She Watched An NBA Playoff Game With Her Friends At A Florida Bar In 2009 And Vanished After Leaving With A Man Who’s Now Serving Life Behind Bars For The Attempted Murder Of Another Woman
As a teenager, Tracy Ocasio lived in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and attended high school there before moving to Florida with her family in 1998.
Throughout her young adult life, she held various jobs at both restaurants and retail stores – working as a waitress at Denny’s, a sales associate at Michael’s, Ross Dress for Less, and a pet store.
However, once she was 27-years-old in 2009, Tracy was considering a new career path.
At the time, she was living with her parents in their home on New Victor Road, located in Ocoee, Florida. She was also the proud owner of a cat named Cookie, two pet scorpions, and two pet lizards.
But Tracy was thinking about enrolling in college and studying radiology. Then, on May 26, 2009, she tragically disappeared after leaving a Florida restaurant and bar.
It all began on May 26, 2009. That Tuesday night, Tracy decided to visit the Florida Tap Room Restaurant & Bar, located on Raliegh Street, with her friends to watch an NBA playoff game. The Orlando Magic were playing the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Prior to the game’s start, she also reportedly spoke on the phone with her mother and claimed she’d be home later in the evening.
Yet, while surveillance camera footage captured Tracy leaving the bar at 1:30 a.m. with a man, she never returned home after the game and was never seen or heard from again.
At 7:00 p.m. the following day, May 27, Tracy’s car – a yellow two-door 2002 Chevrolet Cobalt LS with Florida license plate number J051EC – was found abandoned on Franklin Street, approximately 15 miles away from the restaurant and bar. Her cell phone, wallet, and keys were not inside the vehicle.
Ocoee Police Department – pictured above is Tracy
Once an investigation into her disappearance was launched, authorities determined that the man who left the bar with Tracy was James Hataway, 28. Investigators subsequently took him in for questioning, and he claimed to have met Tracy two weeks prior to her disappearance at the same restaurant and bar.
James reportedly told police that Tracy had given him a ride to his house located in the 100 block of Lyle Street. Then, she left not long afterward alone.
However, Tracy’s phone records reportedly suggested otherwise. They showed that, until 8:30 a.m. on May 27, she’d been in the West Franklin Street area of Ocoee. Her car was also found abandoned just 150 yards away from James’ house.
So, in June 2009, investigators obtained a search warrant for James’ home, but no evidence connected to Tracy’s case was found.
Just under two years later, James was ultimately convicted of the attempted murder of another woman – Rachel Clarke – and sentenced to life in prison. Additionally, he was found guilty of other charges, including robbery, burglary, and false imprisonment.
After Rachel gave James a ride home from a party in 2008, he tried to strangle her.
James is also the primary suspect in the disappearance of a man named Chris George, who went missing in February 2009. Chris was reportedly last seen with James, and his bones were recovered from a lake in Apopka, Florida, in July 2011. His cause of death remains unknown due to the decomposition of his remains.
Still, James has not been charged in relation to Tracy’s disappearance – despite being the sole suspect – and is serving his life sentence behind bars at Blackwater River Correctional Facility located in Milton, Florida.
The exact circumstances surrounding Tracy’s disappearance are unclear, and her case remains unsolved over 15 years later.
At the time she vanished, Tracy was five foot five, weighed 120 pounds, and had brown hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing jeans, a black tank top, a dark-colored sweatshirt or jacket, and a green and white baseball cap.
If you have any information regarding her case, you are urged to contact the Ocoee Police Department at (407) 554-7210.
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