Original subtitles

(dramatic music)

Downloaded from YTS.MX

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(light music)

- Honey?

(glasses clinking)

(birds chirping)

(wind chime clanging)

(engine rumbling)

(car door thudding)

- Morning, Don.

- Morning, Frank.

You're up mighty early.

How is she?

- Well, she's a lot better than I would be.

- A little girl's gone missing.

Can I see her?

- [Frank] She hasn't slept in a week.

- I need her, Frank.

- [Rachel] You hear anything, Don?

- No.

- It's only 8:00 AM and you're sweating already.

- Hell, I got some trouble down

in Cactus Springs Campground.

A little girl's disappeared.

- Rachel, you don't have to do this.

- How little?

- Nine.

- How long?

- Her parents woke up about six, she was missing.

Everyone at the campground has been looking

for ever since, we can't find a sign of her.

- You call Elkwood County?

- Yeah, they got a search out of their own.

- Copper Lake?

- They can't get anybody down here for four or five hours.

Prediction's 96, 97 degrees.

The little girl's name is Mandy.

Mandy Ellis.

Her mother and her sister are awaiting at campsite 28.

(light music)

- I better go get changed.

- Rachel, I don't think you should do this,

and I don't think you're in any shape to go out there.

- Not doing anyone any good here.

- That's not the point.

- That is the point, Frank.

Always has been.

If I think I'm screwing up I'll bring myself in.

(engine rumbling)

(light dramatic music)

- [Frank] I'll be doing dispatch.

I'll make sure any calls get patched through.

- Thank you.

(cabinet squeaking)

You should leave the door unlocked

in case they get home before I do.

- Okay.

- I gotta go, Frank.

(door thudding)

- I'll call the DA's office to make sure

they have a number at search base.

I'll see you soon.

(engine rumbling)

(light music)

Rachel, this is Frank.

- I'm here. Frank.

- [Frank] Rachel, I got an investigator on the line

from the DA's office, I'm gonna patch her through.

Go ahead.

- [Woman] Rachel Harrison?

- Yes?

- Hi, this is Coreen Davis.

I'm an investigator with the DA's Child Abduction Unit

and I have just been assigned to your case.

- Why now?

- Well, your children have been gone for a week

and I think it's time we found them.

All modesty aside, I'm the best.

How long were you married to this loser?

- Six years.

- Did he abuse you?

- Yeah.

- Do you have any reason at all

to think that he might actually kill someone?

- I don't know.

People have died.

- All right, we're gonna nail this bastard

and we're gonna get your children back.

I'll be in touch.

- I just wanna hold them again.

(light dramatic music)

The process of getting lost seems lengthy

and complex on the surface,

but it is quite often nothing of the sort.

Two steps off the trail, and then two more,

a wash that looks like a trail,

a trail that looks like a creek bed,

and you can be just as lost as if somebody

had dumped you on the moon.

The tracker's job is define those first two steps,

that first mistake, that disastrous detour.

That's the place the finding begins.

But tracking one's life? I suppose it's the same.

I suppose you have to go back to the very beginning

before you were lost.

We call that the point last seen.

Are you Mrs. Ellis?

Rachel Harrison.

- Are you gonna find Mandy?

- Yes we are.

If you could just have a seat at that little table

while I cordon off the area,

I'll be right with you.

Ladies, if I could just ask you to step aside.

- Oh, sure. - I'm sorry.

(muffled talking) (light music)

- But, why?

- I will be right with you.

(woman sighs)

- She's not here.

We've looked for hours.

- Yes, I know that, ma'am,

but she was here for two days

and that means she left a print somewhere.

Do you know what she had on her feet?

- Just tennies, just tennis shoes,

you know, from the discount store.

- Old or new?

- We bought them brand new for the trip.

- And what size were they?

- I don't know.

You know, the sizing is so crazy now.

She must've tried on dozens.

- Size three.

- Lisa, you don't really know that.

- I saw it on the bottom of her shoe

when she was kicking me.

- Did you see anything else on the bottoms?

Something that would help me know that the footprint

that I find is hers.

- Like these straight lines?

- [Rachel] Mhm, like those.

- She didn't have 'em,

she only had diamonds with squiggles.

Mine are much more better tennies.

- Did you see anything else?

- Gum, gum, she stepped in gum.

- Oh, that's a big help.

Well, I see a lot of your straight lines.

Did you like to follow your sister?

- I just like to be with her.

- Yeah, my little girl is like that with her brother.

(somber music) (muffled talking)

- You find one?

(light dramatic music)

- This was made this morning.

- How do you know?

- This flower here that she stepped on,

it's just begun to dry.

- Mandy would never step on a flower.

- She wouldn't even step on ants.

- Did she have a flashlight?

- [Mom] Yes.

- Did she take it?

- It's missing!

- So, she left before dawn.

She stepped on this flower because she didn't see it.

Okay, I'm gonna follow Mandy now.

There'll be other rangers and trackers

along in a few minutes.

If you could just stay put and show them what I've found,

that would be a big help.

- Shouldn't you take a picture?

(light music)

- Save it to show the others.

- I'm sorry for all the trouble.

- It's no trouble.

- Come on, sweetie.

(light dramatic music) (ground rustling)

- There's nothing magic or instinctive about tracking.

