FLAGLER COUNTY, FL – An 18-year-old Palm Coast man has been arrested following a multi-state investigation that led deputies to Houston, Texas, where a missing 15-year-old girl was located and safely recovered.
According to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to a home on Beckner Lane on January 11 after receiving a report of a missing juvenile. The girl’s father told deputies he believed his daughter was with Brandon Lee Gray II, 18, and said Gray had previously taken the girl out of state without permission in December 2025. During that earlier incident, the juvenile was located with Gray in Valdosta, Georgia, and Gray was explicitly told the girl was 15 years old and that he was not permitted to have contact with her. That incident was not reported to law enforcement at the time.
Detectives later determined Gray had purchased two bus tickets to Houston using fictitious names and his mother’s bank account. With assistance from the Houston Police Department, the juvenile was located at a bus station in Houston on January 11. She was placed into protective custody by HPD’s Missing Persons Unit and returned to Florida.
An arrest warrant for Gray was obtained on January 14, and the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office Fugitive Unit began searching for him. On January 26, investigators learned Gray had returned to Palm Coast. He was taken into custody at his residence without incident. At the time of his arrest, Gray was on felony juvenile probation for aggravated battery with a deadly weapon stemming from a 2023 case.
After being booked into the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility, deputies discovered Gray had concealed two electronic vape pens on his body. Investigators said the devices were strapped to him using hair ties. Gray told deputies he panicked and failed to disclose the items during intake.
Gray was charged with depriving custody of a minor, two counts of smuggling a vapor electronic device into a correctional institution, and felony violation of probation. He was later released from jail on a $16,000 bond.
“This case shows just how important it is for parents to be involved in their child’s life,” said Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly. “I commend our deputies and investigators for quickly tracking this child to Houston and working with Texas authorities to quickly recover this child and return her home. We were able to locate the missing juvenile the same day she was reported missing, despite her being nearly 1,000 miles from home, and this dirtbag went to jail.”
The juvenile has since been connected with mental health resources through the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office Behavioral Response Unit.
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