Without a Trace Episode 5.13 Eating Away

Barry Rosen, 26, seems to live a quiet life with his brother, Stu, in the house they both grew up in. Part of a computer generation in which relationships evolve over online posting instead of traditional human interactions, Barry's kept the world at a distance. That's until recently, when Barry turned a natural gift for eating into success as a competitive eater. This has finally given him the confidence to start coming out of his shell. And it's at one of these competitions, after winning Tony's Famous Chili Contest, that Barry vanishes...

When our agents enter the case, they are skeptical that Barry's involvement in competitive eating could have gotten him into trouble. But a Reporter who wrote about Barry gives us a lead: Barry backed out of a scheme to throw the chili-eating match. As our agents investigate the case, it takes a startling turn when they learn about Barry's relationship with a prostitute, Ivy, and then her pimp turns up dead. Did Barry's love for Ivy drive him to murder? The answer is no, and what's more, we learn that Barry wasn't in love with Ivy at all. Struggling for self-acceptance, he hired Ivy to teach him how to be with women because he'd fallen in love with the reporter, Val. Realizing she can't fully love him until he learns to love and understand himself, Barry's feelings for Val may have set him on a mission to confront a dark secret he shared with his brother, Stu. And confronting the secret may have ultimately caused his downfall.