On this episode of Criminal Minds, two families in the Midwest have both been murdered. There appears to be no real connection between the two families but the team feels that both of the families let their killer into their homes willingly. The team feels that the killer sat down to dinner and was left alone with children before the murders started.
Later, they find the body of a Reverend partially dissected. They determine that the same person killed the families and the reverend. They also come to the conclusion that this serial killer is a psychopathic, teenage boy. They know that they have to hurry and find out where this kid is headed before he targets another family, but they are too late. The kid has already conned his way into another home.
Retracing the killer’s steps leads the BAU team to look at the area near Omaha. They believe that this kid was probably left at a hospital in Omaha where the mother from the first victimized family worked. In Nebraska, there is a “Safe Harbor” law that allowed parents to leave children that they could no longer care for at a hospital. They believe that he will head back home in order to exact revenge on his estranged mother.
By the time they reach the latest family to take pity on this young boy, they find the children tied up and the mother missing. The serial killer has taken the mother and made her drive him the rest of the way home, and then stabs her.
When the boy does get home, he finds his little sister there alone. The team tries to get a hold of the mother but by the time they talk to her she is already home and finds out that her daughter has been taken hostage by her son. Eventually, Agent Morgan is able to talk the killer into letting the girl go and he is taken into custody.
Earlier in the episode, Ellie (whose father was killed in last season’s finale) has run away from her foster home and flown to Virginia to find Morgan. She was being neglected at the foster home and Morgan, of course, feels like is solely responsible for her well being. He asks for Penelope’s help to find a way to get Child Protective Services to allow her to be removed from the home. Penelope and Agent Morgan eventually find Ellie’s mother and reunite them.