98 replies to this topic

[Lori Davis]

http://www.myfoxorla...away-jail-calls

James Hataway’s jail-house phone calls
Updated: Monday, 18 Oct 2010, 5:49 PM EDT
Published : Monday, 18 Oct 2010, 5:22 PM EDT

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - FOX 35 has obtained new jailhouse phone calls from James Hataway. He's a suspect in the case of missing Tracy Ocasio in Orange County. Right now he is being held in the Seminole County jail accused of attacking another woman.

Hataway is a person of interest in the May 27, 2009 disappearance of Tracy Ocasio. Surveillance video captured at an Orlando-area bar shows Hataway and Ocasio leaving together following an Orlando Magic watch party. Ocasio has not been seen since.  Her car was found abandoned near Hataway's home.

For the first time we hear Hataway talking about the investigation into her disappearance.
James Hataway told his friend on the tapes just after his arrest that all the news coverage will make it hard for him to meet girls now.

Hataway is awaiting trial in Seminole County accused of almost killing a Seminole County woman. But in the tapes from the Seminole County jail he talks not only about Rachel Clark, but also a lot about what he knows about the search for Tracy Ocasio.

In September he remembers a search from late July 2009 and thinks cops may not have done their due diligence on that search. But cops still consider him the main suspect in the case of the missing Tracy Ocasio and so far nothing in the tapes has lead them too her.

Cops know that he knows he is being recorded and he is very careful not to let them know what he may or may not know.

FOX 35 learned from the tapes that Hataway has a daughter, one he has not seen since he was put in jail. He says on the tapes he knows he'll be out soon and promises to stay out from behind bars and spend more time with his daughter.

[Jenn]

http://www.orlandose...0,7983942.story

Tracy Ocasio: Family plans search for missing woman

By Amy L. Edwards, Orlando Sentinel 6:17 a.m. EST, November 15, 2010

The family of Tracy Ocasio said they are planning another search for the missing Ocoee woman on Saturday.

Ocasio disappeared in May 2009 after she was seen leaving a MetroWest bar with James Hataway, who police have said is the prime suspect in Ocasio's disappearance. Hataway has not been charged in connection to her case.

Volunteers have conducted numerous searches for Ocasio.

Ocasio's father, Joe Ocasio, said the command center for this week's search will be at Vingetti Park, 1910 Adair Street, Ocoee.

Ocasio said he is not disclosing the exact search area to avoid possible tampering.

[Jenn]

http://www.myfoxorla...w-ocasio-search

New search planned for missing woman

Updated: Monday, 15 Nov 2010, 11:55 AM EST
Published : Monday, 15 Nov 2010, 11:35 AM EST

Another search will be held this week to locate a missing Ocoee woman.

The mother of Tracy Ocasio tells FOX 35 volunteers will be searching on Saturday for her daughter.

Ocasio disappeared May 27, 2009. Surveillance video from a Metro West bar shows her leaving the bar with James Hataway. Ocasio has not been seen since and her car was found abandoned near Hataway's home. Police say Hataway is a suspect. He has not been charged and is being held in the Seminole County jail accused of attacking another woman.

[Lori Davis]

http://www.cfnews13....-missing-person

Search for Tracy Ocasio gets help from family of another missing person

By Dave D'Marko, Reporter
Last Updated: Saturday, November 20, 2010 8:41 PM
OCOEE -- 
The search resumed for Tracy Ocasio Saturday, the Ocoee woman missing since last year.

The Ocasios are now joined by the family of another missing person whose disappearance they think could be connected.

Search teams that have scoured some 3,000 acres of woods in the Ocoee and Apopka areas were back there Saturday with new hope of finding clues in the disappearance of Tracy Ocasio.

Ocasio was last seen in May of 2009 leaving a MetroWest bar with James Hataway.

Just a few weeks ago, the Ocasios say a friend of Hataway's, who was arrested for drugs, told investigators to search the areas of Fullers Cross and the 429 and woods along Clarcona Ocoee Road.

The most disturbing part of the tip, that took them to the woods, is they didn't just say that's where they would find Tracy Ocasio.

"It said if Hataway would have done anything, he would have put bodies, plural, in this area," said Ocasio's father, Joe.

