- When a boy is found murdered on the Appalachian Trail, the BAU team goes deep into its forests in search of a man lurking in the wilderness who is targeting children.
- The dead body of ten year old Daniel Lanham is found buried in Harwood State Park in Pennsylvania. Missing since November when he and his father, Joseph Lanham, were camping, Daniel was kept alive over the winter before being killed in March. Experienced hiker and camper Joseph was and is a suspect, most notably now since he purportedly stopped looking for Daniel around the time he was killed. Reviewing the crime scene, the BAU find another dead body of a boy around Daniel's age, who also was killed months after his abduction. Reid suspects that the serial killer would have murdered more boys over several years over the entire course of the Appalachian Trail, and that he lately has confined himself to a smaller portion of the trail due either to his age or a physical disability which is making him less mobile. The unsub is working like an animal in the woods, hibernating with the boys over the winter before disposing of them. Meanwhile, adolescent brother and sister Robert and Ana Brooks, camping with their parents, are abducted in the same area. The BAU have to work fast since Ana was probably abducted out of circumstance of being with Robert rather than a want of the unsub. Ana's abduction means the unsub may have to improvise off his plan in dealing with an unwanted captive, and hopefully slip up in doing so. Joseph, knowing the area well, wants to assist in the investigation.—Huggo
- We open in the woods of Pennsylvania. A young couple hikes with their child. Clearly lost, they stumble through the brush until they come upon a bear feasting on ... something. A closer look reveals the remains of a human. A small human.
Cut to BAU headquarters, where Garcia informs the team that the remains are those of a 10-year-old boy. Oddly, the body was wrapped in plastic instead of being left to decompose in the elements. In any event, a killer appears to be stalking the Appalachian Trail. Later, the team arrives in Pennsylvania. They learn that the boy went missing in November, but tests indicate that he died in March. Interestingly, the victim's father stopped combing the woods for his son around the time of death. "You have to explain why you stopped looking for him at the same time that he died," Hotch says. The father, Joseph, explains that he just a "feeling" that his boy was dead. He blames himself for not keeping a closer watch on his son during their camping trip.
Derek and Emily, meanwhile, search the woods for clues. They quickly come upon a carving in a tree -- like a grave marker. A few yards away, the pair discovers another marker. Meaning: another body. Later, Emily returns to police HQ and explains that a second victim has indeed been found -- a boy who went missing in October of 2008. "So he takes a kid off the trail in the fall and keeps them all winter," Emily notes. After some fancy map work, Reid theorizes that the unsub has been following the trail and taking children for a decade. The killer's movements, however, appear to be restricted to a 30-mile radius for the past few child disappearances. He is slowing down.
More news: two children -- a brother and sister -- have recently gone missing. CUT to an darkened lair, where the children are behind bars. The older brother confronts his crying sister. Toys litter the ground. "Whose toys are these?" the little girl asks. You don't want to know. Suddenly, a burly man limps into the room. He offers the scared children water from a canteen. "Come here, I want to show you something," the unsub says to the boy.
Yikes.
Meanwhile, the team gives searchers the profile. They theorize that the man long ago left everyday society to live on the trail -- and devote his life to taking children. The unsub also prefers young boys, so they worry that the sister, Anna, could be disposable. Joseph, in the meantime, arrives to help, but is gently chided by Hotch. Instead, the grieving father turns to Reid, who is studying a map of the rugged terrain. "You know this land better than anyone," Reid says. "I think you can help us find these children." Joseph suggests looking in surrounding caves.
CUT to the darkened lair. The little boy returns to his sister in the cage ... and tries to wipe away his tears. Something horrible has happened. He urges his sister to run the next time the scary man comes for him. She protests at first, then agrees. Their chance comes quickly. The man opens the cage door and the little girl makes a break for it. The boy pummels the unsub as he attempts to corral the girl. She manages to escape.
The little girl races through the woods -- and runs into Emily and Derek! Unfortunately, the girl can't retrace her steps. Hotch does manage to get a few details from the girl, however. "He walked funny," she says. The man had a definite limp. Derek and Emily soon find the unsub's cave. They storm the place ... but discover it empty. "Looks like he was in a hurry," Derek says. "He left cash and a week's worth of rations." The unsub also left behind a flower -- a plant used for stiffening joints. Reid wonders if the killer has a degenerative condition. If so, he would have a tough time without pain killers.
Sure enough, the killer drags the boy through the woods ... and emerges in a nearby town. They head to a seedy hotel, where the unsub bangs on a door. Another equally creepy man, Brandon, answers. Turns out the killer once stole Brandon's pill supply ... but offers him the boy as a peace offering. Creepy Brandon smiles lecherously. Yikes. Garcia, meanwhile, looks up sex offenders in the area and discovers that many of them live at the same address -- safely in numbers and all that. She then runs a check on men who once lived at the hotel with degenerative diseases and gets one name: Shane Wyland. Of course, Shane has served time for "raping a 10 year old."
CUT to the hotel, where Brendan touches the boy's knee. He yells and scrambles away. In the ensuing struggle, the boy trips and bangs his head on a radiator. He appears to be dead. "He's going to kill me," mutters Brandon in reference to Shane.
The team hops into squad cars and heads to the hotel. On the way, Rossi theorizes that the unsub needs painkillers -- and might be willing to trade the boy for them. "To some people, that's as good as cash," he says. Better hurry, BAU. Derek and Emily arrive at the scene -- and get Brandon's name from the cynical clerk. Moments later, they storm the apartment ...and discover it empty. They do find the boy's shoe, however.
Brendan, in the meantime, has snuck away to the bowels of the building. The little boys mutters -- he isn't dead! "I'm not going back to prison," Brendan tells his prey. But the boy fights back, kicking the man where it hurts. The boy runs around a corner ... and bumps into Derek. "I didn't take him!" Brendan screams. "Shane brought him to me! I didn't do anything!" Tell it to the judge, pervert.
In the end, the children are safe, but Shane has escaped. "He's got no place to hide," Hotch says. "We'll get him." And when Hotch makes a promise, he usually keeps it.
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