The BEST episodes of The First 48: Missing Persons

Every episode of The First 48: Missing Persons ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of The First 48: Missing Persons!

THE FIRST 48: MISSING PERSONS is a new spin-off series from the network that brings viewers the hit series The First 48. For missing persons detectives, if they don’t find the person in the first 48 hours, their chances of finding them alive are cut in half. Based in the heart of one of the country's most colorful law-enforcement cities, the Chicago missing persons unit gets over 17,000 calls each year, and is one of the only police forces in the country that responds to every missing persons call immediately. The First 48: Missing Persons follows the elite, passionate, dedicated investigators who handle all missing persons and child abduction cases, men and women who are specially trained to deal with the nuances of their cases which often involve children. Their commitment to solving these cases is unmatched. The First 48: Missing Persons will follow a core group of detectives as they investigate two high-stakes cases per episode. This is the first time ever the Chicago Police have given a film crew unrestricted access to ongoing investigations.

Last Updated: 2/16/2024Network: A&EStatus: Ended
Share:
Deleted/Cruel Streets
star
7.94
16 votes

#1 - Deleted/Cruel Streets

Season 2 - Episode 4 - Aired 4/5/2012

Watch Now:Apple TV
Mother's Day / Somebody Knows
star
7.74
23 votes

#2 - Mother's Day / Somebody Knows

Season 1 - Episode 6 - Aired 7/7/2011

With Mother's Day approaching, Det. Bob Berent meets with another anguished family. The son and daughter of a 48-year-old Iraqi immigrant returned from work to find her gone. She has no ID and no money, and her children believe she may have delusions that she can return to Baghdad. Det. Nari Isakson joins a search that spans from forest preserves to O'Hare Airport. Meanwhile, Detectives Pam Childs and Joe Struck hit the streets in search of a 48-year-old woman. Her two grown daughters fear she is the victim of foul play. As Childs and Struck interview witnesses and possible suspects, they uncover startling new evidence: it's clear that someone knows something.

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
A History of Violence
star
7.70
23 votes

#3 - A History of Violence

Season 2 - Episode 1 - Aired 3/15/2012

In the second-season opener, a young mother and her babies vanish, and their disappearance may be linked to that of a second missing mother and child.

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
In the Wind
star
7.65
20 votes

#4 - In the Wind

Season 2 - Episode 3 - Aired 3/29/2012

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Desperate Measures/The Big City
star
7.45
20 votes

#5 - Desperate Measures/The Big City

Season 2 - Episode 2 - Aired 3/22/2012

Watch Now:Apple TV
Taken / Scorcher
star
7.28
57 votes

#6 - Taken / Scorcher

Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 6/23/2011

Detectives Pam Childs and Selles Morris search for a 14-year-old girl who has been snatched by a 19-year-old with possible gang connections. The hunt leads detectives to a hotel district at the edge of town, through gang territory and across the state. Meanwhile, on the hottest day of the year, Detective Pat Riley searches for a missing 66-year-old man with serious neurological problems. Riley fears the man may be armed. The clock ticks as the thermometer tops 100 degrees. Riley must find the missing man before he succumbs to the heat--or gets into real trouble.

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
The Graduate
star
7.18
49 votes

#7 - The Graduate

Season 1 - Episode 7 - Aired 7/15/2011

Every available detective hits the streets when a talented 30-year-old vanishes on his bicycle, just weeks after earning his second Masters degree. Detectives Jim Corcoran and Beth Svec must find out whether the missing man could have died in an accident... or was kidnapped by an old acquaintance. Detectives Selles Morris and Pam Childs join the search as the team sorts through misinformation and false leads. They must untangle the missing man's past to uncover what really happened to him.

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Worried Sick / Silent Night
star
7.18
60 votes

#8 - Worried Sick / Silent Night

Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired 6/30/2011

Detectives Selles Morris, Judy Rolston, and Jamie Duignan are on a frantic search for a missing 17-year-old girl and her 2-year-old baby... and every minute counts. The baby is epileptic and without her daily medication she could suffer a fatal seizure. Meanwhile, Detectives Nari Isaakson and Jose Diaz race through some of the city's toughest neighborhoods looking for an 86-year-old man who vanished on the way to a Christmas party. He suffers from Parkinson's disease and dementia. With a blizzard barreling toward Chicago, detectives have only a few hours to find him.

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
3:10 to Yuma/Harm's Way
star
7.00
1 votes

#9 - 3:10 to Yuma/Harm's Way

Season 2 - Episode 7 - Aired 1/31/2013

A man reports that his missing girlfriend left him an ominous phone call; a Chicago teenager falls under the influence of a gang member considered to be armed and dangerous.

Watch Now:Apple TV
The Good Student / Left in Danger / Lady on a Bridge
star
6.90
88 votes

#10 - The Good Student / Left in Danger / Lady on a Bridge

Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired 6/2/2011

Detectives Selles Morris, Laura Skrip and Jim Corcoran team up to search for a straight "A" college student. They uncover surveillance footage that shows the 19-year-old sophomore walking toward the lakefront, then disappearing. Their around-the-clock search comes to a shocking conclusion. Then, Detectives Morris and Skrip pull double duty: Morris hunts down an alleged gang member who vanished after a drug deal goes bad, putting his own family in danger. Skrip has just minutes to save the life of a woman who threatens to jump from a bridge.

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Critical Care
star
6.73
60 votes

#11 - Critical Care

Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 6/9/2011

When a caretaker reports her 63-year-old cancer patient missing, Detectives Ayanna Corbin and Mike Cochran learn the woman has left behind a 15-year-old son. Detectives sift through false sightings, deceitful witnesses and a missing mattress.

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Tangled Web / Street Justice
star
6.65
68 votes

#12 - Tangled Web / Street Justice

Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 6/16/2011

Detectives Laura Skrip and Joe Struck hunt for a man after his family receives a threat to his life. They must sort through the missing man's troubled family situation and possible drug connections. Next, during a summer of gang violence on Chicago's streets, Detectives Mario Gonzalez and Hector Crespo search for a teenager with a rare sleep disorder. He vanished after getting into a fight with a group of boys. Detectives race to find him before he becomes another casualty.

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
The Good Mother
star
6.50
2 votes

#13 - The Good Mother

Season 2 - Episode 8 - Aired 2/7/2013

Detectives search for an elderly woman who vanished after returning from a doctor's appointment, with the suspicion that the use of pain medication may have contributed to her disappearance.

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Lost Anniversary/Checked Out
star
0.00
0 votes

#14 - Lost Anniversary/Checked Out

Season 2 - Episode 5 - Aired 1/17/2013

Barbara Naklicki holds off a full two days before reporting the disappearance of her husband, Ed. The first clue is a dire one: Ed's work van has been found in a forest preserve on the city's edge. Next, Detective Bob Berent gets a strange phone call from a hotel on Michigan Avenue, Chicago's main shopping drag. The hotel reports a guest took a room three nights ago--and vanished.

Watch Now:Apple TV
Family Matters
star
0.00
0 votes

#15 - Family Matters

Season 2 - Episode 6 - Aired 1/24/2013

Police detectives investigate the subculture of Chicago's black gay males when a young man leaves a disturbing voice mail message and then goes missing.

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV