Ransom herself. If i didnt drop the money properly that would be the end of quinn. She dropped the cash all right, but who picked it up . And thats where everything went wrong. Where everything went wrong. A kidnapping case about to go way off script. Her story did not make sense. What was really going on . Im a cop, 11 years. I blushed when i listened to the tape. A story with more twists and turns than the florida roads they raced along trying to find this missing mom. This case was not going to turn out like a lot of people assumed. Hello, and welcome to dateline extra. Im craig melvin. Whenever someone is kidnapped, it triggers a race against time, when police joined by the victims family begin a frantic search. Thats what happened in this story, that begin with a frantic call. As youre about toss, her family and veteran investigators spent desperate days trying to find out where she was, they never could have guessed who had her and why. Heres josh main o mankowitz. This is the Sheriffs Office. My wife made a phone call to me a minute ago to see she was held by gunpoint. Businessman reed gray was on the line with the Sheriffs Office in a panic. He told the 911 operator his wife had just phoned him minutes earlier to say shed been kidnapped. It sounds like a but its not. The call would turn out to be just the beginning of an unbelievable saga that would baffle investigators and turn this husbands life upside down. The next few days would bring one setback after another. And no one could have predicted how it all would come to an end. It was around 5 00 p. M. , september 4th, 2009. Reids wife, quinn, had called him at work and told him shed just been kidnapped right out of their 4 million home. Reid couldnt believe what hed heard and went to his Office Parking lot to try and think straight. Did she tell you where she was at . No. Theres a note at the house with the gunmans demands. The news was as shocking as it was terrifying. Quinn, a mom of two young daughters, was a trained nurse who was now raising her children full time. Her husband was a selfmade man whod finally hit it big in the health care business. This frightened husband told the 911 operator he didnt know what to do next. They said call the police they will shoot me dead. A guns a gun, man. Reid gray took a gamble and did just the opposite of what his wife told him. Soon multiple Law Enforcement agencies would be on the case. Check and make sure fire rescues going to be coordinating with us. St. Johns county sheriff. David shore. All bets are off. Theres nothing more important than a victim being held against their will and being threatened with homicide, so you roll out what you have. While reid went to the Sheriffs Office, a s. W. A. T. Team was deployed to his home. They cautiously entered the multiMillion Dollar residence. The house sat eerily empty. A photo album open on the couch a happy quinn on her wedding day. Crime scene techs swept inside and out, looking for fingerprints, tire tracks. Any clues to the kidnappers identities. On the dining room table they found a sheet of yellow paper. The ransom note. It looked to be in quinn grays handwriting. Dear reid, i need you to read this and be calm. Reid, do not be a hero. This is professional and there are three men holding me now and they want 50,000 cash. I will be okay. If you get them the money. What do you know about the victim . We knew she was a housewife raising children in one of the prettier parts of our county. Reid and quinn gray were new to st. Johns county having just moved into their beach front home in ponte vedra, known for its world famous golf course and lux homes. I dont want to use the term the perfect kidnapping victim, but it fit. And her husband made a lot of money. And her husband made a lot of money. In the worst case scenario, we make one wrong move, they kill her. On the day quinn was kidnapped, the pta mom made appointments for her daughters to have haircuts and she was far along in the planning for one of her daughters upcoming birthdays. Now reid gray tried to shield the 8 and 6yearolds from the news that their moms life was in danger. He picked up the girls from school and took them to a friends house. While he waited at the Sheriffs Office. Reid was still in his shirt and tie from work and he was an emotional wreck. He shared more details about quinns brief frantic call to him hours earlier. Quinn said that theres somebody with a gun pointed at her head. On that call she said they were three kidnappers and they were albanian. The 50,000 ransom was to pay back money reid had borrowed from a loan shark. But reid gray insisted he didnt owe money to anyone. I make over 1. 2 million this year. 50 grand doesnt mean much. Why ask for only 50,000 from a man making more than 1 million a year . Reid didnt know, and neither did investigators. At this point there was only one goal. Quinns safe return. It was very disconcerting to realize we had a housewife and a mother of two small children in whatever she was going through, it wasnt good. And there was Something Else that wasnt good. This investigation was starting with no witnesses. No clues to the kidnappers identities. And more importantly, no answers to the question, where was quinn gray . Coming up quinn appears on the phone calling her husband with frantic instructions. Just give me the car with the money. Just do it now. Just do it, reid. Would he be able to get the cash and find his wife in time . When ransom continues. Bowling. Classic. Can i help you . Its me. Jamie. Im not good with names. Celeste i trained you. We share a locker. Moose man yo. He gets two name your price tools. He gets two . I literally coined the phrase, we give you Coverage Options based on your budget. Thats me. Jamie yeah. Youre back from italy. [ both smooch ] ciao bella. At ally, we offer lowcost trades and highyield savings. But if thats not enough, we offer innovative investing tools to prepare you for the future. Looks like you hooked it. And if thats not enough, well help your kid prepare for the future. Dont hook it kid. And if thats still not enough, well help your kids kid prepare for the future. Looks like he hooked it. Well do anything. Takes after his grandad. Seriously anything, to help you invest for the future. Ally. Do it right. Returning to our story, heres josh mankowitz. Reid gray, husband, father, and successful businessman was at the Sheriffs Office near his expensive home in ponte vedra, florida, a wealthy community 20 miles south of jacksonville. His wife, quinn, was kidnapped just a few hours earlier. The ransom . 