The other missing person is Chris George, a man who knew Hataway and disappeared 15 weeks before Ocasio.

"From the area where Chris was last seen to an area where we are searching is not that far, and it's an area where Hataway was known to hang out," Joe Ocasio said.

"I feel like Joe does, these two cases are connected and advances in one lead to advances in the other," said Chris' mother, Rachel George.

Rachel said it's comforting to have a friend in the Ocasio's who know what it's like to get their hopes up.

"You don't want to get your hopes up too high because it just makes the crash that much harder when you don't find anything. We are going in hopeful. We find something, find our daughter and Rachel's son."

Meanwhile, the person of interest in Ocasio's disappearance, and the one they think could know something about what happened to George sits in a Seminole County jail awaiting trial for the attack of another woman.

[Lori Davis]

http://www.wesh.com/...079/detail.html

Crews Scour Area Of Ocoee In Missing Persons Cases
Investigators: New Information Could Lead To Ocasio, George

POSTED: 7:50 pm EST November 20, 2010
UPDATED: 8:09 pm EST November 20, 2010

OCOEE, Fla. -- There was a new push on Saturday in two separate missing persons cases.

Orange County investigators scoured an area along State Road 429 in Ocoee after receiving a new tip.

Investigators said they think the new information could lead them to Tracy Ocasio or Chris George.

The families of the two missing people teamed up with search crews Saturday morning.

"I think some developments, some things are going to start happening with these cases, and I still have hope that both Chris and Tracy will be found," said George's mother, Rachel George.

Ocasio disappeared after leaving a Metrowest bar in 2009. George vanished two years earlier.

Both were last seen with James Hattaway, police said, who is currently in jail on attempted murder charges in another case.

[Lori Davis]

http://www.wesh.com/...006/detail.html

New Tip Received In Tracy Ocasio's Disappearance
Tipster Says Suspect Involved In Other Deaths
POSTED: 5:16 pm EST November 23, 2010
UPDATED: 5:54 pm EST November 23, 2010

OCOEE, Fla. -- The father of missing Ocoee woman Tracy Ocasio says he has received a new tip about the suspect in his daughter's disappearance.

The tipster said James Hataway may be involved in three homicides in the Orlando area prior to 2007, Joe Ocasio told WESH 2 News.

Ocasio said he received the tip through a Facebook page he set up to get more information about the case.

Tracy Ocasio was last seen leaving a Metrowest bar with Hataway in May 2009.

The tipster said he dated a woman who told him she was Hataway's accomplice in the 2007 crimes.

"Whether it's true or not, I have no idea," Joe Ocasio said. "This has happened to us before. Until this guy has been talked to by Ocoee police, I don't want to talk further about him or the tip."

Hataway remains in the Seminole County Jail on charges that are not related to Ocasio's disappearance.

Ocoee police did not return calls on Tuesday in regards to where they stand on the investigation. Orlando police said they are unaware of the tip and would need more information to search for the bodies the tipster referred to.

[Jenn]

http://articles.orla...away-liz-ocasio

Tracy Ocasio's parents turn over potential evidence to police
Tracy Ocasio's parents received a letter that may shed new light on the missing person case.

November 23, 2010|By Bianca Prieto, Orlando Sentinel

The family of missing Ocoee woman Tracy Ocasio turned over potential evidence to detectives that may shed new light on the case.

Tracy Ocasio went missing in May 2009 after leaving a MetroWest bar with suspect James Hataway.

Liz Ocasio confirmed that her family received a letter from a man claiming to have information about three slayings involving the mother of Hataway's daughter.
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Liz Ocasio declined to comment specifically about the letter, and said it has been turned over to Ocoee police for further investigation.

No one has been charged in connection to Tracy Ocasio's disappearance, but detectives say Hataway is the only suspect.

Hataway is currently being held without bail at the Seminole County jail on unrelated charges in an assault case.

[Jenn]

http://www.myfoxorla...-in-ocasio-case

New tip in Ocasio case?

Updated: Tuesday, 23 Nov 2010, 3:21 PM EST Published : Tuesday, 23 Nov 2010, 1:34 PM EST



ORALNDO Fla. - There is a possible new tip in the case of missing Ocoee woman, Tracy Ocasio.

The woman’s mother confirmed Tuesday that they have received a letter from a man who claims to have knowledge of several murders.

