An 18-year-old Palm Coast man has been apprehended following a multi-state investigation that led investigators to Houston, Texas, where a missing 15-year-old girl was found 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 child. The girl’s father told deputies that he believed his daughter was with Brandon Lee Gray II, 18, and that Gray had previously taken her out of state without authorization in December 2025. During the previous instance, the juvenile was found with Gray in Valdosta, Georgia, and Gray was expressly warned that the girl was 15 years old and that he was not allowed to contact her. The incident was not reported to police enforcement at the time.
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Gray had purchased two bus tickets to Houston under bogus names and using his mother’s bank account, according to detectives. On January 11, the Houston Police Department assisted in locating the kid at a bus terminal in Houston. HPD’s Missing Persons Unit took her into protective custody and returned her to Florida.
On January 14, an arrest warrant for Gray was issued, and the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office Fugitive Unit began searching for him. On January 26, investigators discovered Gray had returned to Palm Coast. He was hauled into arrest at his home without incident. Gray was serving felony juvenile probation for aggravated violence with a deadly weapon in a 2023 case when he was arrested.
After being booked into the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility, deputies discovered Gray had two electronic vape pens hidden on his body. Investigators say the gadgets were fastened to him with hair ties. Gray told deputies he panicked and didn’t disclose the things during intake.
Gray was charged with depriving a minor of custody, two charges of bringing a vapor electronic device into a correctional facility, and a felony probation violation. He was eventually 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 to mental health resources via the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office Behavioral Response Unit.
