The BEST episodes of Without a Trace

Every episode of Without a Trace ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Without a Trace!

Without a Trace is a fast-paced procedural drama about the Missing Persons Squad of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The sole responsibility of the special task force is to find missing persons by applying advanced psychological profiling techniques to peel back the layers of the victims' lives and trace their whereabouts in an effort to discover whether they have been abducted, been murdered, committed suicide or simply run away. The team reconstructs a "Day of Disappearance" timeline that details every minute of the 24 hours prior to the disappearance, following one simple rule: learn who the victim is in order to learn where the victim is. Senior agent Jack Malone heads the dedicated team that knows too well that every second counts when someone vanishes.

Last Updated: 11/7/2024Network: CBSStatus: Ended
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Fall Out (2)
star
8.72
113 votes

#1 - Fall Out (2)

Season 1 - Episode 23 - Aired 5/15/2003

When the team tries to plot a strategy after they find out that Samantha has been shot and that she might be critically injured in the hostage crisis situation. Jack makes a deal with Barry so that Sam can get help and Jack goes in there and takes Sam's place.

Directors: Paul Holahan
Watch Now:Amazon
Legacy
star
8.42
100 votes

#2 - Legacy

Season 2 - Episode 18 - Aired 3/11/2004

The team searches for a man who goes missing after leaving his wife's hair salon to deposit the day's earnings following an argument with her. Meanwhile, Danny resists getting pulled back into the life of his convict brother who is up for parole, and Martin's impending firearms qualifications test dredges up unsettling memories for him.

Directors: Tim Matheson
Watch Now:Amazon
Bait
star
8.41
136 votes

#3 - Bait

Season 2 - Episode 24 - Aired 5/20/2004

The team searches for a mother and her two children, who are last seen boarding a yacht which is later found adrift in New York's Harbor with only its dead captain aboard. Meanwhile, Malone gets ready to leave the team and move with his family to Chicago.

Watch Now:Amazon
Volcano
star
8.40
108 votes

#4 - Volcano

Season 3 - Episode 13 - Aired 2/3/2005

When Ian Norville disappears on a field trip to a museum in Manhattan, the team gets involved, but it isn't long before Jack turns his suspicion to his father, Daniel, who soon admits that he didn't take the necessary precautions with his son, who happens to be autistic.

Writer: Greg Walker
Watch Now:Amazon
Silent Partner
star
8.34
180 votes

#5 - Silent Partner

Season 1 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/31/2002

The team investigate the disappearance of the VP (Erich Anderson) of an investment-banking firm who vanished at a San Diego airport and left behind her two empty suitcases behind in the airport.

Directors: Randy Zisk
Writer: Greg Walker
Watch Now:Amazon
Little Big Man
star
8.32
178 votes

#6 - Little Big Man

Season 1 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/14/2002

Jack and the team search for teenager William Hope, who goes missing in a very bad neighborhood after a confrontation with a local bully. Considered a good kid, William was living in a foster home after 18 months on the street and seemed destined for a better life when he disappeared. The squad discovers that his older brother Aaron, recently released from juvenile hall, visited William, despite the fact that his foster family forbade Aaron from being in their home. Jack and the others then learn that William was seen getting into a car with Aaron immediately prior to disappearing, and they fear that the good kid may have gone bad.

Directors: Paul Holahan
Watch Now:Amazon
Rise and Fall
star
8.30
143 votes

#7 - Rise and Fall

Season 7 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/28/2008

The team must shift their attention from a case they are working on and hand it over to Martin, after a child is reported to have been kidnapped at a mall.

Writer: David Amann
Watch Now:Amazon
Chameleon
star
8.29
224 votes

#8 - Chameleon

Season 7 - Episode 15 - Aired 2/10/2009

The team uncovers a history of deception as they search for a man posing as a college student vanishes.

Directors: Eric Close
Watch Now:Amazon
Fall Out (1)
star
8.29
172 votes

#9 - Fall Out (1)

Season 1 - Episode 22 - Aired 5/8/2003

With the aftershocks of Sept. 11 and man named Barry , who lost his wife that day and then his job soon after. The man lashes out at her former boss an employment-agency owner. Blaming her for his wife's death and his own failure to find a job, Barry kidnaps the woman for ransom.Then he demands the money be exchanged at a bookstore, but when the cash is delivers Berry is provoked and takes the store's patrons hostage. Among them is Samantha,and given Jack's affection for her complicates the negotiations.

Directors: Kevin Hooks
Watch Now:Amazon
Hang On to Me
star
8.26
221 votes

#10 - Hang On to Me

Season 1 - Episode 13 - Aired 1/30/2003

Chet Collins has been searching for his son since the boy was kidnapped four years earlier on a camping trip, and is the one case that Jack has never been able to forget. When Chet disappears, leaving behind only his wedding ring and the mountains of debt he had accumulated in his search, Jack will go to any lengths to find Collins and save him from himself.

Writer: Ed Redlich
Watch Now:Amazon
Victory for Humanity
star
8.23
180 votes

#11 - Victory for Humanity

Season 1 - Episode 19 - Aired 4/10/2003

They search for a young high-school teacher who disappeared after a night class in the Bronx, turning up contradictory information about the subject.