People tend to keep going about the speed

they have been going.

You establish their stride.

You can narrow down where their foot next has to fall.

All you need is a stick and patience and attention to detail

and a willingness to spend a lot of time in the dirt.

The dirt part was easy.

I grew up a tomboy on a small farm in Louisiana.

The patience part was harder.

I was born two months early and for a long time

I saw no reason to look back.

The attention to detail?

That quality was hammered into me.

(light dramatic music)

I put the lace on myself.

- Makes 'em look great.

That's good.

One thumb width exactly.

(eerie music)

(light dramatic music)

(dramatic music) Filth.

Come here, come here!

(light dramatic music)

You think you're safe now just

'cause I'm afraid of the dark?

Rachel, I'm just trying to teach you.

Isn't that what you wanted?

That's what you said.

Where are you gonna go, huh?

Your daddy said you make your bed, you lie in it.

Rachel?

Rachel.

(dog barking) (light dramatic music)

(door thudding)

(light dramatic music) (birds chirping)

(engine rumbling) - Tracker One to base.

- [Man] Go ahead, One.

- I've cordoned off campsite 28 and have tracks

isolated and marked all the way to the restroom.

I'm trying to restart them from here.

I found the girl's flashlight on the restroom floor,

but I have not touched it.

I don't know if she lost it or if there was a struggle.

- [Man] Oh, man.

- And Base, there are cars going in and out

of this campground left and right.

- I'm gonna shut the park down and send Dale up

in the Sheriff's chopper.

See what he can see.

- I'm heading down to do a perimeter cut on the campground.

- Copy.

Rachel, you okay?

- Perimeter cut shouldn't be done by one.

I could really do some help here.

- Yeah, well Jennings is sending two rangers,

ETA 45 minutes.

Base over.

- Tracker One, copy.

(engine rumbling)

(light dramatic music)

- Get out of the truck.

- Kevin, you said no trouble.

- This is no trouble, this is why we came.

So I could get rid of you and take John

and find a decent mother.

God-fearing, obedient mother!

I shoot you here, it'll go right through him.

(baby crying)

No need to say goodbye, he won't remember you.

Come on, come on!

You know those love poems I wrote

that made you fall in love with me?

I didn't even write them for you.

(gun banging) (woman screaming)

(baby crying)

You move again and I'll put a bullet in that boy

before you take a second step.

Come on, move.

Please move.

(Kevin scoffs)

You're never gonna get outta this place alive anyway!

(engine rumbling)

- [Don] Tracker one, it's Don.

- Come in, Don, it's tracker one.

- We got Bureau of Land Management on the north,

Elkwood Sheriff's on the south

checking all vehicles leaving.

Rach, you weren't here when that baby went missing,

that was my search.

We never did find her.

A piece of her skull turned up two years later.

Please tell me this little girl is still alive.

- I'm doing the perimeter.

It's gonna take time.

Cutting for sign is the hardest kind of tracking.

Going on nothing but the fact that if someone

is not where they were, they must have left it.

And if they left on foot, they had to leave tracks.

By circling the campground the theory goes,

I had to intersect Mandy's path

as she walked away from the campground.

The trouble is even an obvious print is hard to see

when you're coming at it from a 90 degree angle

and there's no guarantee a print is going to be obvious.

And I only get one chance.

I could walk a mile before I intersected those few lines

with a gum smudge.

And if I walked right by them, or if at that point,

she stepped on a rock and didn't leave a print at all

but only the slightest disturbance,

maybe scattered sand, maybe a dislodged pebble,

and I missed it, then from that point on,

I'd be walking away from her

and she'd be somewhere behind me gone.

Mandy!

And I had done that.

Once before I had missed seeing the right path,

and now it was too late to find it again.

(light dramatic music)

(wind whistling)

(engine rumbling)

(bugs chirping) (ground rustling)

Tracker one to base.

I've got fresh prints

above campsite seven and heading due north.

Tell her mom Mandy's here.

(light music) - Search base to head ranger.

- [Man] Go ahead, Frank.

- [Frank] I'm gonna need a fuel truck down here

for this chopper, can you send one in my direction?

- [Man] We'll get on it right away.

- I copy.

Base to Alan.

- [Alan] Go ahead, Base.

- Jerry and Fran should be at your location

any minute now to take over checking cars,

if you'll report back to base stat.

We got a landing zone to prepare.

- [Alan] I copy.

They're pulling up now and I'm on my way out.

This is Deep Creek Training Base.

We've got three platoons of ground troops

and transplant convoy.

Estimated arrival is 65 minutes.

Over and out.

(light music)

- I did leave Kevin finally.

He'd begun choking me into unconsciousness nightly.

After a month of that, I couldn't talk.

I could barely breathe my throat was so swollen.

And I decided if I was going to die,

I'd rather it be running than in silence

in a corner of my own house.

So I took the kids and ran

when Kevin left us alone for 10 minutes.

We made it to Montana where John and Ruthie learned

for the first time that other people didn't think

my getting potatoes too brown was reason for a beating.

For three weeks, for three wonderful weeks, we were free.

(cart rattling)

(muffled talking)

(kids giggling)

- Don't work too hard, now.

Room and board ain't worth that much.

- This isn't work.

