Here in Florida and across the country, people hear about shootings and murders all the time. But a kidnapping of a housewife demanding a ransom?
Toss in that it’s an attractive woman from posh Ponte Vedra Beach with a handsome husband. There are “Albanians,” botched money drops, a mother running ragged to save her daughter and a bit of a goon who turned out to be pretty smart. Sex, lies and secret recordings, that’s what it was all about over Labor Day weekend 2009.
With a new documentary coming out March 11 on Investigation Discovery’s “FEDS” series and then on HBO Max, here is the the timeline of what happened with Quinn Hanna Gray, per St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office and court records.
SEPT. 4, 2009:
7 p.m. — The St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office was notified of a reported kidnapping. Reid Gray, a 38-year-old owner of a home health care company, called 911 that evening stating he received a call from his wife saying she had been abducted by three unknown men. A SWAT team responded to the home at 403 Ponte Vedra Blvd. and found a letter saying Quinn Gray, 37, was kidnapped with a ransom of $50,000 in cash. (The Times-Union will refer to them by their first names for the remainder of the story to avoid confusion and having to repeat their full names.)
SEPT. 5
10:42 a.m. — While at a command center, Reid received another call from Quinn, in which he advised he had the money. She said they would get back with him.
11:25 and 11:29 a.m. — Quinn called again providing instructions for Reid to go down Butler Boulevard and take a left onto Southside Boulevard and stick the bag of money out the window for somebody to grab and that he was going to get her killed if he didn’t do what they say.
11:56 a.m. and 12:02 p.m. —This time Quinn told him to go down Southside Boulevard to the Chick-fil-A restaurant near Philips Highway and put his convertible top down and wait.
12:27 p.m. — She called again telling him he screwed up because they spotted “Fed” cars.
SEPT. 6
2 a.m. — Quinn’s mother, Gail Sikes, arrived in town and got involved with the communications. Quinn said the kidnappers did not want to deal with Reid anymore, and her mother would be the new point of contact.
10:30 a.m. — Quinn told her mother to go to Mickler’s Landing and to look in a porta potty for additional instructions. There she located a note telling her to drive to Joe’s Crab Shack in Jacksonville Beach and drop the bag of money and don’t look back. If anything goes wrong, Quinn would be dead, she said. However, however four college students found the bag first. After realizing it contained money and spotting what they believed to be “dope dealers” following them, they pulled over and called police to return the money.
11:30 a.m. — This time a man with a slight accent got on the phone asking where the money was because they couldn’t find it. Sikes was told to go back for another money drop, which she did but at this point the man indicated he was upset and they would be calling back.
8 p.m. — Another unsuccessful money drop was arranged and attempted in Jacksonville Beach, and Sikes drove around for several hours to different locations at the request of the alleged kidnappers.
SEPT. 7
6 p.m. — Quinn suddenly emerged walking around the parking lot of the Orange Park Mall. She located a Clay County deputy explaining who she was and that she was kidnapped. She was extremely agitated and at one point cut the deputy with a soda can as he was trying to assist her. She was then taken to the Federal Bureau of Investigations office in Jacksonville.
She told the FBI she was abducted by three Albanian men who took her from her home at gunpoint and wanted $50,000 owed to their boss by her husband. She said Reid had taken a $75,000 loan from a “loan shark,” but they were willing to settle for $50,000. She said she was bound at the wrists by zip ties but never said how she got away and initially refused to take a polygraph test.
SEPT. 8
Quinn told the Sheriff’s Office for the first time that she was sexually assaulted and not everything she said was accurate. She was first taken to the hospital for an examination for sexual assault. The initial information indicated she had no signs of trauma.
SEPT. 9
Quinn returned to the Sheriff’s Office for a follow-up. She said her first interview with the FBI she was just doing what she was told to do and rehearsed. She said she was getting ready to pick up their two daughters from school when her abductor confronted her in from a bedroom closet wearing yellow dishwashing gloves and pointed a gun. She said he explained that her husband had borrowed money and he was there to collect.
She said he had zip tie restraints that he used to keep her under control throughout the ordeal. He took her to an unknown location which she described as a warehouse or chop shop engaged in sexual intercourse with her against her will. Quinn was very detailed about having orgasms, describing various sex acts and that “He liked my blow jobs so he wanted me to give them to him a lot.”
She also said they stayed at the Emerson Inn on Philips Highway two of the days and that she was left alone on many occasions but never attempted to leave because she was afraid for her family. She said she was in “survival instinct” and was doing what was necessary to protect her family. Quinn stated during her time with him, she got very personal telling him about her marital problems, finances and children.
