best episodes of Dateline: Secrets Uncovered poster

For more than 25 years, Dateline has brought viewers investigations into some of biggest mysteries in America. This entry in the franchise takes a second look at some of the most mysterious cases of recent history. It explores the stories through firsthand accounts told by people who are close to the crime, including investigators who dedicated their time to the cases and family members who are still trying to confront the tragedies that befell their loved ones.

14 Seasons
340 Episodes
Returning Series
Crime Documentary
episode image A Villainous Plan
8.3/10 (10 votes)

#1 A Villainous Plan

S8:E24

A bank executive tries to rob his own bank. Investigators think it is an inside job but eventually learn the crime is connected to a spree carried out by men who managed to keep their identities secret, praying on people who did the opposite.

episode image Vanished
8.0/10 (12 votes)

#2 Vanished

S3:E13

Young nursing student Michelle Le had disappeared. Something drew her out to her car. As her loved ones launched a very public effort to find Michelle, investigators began their own methodical search. Was she missing or murdered?

episode image Hinckley: Diary of a Dangerous Mind
7.8/10 (6 votes)

#3 Hinckley: Diary of a Dangerous Mind

S11:E9

Uncovered pages from John Hinckley Jr.’s diary are revealed. Hinckley began writing after he was arrested for trying to assassinate President Ronald Reagan.

episode image Good & Evil
7.2/10 (11 votes)

#4 Good & Evil

S6:E7

When a woman's body is discovered at a trash facility, a detective makes a promise to her mother to get justice. She doesn't know she will come face to face with a serial killer.

episode image A Family's Story
7.2/10 (6 votes)

#5 A Family's Story

S11:E24

Two years after the disappearance of his wife, Josh Powell kills his two sons and himself. Watch Josh's last in-depth TV interview. Plus, a 911 dispatcher discusses the emergency call placed by a social worker.

episode image Deadly Liaisons
7.0/10 (5 votes)

#6 Deadly Liaisons

S11:E25

She was a small-town girl from rural Wisconsin; he was a Chicago superstar, a hometown hero with the legendary Bears; together, they were expecting their first child, but no one was expecting their tale to end in the deadly way that it did.

episode image House on the Lake
0.0/10

#7 House on the Lake

S1:E1

A mom suddenly vanishes and a dad is under suspicion, but there was no body, weapon or eyewitness, and surprises cropped up along the way.

episode image Unimaginable
0.0/10

#8 Unimaginable

S1:E2

Investigating whether a toddler left in the car for seven hours while his dad was at work was a heartbreaking accident or murder.

episode image Betrayed
0.0/10

#9 Betrayed

S1:E3

Melissa Lewis disappears, leaving signs of a struggle and a strange orange mist behind her; her boss goes missing and leaves behind an even bigger mess, and a missing fortune.

episode image A Texas Twist
0.0/10

#10 A Texas Twist

S1:E4

This part of the Lone Star State is largely sheltered from hurricanes, but, as it turned out, not from one unnatural disaster.

episode image Nightfall
0.0/10

#11 Nightfall

S1:E5

After a young mom is found dead on the side of a country road, 40 miles from her Knoxville home, investigators scramble to figure out how she ended up there.

episode image Burning Suspicion
0.0/10

#12 Burning Suspicion

S1:E6

At first, the fatal fire that swept through the home of a young couple looked like an accident then investigators took a closer look and what they discovered about the fire, and this couple, left them burning with suspicion.

episode image Lost and Found
0.0/10

#13 Lost and Found

S1:E7

A 4-year-old girl abducted and raised by her kidnapper spends decades trying to get back home, and she finally accomplishes her goal; as it turns out, that ending was only the beginning.

episode image The Mystery of the Murdered Major
0.0/10

#14 The Mystery of the Murdered Major

S1:E8

After an attack on a respected U.S. Army major in the middle of the night, police launch an investigation that reveals wild secrets -- secrets that might hold the key to murder.

episode image The House In The Woods
0.0/10

#15 The House In The Woods

S1:E9

A hockey player finds his wife murdered in their home; his daughter says she saw a robber, but the killer's identity turns out to be far more complicated; police have their suspects but her family members have questions of their own.

episode image Frantic
0.0/10

#16 Frantic

S1:E10

After Christina, the twenty-three-year-old fashionista, goes out to a high-end shopping mall on a Friday night and vanishes, police question everyone; they know someone is lying, but not who.

episode image The Player
0.0/10

#17 The Player

S1:E11

A double murder reveals a double life; the victims are a well-respected couple whose son plays poker for a living; his alibi is his ace in the hole, but when detectives find key evidence, they think they are holding all the cards.

episode image The Goldfinger Mystery
0.0/10

#18 The Goldfinger Mystery

S1:E12

A couple who made a fortune in gold is headed for divorce when the wife is murdered; on tape, the husband is not at the crime scene, but police think the video holds the key to unlocking a mystery.

episode image Secrets in a Small Town
0.0/10

#19 Secrets in a Small Town

S1:E13

A woman's life ends in mystery on a dead end road; a mother of three, loved by her family and tight-knit community; for years the murder investigation went cold, but secrets have a way of eventually coming out.

episode image Crossing the Line
0.0/10

#20 Crossing the Line

S1:E14

Big sky country and a dangerous highway set the scene of a fatal car crash; determining if the tragedy was an accident or a crime and the secrets behind the truth hiding in text messages sent just before a car crossed the line.