The letter is from a man who alleges that he once dated Amanda Case who is the mother of James Hataway’s daughter.

Tracy Ocasio was last seen leaving the Tap Room Bar on Raleigh Street in Orlando with James Hatatway on May 26, 2009. Their encounter was caught on the bar’s surveillance tape. Hataway is in the Seminole county jail on unrelated charges and has not been charged in Ocasio’s disappearance.

According to the man concerning the latest tip, he claims he knows of three murders that were committed by Case. He also provided a map that will lead police to evidence in the case.

The letter and a map were sent to a Tampa area TV station as well as Ocsaio’s parents.

The map purportedly shows two Orlando area lakes, Lake Susannah and Little Lake Barton, where bodies and a gun were disposed of.

The investigation into the latest tip is ongoing.

[Lori Davis]

http://www.cbsnews.c...812-504083.html

Tracy Ocasio Missing: Fla. Woman's Parents Give Potential Evidence to Police
Posted by Naimah Jabali-Nash
November 24, 2010 12:31 PM

ORLANDO, Fla. (CBS/WKMG) The family of Tracy Ocasio, the Florida woman who was last seen more than a year ago, has handed over a letter to detectives that may bring new developments in the case, says a report.

Ocasio, 27, was last seen leaving the Florida Tap Room Restaurant and Bar in Orlando with James Hataway on May 2009. Hataway has been named as a suspect in Ocasio's disappearance, but has not been charged.

Tracy's mother, Liz Ocasio, said her family received a letter from a man who claims to have information regarding three slayings which involve the mother of Hataway's daughter, reports The Orlando Sentinel.

On Saturday, dozens of volunteers plowed through woods looking for clues surrounding Ocasio's disappearance after officers received a tip from a person arrested in a recent drug bust, according to CBS affiliate WKMG. According to police, one of the people arrested said if Hataway were to hide bodies, it would be in a wooded area.

Ocasio's parents were on the sidelines of the search hoping for the best, but they were not alone.

The parents of 29-year-old Chris George, who vanished 15 months earlier than Tracy Ocasio and who was also last seen with Hataway, were also present.

"These two cases are connected and advances in one leads to advances in the other," said Chris' mother, Rachel George.

Hataway is being held at the Seminole County jail on attempted murder charges for allegedly attacking another woman. He has not been charged with either disappearance.

Anyone with information to either case is urged to call the Ocoee Police Department at 407-905-3160 or 407-905-3161 or CrimeLine at 800-423-TIPS.

[Kelly]

http://www.myfoxorla...ing-for-2-years


Tracy Ocasio missing for 2 years

Updated: Friday, 27 May 2011, 7:22 AM EDT
Published : Friday, 27 May 2011, 7:22 AM EDT

It has been two years since Tracy Ocasio disappeared. The 27-year-old was last scene leaving the tap room bar in Metrowest with a man named James Hataway on May 27, 2009.

There have been no charged filed in the case but Hataway was recently sentenced to life in prison for the attempted murder of Rachael Clarke in 2008.

[Kelly]

http://www.cfnews13....o-disappearance


2 year since Tracy Ocasio disappearance

Last Updated: Friday, May 27, 2011 4:46 AM

OCOEE --

Friday marks two years since the disappearance of Tracy Ocasio.

The Ocoee woman vanished after leaving a MetroWest bar on May 27 of 2009 with James Hataway.

Hataway said Ocasio gave her a ride home and that she was fine when she left. Police, however, said he is the only suspect in her disappearance.

Hataway is currently serving a life sentence behind bars for trying to kill another woman.

Her father Joe Ocasio released a statement thanking everyone for their support.

    "I can’t believe that tonight it will be 2 years since Tracy was suddenly taken from our lives, it still feels surreal. I’ll never forget when the search changed from looking for a missing person to looking for her body. I did not want to believe this was happening and as this reality hit us the day Detectives gave us the bad news Liz and I broke down into each others arms and sobbed uncontrollably. It was the worst time of our lives and it still hurts as if it happened yesterday. The unknown of what exactly happened and not being able to find her still haunts us every day. However while thinking about her I wanted to take a minute and thank you all for you for the role you have all played while helping me and my family in our search for her and the justice we seek. The only comfort I feel tonight is that the animal that took her from us will forever be in a dark place behind bars.

