Hataway has been found guilty in the attempted murder of Rachael Clarke.

Check Back to www.blinkoncrime.com

In a motion filed by the prosecution to use the statements as “similar facts evidence”, Francisco Arrellano claims Hataway told him “he would disappear” if he ever crossed him, after Hataway shared a story about a sexual encounter where he choked a woman for arousal.

Shortly after Hataway was arrested on unrelated charges, Mr. Arrellano sent Blink, Editor In Chief, www.blinkoncrime.com a message he received under his myspace name Requiem from a mutual friend and roommate:

Jury selection in James Hataway trial in Seminole County begins next week.

Hataway has not been charged in either the George or Ocasio missing persons cases.  Tyler Watters,  a friend of Hataway and the last known person to see Chris George alive,  is currently facing drug trafficking charges in Orange County.

Onda “Chris” George is awaiting positive identification through the FBI laboratory in Quantico, VA.

Tracy Ocasio, last seen with Jimmy Hataway at The Tap Room, in Orlando, has not been located.

Previous Coverage of All 3 cases:

http://blinkoncrime.com/category/tracy-ocasio/james-hataway/

http://blinkoncrime.com/2010/11/29/chris-george-and-tracy-ocasio-missing-will-new-witnesses-be-the-tell-tale-heart-to-find-them/

Images courtesy of Klaasend

The location is not far from where the primary person of interest in his case,Tyler Watters, as reported exclusively by blinkoncrime.com, was last seen by a witness that picked him up there, and dropped he and Jimmy Hataway off again, within 30 minutes.

In the fourth day of recovery efforts by Apopka Police, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, The Florida Department of Law Enforcement and The Orange County Medical Examiner, George’s wallet containing his FL drivers license and jewelry he had been wearing at the time of his disappearance has been retrieved.

Both were  identified by Chris’s Mother, Rachael George, who has stood vigil at the site alongside Liz Ocasio, the Mother of Missing Ocoee woman, Tracy Ocasio.

..I think Chris has been found, and for the most part, after over 2 years, we wait for DNA results to tell me what I already know.  I continue to ask Apopka Police to request Orange County Sherriff’s Office detectives to participate in this case, as is protocol.  I cannot disclose the investigative reasons for same, but we feel it is appropriate and I am hopeful my request will be acted upon, finally. – Rachael George

Yesterday afternoon Rachael George identified jewelry that her son Chris is believed to have been wearing the evening he was last seen, as shown previously exclusively on www.blinkoncrime.com.  Ms. George was shown a cell phone image from one of the detectives on the scene.

At the scene before 8:00 a.m., Chris’ mother, Rachael George, stood vigil at what likely may have been her son’s burial grounds before the search and recovery teams arrived to excavate the site.

Ms. George was escorted to Apopka Police for a briefing this afternoon. In her absence, mother of missing Ocoee woman Tracy Ocasio, also linked to Jimmy Hataway, stayed as a show of solidarity between the two women and their missing children.

On February 11, 2009, Chris George was last known to be in the company of Tyler Watters, currently awaiting trial on trafficking heroin charges. Earlier that day he was known to have been with Jimmy Hataway. Hataway is awaiting trial in Seminole County on an attempted murder charge.

Although there is a pending motion for the disclosure of a confidential informant in Watters case, it is not known if there is any relevance to recently reported tips in Chris’s case. Neither Watters nor Hataway has been charged in relation to Chris George’s disappearance.

What prompted the search of the area previously searched over a dozen times by Apopka detectives?

Sources say, the tip comes from a friend and neighbor of Tyler Watters appearing for sentencing yesterday in drug trafficking charges.

blinkoncrime has learned that the tip to cause Apopka Police to head back to Carter Lake likely came from Adam Vied, who was due in court yesterday in Orange County.

Vied was arrested on trafficking in Dilaudid and Oxycodone charges in November 2009 along with Raymond Meeks, an Ocoee man who is currently incarcerated following his sentencing for the charges in January, 2011. Vied spent 7 years in prison for what was originally an attempted murder charge, which he successfully plead down to aggravated battery in 1997.

The night Chris George went missing, Watters told detectives Chris took him to his Grandmother’s house on Caballero In Ocoee so Watters could shower and change clothes.

