Nineteen year old Joe Springs' driver's license is reinstated after it had been suspended for reckless driving. Immediately after he is informed, he begs his parents to let him drive to Hope, BC to attend a party. His parents reluctantly agree. Joe decides to leave a day early and promises to call them as soon as he arrive the next day.
That night, Joe's parents get a phone call from someone at the party who says Joe didn't show up, but the caller is too stoned to provide details. Joe doesn't answer his mother's repeated phone calls, and Joe's girlfriend soon shows up and tells her that the reason Joe left a day early was to stop at her house first. When the police are unable to help, Joe's mother drives up to Hope herself to conduct her own investigation.
She guesses Joe's email password and finds a lady from Hope who contacted Joe, but she denies having seen Joe. She then goes to the police in Hope, who suggests that they create missing posters but explains they cannot help until Joe has been missing for 48 hours. A young Indian boy who Joe gave a ride to, named after the village of Powell River, recognizes Joe while in the waiting room at the police station.
As time passes and the police launch an investigation, they find some of the people who Joe talked to. They bring a marijuana grow-op owner in for questioning, who leads them to a marijuana dealer. The dealer is the boyfriend of the girl who denied talking to Joe earlier and it is found that Joe helped the dealer transport marijuana in his car.
With the help of Joe's credit card records, the police and Joe's family begin to narrow down where he could have crashed. A search and rescue team is sent out, but they cannot find Joe or his car. While searching with the team, Joe's mother finds an empty overturned vehicle which resembles Joe's car. Upon a closer inspection, they realize it was not. Back in town, a man who Joe helped change a tire recognizes Joe from the images of him on TV. The search and rescue team realizes they have been searching in the wrong location. They move to the new location, but still cannot find Joe.
The police sergeant explains to Joe's family that since the search has reached the eighth day, it has been downgraded from a rescue to a recovery. This means that helicopter will no longer be involved and that the ground search crew will be minimized. Outside, Joe's mother begs the helicopter pilot to go up one last time against the sergeant's orders to look for Joe. She initially refuses, but does so. As they fly, Joe's mother spots Joe's car. They land, and she gets out and cries over Joe's bloody, lifeless body. Joe begins to move, and the police officer who flew them there calls for EMS.