Before the interview, the Sheriff’s Office received a call from Reid about a wallet Quinn said she found in the driveway. It contained a note addressed to Quinn with further instructions about the money and also warning Reid that he’ll be watching him with his rifle and that he is his first target. It also stated, “We let your wife go, based on the word she would keep her mouth shut” and that he still owes them money. The note described the soda can Quinn had when she was located. “I shot this from 730 yards distance, and there is nothing the police can do to protect Reid.”
SEPT. 10
Quinn agreed to undergo a polygraph examination and failed. During the exam, another note was found outside the Ponte Vedra FBI field office. The letter was addressed to a local news reporter stating Reid had deadline to pay but refused and had three chances to save his wife but hung up on them. It said he was the one committing adultery and had an alcohol problem. It said Quinn was being dragged through the mud and was not a lunatic. The letter reminds them about the soda can demonstration.
Reid convinced Quinn to drive around the area in an attempt to locate the warehouse where she was taken and to help with a composite of the kidnapper. Detectives took her to various locations in but did not find the warehouse. She did assist with composite sketch of the suspect.
SEPT. 11
Detectives went to the Emerson Inn Quinn had identified as where they stayed for the weekend. Both the owner and tenant remembered the pair and that no one seemed to be in distress, saying they looked like a couple. They described the man as European driving a white Volkswagen hatchback and helped with a composite.
SEPT. 12
Quinn contacted the Sheriff’s Office upset about not having the sketch she had done in the media. She also wanted to know why they had not gone to the Publix (Mickler’s Landing) where the kidnapper bought chicken wings, an Italian sub and paper. The detective advised that she had never given that information before. Investigators then went to the Publix and retrieved security video that matched the description of the suspect. Quinn said she was positive it was him. This information was then released to the media.
SEPT. 13
Quinn said she drove around with her mother looking again for the warehouse but was unable to locate it.
SEPT. 14
Quinn said she had found the warehouse and the vehicle she had been in all weekend. That led investigators to 25-year-old Jasmin Osmanovic, who matched the description from the Publix and sketch. He agreed to be interviewed. At first he denied knowing Quinn, stating he spent the weekend with a woman named Stacey. He eventually confirmed knowing her and said they had been in a sexual relationship for about a month and a half.
He said he had been to her house on many occasions and even had sex with her there. He also confirmed being with her at his auto repair warehouse and the Emerson Inn. He said Quinn was a willing participant and they had consensual sex all weekend. Osmanovic, who didn’t trust Quinn, told detectives he had an audio recording that would prove she was a willing participant.
He said he never tied her up, saying she had her own cell phone and was doing her own thing on many occasions. However, during the search of his vehicle, several zip ties were located along with a black bag containing jewelry, a check stub and passport for her husband and a crumbled piece of note paper with “Jasmin” and his cell phone number written on it in Quinn’s handwriting. Quinn’s purse also was found at Osmanovic’s business.
Osmanovic was arrested and charged with threats or extortion.
SEPT. 15
Osmanovic’s girlfriend, Cali Bowers, told detectives he called her from jail advising where to find secret digital recordings in a dresser drawer at her home that contained conversations between him and the woman about a “fake kidnapping.” She said the woman was going over her “story” and what she was going to say happened. She said she gave it Osmanovic’s sister, Velida Osmanovic. Detectives contacted her, and she and her attorney agreed to hand it over. They confirm it included multiple conversations like a “rehearsal” about main points such as the yellow gloves, gun, zip ties and vehicle. It also contained what appears to be explicit and consensual sexual activity between the two.
SEPT. 16
The FBI received the results of the forensic examination of Quinn’s cell phone that showed she had searched the internet a few days before on topics such as the Jaycee Dugard kidnapping in California. A warrant was signed and she was arrested on a charge of threats or extortion.
FEB. 11, 2011
Quinn pleaded no contest and was sentenced to seven years of probation with strict conditions including mental health treatment and no contact with Osmanovich or the media and ordered to pay restitution. Her husband publicly supported her throughout the case but filed for divorce in 2010 after being married 10 years. Both remarried, her twice and him once, according to court records. Public data lists Quinn living in Jacksonville Beach and Reid in Jacksonville.
MARCH 14, 2011
Osmanovic pleaded guilty and was sentenced to six years of probation with strict conditions including a mental health evaluation and no contact with Quinn or the media and ordered to pay restitution. He married in 2015 and lives in Macclenny, records show.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Sex, lies and secret recordings, the 2009-11 Quinn Gray timeline
Reporting by Scott Butler, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
