Tracy Ocasio, Missing, May 27, 2009 FL.
Police, dogs search wooded area for missing Ocoee woman Tracy Ocasio Bianca Prieto | Sentinel Staff Writer 4:32 PM EDT, June 10, 2009 OCOEE - Police are searching a wooded area near Ingram Road and Clarcona Ocoee Road for missing Ocoee woman Tracy Ocasio. The area -- a 280-acre property off of Hobson road in northern Ocoee -- is about 300 yards from a bike path. According to police, the area is known as an illegal dumping ground that James Virgil Hataway, has used in his duties as an environmental cleaner. Hataway, who is considered a person of interest in the case, is being held on unrelated charges at the Orange County Jail. About 10 dogs have been brought in to help assist the search, Ocoee police said. Sheriff's offices in Orange, Osceola, Brevard, Marion, Palm Beach and Miami Dade provided dogs for the search, police said. Ocasio was last seen alive May 26 when she was watching an Orlando Magic playoff game at the Florida Tap Room. She was reported missing May 27. Check back for updates. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/orl-bk-missing-ocoee-woman-ocascio-061009,0,6713338.story

Cops search woods for missing woman Updated: Thursday, 11 Jun 2009, 12:58 AM EDT Published : Wednesday, 10 Jun 2009, 5:25 PM EDT ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - Ocoee Police used cadaver dogs on Wednesday to search 283 acres of woods for a missing woman. Tracy Ocasio, 27, has been missing for two weeks. Police have named James Hataway a person of interest. They wonder what he knows about the night Tracy vanished. Tips on where to search came in after surveillance tape of Hataway and Ccasio leaving a bar more than 2 weeks ago were released. People who worked with Hataway helped police to the location saying hataway often worked in the area, dumping garbage in the woods. The two week mark was the hardest day yet for Elizabeth and Joe ocasio. They say they have come to a realization that their daughter may never come home. “We are holding out hope. We also know it's been 2 weeks. If she was out there somewhere hurt in a field somewhere. She is probably not alive,” said Joe Ocasio. This will be the last cadaver dog search of this size for a while. Police have searched several wooded areas along Clark road and don't have any other area of interest right now. “We are ruling this area out so if we find a lead or tip somewhere else she could be alive but out here probably not,” said Ocoee Police Chief Charlie Brown. Oscasio's parents say they would like to bring in a group like Equusearch to help. Cops say they have not called them yet, because they have no specific area on where Oscasio might be. They are hoping that a new lead will bring their daughter home. They hope Hataway’s cell phone records would give police some idea where Hataway was in the early morning hours of May 27, the morning after he and Tracy Ocsaio left the Florida Tap Room. Her parents believe he is the only one who knows. “If it’s not him lets get him out of the picture but unfortunately everything is coming in about him even more. He was the last person with her.” Ocoee Police say his cell phone calls and text messages did not tell them anything about where Tracy Ocasio might be and there was no significant use of his phone after he says Ocasio left his home. http://www.myfoxorlando.com/dpp/news/061009woods_searched_for_missing_woman

Older article: Person of interest questioned in case Updated: Tuesday, 02 Jun 2009, 9:03 AM EDT Published : Monday, 01 Jun 2009, 10:35 PM EDT By VALERIE BOEY | FOX 35 News OCOEE, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - A person of interest has been arrested in the case of missing Ocoee woman, Tracy Ocasio. Tracy was last seen on the morning of May 27, around 1 a.m., leaving the Florida Tap Room in MetroWest, after celebrating a winning Magic game. Surveillance video shows Tracy leaving the bar with a man named James Hataway. On Monday, around 7 p.m., investigators searched Hataway's home on Lyle Street in Ocoee which is a block away from where Tracy's Chevy Colbalt was discovered. Officers said Hataway told them Tracy gave him a ride home. However, what happened after that remains a mystery. Officers said Tracy's wallet, keys and cellphone were missing from her car. They searched Hataway's home, but found only drug paraphernalia, for which he was arrested. According to Sgt. Mike Bryant, there were no signs that Tracy was there. "We had cadaver dogs search this property as a precaution. Nothing at the house indicated she had been there," Bryant said. Investigators said it's all suspicious. "He was cooperative to the point where she came to his house and left from there. When we got a little more into the questioning, he decided not to cooperate any more," Bryant said. "I'm innocent," Hataway said as he was escorted by Ocoee Police officers from a patrol car to the Orange County Jail Monday night. "She left," when asked where she went after they were last seen together. "I hung out with my father," he added. "We just hung out. She gave me a ride home." "I think he knows more than he is saying," Elizabeth Ocasio said who is Tracy's mother. "They had a warrant to search the house because he was the last person seen with her," father Joe Ocasio saod. "If he was not involved, then let it be. It is ironic that her car was parked only a block from where he (Hataway) lives." Anyone with information about Tracy's disappearance should call the Ocoee Police Department. http://www.myfoxorlando.com/dpp/news/orange_news/060109_Person_of_interest_Ocasio

