you got the cash.
I've got you covered.
That's what I like to hear.
Where is Sara Collins?
I have no idea.
So you just came across this video feed while you were surfing the Internet?
Quinn. We know about "Pull the plug."
Who were you sending that message to?
My mother.
She left the iron on.
Yeah. All right, what about this? What does this mean?
It's just a tattoo; a lot of guys find ink a turn-on.
Want to see my other ones?
Well, we found this tattoo on four convicted felons. They were all murdered.
They friends of yours?
Maybe you don't get it.
You are looking at spending your life behind bars unless you give me something.
You tell me where Sara Collins is, we can make a deal.
I'll pass.
Look, even if you don't tell me who you're working for,
just tell me where the video feed's coming from. I can protect you.
That's cute.
The reason those four people wound up dead is because someone said,
"We can protect you," and they believed it.
Now you can talk all you want.
I'm done.
You realize how this makes us look?
I sourced the story, Bob. I had approval from the managing editor.
How hard did you look at this Nicky Johnson?
I went to Gloucester. I went to the docks.
I went to that bar she worked at.
Did you even check the morgue records?
Did it occur to you that she might be dead?
- No, but there was no indication... - Judy, I brought you up from local news
because I had faith in you.
I'm telling you, someone is trying to erase Sara Collins' past.
Are you even listening to what you're saying?
Coverups? Fake graves?
Why the hell would somebody even go to that kind of trouble?
That's what I'm trying to find out.
You're going to issue a retraction,
and you're going to make an apology to the senator.
But my story is good. I had two sources.
Yeah, right: the local yokel and the missing video.
If you'd seen that tape, you'd be backing me up right now.
Sara Collins is Nicky Johnson.
Obviously your cameraman doesn't agree.
What?
Computer logs from the night your video went poof.
Your photog was the only one logged onto the system
when the file was wiped.
You think Adam erased the file?
Maybe he cares about you as much as I do.
We wouldn't want to see you ruin your career.
You erased our copy of Peter Manning's tape?
What?
The computer log says you deleted the file.
Quit screwing around.
What? Y-you're serious?
Why the hell would I kill our story?
You tell me.
What am I supposed to think?
- The computer log said you deleted the file. - No, for... just quiet... listen.
Forget about these logs. Anybody can break into these systems,
switch a couple of pass codes. This has got to do with us, Judy.
We've been together for almost a year now
and you really think I'd screw you over like that?
I don't know.
You don't know?
Well, maybe you should find someone a little more trustworthy than me.
Good luck with that, by the way. We're finished.
Quinn's not gonna talk.
So how close were we?
I was only able to get a directional lock from one of our tracking vans
before the signal went dead,
and that gives us a search grid of, like, ten square miles.
That's thousands of buildings.
According to the city planning office, it's 9,400, give or take.
So what's our next move? Get 9,000 search warrants, give or take?
Kelton... take a breath.
That feed was our direct line to Sara. She was right in front of us.
We were so close...
Zach, what are our options?
I'm sorry, but without an active signal, there's just...
there's nothing to trace.
This is the best I can do.
But what if you can get the signal back?
How?
Well, you said Quinn's laptop was a transceiver,
so it can send and receive, right?
Yeah.
Well, if you rig it to broadcast the signal,
can't you trace it back to the source?
It could take some time to isolate the frequency,
but in theory...
yeah.
All right, get to work.
Thank you for coming to meet me.
I had a rough day. I needed a drink.
Belly up. First round's on me.
Not here for happy hour.
Of course you're not.
What can I do for you?
Well, as a journalist,
you can make an open records request,
access the documents of public officials,
their phone records, financial statements, tax returns...
Let's cut to it: whose records do you want?
- Judge Wallace Rainer's. - Why?
Can you get them or not?
I'll have them messengered over to your office.
You'll label them confidential?
Of course, but I want something in return.
I can't make any promises.
I had evidence, a videotape,
that proved that Sara Collins lived in Gloucester, Massachusetts,
12 years ago under the name Nicky Johnson.
Yeah, I'm sorry. I just saw the news.
- So the real Nicky Johnson's... - They exhumed a body.
I think it was planted.
P lanted?
