The Forgotten Episode 1.15 Donovan Doe

A box marked "Explosives" is found near a school. What's inside the box is just as disturbing as the bomb. The bones and skull of a young girl are found along with a few other random items. Also in the box is a pink jacket just like the one Alex Donovan's daughter Lucy was wearing the day she disappeared. Alex realizes the police will want him to stay away from the case. But they, and we, know that's not going to happen.

Tyler's preliminary sketch looks a lot like Lucy. But Alex opts to focus on the killer by looking into the other items inside the ammo box, which are eclectic to say the least. There's a rubber band ball, a ladybug keychain and some crossword puzzle and Sudoku pages. There's a name hidden inside the crossword puzzle: Matthew Clark. He's a kid who participates in an Internet-based scavenger hunt. Matthew put the crossword puzzle in the ammo box, which he refers to as the cache. Other players left the rubber band ball and the ladybug keychain.

The Sudoku puzzle reveals GPS coordinates that lead the team at another location. Russell arrives at the scene with the results of the victim's DNA test. It's not Alex's daughter. Alex is relieved but knows that the victim is still somebody's daughter, so they must press on. They find another clue, but it wasn't left by someone playing the game. No, this clue came from the killer. It's a note that reads: L O T M – You Can't Catch Me.

The woman who left the ladybug keychain in the original cache saw a suspicious man after she made her drop. Tyler makes a quick sketch of the man and they determine he is William Hollander. This guy is creepy, but Russell has no grounds to hold him.

Alex confronts the suspect outside his apartment where Hollander reveals his true colors. He suggests that he may have killed others, including Alex's daughter. Hollander is toying with Alex. He doles out more cache clues to taunt Alex into trying to catch him. The team is led to an item used in the scavenger hunt game. It's butterfly cutout that belonged to a little girl from Philadelphia. Her name: Stephanie Somers.

Stephanie's aunt reveals that she disappeared five years ago. After the kidnapping, Stephanie's dad felt responsible and committed suicide. Her mother, Karen, left Philly to start over. Stephanie's cousin tells Alex that he took a backpack that the little girl was playing with the day she vanished. Prints from an item in the backpack match those belonging to William Hollander.

Hollander knows he's caught, but he's not done playing his mind games. The "L O T M" acronym from one of his clues stands for "Left One, Took Many." There are other victims out there, with one of them quite possibly being Lucy Donovan. In exchange for taking the death penalty off the table, Hollander leads the police to three other bodies. Thankfully, Lucy isn't one of them.

This case has taken a huge emotional toll on Alex. Candace asks if he's talking about giving up. He says, "I'm talking about accepting the fact that my daughter is dead." Candace says that until he knows for sure, he must fight to keep her alive in his mind. It's why their work is so important. They found Stephanie's mother, Karen, in Nebraska. Alex knows that he must go there to give her the closure he still seeks.

When Alex and Candace arrive in Omaha, Karen Somers reacts oddly to the news that her daughter's remains have been found. She shuffles Alex and Candace away. When Alex hears rumbling noises from inside, he rings the doorbell. The door opens, but it's not Karen Somers on the other side. Alex's eyes open wide with disbelief. It's his daughter. It's Lucy. After so many years of searching, Alex Donovan has found his little girl.

A distraught Karen Somers kidnapped Lucy while driving through Chicago after leaving home. Lucy is fine physically, but she is mentally and emotionally confused. A psychiatrist tells Alex that there's no telling how long it'll take for her to recover from all that's happened. She's in shock. But when Lucy sees Alex wearing a bracelet she made with the word "Daddy" on it, her memory comes rushing back. The only thing she can say is, "Dad?" With that, Alex takes his daughter in his arms. Finally, Lucy Donovan is back where she belongs.

Lucy sees a note addressed to her in Alex's apartment. It's from Candace, Walter, Tyler, Maxine and Grace saying they can't wait to meet her. When Lucy asks who they are, Alex's response eloquently captures the essence of these people we've come to know and care about in the Forgotten Network. Here it is, word for word:

"They're my team. They're the people that helped me to find you and all the others. We figure out where they came from, what their stories are so their families can know, so the world can know, too. We have regular jobs most of the time, but this work, this mission, it's only just beginning. There's so much more to do, so many people who need our help. It defines us, compels us. Because it doesn't just tell us who they are, it tells us who we are. I guess most of all, they're my friends."