Without a Trace s04e07 Episode Script

- Time for cake, Uncle Bill.
- Okay, pal.
You having any fun at all? You bet.
You're lying.
That's very festive of you.
I just thought I hoped the party would be good for you.
Get out.
You know, be with people.
I know.
Besides, there's cake.
Okay, time for birthday cake.
Come over to the table.
- All right.
- All right.
- Here we go.
- Blow it out.
I called but he didn't answer, so I came by here.
Papers on the stoop, hadn't brought the mail in.
- What about his car? - He drove it, but it's not in the garage.
Here's everybody who was at the birthday party.
I talked to them before I called the police.
- What did you find out? - He didn't talk to anyone at the party.
I would like to look around, is it okay? - Of course.
- Thank you.
I didn't touch anything.
You watch detective shows? - The first 15 minutes.
Then I fall asleep.
- Right.
Now, you said that your brother didn't talk to anybody.
- He not a very social guy? - Oh, he used to be.
This is Bill's daughter, Lauren.
She died of leukemia eight months ago.
His whole life just fell apart.
He and his wife got separated.
He took a leave from his job.
But recently, you know, I thought he was starting to come out of it.
At least a little.
Martin? Can I borrow you for a minute? Excuse me.
What do you got? Kiddie porn.
Little girls.
He might have downloaded them.
There's high-speed Internet connection behind the desk but the laptop's missing.
The sister did say her brother was coming out of some kind of funk.
Maybe he found a new hobby or he went back to an old one.
Look like they might have been off the net.
You show the sister? She was having a hard time believing me so I showed her.
- That went down well.
- Stormed off and refused to talk to us.
Okay, thanks.
Shields withdrew $2000 from his checking account this week.
- Maybe blackmail.
- Yeah, or he's off buying more porn.
Why are we wasting our time with this? - Let's just turn it over to local P.
D.
- No, it's too early.
What about that message he received at the party? Wasn't from a cell but we're tracking it.
Okay.
Do me a favor.
See if you can track down the original source of these.
Thanks.
I'm sorry but we needed to know whether you knew anything about this.
Bill would never be involved in something like this.
- Does Bill have an online handle? - I don't know what you mean.
It's a name people use instead of their real name for privacy reasons.
- Why do you wanna know? - Because of the pictures.
We need to know whether he's been hanging out in any chat rooms.
Well, I don't know anything about that.
And your daughter, Lauren is there any chance that Bill? No.
Look, whatever he may have gotten himself into he loved Lauren.
He would never have hurt her.
His sister said that he's been different.
We waited so long for something.
Gene therapy, chemotherapy alternative medicine, something to make Lauren better.
But nothing did.
And all we could do was just hold her hand and watch her die.
And how did Bill react when she did? He sort of disappeared.
Like he couldn't stand to talk about it.
And then he got arrested.
Assault, Bill? I mean, who was it? Why are you beating people up? I'm I'm sorry, Julie.
I'm really I'm I need more than an apology.
What do you need? An explanation for why you're acting this way.
What is going on with you? Lt'll be better soon, Julie.
I promise.
Better how? You gonna go back to work? Are you gonna start talking to me again? She wasn't just your daughter.
I miss her too.
I know.
I just can't keep doing this.
Not with everything else.
I'm sorry.
Julie.
So whoever he beat up didn't press charges and the sheriff let him go home.
And that's all you know about the assault? Yeah.
And I moved out of the house a couple of days later.
Okay, the fight was with a guy named Jamie Wolfe.
A registered sex offender.
Guy lives 90 miles from here.
Couldn't find another pervert to have a fight with closer to home? I don't know.
Maybe they're business partners.
Nothing starts a fight faster.
They're bringing him in, so he should be here in half an hour.
Okay.
Delgado.
- How's it going? - So far, more than half are the same girl.
Different ages ranging from 6 to maybe 12.
If he shot these photos, the chances are if we find her, we'll find him.
Yeah, we're checking with his friends, family, neighbors.
See if any of them can ID her.
I have no idea who he is.
The guy assaulted you.
Yeah, and I didn't know who he was when he attacked me either.
You were convicted of lewd and lascivious acts with a minor.
Then some guy who also likes kids beats you up and you expect us to believe it was random.
I didn't say it was random.
I just said I didn't know him.
Then what did he want? That guy's gotten me in enough trouble.