    I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart as the support not only from all of you but from this community has been over whelming during these past two years."

[Lori Davis]

New Leads In Ocasio Case Prompt Search
Searchers Spend Weekend Looking For Tracy Ocasio

POSTED: 11:22 am EST November 14, 2011
UPDATED: 11:34 am EST November 14, 2011

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The family of a missing Orlando woman says new clues have prompted a search.

Joe Ocasio, who is Tracy Ocasio's father, said a search group spent part of the weekend looking for his daughter, and there are plans to resume the search in a few weeks.

Tracy Ocasio was last seen in May 2009 leaving the Tap Room Bar on Raleigh Street.

James Hataway was named by investigators as a suspect in the case, but he has not yet been charged.

Read more: http://www.wesh.com/...l#ixzz1djUEyyxe

[Shannon]

http://www.cfnews13....io_3_years.html

Tracy Ocasio missing for 3 years

Last Updated: Saturday, May 26, 2012 @ 11:28AM

OCOEE --
It was three years ago Saturday that Tracy Ocasio left a Metrowest bar and was never seen again.


The Ocoee woman has been missing since May 26, 2009.

Now, three years later, Ocasio's father said thoughts of what could have happened to his daughter still haunt him every day.

Tracy Ocasio's 31st birthday is coming up in August.

But despite many clues and tips officials have received in the last three years, investigators are no closer to finding her now than they were when she first disappeared.

Detectives have even sent search and rescue teams back over the same sites in west Orange County numerous times, hoping to find even the smallest clue.

Police said Ocasio was caught on surveillance video with James Hataway leaving the Tap Room bar, in Orlando's Metrowest area.

Her car was found in Ocoee the following day, but there was no sign of Tracy Ocasio.

Hataway remains the only person of interest in the case.

He was sentenced to life in prison in May 2011 for the attempted murder of another woman in Seminole County months before Ocasio disappeared.

A reward for information in the Tracy Ocasio case is up to $20,000.

If you know anything about what happened to her, call CrimeLine at (800) 423-TIPS. You are allowed to remain anonymous.

[Lori Davis]

http://www.bradenton...new-search.html

Volunteers conduct new search for missing woman

Published: October 28, 2012
By ARELIS R. HERNANDEZ — Orlando Sentinel

ORLANDO -- Teams of volunteers and dogs were searching a wooded area in Ocoee this weekend for evidence of Tracy Ocasio, who disappeared in 2009 after leaving a MetroWest bar with felon James Hataway.

At the request of her parents, Search and Rescue of Central Florida initiated the search Saturday morning on land along Maguire Road and State Road 429 that had previously been inaccessible, said Joseph St. Cyr, a spokesman for the nonprofit organization.

The search is the latest in an investigation that has generated dozens of leads, which Ocoee police have tracked down during the more than three years since Ocasio, then 27, vanished.

She was last seen with Hataway at the bar, and her car was found near the house he shared with his disabled father. He told police he had dropped Ocasio off that night and left.

Hataway, now serving a life sentence in an unrelated attempted-murder case, is the only suspect in Ocasio's disappearance. He has also been linked to the death of another person, Chris George.

George's remains were found in an Apopka lake two years after he was reported missing. He, too, was last seen with Hataway, but the felon has not been charged in connection with either case.

Ocasio's father, Joe Ocasio, had long wanted to search the plot of land in west Orange County being searched this weekend, but weather conditions and rough topography had prevented searchers from entering the area, St. Cyr said.

Ocoee police are aware of the search but are not leading the effort. The search was to continue Sunday.

[Shannon]

http://www.orlandose...0,5218533.story

Jennifer Kesse: Missing Orlando woman vanished in 2006
Today marks the 7th anniversary since Jennifer Kesse disappeared

By Bianca Prieto

6:43 a.m. EST, January 24, 2013

Today marks the seventh anniversary of the disappearance of Jennifer Kesse, a 24-year-old Orlando woman who vanished without a trace.

Kesse was reported missing from her condominium near the Mall at Millenia off Conroy Road in 2006. Police believe she was abducted.

