In the present day, Sydney, now 38, is in Raleigh, North Carolina, to pack up her recently deceased grandmother Effie’s house. Her husband, Malik, calls from Los Angeles, California, expressing concern about the stress of the situation and mentioning her ongoing treatments for in vitro fertilization (IVF). While clearing out a guest room with her sister, Sasha, and their mother, Grace Singleton, Sydney rediscovers the framed photo of Carol. 

Soon after, Effie’s old friend Eloise Hall stops by. Eloise identifies the girl as Carol Singleton, Effie’s daughter and Sydney’s aunt. She explains that Carol disappeared at 17 after Effie caught on that Carol was planning to leave high school early and go to Detroit, Michigan; they fought about it, and Effie assumed that Carol ran off—though Eloise isn’t certain that’s what happened. Eloise also mentions a darker theory: that Carol might have been a victim of the rumored “Creek Killer,” who was blamed for the disappearances of several other local teenage girls in the 1960s. Grace dismisses this as gossip, recounting that Sydney’s father had told her that Carol simply abandoned him and that, as far as he and Effie were concerned, he had no sister. The revelation leaves Sasha wondering when anyone last tried to find out what happened.

The next day, Sydney visits Eloise to learn more about the missing girls. Eloise explains that the police and news media paid little attention to the disappearances of Black girls in the 1960s, often dismissing them as runaways. She retrieves a 1965 school yearbook that she kept from her years as a librarian at Ligon High School, which contains a memorial page titled “Forever in Our Hearts” (20). The page lists six girls who vanished between 1963 and 1965, including their photos, their ambitions, and the dates they were last seen: Carol Singleton, Marian Bradbury, Bettie Brooks, Sally Dunn, Loretta Morgan, and Geraldine Williams. Eloise notes that Carol was the last girl to go missing and gives the yearbook to Sydney. As Sydney leaves, Eloise warns her not to let the past consume her life.

Later that night in her hotel room, Sydney administers her painful IVF hormone injections. She then begins researching the missing girls online. Her search of The Carolina Express, a local Black newspaper from the era, turns up celebratory articles about the girls’ achievements prior to their disappearances—including Carol winning a talent show for her singing—but nothing about their disappearances. She does, however, find posts on true-crime websites for two of the other victims, Loretta Morgan and Geraldine Williams. The posts provide some key details, including the fact that Geraldine was last seen on the 5500 block of Branch Street. Using Google Maps, Sydney discovers that Walnut Creek runs behind both her grandmother’s house and Branch Street.

While packing, Sydney has a tense conversation with Sasha about her sister’s chronic unemployment. Afterward, Sasha questions why there are so few traces of Carol left in the house and suggests that the guest room must have been hers. She begins a meticulous search of the room, eventually discovering a rectangular panel in the closet ceiling that appears to lead to a crawlspace or attic. Inside, she finds a small, leather-bound diary belonging to Carol, with entries from 1963 to 1965. The diary reveals that Carol was secretly dating a college boy named Michael and that they were planning to run away to Detroit together. In one entry, Carol describes how Michael coincidentally encountered her while she was cycling to retrieve her brother, Larry Singleton—Sydney and Sasha’s father—who had wandered into a swampy area called the “Snake Pit” and volunteered to go into the swamp himself.

That night, Sydney tells Malik about finding Carol’s diary. He expresses concern, alluding to a past trauma that Sydney experienced while working on a story for the Chronicle. The conversation becomes tense when he questions her drinking wine during her IVF cycle and Sydney recalls her painful memory of a miscarriage. The next morning, Grace also voices concern, asking if Sydney is having another “episode.” The interactions cause Sydney to reflect on her deceased father, Larry, a retired NFL player whose loving personality had devolved into moodiness and unpredictability. She worries that having a child with Malik would force her to sacrifice her own career and independence.

On her last day in Raleigh, Sydney meets with Yvonne, Eloise’s daughter, who’s now a lawyer. Yvonne confirms that she used to babysit Carol and Larry. She believes that Carol followed through on her long-standing threats to run away to Detroit and wasn’t a victim of the rumored “Creek Killer.” Yvonne adds context, explaining that the disappearances occurred during the height of the civil rights movement, a time of significant racial tension in the South. Before leaving, Yvonne looks up Geraldine’s sister Barbara and Sally’s brother Stanley on Facebook, as they still want answers. Sydney jots down their contact information. Later, Sydney, Sasha, and Grace visit the Walnut Creek Wetland Park. While standing on a bridge over a murky, overgrown section of the creek, Sydney tells Sasha that it would be an ideal place to hide a body.

On the plane back to Los Angeles, Sydney begins compiling her notes and, using the in-flight Wi-Fi, sends Facebook messages to Barbara and Stanley. She reflects on how her father’s relationship with her mother deteriorated as the very traits that once attracted them to each other became sources of conflict. 

In Los Angeles the next day, during a lunch date with Malik, Sydney receives Stanley’s reply inviting her to join a call with him and Barbara on Monday. When Sydney tells Malik about the meeting, he worries that she’s taking on the burden of solving a massive systemic problem. Sydney argues that because missing Black children are systematically ignored by media and law enforcement, she feels compelled to investigate. Malik reluctantly agrees to support her, on the condition that she tells him if the investigation becomes too much to handle.