TADP EP 23 – True Crime – Tracy Ocasio Missing

Joe and Liz Ocasio lived every parent’s worst nightmare when their daughter Tracy went missing on May 27th 2009 at around 2:30am. Their daughter Tracy was born on August 10 1981. She was a 27 year old Orlando woman who was described as being 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighing 120lbs. She is a Caucasian female with brown hair and brown eyes. At the time of her disappearance, she was wearing either a dark colored hooded sweatshirt or Jacket, black tank top, jeans and a green and white baseball cap.

Ocasio had attended highschool in Fredericksburg Virginia and had moved to Florida with her parents in 1998. She had worked in a series of restaurant and retail jobs the decade prior to her disappearance and was considering enrolling in college to study radiology. She has two pet lizards, two pet scorpions and a pet cat and her parents stated that she was a big Orlando Magic fan. She was actually watching an Orlando Magics game at the bar the night she disappeared. Foul play is suspected in her disappearance.

The evening of her disappearance was the last time anyone ever heard from her again. Her vehicle, a two door chevrolet cobalt LS with the florida plate number J051EC was found unlocked and abandoned on Franklin St in Ocoee Fl at 7PM on May 27th. Her vehicle was located only 3 miles away from the residence that she shared with her parents. Her parents stated that it was very much out of character for their daughter to leave the vehicle in this area since it is not well lit and dark and their daughter was afraid of the dark. Her keys, wallet and her verizon LG voyager cell phone all went missing along with her.

James Virgil Hataway is the prime suspect in the disappearance of Tracy Ocasio. She left the bar with him that night. He claims that she drove him home in the 100 block of Lyme St (which is near where her vehicle was located I might add). He also claimed that Tracy wanted to smoke marijuana however didn’t like the drugs he had and left quickly. Her cell phone record however completely dismiss Hataway’s story since her cell phone records show her being there until 8:30am. In other words, she leaves the bar with Hataway at 2:30am and is there until 8:30am (for six entire hours). What happened to Tracy Ocasio during that 6 hour period?

After Tracy’s disappearance, James Hataway was arrested on drug related charges when police found drug related paraphernalia at his home. Hataway has a lengthy criminal record which includes robbery, burglary, theft, criminal mischief and possession of drug paraphernalia. Also, from 1993 to 1998, Hataway was in and out of juvenile hall. He has an extensive record of drugs, DUI and traffic violations.

There are also some undeniable similarities between the disappearance of Tracy Ocasio and the disappearance of Jennifer Kesse. Both of their vehicle were found abandoned the same bars. Jennifer worked in Ocoee, the same city where Tracy Ocasio disappeared.

In August of 2008, Rachel Clarke drove James Hataway home from a party, similarly to when Tracy Ocasio had driven James home. When they arrived at the location, they gave eachother a friendly hug, however when James’s advences were turned down by Clarke, James became very viloent. He began chocking Clarke, and when she exited the vehicle, he chased her down, tackled her to the ground and began hitting her head on the sidewalk. He then attempted to break the neck of Rachel Clarke. Thankfully Clarke was ok, but she did accused James Hataway of chocking her and slamming her head on the ground. She subsequently needed a neck brace following the attack. No charges were initially filed since Clarke was not co-operating with the investigations, however in June of 2009, at Clarke’s request, Hataway was charged with aggravated battery, robbery and burglary in connection with the incident however the battery charge was later upgraded to attempted murder.