Disappeared is an American documentary television show on Investigation Discovery that debuted on December 10, 2009.[1] The show contains re-enactments and interviews with law enforcement officers, investigators, and relatives connected with cases in which individuals have gone missing.[2] Each episode focuses on a single case of either one individual, or sometimes several individuals who disappeared together.
The show's initial run was composed of six seasons that originally aired between December 2009 to April 2013. Following a three-year-long hiatus, on April 11, 2016, the show resumed on the Investigation Discovery network, debuting its seventh season.[3] In 2021, the show was returned as a podcast.[4] In May 2022, it was announced that the show was being rebooted for the 2022-2023 television season.[5] The tenth season premiered September 7, 2022, with the eleventh premiering August 27, 2023.
Format
Disappeared follows a documentary format.[6] It features re-enactments and interviews with family members, friends, and law enforcement connected to the missing subject(s), to explore their recent lives and last actions prior to disappearing. By the time episodes air, some cases had been resolved, with a variety of outcomes, but most often the cases covered have not been explained at the time the episode reaches broadcast. Starting with the tenth season, the series took on a more interview-centric format with no narration and no re-enactments.
Broadcast history
The series debuted on December 10, 2009, featuring the case of Brandi Ellen Wells. After the series' sixth season conclusion in 2013, it was on a three-years-long hiatus. On April 11, 2016, the series returned to Investigation Discovery for a seventh season.[7] The program was renewed for an eighth season, which premiered March 26, 2017.[8] The ninth season premiered March 16, 2018. After its cancellation in 2018, the show was rebooted in 2022 after the success of its spin-off podcast.[5]