- Well dang, those kids don't look

like they ever saw mud before.

- Their daddy liked us inside spic and span.

- Well here, I got something they should like.

Run and catch 'em, Ruthie.

Whoa!

(dramatic music)

Whoa!

- Ruthie!

Ruthie!

Johnny!

Come on.

Johnny, come on inside.

Come on, come with mama.

Come on.

(kids crying) (metal clanging)

Inside, get inside.

Get inside.

Don't say a word, honey, okay?

(phone clicking) (heavy breathing)

Officer, come on.

- Miss Harrison?

Name's Jamison, I'm a private investigator.

Wonder if I might talk to you for a minute.

- We talk, we talk with this here.

- That's agreeable.

Ma'am, your husband hired me to come here and find you.

He told me you'd been brainwashed,

that you run off with another man.

I've been driving with him for three days

and I know now that that man's dangerous, crazy.

I don't think he's gonna hurt you as long as I'm around,

but if he should come at you and I'm not in evidence,

you shoot him, ma'am.

You shoot him dead.

- [Rachel] The PI testified at the custody trial,

but in Missouri, deserting your husband

is considered a greater offense

than splattering your wife's blood around the kitchen.

The judge gave Kevin my kids.

For years I worked three jobs around the clock

to make enough money to fight him.

I fought and I fought, but Kevin was a charmer, oh yes.

And in the end I had nothing.

No custody, not even any visitation.

And on the day the decree became absolutely final,

when there was nowhere to turn, no more ways to try.

I came to the desert where he had once dumped me as he said,

"because here no one cares about the odd headless body."

I came to a place, that to my Pinewood's eyes looked like

hell fire and damnation brought to Earth,

because I couldn't bear thinking

about what he was doing to my babies.

I guess I came here to die.

- [Man] Chopper One to Tracker One.

- [Rachel] Come in, Chopper One.

- [Man] Got a couple of Copper Lakers up here for ya.

(sizzling) (engine rumbling)

There ya are.

Okay, there's a flat place below me.

Are you okay for me to set down there?

- Yeah, that'll be fine.

(engine rumbling)

- [Man] Good luck, guys!

- [Man 2] All right, thanks!

(door thudding)

(helicopter whirring)

- Ow, damn.

These things are high.

- [Rachel] Rachel.

- Jason.

- Skip, the rookie.

- It's my kid brother.

- Well, we appreciate you coming anyway.

- Hey, adrenaline's better than sex, right?

So where's the track?

- I just got a good one.

- That's a good textbook print.

Okay, see how she's got that marked there, right?

Here's the stride from heel to toe,

the mark of diamond, all the little stuff in there

which identify the print when you see it, okay.

You got that?

So, I'll take point.

- Sure.

Have you ever work this terrain before?

- Yeah, we had a weekend immersion in the Mojave.

- Jason practically runs mountain rescue up at Copper Lake.

- That's after rappelling down a cliff to rescue two

yo-yos out of a car after they rolled off a highway,

this should be easy.

- Easy but different.

Why don't you take flank just till you're settled in.

There'll be lots of time to switch off.

She's got a five hour jump on us.

Our eyes are gonna get tired.

- Speak for yourself.

I'm raring to go.

- Jason, Jason, you're on the track.

- I don't see a single footprint.

- You don't always get prints in this terrain.

Sometimes there's just breakage or shine on a rock.

Like here.

And there.

And there.

You see that?

(engine rumbling)

- You know, that chopper's gonna spot her

before we even get started.

- As long as she's found.

(light dramatic music)

(ground rustling)

(bird cawing)

(light dramatic music)

- [Jason] She's gonna be dead with all this screwing around.

- This is how it's done.

- Oh, right.

If you want your picture on the front page with a corpse.

- Do not speak of her like that.

You think you could do better?

- I know I could do better.

Here, here and there, and there.

It's easy!

See that?

- I don't see anything, Jason.

- That's why I'm taking point.

There should be prints here.

- Let Rachel keep the point.

- What point?

There's nothing here to see.

We've been looking at broken twigs and pebbles all day.

- We're gonna have to cut a perimeter.

- Around what!

All of this?

It'll take us hours.

- Well then we better get started.

- Oh yeah, yeah, that would be just your style.

Slogging around in this crap in a circle.

Admit it, you lost her.

You've been jerking us around here for hours.

- I have had just about enough from you.

You are wasting my time.

So I'm asking you to leave this search.

- Come on, Jason, let's go.

- Look, all I know is that I've successfully

completed over a dozen rescues this year

and you yahoos are famous for losing a three-year-old girl.

- That was a long time ago.

And since I became a tracker, we haven't lost anybody.

- Oh yeah?

That's not what I heard.

I'm going back to base.

Skip, you comin'?

- Yeah, I'm coming.

- You better go with him.

He might not find his way back.

- Might not be much of a loss.

I know you've got real troubles.

I just don't know how you leave them at home.

(light music)

(kid giggling)

(all cheering)

- [Don] Don to tracker one.

Don to tracker one.

(sniffling)

- Come in, Don.

- [Don] How's it going?

(Rachel sighs)

- Chopper, see anything?

- [Man] Chopper one to tracker one, nada.

You sure she's here?

- She was here, Don.

Mandy Ellis was here.

- [Don] Okay, that's enough for me.