I'd think that this is something the Bureau would be interested in.
Absolutely. What do you want me to do?
Analyze that body.
Look, I don't know who's in that grave,
but you can bet your ass it's not a dead cocktail waitress named Nicky Johnson.
I'll have the remains transferred here.
You know, we should really help each other out more often.
While we believed, at the time of our report, it was accurate,
we acknowledge now it was premature.
I apologize sincerely for any pain my report may have caused
the Collins family during this extremely trying time.
Judy, though, at the same time, there has been a new development in this case.
As a matter of fact, the FBI only minutes ago released a statement
that Quinn Keeler, well-known in the Atlanta underground music community,
will be arraigned on conspiracy charges in the abduction of Sara Collins.
Though the FBI declined to reveal the specific evidence against Ms. Keeler,
sources describe it as substantial.
Officer, I'm Senator Collins.
My son was in an accident...
That's correct, sir.
Sir, Senator...
Max? Max.
Are you all right?
I'm fine.
Can you have this guy take these off of me now?
Why is he in handcuffs?
Sir, he's an unlicensed minor with a blood alcohol level twice the legal limit.
Dad, I just want to go home.
Excuse me.
I can assure you that my son will be held accountable,
but I'd appreciate it if you'd allow me to handle this...
Officer Duvall.
I'm sure you will.
Jeff, he's drunk and he stole your car.
Maybe you should let him handle this.
You want him to be arrested?
- I know that you think you're helping, but... - Dad.
I'm sorry I was stupid.
Let's go.
Marcy.
What are you doing?
I was just looking for my sweater. I keep my clothes in here.
Mom, what is this?
It's nothing.
Mom.
Sara had a child 12 years ago.
A little girl.
Why do you have the birth certificate?
I thought it was something your father should know about.
That's why you came back.
So you could mess things up with him and Sara.
I never showed it to him.
When Sara disappeared and I saw how devastated he was,
how much he loved her,
I changed my mind.
Just like that.
Causing your father more pain is the last thing that I want to do.
This is Sara's secret...
and he doesn't need to know right now.
I shudder to think that someone like Judy Nash
can dig up so much crap on our lives.
Thomas Jefferson said he'd rather have a free press than a standing army.
Really?
Something like that...
I forget.
Well, you know, Judy was right about one thing.
There is nothing incriminating about Rainer here.
I mean, the guy gets his oil changed at Quicki-Lube
every six months to the day.
He has season tickets to the Braves and...
Oh, look, he adopted a cat. That's nice.
Are you listening to me?
Yeah.
He adopted a cat.
What?
Rainer's wireless bill from eight months ago.
He dialed a number registered to Jeffrey Collins
nearly 20 times in one month.
So? They're buddies.
Maybe he was planning a grouse-hunting trip.
No, I didn't say he called Jeffrey Collins' phone.
I said he called a number registered to Jeffrey Collins.
I've called the senator a dozen times in the last week
and this... is not his phone number.
Hi, it's Marcy. You know the drill. Thanks.
Judge Rainer was calling the senator's daughter.
Does that mean what I think it means?
If they were having an affair,
that would explain why Jeffrey's turned against him.
You think?
The calls ended eight months ago,
but there was one final call from Rainer to Marcy...
...on the day he was nominated for the Supreme Court.
Maybe the judge needed some reassurance
that their little secret wouldn't become a national scandal.
When was the last time you talked to Wallace Rainer?
What?
W-Why do you want to know about Judge Rainer?
Just answer the question.
I'm sorry. What does this have to do with finding Sara?
Those are the judge's phone records.
He called you 18 times
in one month.
It must be some kind of billing error.
No, it's not.
Those are your phone records.
You called him 20 times in the same month.
We were seeing each other, okay?
It's over,
not that it's any of your business.
Marcy, does anyone else know about this?
Sara caught us.
She threatened to tell Dad unless I broke it off.
That's why you two were fighting.
She could have kept her mouth shut.
But Miss High and Mighty had to tell my father
that Wallace was sleeping with an underage girl.
She just didn't name names.
And that's why your father won't vote to confirm his old friend.
Are we done?
No, you still haven't told us the last time you spoke to Judge Rainer.