Chris was never seen again and both Watters and Hataway have admitted to removing and cleaning Chris’ truck from the scene, only to stage it’s position to resemble an accident the following morning.

Remains recovered at the scene have been sent to the Orange County Medical Examiner’s Office, and await identification confirmation.

Blinkoncrime.com Editors Madeline Tanner and Jason Mateos contributed to this report

A ground search in the area of Keene and Ocoee/Apopka Rds, near Medicine Lake, focused on locating evidence in the Chris George missing persons case has recovered bones, a cell phone and other evidence, a source on the ground speaking on the condition of anonymity shared with blinkoncrime.com this evening.

Chris George and Friends

Chris George was last seen with Tyler Watters and Jimmy Hataway.  The two are believed to have staged a truck accident close to the location of the search today.  Watters is currently facing felony charges for drug related offenses in Orange County, and Hataway is about to be tried for attempted murder in Seminole County.

blinkoncrime.com recently covered Chris’s case, and tracked the last 24 hours of his life.

George’s Mother, Rachael George,  has led recent efforts to rejuvinate Chris’s case from it’s “cold” status.

Reached at her home this evening, Ms. George refused to comment about what was found at the search, or if she has been told the remains are linked to her son.

..”I would not be in a position to discuss what Apopka Police have shared with us regarding the search today, and have been asked not to discuss it with the media..  We continue to be thankful for all efforts to help locate my son, and we are praying, as we have at every search, that we are able to finally recover him and for those responsible for his death to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

The search today was based on locating evidence in his case,  and late last week I was told that law enforcement was planning renewed  search efforts at our request, but that is all I knew  before today.

Please keep Chris, his girlfriend and our family in your prayers.

-Rachael George

At press time, calls to Apopka Police Department have not been returned.  The remains recovered today have been sent to the Medical Examiner, Dr. Jan Garavaglia, and have not been identified pending autopsy.

Check back to blinkoncrime.com for updates.

]]> http://blinkoncrime.com/2011/02/21/breaking-news-search-connected-to-missing-man-chris-george-recovers-cell-phone-bones/feed/ 43 http://blinkoncrime.com/2010/11/29/chris-george-and-tracy-ocasio-missing-will-new-witnesses-be-the-tell-tale-heart-to-find-them/ http://blinkoncrime.com/2010/11/29/chris-george-and-tracy-ocasio-missing-will-new-witnesses-be-the-tell-tale-heart-to-find-them/#comments Mon, 29 Nov 2010 19:46:16 +0000 Blink http://blinkoncrime.com/?p=4843 Volume I  Volume II

The last verifiable interaction with Chris George was at approximately 6PM on February 11, 2009.

Apopka Police came upon Jimmy Hataway, Tyler Watters and Brandon Losik in the area of Ocoee Apopka rd emerging from the woods, with Chris’s white Xterra in full view from the road.

Watters and Hataway were cuffed at the scene and questioned separately for 6 hours.< ?xml:namespace prefix ="" o />

Their stories did not match.

Tyler Watters Account (Abridged):

At about 1:30AM February 12, 2009, Chris drove into the woods off of < ?xml:namespace prefix ="" st1 />Ocoee Apopka Rd. He was high and the pair had been doing drugs earlier.

He ran out of the truck, yelling “If you wanna be a G you gotta roll like a G.” He said that Chris dropped his phone, his keys, the pair stopped for a second to look on the ground for it and then Chris kept running.

Tyler said he ran after Chris until the area got marshy, he stopped, turned around and started walking back to the truck.  He said he could not find the keys or Chris’s phone, so he called a friend to pick him up. The girls at Sun Resorts had passed out early, they slept through the whole thing until morning when they dropped him and Jimmy off at the “wrecked truck” to look for Chris.

Jimmy Hataways Account (Abridged):

Tyler called him and told him that Chris wigged out and ran into the woods leaving him stranded.  He said he borrowed one of the girl’s vehicles to go pick Tyler up and the girls dropped them off the next morning at the truck to look for Chris. The girls crashed early and slept through the whole thing. The next day they packed snacks, waters and headed out into the woods to look for Chris. Next thing he knew, cops were on the side of the road.

