In Harris County, Deputy Russell Gonzales races the clock to track down the killer of an unidentified man found dead in a desolate field on the side of the road. It's an uphill battle for the team until a couple appears on scene and breaks the case wide open. In Miami, Detective Rolando Garcia and his team investigates the murder of an innocent bystander caught in a hail of gunfire. As detectives delve deeper, they discover that the killer's motives may not be what they think.

In Harris County, Dep. Abraham Alanis and his team investigate the murder of a man, married with four young children, who was found robbed and shot to death outside an abandoned house. With no other leads to go on, investigators discover that their victim held a secret that could lead to his killer.

In Detroit, Sergeant Matthew Gnatek and Officer Nancy Foster are investigating the murder of a soon-to-be father, found shot to death in a deserted field during a snowstorm. With no witnesses and potential evidence disappearing under the blanketing snow, the Crime Scene Unit works quickly with metal detectors, to uncover an item that will put Gnatek and Foster on the trail to meet three young women who each hold a piece of the homicide puzzle.

For homicide detectives, the clock starts ticking the moment they are called. Their chance of solving a case is cut in half if they don't get a lead in "The First 48". Each passing hour gives suspects more time to flee, witnesses more time to forget what they saw, and crucial evidence more time to be lost forever. Follow detectives from around the country during these critical hours as they race against time to find the suspect.

In Miami, Detective Anthony Reyes and the homicide team are investigating the murder of a man found brutally beaten to death below a major interstate. Reyes must navigate through false leads and dead ends, until an eyewitness comes forward and ignites the case. When detectives discover that their eyewitness is leaving out one major detail in his story, the case is turned on its head.

In Miami, Det. Frank Sanchez responds to the murder of a retired Miami Police captain, shot in broad daylight at a marina on the Miami River. When initial leads run dry, Miami PD launches a massive investigation, tracking the alleged killer all the way to New Jersey.

In Birmingham, lead Detective Mike Allison is working the murder of a man found shot in the basement stairwell of a house. Allison and his team quickly find an eyewitness and then the suspect. The case seems closed, when suddenly it unravels after the eyewitness disappears and Allison is forced to set his suspect free. A year passes, when out of the blue, the case takes a surprising turn. And in Charlotte, Lead Detective Bo McSwain and his team are trying to find the killers of a man shot behind his girlfriend's house. On scene, McSwain gets a break when four men come forward, claiming their innocence. The team believes these men are their suspects, but when they all refuse to talk, the case hits a wall. With nothing to hold them, the suspects start to leave homicide, but then McSwain makes a discovery at the crime scene, stopping one suspect in his tracks.

When a man arrested for a domestic dispute claims his boyfriend killed someone seven months earlier and buried the body in the basement, Louisville Detectives Jon Lesher and Collin King are launched into one of the strangest cases of their career. Detectives are initially skeptical of the man's claim, but after hours of digging in a hot, humid basement, they discover the truth: buried five feet below the dirt floor is a large plastic storage box containing human remains. Detectives must now determine if the man accused of the murder is a cold-blooded killer, or if a vindictive lover is out to frame him. And in Charlotte, a 55-year-old father of three is stabbed to death and left for dead in the middle of a residential street. Det. Susan Sarvis and the homicide team initiate a citywide hunt for the last man seen with the victim to find out if he is a witness or if he's responsible for the homicide.

When fire fighters in Detroit respond to a house fire and discover a 63-year-old woman stabbed and bound, Sergeant Kenny Gardner and Investigator Barbara Simon must investigate the brutal murder. With no witnesses, they have to rely on the local community to help them find her killer. In Charlotte, Detective Phil Rainwater and the homicide team are called out to a restaurant parking lot littered with shell casings, where a 20-year-old father was shot dead. Surveillance video shows their potential suspects fleeing the scene in a white SUV. If they can track down the car, they may find the shooters.

For homicide detectives, the clock starts ticking the moment they are called. Their chance of solving a case is cut in half if they don’t get a lead in “The First 48″. Each passing hour gives suspects more time to flee, witnesses more time to forget what they saw, and crucial evidence more time to be lost forever. Follow detectives from around the country during these critical hours as they race against time to find the suspect.

A Louisville celebrity is murdered; and a deadly shootout is investigated in Miami.