Eight months ago.
I told him I couldn't see him anymore.
I guess he didn't listen to you 'cause he called you again two months ago.
The day he was nominated.
I wonder what he wanted.
It was a mistake. He was trying to call my dad.
You talked to him for ten minutes.
Yeah, I did.
You're not going to tell my father about this.
Even if it was consensual, you were only 17...
If you say anything, I-I'll deny it.
- Marcy, we cannot... - What good will it do?
It won't bring Sara back. It'll only hurt people.
Kelton?
Agent Kelton, Jeffrey Collins.
Senator Collins.
Any progress tracing Sara's video feed?
Sir, my people are working on that 24/7.
Well, that's it?
I'm sorry, sir; that's all the information that I have for you atthis time.
Peter.
I swear to God that's Nicky.
Well, you're preaching to the choir.
Then why haven't you returned my calls?
I've been busy trying to salvage my reputation.
Yeah, well, what about mine?
You convinced me to go on TV and tell the world about Nicky
and then you apologize for the story?
You made me look like a fool.
Sorry.
Interview me again.
Yeah, I'll convince people I'm telling the truth.
Sure. I'll go on-air tonight with my exclusive interview
with the Gloucester fisherman who claims he slept with Sara Collins
who wasn't really Sara Collins. I'm going to call my editor.
Sweetie, the truth isn't the truth unless you can prove it.
Well... thanks for going the extra mile.
Peter, wait.
Look, I'm sorry.
There might be something we can do.
Don't jerk me around.
Sara Collins' parents, the Jeromes-- they're in town.
Why haven't you put them on the air?
They won't talk to the press.
But they might talk to you.
Shouldn't you be packing?
I was just thinking the same thing about you.
Well, you've only got a day and half before the vote.
There's plenty of time.
You really don't want to take the red-eye
and walk straight into a public hearing.
Those TV cameras are brutal.
It's only a two-hour flight.
I hope you're planning to do the right thing.
Excuse me?
Confirm Wallace Rainer and be done with it.
Why do you suddenly care about my vote?
I care about you.
Your rivals are foaming at the mouth wondering what dirty little secret
is keeping you from supporting your lifelong friend.
That's not my problem.
The hell it isn't.
Holding up this vote, Jeffrey, is political suicide.
Is that really what you're worried about?
My career?
I'm worried about my family.
Max and Marcy may be your children, but this is not your family.
I never meant to hurt you.
Of course you did.
Look, you're out of my life now, Jessica.
I don't know what you think you're doing by moving back here,
but Sara's coming home soon and you'll be gone.
You're blowing this way out of proportion.
Forgive me, but I had the crazy idea
that a 14-year-old getting bombed out of his mind
and driving his father's car into a telephone pole
was a pretty big deal.
I'm handling it.
Dad...
It's the stupidest thing I've ever done.
It'll never happen again.
All right.
You satisfied?
Look, I have worked with troubled kids before, okay...
- Give me a break. - Just have a look at this.
He needs to be in rehab.
I'm not sending him off to some boot camp.
It's not like that, okay.
It's a place where Max can get some help.
I'm right here!
Making one stupid mistake does not make my son an alcoholic.
Look, Max is a great kid, okay,
but you're not here all the time
and you don't see everything that goes on.
The phone calls from school--
J.T. handles it.
What are you talking about?
It's nothing, Dad.
Look, he could've killed someone.
Jeffrey, he could've killed himself.
Agent Kelton.
Rachel, this is Agent Mei Lin.
Professor Lawson, University of Georgia.
- Nice to meet you. - Pleasure.
Come on back.
Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner. I was consulting with the Bureau
in an arson case.
Interesting.
Masonic letters.
We found these in the palm of the suspect.
Well, this is the sword and the trowel,
symbol of Cryptic Masonry.
This is the cross and the crown
which represents the Knights Templar,
the predecessors of modern Masons.
These came from a Civil War graveyard
we came across during our investigation.
Is this why you had me come down here?
You think the Freemasons kidnapped Sara Collins?
Actually, that... is the real reason I called you in.
We got the Masonic symbology right off,
but it just doesn't seem to fit in with the other letters.