I'll hold off the soldiers.

Just find her.

Over and out.

(light dramatic music)

- [Frank] Base to Tracker One.

- [Rachel] Come in, Base One.

- [Frank] Got some trackers here from Longpine.

- I sure could use them.

I got a perimeter cut on about three acres of rock

and we're losing light.

We gotta narrow down the search.

Put any trackers you got along the highway to do a cut.

If they don't see any of her tracks on the soft sand

along the shoulder, then we got our western edge.

- If she woulda gotten to the highway

don't you think someone would've seen her?

- Unless that somebody put her in the trunk of their car.

- Oh Lord.

- Send another team along the old mining road

that runs out of the campground.

Between that and the highway we've got a quarter

that's about a mile wide and I'm right in the middle.

- [Frank] Got it.

- If she's here she's scared now.

Tracker One, over.

- Base to One.

Base to One.

- [Rachel] Go ahead, Base.

- I have an incoming call from Coreen Davis.

- Patch her through.

- [Coreen] Rachel?

- I can hear you Coreen.

- We've made some progress.

Now, we know that he drove from the courthouse

to that takeout place on 26th.

But from there, apparently he went right

to the Costa Verde Airport

and then he flew to Vegas from there.

- And my kids?

Coreen, were my kids with him?

- Well, three tickets were used,

so I'm saying yes, but after that we cannot raise him.

Do you have any idea at all where he might've taken them?

(light music)

- The desert.

That's what he always said.

- [Coreen] Well, that's a lot of territory.

- Well, you got a point last scene.

I know a pretty good tracker.

- Right. That's just what he wants.

Anyway, who'd be out there for that little girl?

- Who's out there for my kids, Coreen?

- Me. Trust me, I know what I'm doing.

- Yeah, well, I get a sick feeling in my stomach

when I have to say things like that.

- Yeah, but you say it anyway, don't you?

- Yes.

- And you bring them back alive every time, don't you?

- Not every time.

Most times.

- So do I. keep the faith.

- Coreen, if you find a sign, I'm going this time.

I'm going. (whooshing)

(traffic humming)

- Hi.

Hun, I don't think he's gonna show.

He said noon, it's going on seven.

Rachel, don't shut me out of this, please.

- He said he was bringing me my kids.

- Come on, let me take you home.

You don't wanna miss it if he calls.

(light music)

- Kevin had won custody.

He had my kids, but he continued to torment me

even after I thought I had no more ways to feel pain.

And then I met Frank.

I think we both hoped that he could rescue me

from this nightmare.

Instead, I dragged him in.

(phone ringing)

Hello.

- [Kevin] Well, I got held up.

How about tomorrow?

- Kevin, I've been out there for three days

in a row missing work.

- You want your kids or not?

- Yes.

- Okay, here's what you're gonna do.

You're gonna go out to the desert.

You're gonna meet me alone out there,

show me that you trust me.

None of your ranger friends know, no one.

And believe me, I'll be able to see them coming.

You meet me alone and I'll let you have your kids.

- Where?

- A dirt road past Darby Dry Lake.

Just keep on it, I'll be waiting for you somewhere nice.

Say, four hours.

- Okay.

- Anyone comes with you, you'll never see your kids again.

You got it?

Bye.

(dramatic music)

(dial tone ringing)

- Tonight up near Darby.

- Okay.

I'm gonna go with you.

- No. (Frank sighs)

He said no.

- I don't care what he says.

I know this country, he doesn't.

- Oh, he knows.

(phone ringing)

(light dramatic music)

- Hello.

- [Woman] You don't know me, but I know what your children

say about you, and I had to warn you.

He calls you a whore, but he calls me the same thing.

- Who is this?

- It doesn't matter.

I've got to try and get away from him.

God help me.

And I'm sorry about what happened with your children.

Whatever you do, don't meet him alone in the desert.

Because you'll all die horribly.

Oh god, horribly.

Please just don't go, okay?

(dial tone ringing)

- We should call the police, Rachel.

- It wouldn't make a difference.

The police can't stop him.

- Well, I'm not letting you go out there alone.

- It's not your decision.

He said that if I don't go I will never see them again.

- If you do he's gonna kill 'em right

in front of your eyes, Rachel.

It's you that he wants and he's gonna keep them alive

as long as it takes to get you.

Sweetie, their best chance is for you to stay away.

(Rachel sniffles)

(light dramatic music)

(phone ringing)

- Where are you?

- I will not meet you alone.

- Then your kids will always know

you didn't love them or want them.

Isn't that right, kids?

(muffled talking) - Mommy!

- You got that? Bye!

(phone thudding) (dial tone ringing)

(crickets chirping)

(bugs trilling)

(heavy breathing)

- Oh, Mandy.

Tracker One to Base.

- [Frank] Go ahead, One.

- I got a track.

She has changed direction and is now heading

well into the mountains.

You got anybody on that mining road?

- [Man] Tracker Team Three to Tracker One,

we're on the mining road.

We've done about a quarter mile so far.

- Be aware that the gum wad on her right sole

is wearing down rapidly and might not be there

by the time you find a track.

You copy that, Search Base?

- [Man] Okay, Base out.

(light music)

(leaves rustling)

(Frank sighs)

- [Frank] Base to One.

