Originally Aired: February 28, 1952

Dragnet #142, "The Big Plant," finds Sergeant Joe Friday and his partner Ed Jacobs investigating the mysterious disappearance of Florence Abbott, a 39-year-old housewife who vanished from her San Fernando Valley home without a trace. When Detective Bargetti brings the case to Friday's attention, the details immediately raise red flags: Florence left behind all her clothes, luggage, and even her pocketbook full of money. Most troubling of all, she disappeared without saying goodbye to her devoted 17-year-old son Bruce from a previous marriage. The boy's stepfather, nursery owner Chester Abbott, waited days before reporting his wife missing and now proves uncooperative and hostile with investigators.

When Bruce secretly calls the police wanting to talk about his mother, Friday and Jacobs arrange a meeting, but the boy never shows. Driving out to the Abbott property, the detectives encounter Chester Abbott at the gate with three vicious mastiffs. Abbott grows increasingly belligerent during questioning, revealing he has sent Bruce away to his sister's house and refusing to let the police speak with the troubled teenager.