When construction workers pour the sand into a newly made playground and discover the remains of a young boy, Detective Stabler teams up with CSU tech Millie Vizcarrondo to investigate,which leads them to resurrect a cold case where four boys disappeared 30 years earlier. As the investigation unfolds, new forensic evidence surfaces but no progress can be made solving this case until Anna surfaces, claiming her stepfather Robert Sawyer was the killer.

When Lauren Westley is found badly beaten and taken to a New York hospital, it is discovered she's a runaway from Virginia whose father Philip Westley has been in the city searching for her. Detectives discover that Westley was 24 weeks pregnant and due to her injuries, suffered a miscarriage. As the investigation unfolds Detectives Benson and Stabler question Wayne Meredith a teenager from Westley's high school who is the father of the baby. Westley and Meredith ran away to New York seeking the help from an abortion clinic. When the case goes to court, Meredith's attorney, Sophie Devere, tries to defend Meridith's actions but new evidence is introduced questioning the credibility of the abortion clinic and whether the doctor there was ultimately responsible for West's injuries.