A woman is kidnapped and locked in a box in a cave. The kidnapper is arrested and convicted of a fight before the ransom is handed over. The woman remains missing.

The unstable petty criminal Ryan Lee overpowers a woman who is standing alone in her car in a parking lot in a national park. He takes her to a fox hole and locks her in a box. Before he can demand a ransom for the repayment of pressing debts, the convicted kidnapper is arrested for a fight and sentenced in summary proceedings. To avoid spending even longer in prison, he keeps quiet about the kidnapping of the missing woman, whose husband Matthew Willard is desperately searching for her. Inspector Morgan is certain: Vanessa left him spontaneously because of a previous argument and will turn up again. Nothing of the sort happens. Three years later: Ryan is released from prison. Neither he nor Matthew know what has become of Vanessa. Before Ryan can discreetly visit the cave, things happen that throw him off track: his girlfriend Debbie is brutally attacked, his room and his new workplace are devastated. Ryan fears that his terrible act will catch up with him. Meanwhile, the young journalist Jenna Matthew offers her help to solve the mystery surrounding the missing Vanessa. The fact that her boss Alexia - whose husband Kenn is an old friend of Matthew's - advises against it makes her suspect that there are other inconsistencies in connection with Vanessa's disappearance.—ADR Das Erste