by Hal Erickson
synopsis
Reporting the disappearance of young mother Harriet Shipley and her nine-month-old baby, the woman's mother-in-law Mrs. Shipley (Doris Kemper) further claims that her son, Harriet's husband, is serving overseas in the Army. In the course of their investigation, Friday (Jack Webb) and Smith (Ben Alexander) discover that the older Mrs. Shipley was dead set against her son's marriage--and further, that her son is actually dead. It turns out that Harriet had desperately tried to escape from her selfish, grasping mother-in-law, who was willing to go to any dishonest lengths to gain custody of Harriet's baby. Tragically, however, the child is now beyond the reach of anyone. This episode is based on the Dragnet radio broadcast of March 2, 1954.
