
"Without a Trace" is a fast-paced procedural drama about the Missing Persons Squad of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in New York City. The sole responsibility of the special task force is to find missing persons by applying advanced psychological profiling techniques to the evidence and decide whether the missing people have been abducted, murdered, committed suicide or simply run away. Members of the unit include supervisory agent Jack Malone (Anthony LaPaglia) and field agent Samantha "Sam" Spade (Poppy Montgomery).

When a nanny and her charge disappear hours after her employers fired her, the team must determine whether she is a kidnapping victim or suspect.

A makeover winner disappears in the midst of the publicity event at which she was the featured guest, and the team must comb through the possible suspects to learn what happened to her.

When a single mother disappears after imploring her babysitter to watch her son, the team tries to piece together her life to determine if she has been victimized or just ran away from her problems.

Samantha goes undercover to lure a drug trafficker believed to be responsible for the disappearance of a mother who was transporting drugs.