Montana Woman Arrested In LA On Alleged Probation Violations

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A Helena woman, who had been missing for three weeks, was arrested in Los Angeles over the weekend, officials said.

Angelica Melody Gray, 22, was picked up Saturday on a Montana warrant alleging she violated her probation in a drug case by abandoning her two children at the YWCA in Helena, Police Chief Troy McGee said.

She was last seen on Dec. 11 and was reported missing the next morning.

James Alexander Lee, 21, who was seen traveling with Gray, was arrested in California on Friday for allegedly violating the conditions of his release in a drug case by leaving the state.

Lee told California Highway Patrol officers he had dropped Gray off in central California.

McGee said there was no indication Gray was being held against her will and, as far as police know, she was trying to start a new life in California. He did not say where she was arrested or how she was located.

Gray was on probation on charges that she was involved in growing hallucinogenic mushrooms in Helena in March.

Lee is charged with intimidation and unlawful restraint for allegedly holding two men in his car during a dispute about payment for marijuana. He is fighting extradition from California, McGee said.

Gray's husband, Joshua Gray, 24, is jailed in Helena after shooting himself in the shoulder during a confrontation with police who were responding to a report of a loud argument in March. Joshua Gray is charged with felony criminal endangerment and felony criminal production or manufacture of dangerous drugs.

Court records said harvested hallucinogenic mushrooms were strung around the Grays' apartment to dry and officers found 15 plastic tubs containing mushrooms in various stages of growth.

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