The story was no doubt inspired by the real life disappearance of Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa. Lt. Monahan states that the labor leader Lockwood disappeared 2 years, 3 months, and 5 days ago, which would roughly coincide with the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa and the production of this episode.
While Quince and Sam are in the diner, he talks about the fact that in the future that a criminal will be identified by a single drop of blood. Of course, that would become the basis for DNA evidence, which is widely accepted to this day.
Two of the quest stars on this show would later appear on the T.V. series Airwolf. Zohra Lampert would guest star in the episode Echoes from the Past. And Elizabeth Stack would guest star in the episode Firestorm.