History Recap / LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnitS7E16Gone

* HistoricalInJoke: The cops eventually realize that Jennifer was dumped in the river and washed out to sea. This is what many people speculate happened to Natalee Holloway, who this episode is based on.

* LoosingAShoeInTheStruggle: A variation, considering that poor Jennifer was likely already dead when it happened, but finding her sneaker among the debris on the riverbank is the final confirmation of what happened to her.

* ForWantOfANail: Crucial evidence in the case is missed because information was incorrectly entered into the system--the car the three boys were in, which not only had considerable evidence that would left no doubt that they killed Jennifer, but was found abandoned where they dumped her body.

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Three students are charged with rape and murder in the disappearance of a teenage Canadian girl (Creator/BarbaraKing) who took a trip to Manhattan. Under questioning, two of them (Creator/TeddyIck and Creator/PaulDavidStory) point the finger at the younger and more gentle suspect (Creator/HarryZittel). Novak discovers that he is being set up and promises to protect him from the other two. Despite this he disappears after the indictment. With no body and only one witness left (Creator/SandorTecsy) who is in no shape to testify, the boys are released. After following disturbing evidence, which includes a bug in the office of Judge Donnelly (Creator/JudithLight) planted by a corrupt court officer (Creator/MaggieSiff), the detectives arrest the two predators for the murder of their scapegoat.

* DramaticIrony: The detectives struggle to solve the disappearance of a teenage girl; they have three suspects but no body and not enough other evidence to convict them. Casey manages to get one of the boys, Jason, to testify against the other two, Nicky (his cousin) and Doug, and after he testifies in the grand jury he disappears as well; since the prosecution can't find him or conclusively prove that he was kidnapped, the case is dismissed with prejudice. Afterwards, with some more hunting, the detectives finally manage to find the getaway car that the boys were driving when they committed the original murder...and it was in the city impound lot the entire time, overlooked because someone inputted the wrong number when they were entering the car into the system. It does at least lead the detectives to Jason's body and allow them to charge the other two boys for that crime instead.
* DirtyCoward / SpoiledBrat: Nicky and Doug, as evidenced by their attitudes and all of their crimes throughout the episode. Jason's parents even refer to Nicky, their nephew as the latter at one point during the episode.

* TokenGoodTeammate: Jason's the only one to feel any remorse over what happened to Jennifer. This could be especially since he, like her was, only looking for a good time when he, his cousin Nicky, and their friend Doug took her out, and everything he and her together did was consensual. But Nicky and Doug ruined it all by forcing their way with Jennifer, then murdering her to silence her, then trying to pin everything on Jason – who up to that point, still tried to protect them out of blind loyalty – to get out of trouble, and when that failed, seducing and bribing a court officer into helping abduct him, and then ''murdering him'' to prevent him from turning against them in court.

* TokenGoodTeammate: Jason's the only one to feel any remorse over what happened to Jennifer. This could be especially since he, like her was, only looking for a good time when he, his cousin Nicky, and their friend Doug took her out, and everything he and her together did was consensual. But Nicky and Doug ruined it all by forcing their way with Jennifer, then murdering her to silence her, then trying to pin everything on Jason – who up to that point, still tried to protect them out of blind loyalty – to get out of trouble, and when that failed, murdering ''him'' to prevent him from turning against them in court.

* DirtyCoward / SpoiledBrat: Nicky and Doug, as evidenced by all of their crimes throughout the episode. Jason's parents even refer to Nicky, their nephew as the latter at one point during the episode.

* DirtyCoward/SpoiledBrat: Nicky and Doug, as evidenced by all of their crimes throughout the episode. Jason's parents even refer to Nicky, their nephew as the latter at one point during the episode.

* BittersweetEnding: Jennifer is dead, her body will never be found, and the cousins can't be prosecuted again for her murder. Jason is dead too, but his body ''is'' found, and the cousins will most certainly go to jail for killing ''him''.
* DramaticIrony: The detectives struggle to solve the disappearance of a teenage girl; they have three suspects but no body and not enough other evidence to convict them. Casey manages to get one of the boys, Jason, to testify against the other two, and after he testifies in the grand jury he disappears as well; since the prosecution can't find him or conclusively prove that he was kidnapped, the case is dismissed with prejudice. Afterwards, with some more hunting, the detectives finally manage to find the getaway car that the boys were driving when they committed the original murder...and it was in the city impound lot the entire time, overlooked because someone inputted the wrong number when they were entering the car into the system. It does at least lead the detectives to Jason's body and allow them to charge the other two boys for that crime instead.

* TokenGoodTeammate: Jason's the only one to feel any remorse over what they did to Jennifer.

* IncrediblyObviousBug: The bug planted by Emily Mc Cooper has a large blinking light for some reason.
* LoveMakesYouDumb: Court Officer Emily Mc Cooper. Big time.

* LoveMakesYouDumb: Court Officer Emily McCooper. Big time.

* IncrediblyObviousBug: The bug planted by Emily Mc Cooper has a large blinking light for some reason.

* DramaticIrony: The detectives struggle to solve the disappearance of a teenage girl; they have three suspects but no body and not enough other evidence to convict them. Casey manages to get one of the boys, Jason, to testify against the other two, and after he testifies in the grand jury he disappears as well; since the prosecution can't find him or conclusively prove that he was kidnapped, the case is dismissed with prejudice. Afterwards, with some more hunting, the detectives finally manage to find the getaway car that the boys were driving when they committed the original murder...and it was in the city impound lot the entire time, overlooked because someone inputted the wrong number when they were entering the car into the system. It does at least lead the detectives to Jason's body and allow them to charge the other two boys for that crime instead.

Teenagers Doug Waverly, Nick Pratt & Jason King are charged with rape & murder in the disappearance of Jennifer Durning, a teenage Canadian girl who went missing during a school trip.

After Jason appears in front of the grand jury against Nick and Doug, he winds up missing which leads to someone in Judge Connelly's office responsible for his disappearance.