Quinn Hanna Gray, not to be confused with former Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback and Florida A&M University coach Quinn Fordham Gray Sr., caused quite the buzz in Northeast Florida and beyond in 2009.
Her faked kidnapping/extortion plot with Jasmin Osmanovic over the Labor Day weekend to this day is still talked about and pops up in internet searches. It had all the makings for a true-crime movie — an attractive couple in posh Ponte Vedra Beach, “Albanian” thugs, botched money drops, sex and lies — and in fact has generated some documentaries including upcoming on Investigation Discovery’s “FEDS” series airing March 11 and then on HBO Max.
So who is Quinn Gray? She was a 37-year-old housewife with two daughters and some alcohol and bipolar disorder issues, the latter according to her attorney at the time. She and her 38-year-old husband and health care business operator, Reid Gray, also were having some marital issues.
Enter 25-year-old Osmanovic, a Bosnian who ran his own auto repair business and met Quinn (we’ll refer to her first name to avoid any confusion with the husband) at a gas station. The two would engage in a tryst that eventually led to faking her Sept. 4 kidnapping and asking for a $50,000 ransom.
They made several calls and threats to her husband, who was working with the FBI and St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office. After failed and somewhat comical attempts to deliver the money, the “kidnappers” eventually handed the communication over to Quinn’s mother.
Following more failed attempts, a frazzled Quinn suddenly emerged walking around the Orange Park Mall parking lot on Day 4 of the hoax. Over the next several days there would be more lies about being bound and sexually assaulted and new revelations and suspicions. All the while, demands were still being made for the $50,000.
But Quinn would soon lead investigators to Osmanovic, who came in voluntarily for questioning and was arrested on Sept. 14. He initially denied knowing her but eventually caved and spilled the beans that they were having an affair. He was charged with threats or extortion.
Osmanovic wasn’t entirely naive, though, and led investigators to secret recordings he made between the two. They contained some revealing conversations, rehearsals of what to say and what sounded like consensual sex. On Sept. 16 Quinn was arrested and charged with threats or extortion.
There would be no trial, however, as both made plea deals in 2011.
Quinn pleaded no contest and was sentenced to seven years of probation with strict conditions including mental health treatment and no contact with Osmanovic 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 Gray in Jacksonville. Quinn’s name has changed along the way, even her middle name. She has worked as a yoga instructor and nurse.
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: Who is Quinn Hanna Gray? Fake kidnapping case a viral true crime
Reporting by Scott Butler, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
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