It's every parent's nightmare. They wave their grown-up children off on an overseas adventure of a lifetime and never see them again. Cutting Edge follows the story of two families whose children died abroad, and their quest to uncover the truth behind their deaths.

Erica Duggan heard her terrified son crying down the phone and hours later learnt that he had been hit by cars while running down a motorway in Germany.

Bill Hawker received a call in the early hours of the morning to say his daughter Lindsay had been found murdered: she'd been buried in a bath of sand on a balcony in Tokyo.

In an instant these families were caught up in a personal tragedy in a foreign land, in a foreign culture, in a foreign language, in the hands of police and lawyers with whom they could barely communicate. Each gradually came to believe the only hope of uncovering the truth of their child's death was by taking on the investigation themselves.

For the Hawkers, in 2009, there was an unexpected conclusion. When the search seemed hopeless, the prime suspect in their daughter's murder was arrested and charged. In an emotional and uplifting conclusion to the film, the family celebrate the news they have fought so hard for.

Lost Abroad: The Parents' Story follows these families on their journeys in search of answers, but also remembers two exuberant young travellers and their joy at heading out into the world for the first time.