50,000. Im not going to be able to work, sleep, eat, breathe, until this is resolved. One thing you have to understand is that in the modern day marketplace of crime, kidnapping for ransom is practically an antique. Heres why. Its not difficult to abduct a Family Member of a rich person, but things like improved technical surveillance, cooperation between Law Enforcement agencies, even caller i. D. , now make it just about impossible to pick up ransom money and escape undetected. As a result, the kind of kidnapping you see in the movies pretty much exists only in hollywood. But for reid gray, this was frightening, nerveracking reality. No prior trouble with any kind of phone calls in the middle of the night . Strange noises around the house . Anything like that, right . No. Married for almost nine years, reid told investigators his relationship with quinn was better than ever and that the couple was even thinking about having another child. Shes been just an amazing friend, shes active in taking the girls to dance, taking the girls to all their after school programs. She was a wonderful daughter. Yes. Quinns mom, gale sykes. Its very difficult for a mother to say who has four daughters, but she was absolutely the sweetest of all the children. That night, reid called his motherinlaw with the devastating news. I was just completely in shock. As a mother, its your worst nightmare. Imagining whats happening to your child. What do you think quinns going through at that point . Being tortured, tied up, fearing for her life, fearing that she would never see her children again. While quinns mom waited for news at her georgia home, reid stayed at the Sheriffs Office until about 2 00 a. M. He then returned to his house while his kids stayed with friends. Early the next morning, saturday, about 16 hours after quinns kidnapping, reid sent a text to his wifes phone. Havent slept all night. Please tell me youre all right. But there was no reply. About two hours later, reid, who was now with investigators, finally got a call. It was quinn. And reid became emotional. What do i need to do . Ill call you back. I dont know. Theyll call you back, okay . All right. I love you. She said shell call me back in a few minutes. Investigators wired up the phone so they could record all the calls. Sheriff shore was surprised to hear quinns voice. Historically the kidnappers dont let the victims communicate. And in this case it was quinns voice on the phone. Yes. The advantage for that is the kidnappers is you dont ever hear their voice. Thats true. The sheriff rolled out his mobile command unit to a secluded area near quinn and reids home. From inside he started directing the more than 100 Law Enforcement personnel who were working this case. They waited for the next contact from the kidnappers. And then about 45 minutes after that last call reids phone rang again. The cell reception was poor. But quinn gave reid a location for a money drop. Just leave the car with the money and go down cutlet boulevard and take a left on south ive got to write this down. Just do it, reid, take a left. Cutler boulevard. Hello . The conversation abruptly ended and quinn sounded angry. It was easy to imagine the tremendous stress she must be under. Reid was growing increasingly worried for his wifes safety. She goes, youve got the cops, theyre going to kill me. Still remain calm, shes probably going to call again. The first time screaming, crying, help. Theyre making this urgent. Reid stayed at the Sheriffs Office as surveillance teams scrambled to get in place at butler boulevard. Investigators also needed time to get 50,000 cash together for the ransom. But only 30 minutes later, another call came in. Hello . It was quinn again, instructing reid to head to a different location. He was now to go to a chickfila restaurant. Take the convertible top down and just wait in the chickfila parking lot. I want to see you. I want to exchange you for the money. I am not giving them money without you. Hello . Now investigators rushed to get teams and undercover cars in place at the chickfila, but they needed more time, so they told reid to play dumb on quinns next call and say he didnt know which chickfila restaurant to go to. Which are you at . Where are you . Youre supposed to be at the chickfila. Which one . Theres three of them. But the avenues mall. You said on south side make a left. You need to go. I want to know youre going to be there. Let me talk to them right now. But once again the call was abruptly cut off. Quinn sounded frantic. Was it possible she had a gun to her head . Investigators tried to trace the calls, but they were all so short that an exact location couldnt be pinpointed. And according to detective howard cole, reid gray was becoming unhinged. He was scared and he was a nervous wreck. He was worried for himself, he was worried for her, he was worried for his family. But before reid left for the chickfil chickfila, he got yet another call. Reid. There was a problem at the money drop point. They spotted three fed cars near chickfila so i dont know where im going now. You need to wait for more instructions. Were the sheriffs undercover teams spotted at the chickfila . Is that what quinn meant by fed cars . A few minutes later on reids cell phone came an ominous text from quinn. I know you want me dead. Reid texted back, i dont know if thats quinn. I have your 50,000. Stop with me, just give me my wife. There was no reply. Investigators brought reid back to his house and parked in the driveway. They set up a minicommand center in the house using a recorder to tape all incoming calls. And thats when something happened that no one expected. We sent the detectives to that home. We didnt do it surreptitiously. We thought about it. They walked in the front door. They pulled in in an unmarked vehicle, and the minute they pulled in, we received a text