27-year-old Tracy Ocasio was last seen in Orlando, Florida on May 27, 2009. She disappeared after leaving the Florida Tap Room Restaurant and Bar where she spent the night with friends watching a basketball game.

Background of Tracy Ocasio

Tracy Ocasio, daughter of Joe and Elizabeth Ocasio, was born on August 10, 1981. Before relocating to Florida with her family in 1998, she completed her high school education in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

Ocasio had a varied employment background, having served as a waitress at a Denny’s and working in sales at a Michael’s arts and crafts store, a pet store, and a Ross Dress for Less, among other places.

Ocasio had been thinking about applying to universities with the intention of majoring in radiology in the months leading up to her abduction. She kept a cat named Cookie and a lizard and a scorpion as pets.

Ocasio lived with her parents in a house on New Victor Road in Ocoee, Florida.

Disappearance Details

Ocasio and some friends went to the “Florida Tap Room Restaurant & Bar” on Raleigh Street on May 26, 2009 to watch the NBA playoff game between the Orlando Magic and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Ocasio called her mom before the game started to let her know she would be back before bedtime.

The restaurant’s CCTV footage from May 27, 2009, shows Ocasio and a man departing around 1:30 in the morning. She vanished after the game, and no one knows where she is.

Investigation of Case

It was reported and found abandoned on Franklin Street in Ocoee around 7:00 p.m. on May 27, 2009. Her automobile was a yellow 2002 Chevrolet Cobalt LS with the Florida licence plate number J051EC. Not only did she lose her keys and Verizon LG Voyager cell phone, but also her money vanished.

There was a parked roughly 15 miles from the pub where Ocasio was last seen.

James Virgil Hataway

James Hataway, 28, was positively identified by investigators as the man seen leaving the bar with Ocasio on the night she vanished. After being questioned by police, he revealed that he had met Ocasio at Taproom about two weeks before her disappearance.

She reportedly drove him to his home on Lyle Street, but then abruptly left. He claimed that he had invited her out for a joint but she had declined because she didn’t like the drugs he had.

Even though Ocasio’s car was found abandoned in a vacant lot only 150 yards from Hataway’s house, her cell phone records contradicted his story and showed she was in the West Franklin Street area of Ocoee until 8:30 a.m. on May 27.
Hataway’s home was searched in June 2009, but the police found no evidence connecting him to Tracy Ocasio’s disappearance.

In a May 9, 2011 sentencing hearing, a judge gave James Hataway a life sentence for attempted murder in the first degree against Rachel Clarke. His convictions include burglary, robbery, and false imprisonment.

After getting a ride home from a party in August of 2008, Hataway attempted to strangle Clarke. She managed to get away from the car, but he gave chase and hit her when she fell, smashing her face into the ground.

There is evidence connecting Hataway to the disappearance of Chris George, an Apopka man who vanished fifteen months before Ocasio and was last seen with Hataway.

In July of 2011, George’s remains were discovered in a lake in Apopka, and they have since been positively identified. His advanced state of decomposition makes it impossible to determine what killed him.

Whereabouts

Hataway is receiving a life sentence at the Blackwater River Correctional Facility in Milton, Florida, but he has never been charged with either disappearance.

Tracy Ocasio’s disappearance has been met with widespread speculation that foul play was involved, with Hataway as the prime suspect. There is a $20,000 prize for information that can solve this case.

The circumstances of Tracy Ocasio’s disappearance remain unclear and her case is currently classified as a missing and endangered person. Her case remains unsolved.

Appearance

Born on August 10, 1981, a Caucasian white female with brown hair and brown eyes. Ocasio is 5’5″ tall and 120 pounds in weight.

She was last seen wearing a dark sweatshirt or jacket with a hood, a black tank top, jeans, and a green and white baseball cap.

Investigating Agency

If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Tracy Ocasio please contact the Ocoee Police Department (407) 554-7210 or call Crimeline at (800) 423-8477.

Resources & Further Information

Tracy Ocasio – Family Website