In Charlotte, rookie Detective Norma McKee gets her first double-murder: a young couple shot in their car by a backseat passenger. Inside the vehicle, detectives find what may be a vital clue, a baseball hat that might contain the suspect’s DNA. Meanwhile, seasoned Miami detective, Emiliano Tamayo has two cases in two days. First he responds to a call reporting a foul smell, only to find a family of three found dead in their home; later that night he is called to the scene of a young man killed over a fifty-dollar bet. With four deaths in forty-eight hours, Tamayo calls on his years of experience to solve the cases.

Miami detectives investigate the murder of a man found floating in Biscayne Bay, and a second homicide that may be connected to the first case.

Detroit detectives investigate a double homicide; an elderly woman is murdered while taking groceries out of her car in Harris County, Texas.

In Charlotte, when a store clerk and father of three young children is shot in a robbery by a masked man, lead Detective David Osorio and his team interview witnesses and find that no one knows the shooter. With little to go on, Osorio must find a way to identify his suspect before he can hope to track him down. And in Miami, lead Detective Kevin Ruggiero and his team head to Overtown to investigate the murder of a young father shot in the street. When Ruggiero learns that the victim’s friends are out to retaliate, he must race to find the shooter before there’s another killing.

In Charlotte, rookie homicide Det. Brian Whitworth is assigned his first case when a woman is discovered on her bedroom floor, stabbed to death. Hampered by false leads and a lack of eyewitnesses, Whitworth must rely on the physical evidence to bring the killer to justice. Meanwhile, in Louisville, Det. Jon Lesher investigates the homicide of a 43-year-old father, gunned down in front of his house for telling a rowdy group of men next door to quiet down. The case comes to a standstill when an eyewitness steadfastly upholds the street's code of silence. Lesher must use his veteran-interview techniques to break the code and get the witness to talk.

After a year with the gang unit, Detective Kevin Ruggiero returns to Miami Homicide, investigating a drive-by shooting that left two men dead. He has little to work with until he learns that one of the victims was a founder of a local gang. Then in Louisville, Detective Kristen Downs responds to the shooting of a 17-year-old boy. When she learns that his friends witnessed the shooting, she has to convince them to overcome their fear of retaliation in order to bring him justice

After a year with the gang unit, Detective Kevin Ruggiero returns to Miami Homicide, investigating a drive-by shooting that left two men dead. He has little to work with until he learns that one of the victims was a founder of a local gang. Then in Louisville, Detective Kristen Downs responds to the shooting of a 17-year-old boy. When she learns that his friends witnessed the shooting, she has to convince them to overcome their fear of retaliation in order to bring him justice

Two men are shot in a motel in Charlotte; and Miami detectives investigate an apparent suicide that they suspect is a murder.

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In a bloody convenience store shooting, Birmingham Detective Chris Anderson needs an old surveillance system and cooperation from the victim's mother to help solve the case. When a Miami shooting follows a brutal public attack, Det. TC Cepero and his team try to piece together the turn of events to determine if the murder was justified.

In Las Vegas, NV, Detective Jimmy Vaccaro and his team are called out at midnight to an empty desert highway, where a man's been shot dead in the middle of the road. From the victim's cellphone, they quickly get a lead: just minutes before he was killed, he received a call from a friend with whom he worked at a local strip club. But when they track down the co-worker and bring him to the station, the case takes an outrageous turn that exposes the ruthless underside of business in Vegas.

A bystander is murdered with a brawl turns into a gunfight; a shooting victim's 911 calls may hold the answer to his killer's identity.

In Birmingham, Detectives Eric Torrence and Henry Lucas investigate the murder of a 31-year-old male found dead in a field. But with a tight-lipped community where street law is paramount, finding someone to talk is the team's biggest challenge. As the clock winds down, will the community pull through and bring the killer to justice? Then, in Charlotte a man is chased down and killed in front of his nine-year-old son. Detective Blair Fitch is shocked to discover the killer was getting even with someone else. The case takes a surprising turn and leads detectives to New York where the suspect turns up in relation to another murder.

In Miami, ten days before Christmas, a young corrections officer is shot dead with her two-year-old son while sleeping in their bed. Det. Kevin Ruggiero and Sgt. Ervens Ford take the case personally--not only do they consider the victim 24-year-old Ciara Lee as "on our team", but the death of her baby boy hits them emotionally. In this intense manhunt the detectives uncover the intended target, the motive, and the suspected killers, making an arrest two days before Christmas. But a surprise twist at the end leaves them frustrated and determined.