- Come in, Base.

- Rachel, I'm pulling you in.

I want you to get somewhere that chopper can find you.

- No, Frank, I'm staying out.

It's the only way I can make up time.

- Listen, you've been out there for almost 14 hours.

You need some rest.

- Frank, don't make me come in.

- Okay, but tell me where you are exactly.

- I'm just above Coyote Well.

Not too far from the old mining road

tracker team three is cutting.

- Got it.

Team two finished the highway,

so I've turned them onto the fire road three.

- That's good, that gives us a northern edge

on the search field.

- How do you think she's holding up?

- I don't know.

She's still stopping to look at birds.

- Get some rest.

Goodnight, Rach.

(light music)

(Rachel sighs)

(owl hooting)

(crickets chirping)

(dog howling)

- Tracker One to Base.

Frank, do you copy?

- Sorry, Rachel. Frank's gone to a meeting at HQ.

This is Rita, what can I do for you?

- Better tell teams two and three that our little girl

has crossed the mining road and has moved outside

of our perimeter.

- [Man] Tracker One, this is Three.

What do you want us to do?

- We gotta build a new box.

And Rita, could you get to headquarters and tell them

that we need more trackers?

Temperature's topped 100 today.

She's gotta be fried to a crisp.

Now it's cold and we have to worry about hypothermia.

- I'll run right over, hun.

(Rachel sighs)

(light music)

(ground rustling)

(owls hooting)

- Rachel?

Rachel, they've arrested him.

The Missouri police found the house that he was staying in.

They were very careful.

They didn't want to rush him,

give him a chance to hurt the children.

They just waited till he came out and then they nabbed him.

- And were my kids with him?

- Kids weren't there.

(dramatic music)

(heavy breathing)

Rachel, is anyone with you?

- My kids are with me.

My kids are with me, my kids are with me.

(Rachel sobbing)

- Rachel, don't give up hope. Okay?

Now, the police are questioning him,

and whenever they find out, I will let you know.

(light dramatic music)

Call me if you need me. I'll be here all night.

Please call me.

(Rachel sobbing)

- [Man] Base, this is tracker team two.

Did the child have any food or water?

- [Rita] None that we know of.

- [Man] How long you figure she's been walking?

- [Rita] 13, 14 hours.

- [Man] Why hasn't she just dropped?

- Because it's so hard to accept there's no way home.

(light music)

(birds cawing)

The desert doesn't heal the pain of losing one's children,

or even numb it, but the desert just doesn't care.

And so you keep walking.

Your terror passes for courage

and somehow in the midst of it

you realize that you are surviving.

And then after that, you wonder why.

Tracker One to Base.

- [Rita] Come in, Rachel.

- Rita, any word from Elkwood?

She's headed right up Quatro Summit.

- Elkwood says their search is narrowing down.

They hope to have at least six trackers

on their way to us by lunchtime.

- (scoffs) Lunchtime?

She'll be dead by lunchtime.

(heavy breathing)

Mandy?

Mandy?

Tracker One to Base.

- [Rita] Come in, One.

- I found the place where she slept last night.

- [Rita] Way to go.

- She wouldn't have left before first light

so I can't be more than three hours behind her.

But Rita, can you reach her family for me?

(tapping)

- They're right outside.

- Good. Can you ask them a question?

Did she have a Barbie with her?

- Oh my God.

- Rachel, it's Frank. What's up?

- There are all these tracks around where she was lying.

- Okay.

If she has her Barbie, then she has to have her day pack.

There was food in that and water.

- How much water?

- [Mom] A whole big bottle.

- What size bottle?

- Um, like, that. What is that?

24 ounces.

- How about food?

- She had those cheese and cracker packets

and there were three crackers

and some of that cheese food.

That should help, don't you think?

- Everything's helpful.

She's still playing with her Barbie.

(Mom sighs)

- You're gonna find her, aren't you?

She's been out there a long time.

All alone.

- It's all right.

- Yes, we are.

We're gonna find her.

(Rachel sighs)

I could have told her the truth.

A human needs a gallon of water a day in this weather.

That 24 ounces was long gone.

Who was I protecting? Her or me?

I was on my hands and knees tracking a Barbie,

but this Barbie was smart and tough.

She realized she could follow her own prints backwards.

Barbie did it, and then suddenly Mandy realized

she could do the same thing.

Excited, Mandy jumped up to try.

But this mountain was no place

for the first lessons of a beginner.

The only tracks were too subtle to be easily seen.

And in the snappings of twigs,

in the circle of confused scuff marks

was written how her hope slowly failed.

Where she sat in despair, where she was growing dizzy,

where she got up and staggered on.

They say it's better to have loved and lost

than never to have loved,

but I think the opposite is true of hope and losing it.

Mandy had discovered lost hope was worse than no hope.

She'd begun to die.

(whooshing) (phone ringing)

Hey, it's Rachel. Leave a message.

- I'm giving you the kids back.

I'm getting married.

I figured it's time they knew their mother.

What can I say, Rach?

I guess love's mellowed me out.

So we're setting out tomorrow, that let's you get

them enrolled in schools before September.

I'm drawing up this paper, giving you custody.

Total custody.

We'll call again from Dallas someplace like that.

Okay, you got it?

Bye.

