A man charged with allegedly being involved in helping a runaway teen leave town appeared in Baxter County Circuit Court Monday.
Nineteen-year-old Gabriel Stephen Gray, who lists a Yellville address, entered a not guilty plea to the charges against him. He will be represented by a public defender.
Gray was booked into the Baxter County jail May 2 on charges of interfering with custody and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. After posting a $5,000 bond he was released later the same day.
Gray was returned to jail May 6 when the company that wrote his original bond revoked it on the grounds Gray was a flight risk.
A second company agreed to write the bond and Gray was again released.
The contributing to the delinquency of a minor charge is a misdemeanor and interfering with custody is a Class C felony.
HELPS RUNAWAY TEEN GET OUT OF TOWN
Gray’s charges are based on his alleged participation in helping 17-year-old-Aubrey Ann Halliday get out of Mountain Home after she is reported to have told him she had run away from home.
In the probable cause affidavit Halliday is listed as a “runaway juvenile”.
The girl was reported to have last been seen about 11:15 p.m. April 17 in the vicinity of Western Hills Lane.
According to the probable cause affidavit, the girl’s mother told investigators she woke up on the morning of April 18 and found her daughter missing from the family’s home.
Information that the girl could not be found led to missing and endangered child advisories being widely distributed.
Information on the missing teen was carried by media outlets throughout the area and shared with law enforcement agencies and others.
According to the probable cause affidavit, it was discovered the missing girl and Gray had worked together at a local fast-food restaurant and he was one of the first people police interviewed about the missing teen.
He was reported to have given several stories related to his recent interactions with Halliday.
In none of his initial stories was he reported as saying that he was aware of Halliday’s current location. He was told that if she did contact him to let law enforcement know.
Gray made no reports to law enforcement, but based on a citizen’s tip, Halliday was found in West Plains and returned to Mountain Home. Gray turned himself in at the Mountain Home Police Department.
According to court records, Gray and the girl had been – or were in – some type of a dating relationship.
When Halliday was interviewed, she said that on the day she went missing, she met Gray at the restaurant where they had worked and told him she had run away from home. She told investigators Gray arranged for a ride to West Plains. The reason the couple selected West Plains as a destination is not spelled out in the probable cause affidavit.
A relative of Halliday’s filed a petition for an order of protection to keep Gray away from the girl on April 10, seven days before the teenager ran away. A hearing was scheduled for Tuesday in the Domestic Relations Division of Baxter County Circuit Court.
Court records show the petition was dismissed for lack of prosecution when the relative who filed for the order failed to show up for the hearing.
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