The Burden of Silence

In Willow Creek, a small town in Iowa, two seven-year-old girls have disappeared - Callie Clark and her best friend Petra Gregory. Callie's father is an alcoholic who, when drunk, beats his wife and older son Ben. A few years ago, after particularly ugly scenes, Callie stopped talking, and her "voice" became Petra's.
The search for the friends is being conducted by Deputy Sheriff Loras Lewis. He fears that the girls have been kidnapped by a dangerous maniac who raped and killed a ten-year-old girl under similar circumstances a year ago. The perpetrator was never found...