- He said he's bringing the kids back.

(engine rumbling)

That's him.

Oh my gosh, they're so big.

Hi, hi.

Oh, let me look at you.

- [Johnny] Ruthie, it's Mama.

- Hey, Ruth. - Come on, Ruthie.

Get outta the truck.

- Hi, Mommy. - Frank.

- [Johnny] Hi, Sir.

- Oh gosh, you're so big.

- Yeah, they're growing like weeds.

- Thank you, Kevin.

- I figured they can visit me summers, holidays.

I don't wanna entirely lose touch.

- Whatever you say.

- Well, I got a long trip back so I better get going.

You gonna say goodbye to me, kids?

- Goodbye, sir.

- All right, son.

- Bye, Daddy.

- All right, you be nice to your mommy. You got it?

- Yes, Sir.

- This must be Frank.

Nice to meet you, Frank.

- You planning on staying around these parts very long?

- No, I wanna clear the desert by nightfall.

I don't much like deserts.

I'll be seeing y'all.

(door thudding)

(engine rumbling)

- [Frank] That wasn't so bad.

(crickets chirping)

- No, no, no! (screaming)

- Johnny, Johnny.

(Johnny screaming)

- Johnny, Johnny, Johnny, Johnny, Johnny, whoa.

- No! - Take it easy.

- No! - Hey, you're safe.

Johnny, Johnny, Johnny, Johnny, come on.

(Johnny panting)

- I'll kill myself before I go back with him.

- It's okay, it's okay.

It was only a dream.

- Johnny, Johnny. - It's okay.

(whooshing)

(bugs trilling)

(Rachel groans) (light dramatic music)

(thudding) (dramatic music)

(light dramatic music) (bugs trilling)

- [Rachel Voiceover] I taught myself tracking

not long after I came here.

The head ranger asked me to.

There wasn't a single tracker in all of the park

and I had nothing else to do.

I read a book on the basics,

then I went out into the desert.

Solitary time. No distractions, no breaks, no visiting.

Hundreds of hours of just me out there

following whatever tracks I could find

as far as I could follow them.

In all kinds of weather, in all kinds of light conditions.

I followed ants and kangaroo rats, little kids,

old people, big horn sheep, coyotes, rattlesnakes, lizards.

I followed them to their homes or their watering holes

or their stalking spots.

I learned to recognize the marks they left

on the earth as they passed.

I stepped on branches and grass,

memorized the spot and came back 30 days in a row

to watch the coloration changes a plant goes through

while it's healing.

There were no words to describe what I saw,

but I saw it and remembered it.

(Rachel groans)

- [Dale] Chopper One to Tracker One.

- Come in, Dale.

- [Dale] Where the hell are you?

- I'm a half mile east of Quatro Summit.

- [Dale] Is there a place to land?

- Yeah, it's pretty flat.

(helicopter whirring)

I lay on the earth and I watched it healing

and I wished there was a way my life could be healed, too.

(flare sizzling)

- [Dale] Oh yeah, I see you.

Coming in.

We brought you some help.

- Hi.

- Hi

- You okay?

Coreen called, she's very worried about you.

- You know what my mama said once?

She said, "Why don't you just go back to him

and give us all some peace?"

My cousin was there and she said,

"Jane, she goes back to him,

he kills her right off and those sweet little children."

And my mama said, "Well, then it'll be in the hands of God."

- I'm bringing you in, Rachel.

Elkwood Search and Rescue are here,

they're gonna take over your search now.

- I'm staying out.

- You're bleeding and you're exhausted.

- You think I'm jeopardizing the search?

- I didn't say that,

but I'm ordering you now to get in the helicopter.

- I don't take orders from men anymore.

- Okay, I'm begging you.

Please, get in the helicopter.

- Not till she's found.

- And what if you don't find her, Rachel?

It took us two years to find the remains of Sarah Newberry.

- I got time.

- Here, drink this.

- [Rita] Frank, the coroner's office wants to know

if they should be standing by.

It's been almost 32 hours.

- Yeah, but tell him to wait up at Victory Pass,

I don't want the family to see them.

I want you to know that I love you very much.

- I love you, Frank.

- All right, guys. She's staying.

Stay exhausted, take good care of her.

Good luck.

- Thank you very much. - Yep.

Joe. - Hey, Rachel.

- Ed. - Hey.

Appreciate your help.

- Let's go get her. - Let's go.

(helicopter whirring)

- So, what do you got?

- She came off the mountain here and headed off that way.

- How old are these tracks, you figure?

- A couple of hours.

We had some wind, beat 'em up pretty bad.

- She looks pretty beat up, too.

She's all over the place.

Real erratic.

- She's not gonna last much longer.

- We need to cover some ground.

We oughta jump.

- Jump?

- The two flankers go way out then converge

about a quarter mile or so ahead of the point man

if either one finds a track, we all jump.

- You've never done it before?

- No, I usually work alone.

- Well, why don't you stay on point?

I mean, you followed her this far, just see it through.

We'll take the left.

(light dramatic music)

- I became a tracker to be alone.

I know that now.

The hours of tramping about, the precise observation,

the demands for intense physical and mental exertion.

None of them needed another human being.

And then something happened.

Going to the desert to escape people,

I found myself searching for them again

in the most literal way imaginable:

following their tracks.

