You got the camera. Check the serial numbers. It's Alan. You know how I know it's Alan?

There's a card inside. It says Alan Ross.

You're listening to two men finding something they dreaded.

A scene from an edgy film. A true story can see, written and directed in desperation.

The director, German filmmaker Christian Bauer.

It was like a vortex I didn't want to get pulled into.

This is his friend, cameraman Alan Ross of Chicago.

We're driving along Route 5 here. Off in the boondocks.

Alan and Christian worked on seven films together, exploring their shared fascination with life on the fringe.

But in this production, Alan would not be the cameraman.

This time, the man behind the camera would be the subject.

Because Alan had suddenly and inexplicably disappeared.

Why make a film about your missing friend?

Because I wanted to find out on a gut level.

I had been afraid of approaching this project for a long time.

And I think this kind of fear accompanied us through the whole project.

Fear because 42-year-old Alan Ross had vanished in late 1995.

And the last years of his life, while seemingly filled with romance,

spiritual growth and an American Gothic style existence,

had more truthfully been cloaked in mystery, intrigue and danger.

In the grasp of a shadowy group few could even begin to understand.

His friends from the film world, helpless, decided to try to find their friend by making a film called Missing Alan.

...