from the victim. Reid got another text on the cell phone. Wait for instructions. Youve up twice already. You involved other people. Whose ford is in the driveway . The ford was an unmarked sheriffs vehicle. Theyre watching the house. Theyre watching the house. Fearing they were being watched by the kidnappers, the sheriff ordered all his personnel to go covert and get out of sight. We were watching ourselves to see if they were watching us. The kidnappers have you looking over your own shoulder. Yes. Thats exactly right. Theyre playing by a different set of rules. That was probably one of the earliest indications to me that this case was not going to turn out like a lot of people assumed. There are two types of people in the world. Those who fear the future. And those who embrace it. The future is for the unafraid. All because of you the mountain like i used to. I even accept i have a higher risk of stroke due to afib, a type of irregular heartbeat not caused by a heart valve problem. But whatever trail i take, i go for my best. So if theres Something Better than warfarin, ill go for that too. Eliquis. Eliquis reduced the risk of stroke better than warfarin, plus had less major bleeding than warfarin. Eliquis had both. Dont stop taking eliquis unless your doctor tells you to, as stopping increases your risk of having a stroke. Eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. Dont take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. While taking eliquis, you may bruise more easily. And it may take longer than usual for any bleeding to stop. Seek immediate medical care for sudden signs of bleeding, like unusual bruising. Eliquis may increase your bleeding risk if you take certain medicines. Tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures. Im still going for my best. And for eliquis ask your doctor about eliquis. Returning to our story, here is josh mankowitz. It was saturday afternoon. Quinn gray, wife and mother of two, had been missing for almost 24 hours. After two attempted money drops failed, the local sheriff called in the fbi. Almost 150 people were now working to find quinn gray. The agent in charge of the fbis Jacksonville Office is james casey. He says the kidnappers appeared to be deactivating quinns cell phone after each of the calls they made to reid. Somebody in the scheme was smart enough to take the battery out of the cell phone. Because we were able to, through some technical capabilities, determine that that phone was not only off but had no power to it. At certain times. Meaning you cant trace it. Meaning you cant trace it. While there was no pinpointing an exact address where quinns calls were originating, technicians were tracing pings when the phone was in use. Those are the connections made when a phone hits a particular cell tower and that gave investigators a general idea where quinn might have been held. Fbi agent toni crabit. Was selected as the lead crisis negotiator for the bureau. Were tracking the phone and thinking weve got some leads. Agents felt they were making progress. But then suddenly the phone was also pinging farther away. The kidnappers and quinn might have been on the move. Sheriffs detective howard cole. Was center in the pursuit. It was believed that quinn grays cell phone was being tracked to an area west of orlando. But something had gone wrong. Before tracing the call, investigators had to get a judges approval. And in the rush to fill out the proper paperwork, someone made a small, but critical error. When they actually went to get the order signed by a judge, what was typed into the actual affidavit, the numbers were transposed. Somebody put the wrong phone number in . Human error. So the phone you were following wasnt quinns phone. Correct. How long did you follow that other phone . All day saturday. And suddenly what investigators thought were solid leads from quinns cell phone simply vanished. When you realized you guys were following the wrong cell phone, what . My hair was on fire. My hair was on fire. I thought, how can Something Like this happen . So we were really back to square one. Who are we looking for . We have no idea. The rest of saturday went by with no word from quinn or the kidnappers. Meanwhile, quinns mom, gale sykes, left her georgia home and headed to her daughters house in ponte vedra, florida. I jumped in my car and i headed south. How long of a drive . 7 1 2 hours. Long drive, but that kind of information in your brain. She found an unbelievable scene around 2 00 a. M. When she arrived. I walked into like a war zone. The s. W. A. T. Team hiding inside the house. They were everywhere. I was told that they were outside in the bushes, that they were on the roof. It was unreal. Early sunday morning, almost 36 hours since quinn grays abduction, and 12 hours since the last contact from the kidnappers. Fbi Hostage Negotiator toni crab it decided to have quinns mom send messaging to her daughters phone, hoping the kidnappers would read them. Every 20 minutes, every hour wed send a message. Please call me, i love you, let me know that youre safe. Im very worried about you. You want the kidnappers to start thinking of her as a mom who needs to go home to her family and not just a cash register. I want the kidnappers to think of quinn gray as a wife, as a daughter, as a mother. Finally, a text came back about 9 30 a. M. This time, to quinns moms phone. Have the money in a bag. No traceable devices. No reid whatsoever. If he is anywhere close, shes dead. No cops. Be ready to leave at 11 00. The kidnappers had apparently decided they no longer wanted to deal with reid. Why . Because the kidnappers dont trust reid . Maybe. We didnt know. One of the techs said he had messed it up already. After the failed chickfila drop, another thought was that mom was more controllable. So reid gray was no longer at the center of a huge Law Enforcement effort that was working around the clock to save his wife. How did reid feel about being shut out of that . Made him uncomfortable, i think. He didnt understand it. Nobody understood it. So we moved forward. Quinns mother would make the next money drop. It was an unlikely role for this 62yearold grandmother. A manager at a walmart and a dog breed