But there was always something behind it.

The hope that one day the tracks I followed

would lead me to my own children

back home with me safe and unharmed and happy at last.

(whooshing)

I was thinking I just wanna have a little nap.

What do you think about that? (phone ringing)

I'll be right back.

We can't come to the phone right now,

please leave a message. (machine beeps)

- Okay.

So what I've decided is that my family

is going to be together for Christmas.

So, I coming out.

I've decided.

I've decided to get married, a stupid.

No need for that.

I've already got a wife and kids.

So, I'm coming out.

I'm coming out so we can all be together.

What God joins together, let no man put asunder.

- Kevin.

No, we've made other plans.

- Unmake them.

- Kevin, we, we haven't been married for seven years now.

We're not family.

- Do you really think, wife.

Do you really think you can get away from me so easily?

Make sure those kids are spotless and do it fast.

I'm on my way.

You got it?

(phone thudding)

(dramatic music)

(phone beeping) (phone ringing)

- [Rachel] John, Ruthie, come on, come in here.

- [Johnny] What's the matter?

(thudding)

- [Man] Let's go, folks.

- Why won't you come with us?

- Because we're safer if we're all split up, okay?

- But what if he hurts you?

- He won't, he won't bother with me if he realizes

that you're gone, okay?

- He won't find us, will he?

- No, honey, he won't, okay?

Be brave.

Okay.

But don't call me!

You can't call me here!

I'll find a way to call you!

(whooshing)

(bugs trilling)

(Rachel groans)

(heavy breathing)

(dramatic music)

(Rachel groans)

(zipper buzzes)

- [Ed] Rachel, I think I got something.

I'm at two o'clock.

Rachel!

- Coming.

- There's no detail, but it's the right stride.

Toed in right foot.

- Yeah, that's her.

- All right, we're closing in.

Is that hers?

- Yeah.

So, this is good.

She's still thinking, she's lightening her load.

- She doesn't know she dropped it.

- Well, you can't know that for sure.

- She might have left the backpack behind in the garbage.

She would never leave her Barbie.

She doesn't know it's gone.

- Gonna have to take your word on that one.

- Okay, let's do it again.

Mandy!

- Mandy! - Mandy!

- [Ed] Mandy!

(light dramatic music)

Mandy!

- [Rachel] I was sure, there was no question in my mind.

If we could know when we were about

to lose what we most love, we wouldn't do it.

We would die before we let it slip through our hands.

(whooshing) (engine rumbling)

(muffled talking)

- Mommy! - Oh, sweetie.

- [Johnny] Mom!

- Hello!

Hi.

How was Grandma's?

- Great! - Yeah.

(engine rumbling)

- Grandma's wasn't so bad.

- Good.

It's a strange place for that car to...

(dramatic music)

Why don't you guys just get down in your seats just in case.

(dramatic music)

Oh god.

Stay down, guys, I'm so sorry.

(dramatic music) (engine rumbling)

Come on, come on.

Help. I need help.

My ex-husband's trying to kill us.

- Joe. - Yeah?

(Rachel panting)

- Where is he?

- He was at my house.

- [Officer] Have you got a restraining order, ma'am?

- A restraining order wouldn't work.

- You need to talk to a judge.

First door on the left.

(dramatic music)

- Mom! - Mom, he's here!

- [Johnny] Mom.

- No, Kevin.

No! No!

Although the courts had failed me before,

I tried once again to ask for protection

and this time the judge believed me.

Entirely believed that Kevin had abused us,

but he also thought the kids should know

their biological father.

He gave Kevin eight hours unsupervised time

with John and Ruthie.

And that was the last time I saw them.

(whooshing)

(bugs trilling)

(heavy breathing)

(light dramatic music)

(helicopter whirring)

- [Dale] Chopper One to Rachel.

That's no place for a snooze.

Chopper One to Ed, Rachel's down.

She needs some help.

She's in a wash just south of your position.

You better check her out.

- I'm okay.

I'm okay.

- [Dale] I can't land there.

Get someplace flat.

- It's okay, Chopper One. I'm with her.

I'll let you know if we need you.

- [Dale] Thanks.

(light dramatic music)

- She can't be far.

- Oh, this doesn't look good.

- She can't be...

- You need to find some shade.

Come on, Rachel, come on.

Come on.

You're lucky I make house calls.

(heavy breathing)

Any vomiting?

- No - Cramps?

- Yeah.

- You've been drinking straight water all this time?

- I have some banana chips.

- Here.

Yeah, but you haven't been eating 'em.

Here we go.

(bottle rattling)

Here.

This tastes foul, but it'll boost your electrolytes.

- [Joe] Ed, I gotta print about a thousand feet

out here at 10 o'clock

- Copy.

- Oh, she couldn't make it that far.

We don't have footprints now. She's crawling.

- [Joe] Ed, come on. We're closing in.

- All right, all right.

I need to check it out.

Call the chopper down.

Okay?

(heavy breathing)

(Rachel groans)

(thudding) (light dramatic music)

- She's here.

(dramatic music)

(ground rustling) (Rachel grunting)

(branches rustling)

Mandy.

Mandy!

Mandy! (dramatic music)

Mandy!

(heavy breathing)

Mandy!

