Feature Story
According to NamUS’s October 2022 report, in the United States, approximately 600,000 people are reported as missing annually — no doubt a much higher number than many of us might expect.
As true crime aficionados and law enforcement can likely attest, only a fraction of these missing people are ever found, and with each passing hour, their cases become more and more dire. Thankfully, there are a handful of people in the world who are equipped with the skills and knowledge to help, and one such person — on screen, at least — is Gabi Mosely, the leading character in NBC’s newest procedural drama “Found,” premiering Tuesday, Oct. 3.
Played by “Shameless” star Shanola Hampton, Gabi is a hard-working, determined public relations expert who specializes in finding Americans who have been reported as missing. As she leads a team of professionals in their shared noble work, Gabi does her best to parse her own past as a missing person. That said, Gabi’s methods for dealing with her demons could arguably use a bit of work.
As viewers quickly learn, Gabi has turned the proverbial tables on her former captor and has taken him hostage for a change — not exactly legal, but certainly satisfying. Now, despite her outwardly calm and put-together exterior, Gabi must hide the fact that she has a man, known only as “Sir” (played by “Saved by the Bell’s” Mark-Paul Gosselaar), tied up in her very own basement while she seeks justice for the remainder of the missing Americans on the register.
To make matters even more intriguing, Gabi has a plan for Sir.
Convinced that, as a former abductor himself, Sir knows the ins and outs of the criminal psyche and its various resulting behaviors, Gabi enlists his help as a consultant. With each new case she brings home, Sir is forced to help her find the victims of these heinous abductions and turn the kidnappers over to the authorities for investigation, (hopefully) a guilty verdict and sentencing.
While “Found” was originally scheduled for a Feb. 19 premiere this year, NBC announced the show’s postponement in mid-January, believing it to be better suited to an autumn release.
“After watching the first few episodes of ‘Found,’ it quickly became clear that our love for this show has continued to grow and grow with each step of the process,” Susan Rovner, chairman of entertainment content for NBCUniversal television and streaming, said in a January news release.
“Our goal is always to find the absolute best home for all our series, and it’s particularly the case with one as important as this,” Rovner continued. “By moving it to fall, we’re able to better leverage our resources, including lead-in and marketing muscle, enabling us to launch ‘Found’ to the largest possible audience across all our platforms.”
As a result of this shift, “Found” premieres immediately following a new Season 24 episode of the hit singing competition “The Voice” and joins other series on NBC’s fall docket, including Season 2 of the sci-fi reboot “Quantum Leap,” Season 5 of the Hawaiiset procedural “Magnum P.I.” (both premiering Oct. 4), Season 3 of the Canadian medical drama “Transplant” (premiering on NBC Oct. 12) and new episodes of “The Wall” (beginning Nov. 3).
A new season of “Dateline” also premieres on the network, alongside new series “The Irrational” (which premiered Sept. 25) and rebroadcasts of the One Chicago and Law & Order franchise procedurals.
As for “Found,” the series is expected to do well in the ratings while hopefully drawing some much-needed attention to the shocking number of people still registered as missing in the United States. Despite 2021 being marked by Statista Research Department as the year with the “lowest number of missing person files in the U.S. since 1990,” the June 2023 report still noted more than 521,000 people missing by the end of 2021, many of them people of color.
It is also important to note that this number is once again on the rise, as last year alone, “546,568 missing person records were entered into National Crime Information Center,” according to the FBI website.