She failed to show up for work at Central Florida Investments on Jan. 24. Her car, a Chevrolet Malibu, was found two days later, abandoned at a condominium complex about a mile from where she lived.

Police released a grainy surveillance video of a person who is believed to have dropped off the vehicle, but that person has not been identified.

Orlando police have devoted countless hours physically searching for the woman, have submitted her case to various multi-agency panels and once dedicated a full-time detective to help solve her case. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the FBI have also reviewed the case.

Kesse's family has been outspoken since she disappeared and holds on to hope that she will be found.

Kesse is one of three missing Orlando women whose cases have drawn national attention. In May 2009, Ocoee resident Tracy Ocasio vanished after she was seen leaving a MetroWest-area bar with James Hataway.

Hataway remains the prime suspect in Ocasio's disappearance, but has not been charged in connection to her case. He is serving a life sentence in an unrelated attempted murder case involving another young woman.

In November 2011, Michelle Parker, a 33-year-old mother of three vanished. She was last seen dropping off her two youngest children with their father, Dale Smith, at his home in east Orange County. Smith remains the prime suspect in Parker's disappearance but has not been charged with any crimes in connection to the case.

Significant monetary rewards are offered in all three missing person cases.

Anyone with information about the disappearances of Kesse, Ocasio or Parker or their possible whereabouts can call Crimeline at 1-800-423-8477.

[Lori Davis]

http://articles.orla...o-james-hataway

Tracy Ocasio's parents mark another sad anniversary
It's been four years since Ocoee woman vanished

May 25, 2013|By Kevin P. Connolly, Staff Writer

The parents of Tracy Ocasio expressed a mixture of disbelief and sorrow Saturday on the eve of the fourth anniversary of their daughter's disappearance.

Ocasio vanished May 27, 2009 after leaving a MetroWest bar with now-imprisoned James Hataway, the only suspect in the case.

No one has been charged in her disappearance and her body has never been found.

"It is surreal that this Sunday May 26th marks the 4th year since our daughter Tracy Ocasio was abruptly taken from us and we still have no answers," Joe Ocasio said in an email Saturday. "That day was and is the worst day of our lives."

Ocoee police have tracked down dozens of leads in the case and searched hundreds of acres and several lakes in an effort to find the missing woman.

Ocasio met Hataway a few weeks before her disappearance at the same bar she was last seen leaving. Her parents reported her missing when she didn't come home that night and her cell phone was turned off.

Investigators found her car abandoned a few blocks from the home Hataway shared with his disabled father.

Ocasio's cellphone last pinged in the vicinity of Hataway's home.

Investigators questioned Hataway about Ocasio's disappearance, but he claimed she dropped him off and then left.

"Even though the circumstances point out that she's probably no longer with us, the recent miracle of the three Ohio girls found after 10 years give us a glimmer of hope as it probably does to every family with a missing loved one,'' her father's email said.

Hataway is serving a life term in prison in an unrelated Seminole County attempted-murder case.

A woman who gave him a ride home in 2008 said Hataway reached in to give her a hug, but choked her instead.

The woman broke free, but Hataway chased her down the street and slammed her head into the pavement.

Ocasio also thanked Ocoee Police for its work on the case, including helping them navigate a "legal wall" that prevented them from donating their daughter's car.

After clearing that hurdle, they hope to donate her car soon to the Make a Wish Foundation.

"Please help us keep her case 'alive' as we continue to search for answers,'' Ocasio wrote. "We continue to hope this awareness will someday bring her home...good or bad."

[Lori Davis]

http://www.cfnews13....ks_birthda.html

Family marks birthday of missing woman Tracy Ocasio

By Marjorie Sturgeon, Web Content Editor
Last Updated: Saturday, August 10, 2013, 8:10 PM

ORLANDO --Family members of a woman missing since 2009 are marking another birthday without her.

Saturday, Tracy Ocasio’s father asked for help keeping her case public on the day of her 32nd birthday.

“After getting to know many other families with missing young loved ones we have to thank God for giving us Tracy for 27 years,” he wrote.

Ocasio disappeared on May 27, 2009.

Investigators said she left a Metrowest bar and was never seen again.

A reward of up to $20,000 is offered for anyone with information that may help solve her case.

Anyone with information about the disappearance of Tracy Ocasio can call Crimeline at 1-800-423-8477. 

