7.4/10348 votes#1 - Pilot
Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 9/26/2002
Maggie Cartwright appears to have simply walked away from every thing in her life, having left everything of hers behind. Later a ransom note appears on her mother's email list demanding a million dollars for her safe return.
Director: David Nutter
Writer: Hank Steinberg
7.6/10303 votes#2 - Birthday Boy
Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 10/3/2002
Eleven-year-old Gabe Freedman is separated from his father on the subway to Yankee Stadium.
Director: David Nutter
Writer: Hank Steinberg
- 7.2/10246 votes
#3 - 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.
Director: Rachel Talalay
Writer: Jan Nash
- 7.6/10251 votes
#4 - Between the Cracks
Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 10/17/2002
Nineteen-year-old model Eve Cleary disappears and it turns out that there are very few people who actually knew her.
Director: Steve Gomer
Writer: Ed Redlich
8.0/10304 votes#5 - Suspect
Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 10/24/2002
After telling his mother, he wanted to leave school for good, seventeen year old Andy Deaver vanishes from his private boarding school, last seen by it's headmaster, Graham Spaulding.
Director: Peter Markle
Writer: Allison Abner
- 7.6/10243 votes
#6 - Silent Partner
Season 1 Episode 6 - Aired 10/31/2002
Patrick Kent, a Vice-President of a New York investment-banking firm, vanishes from a San Diego airport, only leaving behind two empty suitcases.
Director: Randall Zisk
Writer: Greg Walker
- 7.6/10243 votes
#7 - Snatch Back
Season 1 Episode 7 - Aired 11/7/2002
Abby, the three-year-old daughter of ADA Angela Buckman and her NYU lecturer husband Matthew, vanishes while in the park with her nanny.
Director: Leslie Libman
Writer: Stacy Rukeyser
- 7.4/10231 votes
#8 - Little Big Man
Season 1 Episode 8 - Aired 11/14/2002
After a confrontation with a local bully, foster teen William Hope disappears leaving his job at a burger restaurant late at night.
Director: Paul Holahan
Writer: Jacob Epstein
7.7/10249 votes#9 - In Extremis
Season 1 Episode 9 - Aired 11/21/2002
Third-year-resident Anwar Samir vanishes from the hospital he works in. Because of his Saudi-Arabian background, suspicions of terrorist links arise.
Director: Peter Markle
Writer: Francisco Castro
- 8.1/10248 votes
#10 - Midnight Sun
Season 1 Episode 10 - Aired 12/12/2002
When a man leaves his home in the morning with his daughter to take her to school and then to open his dry-cleaning store, but they both of they never make it there .
Director: Michelle MacLaren
Writer: Hank Steinberg
- 8.0/10299 votes
#11 - Maple Street
Season 1 Episode 11 - Aired 1/9/2003
Annie Miller disappears on her way to school. The group looks into her disappearance, with their suspects ranging from the local mayor, to Annie's godfather, all the way to a young man working for the father of her best friend. Twenty-four hours after Annie's disappearance, her best friend Siobhan Arintero also vanishes, leaving only a collection of videos to help find the two girls.
Director: John McNaughton
Writer: Maria Maggenti
7.9/10251 votes#12 - Underground Railroad
Season 1 Episode 12 - Aired 1/16/2003
Jack and the team search for a pregnant woman, Kathy Dobson, who disappeared from a hospital before being told that she has serious complications. As the detectives race against time to find Kathy, their investigation gradually reveals that Kathy's seemingly happy life actually hasn't been going very well. She is eight-and-a-half months pregnant and, under the tight control of her husband Paul, has withdrawn from her family and friends. Paul's brother Ritchie, who has been following Kathy and providing Paul with addresses she visits, lists a woman who may be affiliated with an ""underground railroad"" that helps battered women. When the team members find the woman, they learn that she has been assaulted by Paul—but she still refuses to lead them to Kathy.
Director: Tom McLoughlin
Writer: Hank Steinberg
8.5/10282 votes#13 - 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.
Director: Paul Holahan
Writer: N/A
- 7.6/10227 votes
#14 - The Friendly Skies
Season 1 Episode 14 - Aired 2/6/2003
The team investigate a disappearance of a flight attendant who may have been having a relationship with one of the pilot's.
Director: Paul Holahan
Writer: Hank Steinberg
7.4/10217 votes#15 - 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.
Director: Deran Sarafian
Writer: Steven Kane
7.7/10252 votes#16 - Clare de Lune
Season 1 Episode 16 - Aired 2/27/2003
A girl vanishes from a psychiatric hospital, and it appears she may have escaped with a staff member. Then the team learns of a troubling incident from her past that may hold the key to her disappearance.
Director: Mel Damski
Writer: Allison Abner
- 7.1/10214 votes
#17 - Kam Li
Season 1 Episode 17 - Aired 3/13/2003
They search for a retired U.S. Army officer who has disappeared right after a dinner that was given in his honor by former members of his Vietnam platoon
Director: Randall Zisk
Writer: Jacob Epstein
- 7.6/10209 votes
#18 - The Source
Season 1 Episode 18 - Aired 4/3/2003
Delia , a television reporter, disappears in the middle of the investigation of a nightclub owner who is a suspected drug dealer. They also discovers that Delia was working on the case of a murderer on death row who she thought was innocent, and who might be linked to an assistant district attorney working with Jack on the case.
Director: Peter Markle
Writer: Greg Walker
- 7.1/10224 votes
#19 - 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.
Director: Charles Correll
Writer: N/A
6.8/10200 votes#20 - 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.
Director: Paul Holahan
Writer: Greg Walker
- 7.8/10217 votes
#21 - Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been?
Season 1 Episode 21 - Aired 5/1/2003
Jack's methods for investigation of child molester could result in the case being kicked out of court. Then on top of that, the Office of Professional Responsibility decides to investigate the team, but their real target is Jack
Director: Peter Markle
Writer: Ed Redlich, Harry Litman
8.2/10255 votes#22 - 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.
Director: Kevin Hooks
Writer: Hank Steinberg
- 8.3/10262 votes
#23 - 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 Berry so that Sam can get help and Jack goes in there and takes Sam's place.
Director: Paul Holahan
Writer: Hank Steinberg
The Best Episodes of Without a Trace Season 1
Every episode of Without a Trace Season 1 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Without a Trace Season 1!
The series follows the ventures of a Missing Persons Unit of the FBI in New York City.
Genres:CrimeMysteryAction & AdventureDrama
Network:CBS
Season 1 Ratings Summary
"Pilot" is the best rated episode of "Without a Trace" season 1. It scored 7.4/10 based on 348 votes. Directed by David Nutter and written by Hank Steinberg, it aired on 9/26/2002. This episode is rated 0.2 points higher than the second-best, "Birthday Boy".