Last Seen Alive
The first 48 hours after a person goes missing are the most crucial, but that’s also how long you have to wait before reporting them as missing. In reality docu-series Last Seen Alive (2014-current), stories of missing persons are retold, starting at the place they were last seen. While some have happy endings, others end in unknown tragedy with the hopes of one day being solved.
On Last Seen Alive, 12 families chase leads and interview potential witnesses while travelling across the US hoping for a reunion with their missing relatives. “Viewers have always been moved by stories of families desperate to find missing loved ones, sometimes after decades of anguished searching,” says Kevin Bennett, the general manager of Investigation Discovery, the original channel that commissioned the show in 2014. “Last Seen Alive affords ID the rare opportunity to make a profound impact on recent missing-persons investigations, using our national platforms on air and online to bring much-needed attention to ongoing cases,” he adds.
The six episodes in the season do share a similarity though – the women and men who’re missing appear to have left voluntarily, with the exception of 15-year-old Ali Lowitzer (episode 3, 27 November), who’s believed to have been abducted getting off a bus, and 52-year-old schoolteacher Jeffrey (episode 4, 4 December) who went out for a jog in his neighbourhood and never came back.
The series premieres tonight with the story of Scarlett DeLoach, who vanished in the middle of the night. A frantic search for her teen daughter leads Scarlett’s mom Lisa to a sad discovery. “I still have my moments where I feel jealous and angry, but my question was answered,” says Lisa.