There are several versions of these, but you get the idea. What is astounding to me is that these two were well aware there was a guard shack at the entrance of the park, and a closed circuit camera trained on cars entering and exiting. I guess they figured out they had some time before Apopka PD would learn that.

They were right.

They would not be questioned again for months. In fact, not until after May 28, 2009.

The Truth

Focusing specifically on the events of February 11, 2009 and Chris George’s arrivals and exits from Sun Resorts

Chris arrives at Sun Resorts about 2:15PM, leaves about 2:30PM with Jimmy Hataway.

According to Hataway, Chris leaves him at a location of a person he did not know for about 3 hours. They are back at the park at 5:10PM.

The group hangs out together for about 30 minutes and Tyler Watters asks Chris if he would take him to his grandmother’s house for a change of clothes if he pays him $20 for gas. Chris’s truck pulls out of Sun Resorts at 5:40PM.

At approximately 10PM, Watters calls one of the female residents of Lot #269 announcing Chris left him stranded in the woods and he needed a ride. He said he had been walking a while, and would be on Keene Rd. Hataway and the girls picked him up a few minutes later on Keene.

Watters was wearing a white t-shirt and jeans without a smudge on him, not a burr or a scratch. It was not what he wore when he left and is presumed to be the “change of clothes” after showering at his grandmothers. His boots were not muddy and he was carrying the duffel bag he left with.

Rosemary Watters has been interviewed and stated that Tyler definitely was there and showered, however, she never saw Chris. She went on to say she was aware of the truck parked outside, but did not notice if someone was sitting in it.

After the foursome arrived back at Sun Resorts, Tyler made several calls discussing the incident with animated detail. Although he had his own phone, he was using one of the female witnesses, which again, LE was not aware of until months later.  

Within 15 minutes, Hataway and Watters requested the girls take them back out to the scene to look for Chris.

At this point, both the pickup of Watters and the drop off of both he and Hataway, occurred on Keene Rd.  At no time during either, was the White Xterra visible to anyone from the road and had been described as “deep in the woods” by Watters.

At approximately 11:30PM the truck was spotted pulling into the space at Lot 269 at Sun Resorts where it would remain until the next morning. 

The female witnesses, who had been visiting a relative of one of the women within the park; noticed upon their return to Lot #269 Chris George’s white Xterra was parked outside. Both heaved a sigh of relief.

As they bounded in the door to participate in the “crisis averted” celebration they expected to be walking into, they quickly learned that was not the case.

If Chris truly was in the woods, Jimmy and Tyler just removed his only means to get out and the girls called them on it.

Hataway reasoned with them to think it through. “If” there was drugs or evidence of drug use in the vehicle, and it was found on the side of the road, Chris would be arrested as the owner and they would all be in trouble.  

Watters chimed in that Chris had called his Father to say he was fine, according to his brother, to put their collective minds at ease.

Chris George’s Father had been deceased for 11 years and he does not have a brother.

There were two voice mail messages received between the alleged “accident” and the return of the truck to the trailer, one from the girls, and one from Hataway:

..”Chris, this is (redacted). We are worried about you call us and tell us where you are and we will come get you. At least call and tell us your ok or whatever.

..Yo- This is Yarr.  We got your stuff and your bag. Call me. It’s Yarr..”

There was no message from Watters, and he must have not yet told the part of the story where Chris dropped his phone and could not find it to the rest of the group, rendering their messages useless.

Early the next morning, Hataway and Watters cleaned the vehicle.

The White Xterra Chris George leased to begin his mobile detailing business, was being detailed without him.

Jimmy removed a section of barbed wire from the front fender and he and Watters both checked the wheel wells and under carriage for what they said could be used for “stash”. Nothing was found.

At 7AM, after telling the girls they were going back to look for Chris, and would call for a ride once they put the truck back, Hataway and Watters left Sun Resorts.

After a few hours, when Watters did not answer the phone he was borrowing from one of the girls, they drove to the scene and saw nothing but a black sedan parked on the side of Keene Rd. Yes, you read that correctly. The female witnesses were told the car “wrecked” on Keene, when in fact, it was ultimately located on Ocoee Apopka Rd. 

