Synopsis  

In the two hour premiere of Missing Persons, we meet the detectives of Chicago’s Missing Persons Bureau.

Det. Johnny Sandowski searches for a four year-old Polish girl who vanished after being separated from her mother on an “El” train. Det. Bobby Davison is assigned a missing University of Chicago co-ed. Det. Sgt. Carlos Marrone tracks a patient who has possibly wandered off from the convalescence home where she lived. Carlos’ wife goes into labor, so Lt. Ray McCauliffe takes over this case himself. When the wife of a National Guardsman comes in to report that her husband did not, Det. Dan Manaher sends her to Det. Connie Karadzic for help.

Review  

Detective Connie Karadzic is met when she answers the phone for her unit. She’s trying hard to get field work, but Lieutenant Ray McAuliffe claims he needs her in the office, organizing reports and gathering information for the various cases. She offers to take one of Carlos’ cases, but the Lieutenant won’t allow it, frustrating Connie. Ray does rely on Connie to help him research cases, but she wants more.

Connie’s break comes when the wife of a National Guardsman comes in to report her missing husband. With the staff already deployed, Connie takes the initial information and asks Dan Manaher if she can take the case. Ray’s out, and Connie takes the case, but not after spending a few moments perfecting her greeting in the mirror. When the Lieutenant finds out, he’s upset, but admits that Connie is a qualified detective, and not a secretary. Connie goes to the National Guards and determines the missing man hooked up with a girl at a jazz bar near the base, easily tracking the cheater down, though she finds it difficult to not inform the wife of her spouse’s infidelity. In the end, she sets the husband up to be caught by his wife, and while Ray can’t approve of it, he doesn’t admonish her.

Back at the station, Ray approves of her work in the field, allowing Connie to continue the work she wants to do, even taking her along to help Johnny in his armed hostage crisis. Connie drives them to the scene and brings the hostage’s mother up to the floor where her daughter is being held. While Johnny saves the daughter, Connie arrests the kidnapper: a Polish survivor of Nazi concentration camps, suffering a severe flashback.

Notes  

• Connie is friendly with most people in her unit, knowing much about their personal lives.
• She hates cases with abducted children.
• Connie is married.

Quotes  

Connie: When?
Ray: Connie, I need you here. You’re the only one who can find certain things.
Connie: I know, I know. You need me, right.

Connie: So Ray comes walking out here looking for somebody to replace Carlos, and he says ‘Nobody’s around, I guess I’m gonna have to go do it myself.’ So I look at him, and I’m like, ‘What am I? Chopped liver?’ And he looks at me and says ‘Connie-’
Bobby: ‘I’d be lost without you, Connie. I depend on you.’
Connie: It’s a curse.

Connie: Thanks, you’re a doll.
Doorman: Hey, you’re not chopped liver yourself!
Connie: Tell that to my boss. He seems to think I am.