Disappeared (Law & Order) - Episodes

The cops break the seemingly random murder of a fried chicken delivery guy with a little "undercover" work in the park, but McCoy and Ross face a harder battle to get a conviction when the two defendants resolutely point the finger at each other, and the one item identifying the actual killer is the recording of a confession-made to a priest. Meanwhile, Curtis learns that his wife has multiple sclerosis.

• Based on the Thomas Koskovich and Jayson Vreeland case.
• Guest stars: Donna Murphy, James Handy, Sig Libowitz, Charles Levin, Susan Blommaert, Suzanne Costallos, Ellen Muth, Michael C. Maronna, Rob McElhenney, Reed Birney and Jan Munroe.

Bloody sheets and an apparently stolen credit card lead Briscoe and Curtis to a pair of college-age lovers who present McCoy and Ross with a united front of denial that one of them killed their newborn son and disposed of the body.

• Based on the Amy Grossberg and Brian Peterson case and the Melissa Drexler case.
• Guest star: Benjamin Hendrickson.

McCoy finds himself battling the Navy and the office of the Judge Advocate General as he tries to prosecute a female pilot accused of murdering her married lover after he tried to break off with her.

• Inspired by the 1997 U.S. Air Force sex scandal involving Lt. Kelly Flynn.
• Guest star: Kate Walsh, Molly Price, and Daniel von Bargen.

A discrepancy concerning the time of death of a drive-by shooting victim leads McCoy and Ross to initiate prosecutions against both the shooter and the doctor who harvested her organs as transplant donations.

• Inspired by a piece on 60 Minutes about people being shot in Los Angeles drive-bys.
• Guest Star: Michael Nouri.

After the cops trace an eagle tattoo on a man shot and killed while holding up an armored truck to a group of militia members, McCoy finds himself facing one of their number as the pro se counsel for his friends, arguing for the concept of "jury nullification", the right of a jury to protect a defendant from an unjust law by finding him not guilty despite the evidence.

• Inspired by Militia actions such as the Siege of Ruby Ridge and Waco, Texas, the Oklahoma City bombing and the trial of the Chicago Seven. Writer David Black said while researching for the episode that he found some aspects of the movement to be bigoted, but found that some of it reminded him of "original revolutionists of America. They do sound like Tom Paine and Thomas Jefferson... I don't think they should use terrorist tactics, but philosophically I have some sympathy."
• Guest star: Denis O'Hare.

It's old home week for Briscoe when an apparent murder of a teenage model in New York develops ties to Baltimore, and Detectives Munch and Falsone pay a visit to the Big Apple to observe the case. Meanwhile, McCoy finds himself battling the attorney of the victim's parents for access to his clients and the Baltimore DA for jurisdiction.

• Based on the JonBenét Ramsey case.
• The first part of a two-part crossover with a Homicide: Life on the Street episode of the same name.
• Guest Stars: Maureen Anderman, Dan Hedaya, Tom Tammi, Zeljko Ivanek, Dan Frazer, Richard Council, J.K. Simmons, Jon Seda and Richard Belzer, Yaphet Kotto.

The paternity of a black baby given up for adoption by a white mother who later fell from an apartment balcony might provide a clue to her murderer, but it also unearths some long-buried family secrets that it seems more than one person would kill to keep hidden.

• Based on the life story of Anatole Broyard.
• Guest stars: Deborah Rush, Stephen Mendillo, Harry O'Reilly, Lou Liberatore, Joan Copeland, Kent Broadhurst and Franchelle Stewart Dorn.

The murder of a bail bondsman looks fairly routine until the chance words of the chief suspect uncover possible case-fixing between a shady lawyer and an unknown contact within the judicial system.

• Guest stars: Bruce MacVittie, Jacinto Taras Riddick, Don Billett, Dominic Chianese, Marciy Harriell, Alexandra Neil and David Marshall Grant.

A message overheard on an answering machine leads Briscoe and Curtis to a confessed murderer and the home of wealthy Carl Anderton, an old friend of Adam Schiff, whose stubborn non-cooperation with the district attorney threatens to create a serious miscarriage of justice.

• Guest stars: Robert Vaughn, Mia Dillon, Sam Huntington, Joseph Siravo, Michael O'Hare, J.K. Simmons and Bob Dishy.

Curtis and Briscoe investigate the death of Josef Moussad, an Arab man found behind a dumpster, the victim of an apparent mugging. The detectives soon realize that Moussad had brought a doctor into the country to perform a clitoridectomy on his young niece, and suspicion turns to the family. Ross is horrified that young Alison's grandmother and uncle were both in full support of the operation, which makes it hard for her to prosecute the case objectively.

• Based on heightened concern over female genital cutting.
• Guest stars: Cotter Smith, Steve Landesberg, Ava Haddad, Aharon Ipale, Maryann Urbano, Ramsey Faragallah, Emmy Rossum, and Connie Nelson.

