A&E NETWORK PRESENTS THE NEW REAL LIFE SERIES 'THE FIRST 48: MISSING PERSONS'

'THE FIRST 48' SPIN-OFF SERIES PREMIERES THURSDAY, JUNE 2 AT 10PM ET/PT

NEW YORK, NY, APRIL 29, 2011 - When a person goes missing, every second counts. A&E's new real life series "The First 48: Missing Persons," a spinoff from one of the most-watched nonfiction investigative series on cable, "The First 48," follows the Chicago Police Department's missing persons unit in the first 48 hours of their search for missing loved ones. 'The First 48: Missing Persons' premieres Thursday, June 2 at 10PM ET/PT on A&E.

Based in the heart of one of the country's most colorful law-enforcement cities, the Chicago Police missing persons unit gets more than 17,000 calls each year and is the one of the only major police departments in the country that responds to every missing persons call immediately. For the first time ever, the Chicago Police Department gives unrestricted access to ongoing investigations and allows cameras to follow the elite, passionate and dedicated investigators who handle all missing persons and child abduction cases.

Each hour- long episode of "The First 48: Missing Persons" follows the specialized investigation of one or two high-stakes cases, from the moment the call comes in, as detectives search for the husbands, wives, sons and daughters who have disappeared. Just like a homicide on the original series "The First 48", if they don't find the missing person in the first 48 hours, their chances of finding them alive are cut in half.

In the premiere episode, Detectives Selles Morris, Laura Skrip and Jim Corcoran team up to search for a straight A college student. They uncover surveillance footage that shows the 19 year-old sophomore walking toward the lakefront, then disappearing. Their around-the-clock search comes to a shocking conclusion and just when they think they're finished, Detectives Morris and Skrip have to pull double duty. Morris hunts down a father who vanished mysteriously, putting his own family in danger and Skrip has just minutes to save the life of a distraught missing woman who left a note threatening to end her life.

"The First 48: Missing Persons" is produced by Found Films, LLC for A&E Network. The executive producers for Found Films, LLC are Robert Schneiger, Gary Sherman and Conrad Riggs. The executive producers for A&E Network are Robert Sharenow and Laura Fleury.

About A&E Network

A&E is "Real Life. Drama." Now reaching 100 million homes, A&E is television that you can't turn away from; where unscripted shows are dramatic and scripted dramas are authentic. A&E offers a diverse mix of high quality entertainment ranging from the network's original scripted series, including "The Glades," to signature non-fiction franchises, including the Emmy-winning "Intervention," "Dog the Bounty Hunter," "Hoarders," "Billy the Exterminator" and "Storage Wars," and the most successful justice shows on cable, including "The First 48" and "Manhunters." The A&E website is located at www.aetv.com.