Producer-director Stanley R. Jaffe said of this film's story: "First, it moved me and secondly, it had to do with the frailty of the relationships between adults and what I consider our most important asset, our children".
The "Without a Trace" name of the film later became the title of an unrelated popular television series Without a Trace (2002) though both are about missing persons and both are set in New York.
The tea kettle that Susan Selky uses while waiting for Alex to come home is not a whistling type. There is no whistle attachment as she poured the water without removing anything from the spout. Whistling was only a sound effect.