Point Last Seen (1998) - full transcript

- Honey?

- 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?

She hasn't
slept in a week.

- I need her, Frank.

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.

- 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.

I'll be
doing dispatch.

I'll make sure any calls
get patched through.

- Thank you.

You should leave
the door unlocked

in case they get
home before I do.

- Okay.

- I gotta go, Frank.

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

they have a number
at search base.

I'll see you soon.

Rachel, this is Frank.

- I'm here. Frank.

Rachel, I got an
investigator on the line

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

Go ahead.

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.

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.

- But, why?

- I will be right with you.

- 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?

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.

- You find one?

- 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?

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?

- Save it to show the others.

- I'm sorry for all the trouble.

- It's no trouble.

- Come on, sweetie.

- 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.

I put the lace on myself.

- Makes 'em look great.

That's good.

One thumb width exactly.

Filth.

Come here, come here!

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.

Tracker One to base.

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.

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.

- 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.

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.

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

before you take a second step.

Come on, move.

Please move.

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

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.

Tracker one to base.

I've got fresh prints

above campsite seven
and heading due north.

Tell her mom Mandy's here.

Search base to head ranger.

Go ahead, Frank.

I'm gonna need
a fuel truck down here

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

We'll get
on it right away.

- I copy.

Base to 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.

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.

- 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.

- 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!

Whoa!

- Ruthie!

Ruthie!

Johnny!

Come on.

Johnny, come on inside.

Come on, come with mama.

Come on.

Inside, get inside.

Get inside.

Don't say a word, honey, okay?

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.

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.

Chopper
One to Tracker One.

Come in, Chopper One.

Got a couple of
Copper Lakers up here for ya.

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.

Good luck, guys!

All right, thanks!

- Ow, damn.

These things are high.

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?

- You know, that
chopper's gonna spot her

before we even get started.

- As long as she's found.

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.

Don to tracker one.

Don to tracker one.

- Come in, Don.

How's it going?

- Chopper, see anything?

Chopper one
to tracker one, nada.

You sure she's here?

- She was here, Don.

Mandy Ellis was here.

Okay, that's
enough for me.

I'll hold off the soldiers.

Just find her.

Over and out.

Base to Tracker One.

Come in, Base One.

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.

Got it.

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

Tracker One, over.

- Base to One.

Base to One.

Go ahead, Base.

- I have an incoming
call from Coreen Davis.

- Patch her through.

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?

- The desert.

That's what he always said.

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.

- 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.

- 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.

Hello.

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.

- Tonight up near Darby.

- Okay.

I'm gonna go with you.

No.

He said no.

- I don't care what he says.

I know this country, he doesn't.

- Oh, he knows.

- Hello.

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?

- 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.

- 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?

Mommy!

- You got that? Bye!

- Oh, Mandy.

Tracker One to Base.

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?

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?

Okay, Base out.

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.

- 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.

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?

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.

Rachel, is anyone with you?

- My kids are with me.

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

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

Now, the police are
questioning him,

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

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

Please call me.

Base, this
is tracker team two.

Did the child have
any food or water?

None that we know of.

How long you
figure she's been walking?

13, 14 hours.

Why hasn't
she just dropped?

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

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.

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.

Lunchtime?

She'll be dead by lunchtime.

Mandy?

Mandy?

Tracker One to Base.

Come in, One.

- I found the place where
she slept last night.

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?

- 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?

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.

- 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.

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.

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.

That's him.

Oh my gosh, they're so big.

Hi, hi.

Oh, let me look at you.

Ruthie, it's Mama.

- Hey, Ruth.
- Come on, Ruthie.

Get outta the truck.

- Hi, Mommy.
- Frank.

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.

That wasn't so bad.

No, no, no!

- Johnny, Johnny.

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

- No!
- Take it easy.

- No!
- Hey, you're safe.

Johnny, Johnny, Johnny,
Johnny, come on.

- 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.

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.

Chopper
One to Tracker One.

- Come in, Dale.

Where the hell are you?

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

Is there
a place to land?

- Yeah, it's pretty flat.

I lay on the earth and
I watched it healing

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

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.

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.

- 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.

- 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.

I was thinking I just
wanna have a little nap.

What do you think about that?

I'll be right back.

We can't come to
the phone right now,

please leave a message.

- 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?

John, Ruthie,
come on, come in here.

What's the matter?

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!

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!

Mandy!

Mandy!

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.

- Mommy!
- Oh, sweetie.

Mom!

- Hello!

Hi.

How was Grandma's?

- Great!
- Yeah.

- Grandma's wasn't so bad.

- Good.

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

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

Oh god.

Stay down, guys, I'm so sorry.

Come on, come on.

Help. I need help.

My ex-husband's
trying to kill us.

- Joe.
- Yeah?

- Where is he?

- He was at my house.

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.

- Mom!
- Mom, he's here!

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.

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.

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.

Thanks.

- 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.

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.

Here.

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

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.

- Ed, come on.
We're closing in.

- All right, all right.

I need to check it out.

Call the chopper down.

Okay?

- She's here.

Mandy.

Mandy!

Mandy!

Mandy!

Mandy!

Mandy.

Mandy?

Oh, Mandy.

Mommy.

- Yes, honey.

Oh yes, Mandy. Yes, Mandy.

Yes, honey, yes, yes, yes.

I got her!

I got her!

That's what you're in.

- Temperature's
106.9, pulse is 120.

Blood pressure's 65 over 40.

That should
do it for you, Rachel.

EMS to
dispatch, we're gonna

be code six down here.

All right, you copy that?

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

ETA about 20 minutes.

- I don't know how to thank you.

- It's my job.

Ma'am, this way.

I'll see you at

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

Okay, baby?

- Hey, girl.

Next time we do the
whole hike together.

Be brave, Mandy.

Clear the vehicle!

Clear the area for
chopper take off.

Louis, keep 'em back!

Let's go folks, let's move.

- 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.

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."

- 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.

- Take me home, Frank.

- Okay.

Don't.

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

Would you like some help?

Wait here.

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.

- 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.

Yes, ma'am!

- Thanks again.
- Goodbye.

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.