For quinn. She dropped the cash all right, but who picked it up . Thats where everything went wrong. 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 of 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 turn out like a lot of people assumed. Josh mankiewicz with ransom. Thanks for joining us. Im lester holt. Whenever someone is kidnapped it triggers a race against time as police often joined by the victims family, begin a frantic search. Thats what happened in this story which begins with a young mom abducted at gunpoint, but as youre about to see, though 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 mankiewicz. This is the Sheriffs Office. My wife made a phone call to me a minute ago to say that she was held by gunpoint. Businessman reid gray was on the line with the Sheriffs Office in a panic. He told the 911 operator that his wife had phoned him minutes earlier to say shed been kidnapped. I would say 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 4, 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 to think straight. Did she tell you where she was at . No. Theres a note at the house with the gunmans demand. 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 who had finally hit it big in the health care business. This frightened husband told the 911 operator he didnt know what to do next. She said if you 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 had told him. Soon, multiple Law Enforcement agencies would be on the case. Fire and rescue will be coordinating with us. County sheriff david shoar. All bets are off and theres nothing more important than a victim being held against her will 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 residence. The house sat eerily empty, a photo album opened on a 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. That 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 right 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 beachfront home in pon tevedra. Its known for its golf course and lux homes. I dont want to use the term the perfect kidnapping victim, but it fit. Her husband made a lot of money. Worstcase scenario is we make one wrong move they kill her. On the day she was kidnapped the 37yearold pta mom had made appointments for her daughters to get haircuts and she was far along in the planning for an Upcoming Party for one of her daughters birthdays. Now reid gray tried to shield that their mom 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. That there was someone with a gun pointed on her head. On the call she said they were three kidnappers and they were albanian and the 50,000 ransom was to pay back money reid had borrowed from a loan shark, but reid insisted he didnt owe money to anyone. I made 150 million and 50 grand doesnt mean much. Why ask 50,000 from a man who was 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 that we had a housewife and the mother of two small children in whatever she was going through, it wasnt good. Reporter and there was Something Else that wasnt good. This investigation was starting with no witnesses, no clues to the kidnappers identities and more important, no answers to the question where was quinn gray . Coming up, quinn appears on the phone calling her husband with frantic instructions. Get in the car with the money. Would he be able to get the cash and find his wife in time . When ransom continues. At i ha, i didnt want to change toothpastes. I already had a product that made my mouth feel clean. Why am i going to go and change it . The first thing he recommended was that i use sensodyne. Sensodyne helps with the sensitivity issues and at the same time it gives you the clean feeling. Your mouth feels fresh. 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Its not difficult to abduct a Family Member of a rich person, but things like improved technical surveillance, cooperation between Law Enforcement agencies and even caller i. D. , now make it just about impossible to pick up ransom money and escape undetected. As a result the kind of kidnap young see in the movies pretty much exists only in hollywood, but for reid gray, this was frightening, nerveracking reality. No prior trouble with any phone calls in the middle of the night . Strange noises around the house or 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 and shes active in taking the girls to dance and taking the girls to all of their afterschool programs. She is a wonderful daughter, yes. Quinns mom, gail sykes. Thats very difficult for a mother to say who has four daughters, but she was absolutely the sweetest of all the children. Reporter 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 quinn was 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. And 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. Ill call you back, okay . I love you. She said shell call me back. Reporter investigators wired up the phone so they could record all of the calls. Sheriff shoar was surprised to hear quinns voice. Historically the kidnappers dont let the victims communicate. In this case it was quinns voice on the phone. Yes. For 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. Get in the car with the money and go down blood and take a left i have to write this down. No, just do it, reid go to butler boulevard and take a left butler 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 said if you go to the cops theyre going to kill me. Shell probably call back again. The first time she was screaming and crying. Reid stayed at the Sheriffs Office as surveillance teams scrambled to get in place at butler boulevard. Investigators also needed more 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 quinn to head to a different location. He was now to go to a chickfila restaurant. Convertible top down and just wait. I want to see you. I want to exchange you for the money. I am not giving that money without you. Hello . Now investigators rushed to get teams in 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 one are you at . I told you to be at the chickfila. Which chickfila. By the avenue mall. You need to go i want to know youre going to be there. Let me talk to them right now. 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 chickfila he got another call. 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 instruction. Were the sheriffs undercover teams spotted at the chickfila and is that what quinn meant by fed cars. Moments later cayman 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 mini command 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 and we didnt do it surreptitiously because they thought about it and they walked in and the minute they pulled in we received a text from the victim. Reid got another text from his cell phone. Wait for instructions. You twice already. You involved other people. Whose ford is in the driveway . The drive 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 watching over your own shoulder. Exactly right. These guys are playing by a different est is rules. It was one of the earliest indications to me that this case was not going turn out like a lot of people assumed. Coming up, finally, investigators get their first lead only to realize somethings gone terribly wrong. My hair was on fire. I thought how can Something Like this happen . When dateline continues. 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 do some technical capabilities to 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 used. Those are the electronic connections when the phone hits a particular cell tower and that gives them a general idea where quinn might have been held. Fbi agent toni cavit was selected as the lead crisis negotiator for the bureau. Weve got some leads. Agents felt they were making progress and suddenly the phone was also pinging farther away. The kidnappers and quinn might have been on the move. Sheriffs detective howard cole was sent in 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 calls, 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 and order, the numbers were transposed. Somebody put the wrong phone number in. Human error. So the phone you were following quanwasnt quinns ph how long did you follow that phone . All day saturday. What investigators thought were solid leads from quinns cell phones simply vanished. When you guys realized you were following the wrong cell phone . My hair was on fire. My hair was on fire. I thought how could Something Like this happen . We were back to square one . Who were we looking for . We had no idea. The rest of saturday went by with no word from quinn and the kidnappers and quinns mom, gail sykes left her georgia home and headed to her daughters house in ponte vedra, florida. I jumped in my car and headed south. How long was the drive . Seven and a half hours. Long drive with that kind of information in your brain. At around 2 00 a. M. When gail arrived she found an unbelievable scene. 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 sense the last contact from the kidnappers fbi Hostage Negotiator toni cavity decided to have quinns mom send Text Messages to her daughters home 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 . 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. 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 breeder on the side. I was very concerned that if i didnt drop the money properly that that would be the end for quinn. What, in your background, prepared you for what you were going through . I guess just being a mother trying to protect your children. Despite her nerve, gayle sykes was pressed into service. At around 10 30 a. M. The kidnappers instructed quinns mom to go to mikelers landing, an area along the beach and there she would find further instructions in a bathroom. Gayle left her daughters house. The money was in a blue bag, along with a tracking device courtesy of the fbi. At the location, quinns mother found the designated bathroom. Hidden inside the toilet paper holder was a note. It looked again to be in quinns handwriting and gayle read it aloud to investigators. So far im fine. No harm has been done to me. After you pick up this letter you are going drive north toward joes crab shack, got the money out of the car a