"To be buried while alive is, beyond question, the most terrific of these extremes which has ever fallen to the lot of mere mortality."
- Edgar Allen Poe

*****

JJ began, looking around the conference table at her teammates. "Norman Harris, 57, was found nine days ago by some construction workers when they dug into the ground to prepare for road upgrading. He had been dead for almost two weeks when they found him. Susan Benson, 21, was found five days ago. She was dead for two days when she was found. Olivia Jackson, 39, was found yesterday. She was dead for almost a week. Adam Walters, 60, was found today. He was dead for only a day," she explained, showing the picture power-point that she had prepared. "All the victims had no signs of sexual assault or torture. They were all buried alive."

"This is escalating," Morgan said matter-of-factly, "It used to be one victim a week, now the unsub has killed consecutively for two days."

"How were all the other victims found?" Hotch asked.

"They were either found by construction workers or while digging a grave in preparation for a funeral," JJ replied, "Olivia Jackson, however, was found after the thunderstorm yesterday. The rain had washed off the soil, revealing a part of her coffin. She was buried near a hillside."

Emily looked up from her file, frowning, "There's no overlap. The victims had different social circles, different age groups, jobs, and races. This unsub doesn't have a type."

"They were all buried alive, which means there could be more victims out there we don't know about," Morgan said.

"I'm already on the missing persons list," Garcia replied.

"Reid, what can you tell us about live burial?" Rossi looked up from his file.

"Humans may be buried alive intentionally as a form of torture, murder, or execution or without ill intent such as voluntarily as a stunt, with the intention to escape. They could also be accidentally buried alive, for example, under rubble due to a disaster or collapse of a building or unintentionally, believing that a living person is already dead. Live burial is said to be one of the most widespread of human fears," Reid answered confidently, "George Washington, on his deathbed, made his servants promise to not bury him until two days after his death."

Emily watched Reid with an amused look on her face, then turned to Morgan and said, "He's like a human encyclopedia, isn't he?"

"Alright, JJ and Reid, contact the victims' families and ask them to come in. We need to know everything about the victims," Hotch delegated, "Morgan, Prentiss, go down to Adam Walters' burial site and see of you can find anything. Rossi and I will go down to the morgue. Garcia -"

"Find everything I can on the victims to see if there's a connection and continue working on the missing persons list," she cut Hotch off, "Got it, boss."

Hotch raised his brow and Rossi shrugged, "You're kind of predictable..."

******

"Mr. and Mrs. Benson, thank you for coming in," JJ began, "We know this is really hard for you, but need to know everything about your daughter."

"Why? Why would someone do such an awful thing?" Mrs. Benson sobbed, "My Susan was a good girl. She was a straight A student, she'd be graduating soon. She was going to be a lawyer."

JJ handed her some tissues and said, "I'm sorry. We'll do everything we can to find whoever did this to her. Was Susan in any bad company?"

"No," Mr. Benson shook his head, "She was rebellious when she was a teenager but nothing drastic. Like her mother said, she was a good girl. She never drank or smoked, she volunteered to tutor the kids at the community centre on weekends. She never had enemies. At least, not that I know of..."

"Okay," JJ nodded, "What about her friends? Do you know any of her friends?"

Mrs. Benson sighed, "She had a lot of friends. We met some of her close friends... Her BFFs? That was what she called them. But they all seemed nice." She paused, as if to wait for a reply, but she continued quickly, "You think they did this to her?"

"No," JJ gently insisted, "We don't suspect anyone yet. But we'd like to talk to her friends, see if they noticed anything out of the norm or any suspicious people around Susan the day she was kidnapped."

"Lily," Mr. Benson said abruptly, "Lily O'Hara. She's Susan's roommate and best friend. She should know Susan's other friends."

"Okay," JJ nodded, "Thank you."

******

Reid sat in the conference room, staring intently at the photos and information on the glass board in front of him. "It doesn't make sense..." he whispered to himself. He turned around when he heard someone entering the room. "How did the interview go?"

"It was the same as the previous interviews," JJ replied, handing Reid a mug of coffee. "Susan Benson was a straight A student, volunteered on weekends, didn't have any major bad habits."

"It doesn't make sense," Reid repeated.

"What is this unsub trying to prove?"