I don't need more.
Too late.
It's about her.
He wanted her.
Hey.
Who are you? What are you doing hanging back here? I'm Bill.
I'm looking for this girl.
I think she might live nearby.
Listen, I'll pay you if you just tell me how to find her.
Why would I know anything? Come on.
I know you're on the sex offenders list.
Hey.
How did you know that? - Mrs.
Grapp put you up to this? - No.
Nobody put me up to it.
- I'm looking for the girl.
- Not my problem.
Hey.
Listen, listen.
You know how it is.
I just I have a thing for her.
- Get the hell out of here.
- Not until you tell me how to find her.
- I have to find her.
- Let go.
Thank God the cops didn't look in the garbage can.
Boy, if they'd found that picture Did he say anything about her? - What her name was.
- No.
You didn't press charges because you didn't want attention.
Yeah, fat lot of good that did me.
That bitch Mrs.
Grapp, she'd been after me ever since I moved in.
She saw him loitering, called the cops.
- I got kicked out of my apartment.
- Where were you Sunday? At a friend's house watching football.
Write his name down.
You know, that 5390 conviction was a long time ago.
I haven't touched anyone since.
I'm sure that's very comforting to your victims.
Maybe he hasn't found her yet.
Put the local P.
D.
On it.
Have them talk to all the offenders.
See if he's talked to them.
I'll check.
I have a friend at the Center for Exploited Children.
See if she knows how someone can find girls.
Guys, give me one second, please? The text message came from a guy named Ruben Davila.
Petty crimes, mostly theft.
Okay.
Excellent.
Thank you.
Local P.
D.
Just found Shields' car at a motel near where Davila works.
Great.
Bill Shields.
FBI.
Open up.
Come on.
Put your hands where I can see them.
She's not here.
Turn around and face the wall.
Turn around.
- Where is she, Shields? - I don't know.
Someone sent you a message.
"Bring money.
Nightlights Motel, Stonington.
" - What, were you gonna try and buy her? - No.
What, her handler didn't like the way you treated her, cracked you? - I was trying to save her.
- Is that what you tell yourself? I swear.
I would never hurt her.
How come you got all these pictures? My daughter she loved to dance.
And after she died, I wanted to sponsor a little girl's dance lessons.
You know, as like a memorial.
So I put a couple of words in Google and clicked on a link.
And there she was.
In a pink tutu.
She was so cute.
Except there were these other pictures.
Naked.
Doing things.
I turned off my computer.
But I couldn't forget.
And I wanted to stop To stop it.
So So I started to look for her.
What happened today? I thought I'd finally found her.
- Shields? - Davila? Where have you been? I waited all night.
- Had to make sure you weren't a cop.
- I'm not a cop.
I know.
No cop would have waited that long.
Only a man desperate to meet the girl of his dreams.
Yeah.
So where is she? Where's the money? Two thousand.
Just like you asked for.
Not till I see the girl.
What's going on? Give me the money.
I don't want any trouble.
- Tell me where she is.
- How about, I'm holding the gun? Good.
Ready to meet her now? Of course.
I bet you are.
Pervert.
And when I woke up, he was gone.
And so was my money.
Nice story.
Doesn't fit.
We found over 200 kiddie porn pictures in your house.
I didn't know how to find her except to use the pictures.
- They're not all the same girl.
I only kept them if I thought they could help.
Like if they had something in common with one of her pictures.
- You can check.
- How? I used keywords.
For sorting.
They're attached to the photo files.
Why didn't you give all this to the police? I didn't know where she was.
And I didn't know how to explain what I'd been doing all this time.
But you can help, right? You have to find her.
We'll need you to stay here.
We may have more questions.
Local P.
D.
Talked to Ruben Davila.
He never had the girl.
It was a scam.
Pedophile's a great target.
Not like he's gonna call police.
That's exactly what Ruben Davila said.
He's done it before.
Yeah.
Look at this.
Looks like Shields is telling the truth.
All the photos that aren't of the girl in the tutu have keywords on them and references back to her picture.
Can we ID this guy? This is the only picture we've got of him.
His arm.
Not his face.
She ages 6 years in these pictures and no one noticed what was going on.
I'm thinking it's gotta be someone with a lot of access without supervision.
Maybe a family member.
Or a kidnapping.
- Lf so, she might be in our case files.