[Lori Davis]

http://www.clickorla...qj/-/index.html

Human remains discovered in Orange County
Roads closed in the area as deputies attempt to recover bones

Published On: Sep 20 2013 02:26:28 PM EDT   Updated On: Sep 20 2013 05:32:10 PM EDT

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. - Human remains were discovered Friday afternoon in a wooded area near Ocoee, according to Orange County Sheriff's Office.

The remains, which include a skull, were found near Hackney Prairie Road and Apopka-Vineland Road, east of Florida State Road 429.

Deputies are attempting to recover all the bones, which will be sent to a medical examiner. A medical examiner gave preliminary confirmation the bones are human remains.

"They want to have everything, the equipment on scene to do it carefully, properly and methodically in order to recover any evidence or an skeletal remains that are there," said OCSO Cpt. Angelo Nieves.

Deputies said construction workers found human remains while finishing work on widening Hackney Prairie Road.

The father of missing woman Tracy Ocasio was spotted out at Hackney Prairie Road, which is not far from the previous Ocasio search scene, Friday afternoon but has since left.

Deputies say it is too soon to say if the remains could be related to Ocasio's disappearance.

"We can't do that at this point that would be irresponsible to make that connection but obviously there is that thought process going out there," Nieves said.

Video from Local 6 news helicopter Sky 6 shows several patrol cars and other official vehicles blocking off Hackney Prairie Road, which is closed in the area.

[Lori Davis]

http://www.orlandose...0,4027601.story

Skeletal remains find brings fear, hope to families of other missing women

By Amy Pavuk, Orlando Sentinel
8:07 p.m. EDT, October 28, 2013

When human bones are discovered in Central Florida — such as those found during the weekend in Sanford during a search for a Deltona mom and her two kids — families of the missing pay attention.

Are the remains of a man or a woman? How old was the person? Could this be my child?

A range of emotions — from anxiety to hope — set in.

And then, they wait.

"You don't want to get your hopes up because it hurts too much when the answer is negative," said Elizabeth Ocasio, whose daughter Tracy vanished in 2009 after leaving a bar with James Hataway, whom she met a few weeks before.

Detectives later found Tracy Ocasio's car near Hataway's home in Ocoee. Police have said Hataway is the only suspect in the 27-year-old's disappearance. He was subsequently sentenced to life in prison for the attempted murder of another woman.

Ocasio is one of several women missing in Central Florida in cases where authorities suspect foul play.

Jennifer Kesse disappeared from her condo near Mall at Millenia in 2006. Orlando police found her car about a mile away, and detectives have said they think the 24-year-old was abducted.

Michelle Parker, a mother of three, vanished in November 2011 after dropping off her young twins with her ex-fiancé, Dale Smith. Orlando police said Smith is the only suspect in the case, but he has not been charged in connection with Parker's disappearance.

On Sunday, authorities found skeletal remains near State Road 417 and said they are those of an adult.

Sanford police spokeswoman Shannon Cordingly said it could be several days before detectives hear back from the Medical Examiner's Office on whose remains they are.

Police do not think the remains belong to Deltona mom Yessenia Suarez or her children — who detectives say are dead.

On Monday, Daytona Beach police reported that skeletal remains had been found near Clyde Morris Boulevard and Mason Avenue. Police said the remains appear to be those of an adult male. The medical examiner will investigate cause of death, police said.

Last month, a woman's skeleton was found in west Orange County by a road crew. The bones have not been identified, but authorities eventually determined the woman was black, in her 20s and wore size 7.

Drew Kesse said he contacted the detective investigating his daughter Jennifer's disappearance when he read about the discovery in Sanford.

"I simply wait," Kesse said. "One of these times, it's going to be Tracy. It's going to be Jennifer. It has to be."

[Lori Davis]

http://www.orlandose...0,7511116.story

 

Tracy Ocasio's parents mark 5th anniversary of daughter's disappearance

 

By Marni Jameson, Orlando Sentinel

7:14 p.m. EDT, May 25, 2014

 

While Americans pause to remember fallen veterans this Memorial Day, the family of Tracy Ocasio is marking another milestone — the fifth anniversary of her disappearance.

