Abduction of Quinn Gray on Dateline

Originally posted September 2011 (re-run)

If you didn't see Friday night's Dateline, you missed a whopper of a story.  It was two-hours of action, deception and lies.  I would have to say this was one of the most hotspot littered cases I think I've ever watched.  Quinn Gray couldn't have been a better subject!

For those of you who saw the show, here is Quinn Gray's ransom note. 

So many hot spots:

1. Notice Quinn's normal bubbly written text?  When people are held at gunpoint, they get nervous and nervous hand writing isn't so sweet and smooth! Hello.


2. Quinn writes, "I need you read this and be calm!!"  Who under duress is going to think like this?   Just be calm, honey!


3. Quinn writes, "...do not be a hero."  Hero?  Who would think about heroes when you have a gun pointing to your head? 


4. Quinn writes, "This is professional."  What victim of a crime is ever going to think her abductors are "professional"?   I could see law enforcement calling someone professional, but not a victim unless they were talking about a crime in hindsight--not during the actual crime.  How does she know they are "professional" at this point? She hasn't seen them do anything, if this is real and they just broke into her house. It's ridiculous.


5. I find it very odd she tells her husband they want $50,000, but he cannot get more than $9,500.00 out of the bank.  Had she tried at one point?  Would you know this if you were held at gun point?  Very odd information for a "victim" to have... She could have called the bank with the kidnappers and asked about  how much she could withdrawal, but she makes no mention of it.


6. Then she says they only have $7,000, which makes it even more perplexing that she should would know about the $9,500 number because why ask if you don't have it?


7. Her use of the word "stupid" stands out to me as well.  When you are facing life and death, and you may not see a loved one again, and I can't imagine you would worry about them doing stupid things.  You would worry about their life instead.  It's odd to say the least. She doesn't seem worried about him at all, does she?


8. It's odd how she is so sure she will be fine if he just gets the money.  Why would she be so sure?  A kidnapper wouldn't give her the time to write that over and over again!  Time is of the essence if they are all standing around in her house, mind you.


9. She writes, "Please do this honey!" Honey?  Again, its ridiculous!! 

Clearly, by her own word choices, she was not a woman under duress.  Had I found this ransom note, I couldn't help but chuckle!!!! It tells a heck of a lot information, and while you couldn't write it off, I would have been very skeptical. 

Word choices tell us so much...