Now we know that the upside-down "G" is quite common in Masonic lore,
but we can't seem to find this stylized version in any text.
Well, I've never seen anything like it.
Could be of Medieval or Celtic derivation.
There are dozens of Masonic sects,
each with their own vocabulary of symbols and sigils.
I'm sorry. That's all I can... tell you.
Guys, Zach's got something on the feed.
- Just one moment. - Sure.
Let's hear it.
Well, I've been broadcasting a series of frequencies
through the wireless transceiver in Quinn Keeler's laptop
- and I've been randomly modul... - Zach.
Right. We're tracking the signal.
The station must still be active on the other end.
As soon as we hit the right frequency, we establish an uplink.
How long till you can give us a location?
Ten minutes.
- Get the tac team together. - I'll contact you from the van.
All right, set up a perimeter and search it.
Alpha Team, set up a perimeter...
I want a bird in the air looking for heat signatures.
Talk to me, Zach.
You tell me. You're standing right on top of the signal.
What do you see?
Nothing.
You've sent us to an empty lot.
Come on, Sara's feed is live,
and it's coming from your exact location.
I see nothing.
The chopper's got nothing on IR but us.
We got jack here. Somebody talk to me.
No, we've got a lock. It can't be more than 50 yards from where you're standing.
Yeah, and I'm telling you, I'm standing in the middle of an empty field.
Sara's feed is coming from your location.
Well, could they be bouncing it off somewhere else?
I guess so, but they need a transmitter out there.
Stand by.
Okay, what am I looking at?
All right, pan around a little.
It all looks pretty standard.
We've got commercial cell phone transceivers...
a big old cable TV transmitter...
Whoa, whoa, whoa, go back!
Right there.
Stop.
What do you see?
That black box.
- The black box. - I got it.
Zoom in.
What do you see?
You see any markings on it? A manufacturer's imprint,
serial number, anything like that?
No, there's nothing.
What is it?
I don't know.
But it sure as hell doesn't belong out there.
Nice moves.
Sorry.
I have to fly to Washington tomorrow night.
For the Rainer vote.
You're gonna confirm him?
You know a reason why I shouldn't?
He's a creep.
A creep?
Forget it.
This will all be over soon, Max, I promise.
Dad?
The night Sara disappeared...
...I just keep thinking that I could've done something.
Don't ever think that.
None of us could've seen this coming.
Yeah.
Max...
How are you?
Um... good.
Really, Dad, I'm great.
I guess I have you to thank.
Me?
I didn't exactly make it easy for you.
I hadn't really noticed.
I, uh...
I hated you at first for trying to take my mom's place,
and I really hated you for sending me here.
Anyway...
thanks.
- Let's go home. - Yeah.
Um, I have to say good-bye to somebody real quick.
- My counselor. - Sure.
I'll be right back.
Thank you.
Hey.
Thanks for everything, Quinn.
Forget it.
It's what I'm here for.
It's basically a cell phone transceiver.
It's not even a particularly trick one.
And it was relaying a feed of Sara Collins back to Quinn's laptop?
Exactly.
It's part of a network.
There are thousands of them piggybacked on cell towers across the Southeast.
There's no telling where they originated.
She could be anywhere.
So, you're telling me that these kidnappers built
their own private cell phone network?
No. We built it for them.
Serial numbers on these components trace back
to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
FEMA kidnapped Sara Collins?
The network's part of an emergency notification system
that was put in place about a decade ago.
It was supposed to be used in case of a national disaster.
The kidnappers hacked into the system.
They've been using this as their own personal phone company.
Until Quinn Keeler told them to pull the plug.
Where's Agent Kelton?
He's a little busy today.
So he dumped me off on you.
Agent Kelton called in a few favors
and got your Jane Doe from Gloucester.
What's this?
We sent the skull to a forensic anthropologist
who reconstructed the face.
Now, since the skull doesn't determine eye or hair color,
we had the artist match it to Sara's.
The bone structure's nothing alike.
Your Jane Doe doesn't resemble Sara Collins.
I knew it.
That fisherman was a fraud.
Uh, look, if you've got what you needed...
I'm all good.
Please thank Agent Kelton for me.