After Briscoe and Curtis finally determine who was driving the car that killed three people, the legal prosecution stands in danger of becoming a kangaroo court when McCoy's feelings over Kincaid mesh with the political agenda of an ambitious judge anxious to make an example of the defendant.

• Guest stars: Cliff Gorman, David Garrison, Kathryn Meisle, Gene Canfield, Melanie Rey, Claywood Sepliner and Daniel McDonald.

The shooting of two people in a restaurant restroom takes some abrupt turns as they try to discover who exactly the intended victim was, and the prosecutors have to deal with a defendant claiming to have been in a dissociative state while committing the crime — the same defense used years before by the defendant's father.

• Guest stars: Stephe Pearlman, Vera Farmiga, Joanna Merlin, Ben Hammer, Matthew Sussman, Judy Kuhn and J.K. Simmons.

The street murder of a woman who worked with underprivileged kids takes a turn towards the bizarre when the detectives uncover she had a predilection for kinky sex, and that one of her current partners appears to be a serial killer, who offers an overexposure to television violence as his defense during his trial.

• Based on the Andrew Cunanan case.
• Guest star: Dennis Boutsikaris.

The cops, as they try to pin down the specifics of an assault on a man reluctant to talk about it, uncover the alleged rape of two women in custodial care. But as the prosecutors attempt to prepare their case, a reluctant witness changes their view of the cases.

• Based on the John Horace Oughton case where he raped and impregnated a comatose woman.
• Guest stars: Hallee Hirsh and Edie Falco.

Taking on an apparent mafia murder, Detectives Briscoe and Curtis are stymied by a dead witness and a seemingly incoherent mob boss.

• Based on the Sammy Gravano case.

The stabbing death of a psychologist draws Detectives Briscoe and Curtis into a heated divorce case and pits McCoy and Ross against a manipulative attorney.

• Guest stars: Jill Clayburgh and Tony Roberts.

The death of a college student leads to a case involving an HIV-positive male who's seeking to infect as many young women as possible. McCoy, testing right-to-privacy ethics, wants to charge him with murder.

• Based on the Nushawn Williams case.
• Guest stars: Glynnis O'Connor, Leslie Denniston, Heather Burns, Susan May Pratt, Fran Brill, Ralph Byers, Audrie Neenan, David Spielberg.

When a woman is found unconscious at the bottom of her apartment stairs, Briscoe and Curtis must figure out what happened — before it's too late. In order to make his case, McCoy pits the two detectives against each other in the courtroom.

A defendant refuses to allow his lawyer to raise the issue of insanity. This complicates matters for the brother who turned him in with hopes of securing medical treatment for him.

• Guest stars: Ken Wels H, Tovah Feldshuh, Michael Medeiros, Steve Mellor, Donna Hanover, Maggie Burke and J.K. Simmons

After a 12-year-old quadriplegic dies at home in his bed, paramedics claim that he was suffocated and the suspects include the boy's parents and sister.

• Guest stars: Gerry Bamman, John Hickok, Heather Matarazzo, John Procaccino, William Severs, J.K. Simmons and Maryann Plunkett.

Schiff's re-election may hinge on the stabbing death of a police officer; Briscoe's daughter is arrested for dealing drugs.

• Based on the Karla Faye Tucker case.
• Guest star: Cliff Gorman, Isabel Gillies, Geofrey Naufts, Neal Jones, Jennifer Bill, Ana Gasteyer, Lynn Cohen, Ilana Levine, Tom Wiggin and Robert Vaughn.

The case of a teacher's shooting uncovers a vendetta involving the rape of a mentally challenged coed by three students, whose attorney claims they weren't aware of her condition. Briscoe is devastated to learn of his daughter Cathy's death.

• Guest stars: Robert Clohessy, Lauren Ambrose, Claire Beckman, Jennifer Bill, John Christopher Jones, Jon Abrahams, Gerry Rosenthal, Adam LaVorgna, Kate Skinner, Alison Folland, J.K. Simmons as Dr. Emil Skoda and Ron McLarty.

Tabloid journalism comes under scrutiny during the investigations into the deaths of a gossip columnist and a celebrity target he pursued.

• This episode was written by actor Alec Baldwin.
• Guest stars: Timothy Carhart, Joe Mantello, Robin Groves, Gerrit Graham and John Slattery.

During the search for a pedophile who raped a 10-year-old, a snitch offers Briscoe a chance to avenge his daughter's death. Meanwhile, Van Buren learns that her job is in jeopardy; McCoy is ordered to appear before a disciplinary committee because of his conduct in a DUI case; and the increasingly political Schiff worries that the rape case may adversely impact his reelection bid.

• Last appearance of Carey Lowell as Jamie Ross as ADA.