In Noel, Missouri, a bank is robbed of $71,000 and the bank president, Dan Short, is nowhere to be found. Could Short have robbed his own bank? Five days later, a body is found in the swampy shallows of the Great Lake o' the Cherokees.

Bobby and Patricia Sexton have three daughters and live on her grandparent's property in Jacksonville, Texas. But when Bobby doesn't come home one evening, his worried wife, Patricia, files a missing person's report.

16-year-old Carol Hutto is a dependable friend, daughter and sister. She's a good student, loves wrestling and hanging out with friends. So when she misses her curfew one evening, her mother knows something awful has happened.