- It's worth a shot.
Yep.
Sam.
Wow, you're walking well.
Anything below a canter, I feel pretty good.
Do me a favor, a kid from the Center for Exploited Children thought she recognized our girl.
They're bringing her up now and I thought it might be easier for her to talk to a woman.
- Where are they taking her? - Interview 2.
I'm expecting a call from Tech about these.
- I'll cover it.
- Thanks.
No, thank you.
Do you know why you're here, Brittany? They showed me a picture.
And you know the girl? Sort of.
Sort of? I met her once at a house where there was a party.
Can you tell me about it? It's okay.
Take all the time you need.
While we waited, we watched TV.
I'm Brittany.
Melissa.
I don't really like this show.
Do you have a pet? Do you? A cat.
What's its name? Monarch.
Because he's got this shape on his side that looks like a butterfly.
Is he soft? Really soft.
What grade are you in? I don't really have a grade.
Brittany, let's go.
Bye.
And that was it.
You never saw her again? No.
My foster dad was arrested a few months later.
And I went to the center.
Do you think you can remember where this house was? No.
Did you see who Melissa came to the party with? I wish I could help.
You have helped.
You've helped a lot.
All right, show me Johnson thought he could help since he's spent time with these.
All right, just make sure he has an escort when he's moving through the building.
- I got it covered.
- Good.
Okay.
Bill figured out that these pictures were taken at Hamlet Suites Motels.
Yeah, the chain uses the same furniture and paintings in all their rooms.
That's That's good.
Unfortunately, it narrows it down to, like, 500 motels.
Which is why I got stalled.
That how you ended up at Wolfe's? Is there a Hamlet Motel in his town? - Yeah.
- Okay.
Now, I analyzed the pictures for light and color so I could determine which were at the same place.
- You airbrushed her out.
- To focus on details in the background we're compositing the pictures together.
- Kind of like a puzzle, right? - Right.
I got most of them in place, finished.
- I was hoping this would be the last one.
- Hold on.
What is that? Looks like a cup.
Can you enlarge that? Yeah.
Hold on.
There you go.
"Roger's Barbecue 'n' Stuff.
" It's gotta be near a Hamlet Suites Motel.
I bet if we cross-reference these we could get the town where the pictures were taken.
Carbondale.
The manager recognizes Melissa's picture.
She was here about a month ago.
He remembers because she cut her hand on a glass.
- Got a name? - Man she was with paid cash.
So he doesn't want anybody to know who he is.
Hey, but the good news is, he made such a stink about the cut that the manager paid for a trip to the local ER.
Yeah, I remember her.
Most kids with a cut like that would be screaming.
- She barely made a sound.
- Get a chance to talk? No, Dad stayed pretty close.
Too close? He didn't let her say a thing.
Wow, you're a brave girl.
That's a big cut.
I dropped a glass, she tried to help me pick it up.
Next time you won't be so helpful, I bet.
Oh, she's a really good girl.
I don't think you could stop her.
I've taken care of everything at the front desk.
Okay, we're just gonna be a minute.
Do you need help, sweetheart? How we doing? - We're all set.
- Okay.
All right.
Let's go, sweetie.
I knew something wasn't right.
Seemed like a deep cut for what he said happened.
- So she cut herself to get help.
- Maybe.
You contacted CPS? Yeah.
And called security.
Gone by the time the officer got here.
Do you know the woman who came into the room? She was a stepmom or girlfriend.
Didn't have a relationship with the girl.
- But she completed all the paperwork.
- Yeah.
Can we see it? Of course.
Sandra O'Neill? FBI.
We need to ask you a few questions.
Hey.
Hey.
Hey.
Let go of me.
Let go of me.
Where is Melissa? Where is she? I don't know.
She left.
He took her.
- When? - Two weeks ago.
- It was the last time I saw them.
- Let's go.
- I didn't do anything.
- Well, then why did you run? Because she finally got caught.
It was him.
- And I didn't know until the end.
- What's his name? George.
- George Anderson.
- I'm gonna need an address.
I don't have one.
He travels for work, fixes mechanic's tools.
I only see him when he's got a job nearby.
Let me ask you something.
How did you finally figure out what he was doing? They stayed at my place that day.
I had to run some errands.
I guess George didn't expect me back so soon.
- It's too little.
- I don't care.
