deep end, cm [ 1 ]

013. what fresh hell?

"Missing child in Wilmington, Delaware. 11 year old Billie Copeland was last seen on the playground at 4:30 yesterday afternoon." JJ says, handing out the files.

"That's... 20 hours ago. Child abduction response plan says we get notified immediately. What happened?" Hotch questions.

"There was reason to believe she was with her father. Her cell phone shows a call to him around the time of the disappearance." JJ explains.

"So they've since ruled him out?" Gideon asks.

"He called the mother about an hour ago." JJ states.

"That doesn't mean he isn't involved." Gideon comments.

"He's on his way to the family home so you can talk to him more. But the local police are now considering this a stranger abduction." JJ tells them.

"20 hours late." Derek says.

"Long term stranger abductions of children Billie's age are rare. They represent only half of one percent of all missing cases per year. But they are usually more likely to be fatal. Of the children that are abducted and murdered, 44% die within the first hour. From that point forth, their odds of survival greatly decrease. 75% are gone after 3 hours. Virtually, all of them are dead after 24." Spencer rambles.

"Which means we have just under 4 hours to find her." Hotch says.

"Shall we go?" Gideon asks.

+++

Elle and Jessica are at Billie's home, sitting in the living room with her mom. She has the news on, the police talking about Billie. Marilyn turns the TV off.

"They've been running that over and over again for the past 2 hours." She says, sniffling. "The press wants to talk to me. I just-- I don't think I can face it."

"Why don't you just tell us what happened?" Elle asks.

"Um... I was focused on practice, and... Billie was... being a pain, as usual, giving me attitude. So I told her to run it off. I sent her away." Marilyn says.

"How long have you been divorced?" Jessica asks.

"Um... it's been final for six months, but we haven't lived together for over a year." Marilyn informs as Gideon walks in.

"Are you seeing anyone?" Jessica asks.

"Between work and Billie, when would I have the time?" She remarks.

"Not one date? Any men coming over to the house?" Elle asks.

"I-I had a few casual dates after work, but they never came to the house." Marilyn says. "Billie still hopes that her father and I will get back together."

"How did Billie's dog die, Ms. Copeland?" Gideon asks.

"Uh... it was hit by a car two weeks ago. How did you know that?" She asks.

"Shrine in the room." Gideon says. "Helps her grieve?"

"Her father did that for her." Marilyn says.

"They get along well?" He asks.

"Best of friends. She calls him every night, tells him about her day, asks about his." Marilyn says. "He's a cancer survivor, so he takes time off from work, pulls her out of school for father/daughter field trips. Says we all need to stop and enjoy life. But he forgets that he has responsibilities, that they both do. Which makes me the bad guy. And she blames for the divorce, blames me for everything. I should have just let her go with her father."

"I'm sorry." Marilyn leaves the room.

"She's pretty fragile." Gideon notes.

"The last thing she did was fight with her daughter." Jessica says.