Tracker season 4 premiered in a special timeslot for episode 1 due to the CBS Sunday lineup running behind. On Oct. 11, 2026, episode 2 aired in its normal timeslot at 9 PM ET and will continue moving forward. No matter the timeslot, Justin Hartley’s procedural packs emotion and danger into its one-hour episode.
The episode primarily focuses on the new case, but we do get nuggets of updates from Reenie and Russell’s storylines. Reenie hasn't found any offices that she likes, as Mel has been looking into the hiker case. Mel tells Reenie about the new evidence she found in her mom's case. Now, she has her poking around when that lead was covered up. Mel is leaving for the day when the file comes in, but Reenie doesn't tell her about it. Colter calls Russell and gets his voicemail. It reveals that it's been a while since they've talked.
After the case, Russell lets Colter know he's been busy and hopes to talk soon. When he asks if he's okay, Russell begins typing but doesn't respond. By Colter's look, he seems suspicious.
Randy calls from Maxine’s office until they find a permanent office. He had a $15,000 reward for the mother, Leanne, and daughter, Kayla, who went missing when they didn't show up to meet up with the other daughter, Anya. They were hiking to fulfill their late dad's wishes of having his ashes scattered in his favorite hiking spot.
Anya shows Colter where she last spoke to them, and she knows they didn't just get turned around. Anya reveals that Kayla thought they were being followed. Colter sets off to go on the trail like the Trail Angel; Becca went to look for them. He runs into a few hikers who point him to another spot. The register location (log book) didn't show their names, which worries him more as he runs into Becca. With only one logbook signed, it is becoming clear they may have gotten off the path.
They reach the end where branches are matted down, looking like someone went down the ridge. It's a place the locals call a dangerous and weird location that has a makeshift campsite in it now. Colter and Becca head down the ridge and search the campsite and find lots of personal items scattered everywhere. One of the missing hikers’ bags is there too, with a lot of blood. The feeling of them being followed makes much more sense.
Leanne returns to the campsite very bloody from being hit. They were on a bare creek bed when Kayla fell and hurt her ankle. She couldn’t put pressure on it, so Leanne went for help on the main trail, but the guy hit her first. When she came to, the sun was out, and Kayla was gone.
They had gotten off the path because someone was following them. A mother and daughter go on a hiking trip and discover a missing camera. The photos are of them from earlier in the hike, and the daughter was right that she felt someone following them.
Colter leaves to find Kayla as Becca tends to Leanna’s wounds at the campsite. Unfortunately, the deputy is a couple of hours away, but at least the mother is okay and plans to meet up with her second daughter while Becca plans to rejoin Colter. After their call, Colter spots Jonah and chases him off the path as a rock nearly hits him.
Colter has to tell the guy to climb out of the tree, and he swears he doesn't know anything, but Colter doesn't stop asking. He did find the bloody pack and took it because he takes things from the path. A picture jogs his memory that he saw Kayla limping really bad with a big guy with a baseball cap. They got into an older brown truck. For now, he doesn't turn the guy in and encourages him to get some help before nature kills him.
Colter leaves the man behind and calls Randy to find the truck. It is at Rise and Shine, where Kayla and Leanne were two days ago. It proves the guy was following them. He meets back up with Becca and investigates Rise and Shine and what people know about Leanne and Kayla. There are no security cameras, but the waitress promises to show the photo to the regulars.
Then, Becca is hit by the old truck. She's left with a bleeding head, and she's in pain but begs Colter to leave and go find Kayla. Colter calls over Alex to talk to Becca while they wait for an ambulance. Colter hops in his truck and speeds off to find Kayla.
Colter, hot on the older truck’s tail, gets out and finds the truck empty with the door wide open. He easily sees the guy go into a barn. The guy shoots at him and runs. Colter distracts him and shoots him in the shoulder. He offers to treat the wound, but the guy kills himself without giving up Kayla's location.
Colter runs to the truck and spots blood in the back. Randy searches everything on Jack Owens, the guy who took Kayla and then killed himself. Turns out, he worked at Rise and Shine. Randy finds his pin (at Jack's house), so Colter quickly drives over. He searches the cabin and, on the computer, finds out that the sweet waitress is standing with Jack in the background photo. The waitress, Dianne, is Jack's mother and was in a psych ward when she got pregnant 30 years ago.
Randy discovers Kayla is 200 yards away even though no other houses are listed on the property. We pan to Kayla, where the waitress is about to end Kayla with a shotgun. Turns out, Jack is just like his father, so Dianne has to protect him because Jack can't have Kayla. Dianne knows they have to move so Colter won't find them. So at gunpoint, she leads Kayla to another truck.
Kayla fights back and knocks Dianne down, who gets a shot off as Kayla limps away. Dianne catches her as Colter comes up behind her and tells her to put the gun down. She won't go back in a cell. Kayla takes Dianne out before Dianne can shoot herself.
Instead of hiking to spread their dad's ashes, they are heading to another favorite spot, Bishop Lake. A spot that will be easier on Kayla's ankle. They head off as Colter checks on Becca. She's in good spirits even in a sling.
Tracker season 4 episodes air Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on CBS.
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