Jennifer Kesse family sees possible connection to Ocoee case Jennifer Kesse's parents find disturbing similarities in the disappearance of their daughter and that of missing Ocoee resident Tracy Ocasio. By Bianca Prieto and Susan Jacobson | Sentinel Staff Writers 12:22 AM EDT, June 6, 2009 Jennifer Kesse's parents find disturbing similarities in the disappearance of their daughter and that of Ocoee resident Tracy Ocasio. Drew Kesse said Friday that his daughter once lived in the same neighborhood and likely visited the Florida Tap Room, the same bar where Ocasio was last seen alive early May 27. Ocoee police Friday released video of Ocasio leaving the bar with James Hataway, whom police call the only person of interest in her disappearance. He lives less than two miles from where Jennifer Kesse, 24, worked for several years. And Hataway lived in Hillsborough County, where the Kesses reared their family, all of which leads Drew Kesse to wonder whether there's a connection. "Our lead detective is working with their lead detective," Kesse said. "There are a lot of similarities." Orlando police have told the Orlando Sentinel that there is no known connection between Ocasio's disappearance and Kesse's in January 2006, but they have not ruled anything out. "We always research anyone, anywhere who is listed as a person of interest in a possible abduction case," Orlando police spokeswoman Sgt. Barbara Jones said in an e-mail. "At this time not linking the person to the Kesse Case." Searching for Ocasio Ocasio, 27, had gone to the MetroWest bar to watch an Orlando Magic playoff game with friends. Hataway told police Ocasio drove him home and left, but investigators say hours later her cell phone was pinging off towers yards from Hataway's home. Her mother was trying to call her, reports show. On Friday, police released a picture of a yellow 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt similar to the one Ocasio was driving before she disappeared. They are looking for anyone who has seen the car, with Florida tag J051EC, since May 26. It was found abandoned and unlocked not far from Hataway's house. Cadaver dogs searched the car and found nothing, Sgt. Randy Conyers said, and a search of Hataway's home resulted in Hataway's arrest on a drug-paraphernalia charge. He is in the Orange County Jail without bail; he also is charged with criminal mischief in an unrelated case. Since Hataway's arrest, two women have accused him of violent behavior. Kesse case still open Investigators disclosed Friday that, based on tips, they had searched Lake Meadow, a wooded area with a lake off Clarke Road, and a nearby stretch of Lauren Beth Avenue. No sign of Ocasio was found, said Conyers, a department spokesman. Meanwhile, Apopka police are investigating whether Hataway, who has an extensive arrest history, was involved in the disappearance of his friend Onda Christopher George, 29, who vanished in February. Police saw Hataway and two other men near George's abandoned car on Ocoee-Apopka Road. Searches have come up empty. As for Kesse and his wife, Joyce, they met with Orlando's top brass and the detective assigned full time to their daughter's case for more than two hours Thursday afternoon. Police told them their daughter's case was far from over. "It was a very positive meeting," Kesse said. Investigators ask anyone with information about either case to call Crimeline, 1-800-423-8477. Bianca Prieto can be reached at bprieto@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5620. Susan Jacobson can be reached at sjacobson@orlandosentinel.com or 407-540-5981. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/orl-bk-tracy-ocasio-060509,0,2057126.story