(light dramatic music)

Mandy.

Mandy?

Oh, Mandy.

- [Mandy] Mommy.

- Yes, honey.

Oh yes, Mandy. Yes, Mandy.

Yes, honey, yes, yes, yes.

I got her!

I got her!

(helicopter whirring)

(light dramatic music) (muffled talking)

- [Man] That's what you're in.

- Temperature's 106.9, pulse is 120.

Blood pressure's 65 over 40.

- [Paramedic] That should do it for you, Rachel.

- [Paramedic 2] EMS to dispatch, we're gonna

be code six down here.

All right, you copy that?

Yeah, that's correct. - Okay, baby.

- [EMS] ETA about 20 minutes.

- I don't know how to thank you.

- It's my job.

- [Doctor] Ma'am, this way.

- [Mom] I'll see you at

the hospital, sweetie. - Go ahead and climb on in.

- [Mom] Okay, baby?

- Hey, girl.

Next time we do the whole hike together.

Be brave, Mandy.

(muffled talking) (light music)

(helicopter whirring)

- [Man] Clear the vehicle!

(door thudding)

Clear the area for chopper take off.

Louis, keep 'em back!

Let's go folks, let's move.

(light dramatic music)

(helicopter whirring)

- Tracking means learning to walk alongside other people.

Caring enough to reach out

with no guarantees you'll ever meet.

With no guarantees they'll live

or die despite your best efforts.

Tracking means being willing to try.

Above all, to me, tracking means sitting quietly

and watching my own existence.

Trying to understand the significance of the tracks

each of us leaves behind as we move through life.

Facing memories and fears head on,

facing the end of hope and somehow continuing past it.

Learning, in short, to walk alongside myself.

Tracking brings more than the lost child home.

- [Frank] Hi.

- Hi.

- You okay?

- One stitch.

Roger's big on overkill.

- Well, at least he got you to slow down.

So, how's Mandy?

- She's badly sunburned, but I don't think there'll

be any permanent damage.

- Her spirits?

- Better than her body.

She can't wait to get out there again.

- So, did she tell you why she left the camp?

- She went to the restroom, then she took off after a bunny,

and then she followed a lizard and she saw a flower

and then she saw a bird and then she realized, and I quote.

"Her parents were lost."

- Well, somebody should disabuse her of that notion.

- Oh, I did.

I did the whole ranger drill.

- Yeah, me too.

Except I've been doing about five different languages.

Seems like every time I turn around somebody's

sticking a microphone in my face.

I did like a half hour for Japanese television.

I just looked at it and they've cut it down to one sentence.

"If you realize that you're lost, you should just sit."

(Frank laughing)

- I'm sitting.

- Yeah.

- Coreen called.

- Yeah.

She's on her way to Missouri.

Kevin's cousin says that he knows where Kevin put the kids.

- Alive or dead?

- I'd just be guessing, hun. I don't know.

- How long ago?

- Five hours ago.

But if she'd of tried to call

then it would have been impossible.

This place has been a zoo.

- Frank.

When you're out there you have to see the bad signs

as well as the good signs.

Are you not seeing the truth?

- Rachel, come... you don't know.

(Rachel hushes)

- Take me home, Frank.

(light music)

- Okay.

(door thudding)

- [Rachel] Don't.

(Rachel sighs)

(crickets chirping)

- You sure you wanna be doing this now, Rachel?

Would you like some help?

(light music)

(Rachel sobbing)

(engine rumbling)

- [Coreen] Wait here.

- [Jeeves] Yes, ma'am.

- Is Rachel here?

- Yes, she is. She's inside.

- Oh, thank goodness.

- Oh, you must be Coreen.

Hi, I'm Frank.

- Hi. Yes.

God, we've been everywhere.

Headquarters, search camp, the hospital, and now here.

You people check your machine?

- Well no, not today. It's been a little bit of a...

- Come on, wake up. You're home.

(light music)

(Rachel screams) (light dramatic music)

- Oh, oh, oh!

Oh, oh baby.

Oh, babies.

You found them.

Oh.

- Well, I gotta go.

- Thank you. Thank you.

- See you guys.

Okay, home, Jeeves.

- [Jeeves] Yes, ma'am!

- Thanks again. - Goodbye.

- [Frank] Hello, young lady.

- Hi, Frank. - We all like happy endings.

I used to think if I would only tell

and remember the good times

perhaps I could draw more of them to us.

It doesn't work that way.

Kevin got out on bail.

Our house was broken into 16 times in the six weeks

before his trial.

Felony kidnapping charges were reduced to a misdemeanor

if he promised to leave us alone, and he did.

The three of us haven't seen him in years,

but he continues to haunt us.

Our phone rings at 4:30 in the morning and no one's there.

We've changed our names, our addresses,

our phone numbers so many times we've given up trying.

Most recently, the phone started ringing

only when Ruthie is home alone.

Nonetheless, we have learned to walk on anyway,

putting one foot in front of the other

for as long as it takes.

Counting on things working out all right for all of us.

It's a tracker's brand of hope.

On a trail, that in the end, we all walk.

Each of our lives representing an unbroken chain

stretching back to the beginning of time.

Each of our tracks embedded in a web

that stretches to eternity.

None of us walks alone.

(light music)

(dramatic music)