- Put it on.
- I'm not a baby.
What is the matter? I'm not gonna put up with this.
You do what I tell you to do.
- Put it on.
- I'm not a baby.
What's going on? - Get out.
- What are you doing, George? - That's none of your business.
- Are you okay, Melissa? Yeah.
Get out! Get out and you leave us alone.
He didn't say anything about it later.
Neither did Melissa.
They left and I haven't seen them since.
Why didn't you call the police? He'd know it was me.
And he'd come back.
All right what else can you tell me about him? I think he grew up in southern New Jersey.
And he was always complaining about how fast Melissa was growing up.
Refused to throw away any of her clothes.
He There's a bag he forgot to take in my closet.
We're gonna need that.
You know, Mr.
Shields, if we need you we can always call you at home.
I know.
That's not much of a dinner.
I'm not really hungry.
Yeah.
Me either.
You know I've been in some of these Usenet chat rooms see if I can find anything on Melissa, and Melissa? - Yeah.
- You know her name.
- That's a good thing to figure out, right? - Yeah, it's a really good thing.
But you were saying about the chat rooms.
Yeah, right.
Well, I'm getting nowhere.
And I was wondering if it might help if I log in with one of your online profiles.
It might.
- I'll write them down.
- That would be great.
It's hard being in those chat rooms, isn't it? Yes, it is.
When When I first saw Melissa, she was looking right at the camera.
And there was something in her eyes.
Like she was begging me to make what was happening to her stop.
It reminded me of Lauren.
She used to look at me that way after she got sick.
Searching for Melissa has kept me going these last six months.
I don't wanna go home.
Right.
Well if that's the case, then I recommend the applesauce.
Thanks.
Melissa's 12? This is a 7-8 Y.
For a 7-year-old.
Apparently he likes to dress her in little girl's clothing.
Take a look at these.
These are her drawings.
They're all of the same thing, same barn, same cows, chickens, every single one.
My daughter likes to paint people in these fantastic colorful outfits.
It's her way of rebelling against Catholic school uniforms.
I didn't know you had a daughter.
I do.
She's 6.
There are 55 George Andersons in New Jersey.
Maybe we should focus on rural areas.
Kids draw whatever they're thinking.
And she seems to have some kind of connection to a farm.
Okay.
I got a credit card receipt.
Here.
All his bills go to a P.
O.
Box.
But he used the card yesterday.
Yes, she and her father were in the store the other day shopping for clothes.
Poor thing.
Why "poor thing"? Well, she went into the dressing room to try some things on and she didn't come out for a while so I went to check on her.
- Do you need any other sizes or colors? - No.
What is it, honey? Oh, I'm sure it'll be fine.
Just tell me what happened.
Do you know what's going on? Sort of.
Getting your period is totally normal for a young woman your age.
Do you have someone you could talk to about it? A mom? - I could explain it a little, if you want.
- What's going on? Don't tell him.
Some button problems.
We'll be right out.
Please, don't tell him.
She was embarrassed.
I understood that, but she was all alone.
I felt like I had to tell him.
And how did he react? Well, he seemed angry.
You know, I gave her a couple of tampons before she left.
But someone has to show her how to use them.
Did he leave any personal information? Phone number, address? For a credit card sale, I would have checked his ID.
But I don't remember what it said.
I'm sorry.
It's okay.
Thanks for coming.
We'll have one of our agents escort you out.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
If her period started, she's gonna lose her little-girl appeal.
Yeah.
There's a lot of missing girls out there.
Yes, there are.
What do you think he's gonna do with her? He could sell her to a prostitution ring.
Or trade her in for a younger girl or These guys, they can't handle the thought of their victims being with somebody else and they Unfortunately, they kill them.
Not a lot of choices.
There are nine George Andersons in the age range but only one who lives in rural New Jersey.
Wanna go for a ride? - Can you handle going through these? - I'm fine.
Okay.
And is he? - Is he having? - Look, we don't know anything for sure.
But the men who post these pictures are often sexually abusing their victims, yeah.
Why would he do that? I don't know.
How did he get custody of her? Our sister and her husband died in an auto accident.
George is older.
Thought he'd be a better guardian in case anything happened.
Any idea where your brother is? I haven't seen him in a long time.
Since the day they moved away.
But what if I don't wanna go? I know it's not easy to move but your parents wanted what's best for you.
