Justin Hartley from “This Is Us” Searches for Missing Girl Following Homicide Case
Justin Hartley’s acclaimed series Tracker continues to demonstrate that there’s no limit to what our favorite hero Colter Shaw will do to crack a case involving a missing teenage girl and a triple homicide.
In an exclusive clip from Us Weekly for the Sunday, April 19 episode of the CBS series, Colter searches a dark room for evidence, only to spot a suspicious individual approaching the vicinity.
“Someone is out there,” he informs a detective before dashing into the woods. “I’ve got this, you call for backup.”
Colter pursues the man through the woods until he successfully tackles him. The survivalist then urges the suspect to reveal the whereabouts of the missing girl. As per the episode’s synopsis, Colter “is hired to locate a teen girl who vanished from a friend’s house amid a tragic triple homicide.”
Adapted from Jeffery Deaver’s novel The Never Game, Tracker follows Colter, who roams the country helping locate missing people (or occasionally pets), solving cases others have neglected. Hartley, 49, serves as an executive producer and has hinted at how far the show will push his character’s limits.
“I just love that when you watch a show like that and you tune into season 1 and then you tune into the last season, you see the development of the character and you go, ‘Wait a minute, are they playing different roles?’ But then if you watch it throughout the years, you experience those things with the characters,” he shared with TV Insider in September 2024. “As competent and confident as Colter is, I don’t think for a second that he doesn’t have a ton to learn, especially about himself and his family.”
Hartley continued: “Going forward, I believe that the longevity of the show comes from continuously developing this character, allowing him to grow in his abilities. He’s a restless man, and audiences often enjoy seeing character development, which we have.”
Moreover, Hartley has cautioned that the character’s demise could be on the horizon.
“It’s crucial to keep increasing the stakes. I enjoy portraying Colter as a hero, helping find people and all that. However, I also relish placing him in suspenseful thrillers and perilous situations,” he mentioned to The Hollywood Reporter in April 2025. “I don’t want our audience to forget that this man is human; he’s not invulnerable. He can die! The actions he takes are profoundly perilous.”
Recently, executive producer Elwood Reid shed light on Colter’s fate, stating to Us in October 2025, “The danger is heightened here because he’s not a cop. He’s a guy who gets involved where he shouldn’t. The network is always saying, ‘He can get hurt, he can lose a fight, he can be knocked out, and he can have a gun pointed at him.’ Justin even proposed an idea for the season 3 midseason finale where things don’t end well for Colter. That’s what makes him compelling; he’s not a superhero.”
Reid emphasized that Tracker consistently aims to astonish its viewers.
“When I watch a lot of these types of shows, the second the character becomes flawless or invincible, my interest wanes,” Reid explained. “I appreciate characters who have imperfections, make blunders, and can be vulnerable.”
He elaborated: “I’m very mindful of not crafting Colter as too perfect. We are allowing him to face challenges, make mistakes, and choose the wrong paths. I think that’s what makes the character enjoyable to develop — at least for me.”
Tracker airs on CBS Sundays at 9 p.m. ET and is available for streaming the following day on Paramount+.
