The Big Imposter

Originally Aired: June 7, 1951 Dragnet #104, "The Big Imposter," Sergeant Joe Friday and his partner Ben Romero are assigned to missing persons detail when 10-year-old Jimmy Sherman vanishes from his home in a remote section of Los Angeles. The boy was last seen Monday evening hiking up the hill behind his house by neighbor Mrs. Keller, and now two days and two nights have passed without a trace. Jimmy lives with his 68-year-old grandfather Oscar Sherman, a wheelchair-bound man suffering from arthritis who is Jimmy's only living relative after the boy's parents were killed in an auto wreck years earlier. As Friday and Romero interview the desperate grandfather in his backyard, Oscar insists something terrible has happened to his grandson. Jimmy had no reason to run away - he just bought two collie puppies with his savings and was devoted to his grandfather. The case takes an ominous turn when the search party discovers a pair of blue jeans near the upper reservoir in Allegian Park, exactly where Jimmy was known to hike. With dragging equipment being prepared to search the water for a body, Friday must determine whether this is a tragic accident or something more sinister.