- Hi. - Hi.
You feeling all right?
Yeah.
Just a little tired.
Max said the FBI called you in.
What did they want to talk about?
More of the usual.
Anyone unusual come around the house in the last six months?
Did Sara mention any new friends?
How many times can they ask the same questions?
That's what I told them.
You know, when Sara gets back,
she's going to be very excited about your baby.
Oh, we've been trying, but...
I know.
Dad...
Who'd have thought she'd be a grandmother before a mother?
Step-grandmother.
Yeah.
Dad?
There's something you should...
What?
Forget it.
Well, knowing Sara, she's going to want to throw you a baby shower.
I hope you'll let her.
Yes?
My name's Peter Manning.
I'd like to talk to you about your daughter.
- You were on the news. - That's right.
I knew Sara 12 years ago back when she lived in Gloucester.
We don't have anything to say to you.
You know she disappeared before. Why won't you talk about it?
You heard my wife. We've got nothing to say to you.
Look, I care about Sara. Tell me why she ran away back then.
Get out of here. And stop spreading lies about our daughter.
Tell me why she pretended to be Nicky Johnson.
Dad, is everything okay?
Just get back in the room, Becca.
Is that Nicky's daughter?
- She's our daughter! - How old is she?
You come back here again, I'll call the police.
What are you doing?
I've been going over this frame by frame.
Check it out.
You see that?
It's nothing, just glitch in the feed.
Watch it again.
Zach says the video's interlaced.
You get those kind of artifacts all the time.
All right, let me single-frame it.
Right there.
On the wall behind her.
Do you think video glitches make shadows?
Good catch.
Shoot it over to digital evidence.
I'll page Zach.
I don't understand what you want me to do with this.
We make Tiersa Adams and that entire network look like amateurs.
And how do we do that?
We put it on the air. "Can anyone identify this woman?"
We can prove that she's not Nicky Johnson.
Judy...
Somebody went to a lot of trouble to kill my story, to embarrass me.
You put the photo on the air, the story becomes
Judy Nash versus Tiersa Adams.
I'm interested in Sara Collins.
- Bob, just... - Judy, you got a great story.
A story any reporter would kill for.
Now get out there and cover it.
Someone taking pictures?
Why? They've got video.
Wait. Roll it back.
Watch her face.
Flash.
Followed by her reaction.
Bright flash followed by a loud noise.
Thunder.
It's a lightning flash.
Get me the weather satellite data for yesterday at 16:04.
- It was clear as a bell yesterday. - Yeah, in Atlanta.
But that feed could have been bounced off any of the cell towers
those black boxes were mounted to.
So we find the lightning strike, we get closer to Sara.
Weather satellite images coming up.
16:04 yesterday.
Okay. Right there-- thunderstorms.
These are lightning flashes.
Overlay the map of the black box towers.
On it.
There!
That's where the feed originated from.
Stone Mountain.
- I need a chopper. - Go.
Judy Nash has just returned from the vigil at Senator Collins' estate.
She joins us here in the studio with more on what she's learned today.
Judy?
Well, Jeff, it's been another emotional day of waiting for the Collins family.
Despite news that the FBI had apprehended a second suspect yesterday,
33-year-old Atlanta resident Quinn Keeler,
there appears to have been no further movement in the investigation.
Senator Collins released a brief statement,
announcing that he plans to be in Washington on Monday
for the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court nominee Wallace Rainer.
And inside sources say the Senator will support
the nomination of a longtime friend.
As for the fate of Sara Collins,
the FBI will only say that they continue to sift through
a "significant and growing" body of evidence.
According to the FBI's public information office,
the hotline has received over 5,000 tips.
Sadly, the one tip that Sara's family has been praying for,
the one that will lead to her safe return,
has failed to materialize.
Okay, Judy. Thanks very much.
We'll have a complete wrap-up of today's top headlines,
including any breaking developments in the Sara Collins case
at the top of the hour.
We're clear.
All right, remember:
this is a hostage rescue.
Double-check your targets.
FBI! FBI!
- FBI! - Agent Kelton?
Hold it!
Oh, my God.
Transcript: Raceman Subtitles: Willow's Team www.forom.com