episode image Mystery at Heath Bar Farm
0.0/10

#21 Mystery at Heath Bar Farm

S1:E15

A popular teacher is savagely murdered in her home; there is an arrest, a trial, and a conviction, but when a bombshell comes in after the verdict, the convicted murderer is given a chance at freedom.

episode image Deadly Triangle
0.0/10

#22 Deadly Triangle

S1:E16

If a killer is still free after 25 years, then maybe they got away with murder; the trail goes cold, never to warm up again, until one day it does.

episode image Diabolical
0.0/10

#23 Diabolical

S1:E17

A newlywed receives terrifying emails with threats of kidnapping and death; the emails appear to come from an ex-girlfriend, but hiding behind the threats is a cyber-secret.

episode image The Day She Disappeared
0.0/10

#24 The Day She Disappeared

S1:E18

A woman disappears while on her morning jog.

episode image Collision
0.0/10

#25 Collision

S1:E19

A wife and a mistress vying for the same man end up in a high-speed showdown on a highway; after the man of their dreams, on his motorcycle nearby, gets struck and killed, his wife becomes accused of his murder.

episode image Heart of Darkness
0.0/10

#26 Heart of Darkness

S1:E20

A mother, her son and a cousin are kidnapped by terrorists while on vacation; a father turned negotiator tries to end the international hostage drama, but the price of freedom is a huge ransom.

episode image The Last Dance
0.0/10

#27 The Last Dance

S1:E21

A beloved kindergarten teacher and mother of two finds a new lease on life after shedding hundreds of pounds; when she suddenly vanishes from her home, investigators uncover a connection between her dramatic weight loss and mysterious disappearance.

episode image Troubled Waters
0.0/10

#28 Troubled Waters

S1:E22

A California couple's romantic getaway on a boat turns tragic when the young wife and mother is lost at sea; the case goes cold for years until a model with a checkered past goes undercover to find the truth.

episode image Tangled
0.0/10

#29 Tangled

S1:E23

At first it looked like a home invasion gone wrong at the house Ralph Candelario shared with his second wife, but when police learn the antique dealer's first wife had disappeared, they take a closer look.

episode image Mystery in Orange County
0.0/10

#30 Mystery in Orange County

S2:E1

After a young Army veteran disappears, detectives uncover a cryptic 911 call placed 11 days before she went missing, which exposes a twisted story -- and the truth.

episode image Deadly Exchange
0.0/10

#31 Deadly Exchange

S2:E2

A foreign exchange student and soccer player's participation in a dangerous game leads to deadly consequences.

episode image Under a Full Moon
0.0/10

#32 Under a Full Moon

S2:E3

When detectives track down the killer of a Las Vegas cocktail waitress and mother, it becomes clear that the investigation has just begun.

episode image The Face of Evil
0.0/10

#33 The Face of Evil

S2:E4

As detectives struggle to find leads in the murder of a college student, the perpetrator strikes again.

episode image The Interrogation
0.0/10

#34 The Interrogation

S2:E5

Robert Davis, who was convicted of murdering a woman and her son, claims his confession was coerced and tries to prove he is innocent.

episode image The Deed
0.0/10

#35 The Deed

S2:E6

An investigation into the murder of a beloved couple in South Carolina reveals a feud and divides a family.

episode image Smoke and Mirrors
0.0/10

#36 Smoke and Mirrors

S2:E7

When a Chicago woman from a big family goes missing, investigators begin to suspect a man in her life is full of secrets.

episode image The Hometown Hero & the Homecoming Queen
0.0/10

#37 The Hometown Hero & the Homecoming Queen

S2:E8

After a woman reports a prowler, police find her Olympic bronze medalist husband dead in their backyard.

episode image Consumed
0.0/10

#38 Consumed

S2:E9

When remains are found amid the rubble after a house fire, authorities soon discover the incident was no accident.

episode image The Client
0.0/10

#39 The Client

S2:E10

Before time runs out, detectives race to find a Little Rock, Ark., realtor who went missing after showing a house.

episode image The Quiet One
0.0/10

#40 The Quiet One

S2:E11

Dark secrets come to light as officials investigate what happened to a wife and mother of three who was found dead in her bathtub.

Cast & Chracters

The highest rated episode of Dateline: Secrets Uncovered is "A Villainous Plan" (S8E24) with a rating of 8.30.

This episode received 10 votes.


The lowest rated episode is "Deadly Liaisons" (S11E25) with a rating of 7.00.

This episode received 5 votes.

The highest rated episode is "Vanished" (S3E13) with a rating of 8.00.

This episode received 12 votes.


The lowest rated episode is "Vanished" (S3E13) with a rating of 8.00.

This episode received 12 votes.

The highest rated episode is "Good & Evil" (S6E7) with a rating of 7.20.

This episode received 11 votes.


The lowest rated episode is "Good & Evil" (S6E7) with a rating of 7.20.

This episode received 11 votes.

The highest rated episode is "A Villainous Plan" (S8E24) with a rating of 8.30.

This episode received 10 votes.


The lowest rated episode is "A Villainous Plan" (S8E24) with a rating of 8.30.

This episode received 10 votes.

The highest rated episode is "Hinckley: Diary of a Dangerous Mind" (S11E9) with a rating of 7.80.

This episode received 6 votes.


The lowest rated episode is "Deadly Liaisons" (S11E25) with a rating of 7.00.

This episode received 5 votes.

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