 

The 27-year-old woman vanished about 1:30 a.m. May 27, 2009, after watching an Orlando Magic game at the Taproom bar on Raleigh Street in Orlando's MetroWest neighborhood. She was seen leaving with James Hataway, then 28.

 

The only suspect in the case, Hataway is serving a life sentence for the attempted murder of another woman. He was never charged in Ocasio's disappearance or presumed death. The woman's family still doesn't know what happened to their daughter, whom her father described as "the light bulb in the room."

 

Although her parents have "accepted that she's most likely not alive," the woman's father, Joe Ocasio, of Ocoee, said Sunday he would at least like to find what's left of her, and "give her a proper burial."

 

To find some answers, he said he was considering talking to Hataway. "We can't think that we will never find out," said Ocasio. "Otherwise there's too much despair. We put those thoughts aside and keep going with the hope we'll someday bring her home."

 

Before she disappeared, Tracy Ocasio was living with her parents, working as a waitress, and taking college courses online, he said.

 

"It's been surreal that it's taken so long to get closure," said Ocasio. "We're in limbo."

 

The fact that Hataway is in jail for life doesn't bring the Ocasios the closure they're seeking. However, Ocasio said, "It pleases me that he's not out there to hurt other people's daughters."

 

Sadly, the Ocasios aren't alone.

 

The five-year mark of Tracy Ocasio's disappearance dovetails with National Missing Children's Day, is marked today.

 

On May 25 every year, parents of other missing children, even grown ones, bolster their pleas to the public to come forward with any information in cases where authorities suspect foul play.

 

Central Florida is home to several such cases. Jennifer Kesse disappeared from her condo near Mall at Millenia in 2006. Orlando police found her car about a mile away, and detectives have said they think the 24-year-old was abducted.

 

Michelle Parker, a 33-year-old mother of three, vanished in November 2011 after dropping off her young twins with her ex-fiancé, Dale Smith. Orlando police said Smith is the only suspect in the case, but he has not been charged in connection with Parker's disappearance.

 

"Michelle may be a grown adult, but we are all somebody's child and that is a fact that never changes to a parent," said Brad and Gayle Parker, Michelle Parker's father and step mother, in a statement on Missing Children's Day.

 

"We all belong to a club we were not asked to join," said Ocasio, who knows Parker's parents. "We were forced to join. We have a bond, but not one we want to share."

 

Anyone with information about a missing person is asked to call the police department's tips line at 800-423-TIPS800-423-TIPS or to visit findthemissing.org for a list of missing Central Floridians.

[Lori Davis]

http://www.myfoxorla...g-life-sentence

 

Suspect in missing woman's cold case appealing life sentence

 

Posted: Feb 10, 2015 5:39 PM EST

Updated: Feb 17, 2015 5:40 PM EST

By Kate Burgess, Reporter

 

SANFORD, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35 ORLANDO) - A man convicted of attempted murder, and the only suspect in the disappearance of an Ocoee woman, is trying to get out of prison.

 

James Hataway is asking for a retrial in Seminole County, appealing his life sentence in prison, because he says his 2011 case was mishandled.  He is also the sole suspect in Tracy Ocasio’s cold case.

 

Hataway is appealing the life sentence, handed down after he was convicted of choking and trying to break the neck of another woman back in 2008. Filing several appeals from prison since his 2011 conviction, Hataway says in court documents, his public defender at the time mishandled his case. Now the same judge who put him away is reconsidering Hataway's fate.

 

On Tuesday morning, Judge Donna Macintosh appointed Hataway a new public defender and set a date to review evidence in the attempted murder case.

"He's guilty, we know he's guilty,” Liz Ocasio said after the hearing, ”I don't know what he's trying to do now, but God willing he's going to stay in jail for the rest of his life."

 

Hataway will be back in court March 10 for a status hearing in this case.

 

He'll be held at the Seminole County Jail, not the state prison, until his appeal is decided.

 

There are no new leads in Tracy Ocasio's disappearance.

[Deborah]

Tracy is still missing.

 

Ocoee Police Department at 407-905-3160

[Kelly]

http://www.orlandose...0415-story.html

Tracy Ocasio suspect testifies, seeks second trial in other case

By Rene Stutzman
Reporter/Staff Writer
4/15/16

SANFORD — James Hataway, a state inmate who's a suspect in one of the most prominent missing persons cases in Central Florida, took the witness stand Friday in another case, hoping to win a new trial.