And they thought Uncle George was the best.
You could come with us.
I have to stay here and take care of the farm.
Watch the cows and the pigs, your favorite chicken.
Little.
Make sure everything's tip-top for when you visit.
- I can visit? - As much as you want.
Okay, Melissa.
Come on, let's go.
I'd like to visit.
I love you so much.
I love you too.
Uncle George is gonna take good care of you.
- Chicken.
- Little.
All right, come on.
Get in.
Watch your fingers.
All right.
George called regularly for a while.
Now it's mostly birthdays, maybe the holidays.
- You have a telephone number for him? - I had one, but he moved.
I kept asking for one but never got it.
- That old number might really help us.
- It's in the house.
I'll go I'll go get it.
If you find her, what happens to her then? Well, she's been through a lot.
I'm married now and my wife and I Please bring her here.
We'll make sure she gets everything.
The disconnected phone was from an address in Norristown.
That's 10 miles away from your clothing store.
But I can't find any listings in that area for a George Anderson or G.
Anderson.
Nothing.
Maybe they're living out of motels? Maybe.
- I'll go get the phone books.
- Okay.
Hey, guys, I think I got something here.
When we found out that Melissa may no longer be appealing to Anderson because she got her period I checked out these chat room that focus on pubescent girls.
And I found this organization called Plato's Vineyard.
They're having a meeting tonight.
Someone with the handle Farmboy61 says he has merchandise for trade.
It's a pretty rich target.
Shouldn't have any problem putting together a team.
But Anderson might not show, or he might not bring Melissa with him.
And if we just case the party, we run the risk we won't get the girl.
So, what's the plan? Well, Bill Shields was a regular at these Usenet groups.
So I got you an invitation to the party.
And when you're talking to people, never use your name or ask theirs.
- Should I tell them I'm from the FBI, Bill? - No.
Everyone goes by their online handle.
I got the invitation using PirateShip 7.
And I let Farmboy know that you're interested in the transaction.
But even if he approaches you, don't bring it up.
He'll talk to you, see if he's comfortable.
Okay, Jack, give me a test.
Testing, one, two, three.
That'll work.
I'll make sure everything's good to go.
Great.
This is a list I made of people I've encountered.
Their handles and what they're interested in.
Maybe it'll help you fit in.
This George Anderson guy how does he perceive Melissa? - What do you mean? Well, on the net he referred to her as merchandise, is that code? Or does he think of her as property? Or does he think of her as his daughter, his girlfriend, what? I don't know.
All right.
People end up underinsured because their policy has such a low-liability ceiling.
Right, I guess that's one of the advantages of being a renter.
Bad move.
Now he's going to sell you renter's insurance.
Well, if you're gonna do that then I'm gonna need some more coffee.
- Sugar? - Thanks.
You're a new face.
PirateShip 7.
Oh, Farmboy61.
So wanna sit down, we talk? - Yeah, sure.
Well, computers do most of the work these days.
The toughest part about inventory management is making sure that the employees don't steal.
Yeah, yeah.
That's true lots of places.
Yeah, I think you're right about that.
So in the chat room you said you were interested.
Yeah.
Why? When I saw her picture you could tell that she'd started so young that Do you mind me asking her name? - Melissa.
- Melissa.
That's a sweet name.
As I was saying, when I looked at her, she seemed to have started so young and she could have been hardened but she still had this freshness to her.
I mean, obviously, you've done a great job grooming her for, you know, her future responsibilities.
- She's a good girl.
- Yeah, I can see that.
She deserves a good home.
I mean, it won't be the same kind of home that you gave her but I will really take good care of Melissa.
All right, maybe we should see how the two of you get along.
Yeah, I'd like that.
Where is she? What's going on? She's not here.
Yes, she is.
- Some kind of scam here? - No, everything's okay.
Well, you know, you can never be too careful.
What, is she a runner? No.
But, you know, better safe than sorry, that's my feeling.
Can I talk to her? Just don't close the door.
Sure.
Hi, Melissa.
Let's do it.
Chicken Little says hi.
He sent me to help you.
FBI.
Get on the ground.
- Get on the ground.
- Melissa! That'll work.
Keep your hands where I can see them.
Okay.
- Get up.
Get up.
- It's okay.
Come on.
He's not gonna hurt you anymore.
Okay.
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