Watch Now:Amazon
Suspect
star
8.21
204 votes

#12 - Suspect

Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/24/2002

A 17-year-old vanishes from his private boarding school campus.In which he is last seen by the charismatic headmaster of the private boarding school that he attends .

Directors: Peter Markle
Watch Now:Amazon
Believe Me
star
8.19
167 votes

#13 - Believe Me

Season 7 - Episode 12 - Aired 1/13/2009

The team searches for a bar owner who goes missing shortly after his statue of St. Theresa cries. Brian's visit takes a new turn.

Directors: Paul McCrane
Watch Now:Amazon
True/False
star
8.18
171 votes

#14 - True/False

Season 7 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/21/2008

The team discovers a long festering secret which sets off a deadly chain of events when they investigate the disappearance of the teenage son of a Secret Service man.

Directors: Martha Mitchell
Watch Now:Amazon
Push Comes to Shove
star
8.17
166 votes

#15 - Push Comes to Shove

Season 7 - Episode 9 - Aired 12/2/2008

The team must decide whether or not a doctor's past is a factor in her disappearance.

Watch Now:Amazon
Friends and Neighbors
star
8.17
169 votes

#16 - Friends and Neighbors

Season 7 - Episode 14 - Aired 2/3/2009

The team tries to hunt down the person who kidnapped two neighbors from a suburban home. The case takes a surprising turn when the agents discover the identity of the abductor.

Writer: Amanda Segel
Watch Now:Amazon
Heartbeats
star
8.16
221 votes

#17 - Heartbeats

Season 7 - Episode 19 - Aired 4/7/2009

The suspect list keeps growing as the team investigates the disappearance of a Russian matchmaker.

Directors: Martha Mitchell
Writer: Tom Donaghy
Watch Now:Amazon
He Saw, She Saw
star
8.15
223 votes

#18 - He Saw, She Saw

Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/10/2002

Four different witnesses claim that a woman was abducted from a mall parking lot while her husband was standing just yards away with his back turned to her.

Directors: Rachel Talalay
Writer: Jan Nash
Watch Now:Amazon
Two Families
star
8.13
131 votes

#19 - Two Families

Season 2 - Episode 21 - Aired 4/29/2004

When a father who goes missing while trying to prove that his son a death-row inmate who is scheduled to die in two days is innocence, The past 11 years of the missing Mans life have been devoted to proving that his son, was wrongly convicted of killing a young married couple in front of their daughter during a convenience story robbery. While the team does not rule out that the despondent man could have brought harm upon himself, the team members find themselves wondering if the man is right about his son innocence.

Writer: Ed Redlich
Watch Now:Amazon
There Goes the Bride
star
8.13
182 votes

#20 - There Goes the Bride

Season 1 - Episode 15 - Aired 2/20/2003

A bride disappears at her own wedding and suspicions of kidnapping. Meanwhile, the team explores the relationship between the newlyweds, who were lived together for a little while.

Directors: Deran Sarafian
Writer: Steven Kane
Watch Now:Amazon
The Line
star
8.13
135 votes

#21 - The Line

Season 2 - Episode 14 - Aired 2/5/2004

When a female ex-cop-turned-bounty-hunter is shot then goes missing the team must investigate her where about's

Writer: Greg Walker
Watch Now:Amazon
Light Years
star
8.12
134 votes

#22 - Light Years

Season 3 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/14/2004

This time, the team searches for a delusional appearing Sci-fi fanatic who disappeared from his appartment after ranting on about those "out to get him" (before peeling back the tinfoil covering his windows). Jack also has to deal with the consequences of his actions in the affair and how it affected the rest of the team.

Directors: Craig Zisk
Writer: Greg Walker
Watch Now:Amazon
No Mas
star
8.12
173 votes

#23 - No Mas

Season 1 - Episode 20 - Aired 4/24/2003

The team find themselves up against the ropes as multiple mysteries arise in the case of a boxer. Dante Jones disappears moments before a bout with a $500,000 purse that which could have made him a title contender. Jack suspects it's stunt, but Vivian, a Jones fan, can't believe that the charity-loving, straight-arrow fighter would go doewn that low road. The search goes in a new direction when his younger brother who he is always bailing out of trouble, vanishes. Then it's learned he has made 2 million dollers in the past five years,but he only has $6000 in his bank account.

Directors: Paul Holahan
Writer: Greg Walker
Watch Now:Amazon
Between the Cracks
star
8.10
229 votes

#24 - Between the Cracks

Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/17/2002

they investigate the disappearance of a 19-year-old model who left a half-packed suitcase on the bed in her apartment.

Directors: Steve Gormer
Writer: Ed Redlich
Watch Now:Amazon
Daylight
star
8.07
194 votes

#25 - Daylight

Season 7 - Episode 18 - Aired 3/31/2009

The team believes that the past of a missing psychologist's brother might have played a role in his disappearance. Martin's relationship with Kim takes a spicy turn.

Directors: Jeff T. Thomas
Watch Now:Amazon