Hataway, 35, is serving a life sentence for attacking a young woman in Seminole County after a night of drinking in 2008.
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Friday morning he told Circuit Judge Donna McIntosh that shortly after his arrest in 2009 he did not want to waive his right to a speedy trial but that his then-defense attorney, Al Parsons, pressured him into it.

"I felt like the state was throwing charges at me that weren't credible," he said. "I wanted to take it to trial. … It was my word against hers." Parsons conceded that Hataway wanted to go to trial quickly but said that would have been foolish.

"I have the right to continue a case if we're not ready for trial, and we were not ready," he said.

Parsons said he needed to take the sworn statements of at least three witnesses before they got on the witness stand, and unless he asked for a delay, he would not have been able to. Had they pressed on, he said, he would have been guilty of legal malpractice.
Pictures: Missing woman Tracy Ocasio

Hataway was on the witness stand just 10 minutes Friday and testified about that one thing. He said nothing about the attack on Rachel Clarke, who told witnesses he tried to snap her neck.

He also said nothing about the more prominent case with which he is associated: the disappearance of 27-year-old Tracy Ocasio.

She was last seen leaving a MetroWest bar with him in 2009. He has not been arrested in that case, but Ocoee police say he's a suspect.

Her parents, Joe and Liz Ocasio, try to attend all of Hataway's hearings. Liz Ocasio was at Friday's.

Hataway says that in the Rachel Clarke case, his lawyers made several key errors and, as a consequence, he should get a new trial. Waiving his right to a speedy trial is one.

Another involves a jailhouse informant who's in the federal witness protection program. At Hataway's trial, Thomas Daniel Malloy, a convicted bank robber, testified from behind a curtain to protect his identity.

Hataway contends his testimony should never have been allowed.

Malloy told jurors that while he and Hataway were in the Seminole County Jail, Hataway confessed that he meant to strangle Clarke.

Hataway contends that Ocoee police had Malloy moved to the jail, hoping to get a confession.

If that's true, Malloy was an agent of the state and should have warned Hataway before they talked that the defendant had a right to remain silent and a right to an attorney, said new defense attorney Steve Laurence.

Hataway got no such warning, something that should have prompted former defense attorney Jeff Leukel to move to block his testimony, Laurence said.

From the witness stand, Leukel on Friday agreed.

"Mr. Hataway believed Mr. Malloy was his friend," Leukel said.

The judge must decide whether that or the other complaints raised by Hataway kept him from getting a fair trial.

Laurence on Friday called Malloy a "professional snitch" and told the judge that Malloy had been a prosecution witness in six previous murder cases, indicating that he had repeatedly acted as a state agent.

The judge also heard testimony about the victim's blood-alcohol level.

Hataway contends that his trial attorneys should have told jurors about a medical report that showed Clarke had a high level of alcohol in her blood that night.

After the attack, she went to a hospital in Altamonte Springs, which did a series of blood tests, said Laurence. Hataway's attorneys did not use the results at trial.

Leukel acknowledged this morning that he should have.

But jurors did hear evidence that Clarke had been drinking that night. During the trial in 2011, she told jurors that she drank two beers and smoked marijuana that night.

Hataway is serving a life sentence for attempted murder, false imprisonment, burglary with an assault and robbery.
 

[Kelly]

http://www.wftv.com/...casio/306281934

7 years later, still no trace of Tracy Ocasio

Updated: May 27, 2016 - 12:34 PM

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. —

Tracy Ocasio, 27, was last seen on May 27, 2009, leaving a Raleigh Street bar after an Orlando Magic game.

Her body has yet to be found and no one has been charged in her disappearance.

James Hataway, who is currently serving a life sentence for the attempted murder of another woman, remains the only suspect in Ocasio's disappearance.

Police found her car abandoned on Franklin Street in Ocoee, but no other trace of the woman was found.

On the seventh anniversary of the night Ocasio went missing, the Ocoee Police Department said her disappearance is still an open case.

Detectives continue to look for evidence that might help solve the case.

Anyone with information about her disappearance is asked to contact the department at 407-905-3161 or Crimeline at 1-800-423-TIPS.