Although it was clear the truck accident had been staged, including the placement of Chris George’s sunglasses in the grass outside the right front passenger door, the truck was not processed as a possible crime scene.  An accident report on the vehicle was filed by Apopka Police. 

According to sources within the investigation speaking to blinkoncrime.com on the condition of anonymity, at the time Hataway and Watters were supposed to be putting the truck back in the early morning of February 12, 2009, they were spotted in Altamonte Springs, where it is believed Chris had been with Hataway the day before. 

Within 2 weeks of Chris’s disappearance, the last 4 people to see Chris George alive relocated to different areas of the state, except one: Jimmy Hataway.

The female witnesses, arguably the most critical to the investigation, were not interviewed.

One month later, In March, a friend of Jimmy Hataways who met him at Franks Place one evening says Hataway was “matter of fact” about the whole thing:

….” We were sitting at Frank’s and he points to this flyer on the bar, I did not know the dude or that Jimmy knew him either..

..” He pointed to it, and said that’s my buddy that was tweaked one night and ran into the woods.. He was yelling that the Mexican Mafia was after him.”

When I asked him if he felt Jimmy was lying, he replied:

..That’s just it, you could never tell with him. I have no idea. When we were kids I saw him lie about anything and people believed him.”

On the evening of April 14, 2009, Chris had been missing for 2 months.

On the evening of April 14, 2009 Tracy Ocasio may have unwittingly sealed a similar fate.

Located in Metro West, The Tap Room  was a favorite night spot for Tracy Ocasio and friends.

On the evening of April 14, Tracy Ocasio and Chris George began their single degree of separation: Paul Adam Hutto.

In Tracy’s own words:

Up until the above image of a post drafted by Tracy Ocasio herself and obtained exclusively by blinkoncrime.com, Ocoee PD has been adamant that there were 2 separate incidents at the Tap Room, involving Tracy Ocasio,  Paul Hutto and an as yet un-named blonde woman believed to be Lori Coon Branic.

In other words, because Orlando Police Department believed they were seperate incidents, there were no corroborating witnesses to back up Tracy’s police report, and as the only complaining witness listed, when Tracy went missing, they could not proceed with the charge against Hutto. Hutto faced probation/parole violation from the incident. 

Branic is the wife of Paul Branic, former Hutto business partner and former performer alongside Alicia Hutto at Lollipops Gentlemen’s Club in Daytona Beach.

While Tracy appears to be familiar with the group that she ran into that evening, she clearly only knew Paul Hutto by his first name, and had dated someone in their “circle” a few weeks before. It is believed that is who she is referring to as “moron” in her post.

Obtained exclusively by blinkoncrime.com, the complete Police reports of the incident involving Tracy Ocasio, the evening of April 14, 2009, into the early morning hours of April 15, 2009.

On April 17, it was alleged James Hataway punched a truck owned by a Donnaugh Robinson on AD Mimms Rd; he has since been acquitted of those charges. However, the incident occurred at a location Chris George visited the night before he disappeared. Hataway is pictured below at the municipal building answering the summons on April 19^th.

On April 22nd Tracy Ocasio visited the Orlando Police Department to review a lineup and positively identified Paul Hutto as the man who shoved her to the ground outside The Tap Room at 12:30AM April 15th. She was adamant that she wished to press charges according to the reports.

On the initial officer’s statement, Paul Hutto was said to have left the scene with a friend driving a White Dodge Durango.  Lori Branic was issued a summons in January 2010 for failing to produce a driver’s license while driving a white 2004 Dodge Durango. The summons was satisfied after Ms. Branic produced her license a week later.

On May 26, 2009, Tracy Ocasio watched the Magic Game at the Tap Room.

According to early statements to police as well as mutual friends by Hataway, The Hutto brothers had attempted to watch THE MAGIC at the Tap Room earlier that evening, but had relocated to Gators when Paul was turned away because he was banned for the April incident.

There is an unknown witness apparently who claims to have not only been at The Tap Room that evening and Tracy Ocasio was the first person they saw.

On May 26, 2009, District Atty Patty White mailed a letter written May 22 to Tracy Ocasio asking her to verify charges for the second time. She never received it.

It was received by her parents, Joe and Liz Ocasio after she went missing from the Tap Room in the early morning hours of May 27.

On May 28 Tracy Ocasio’s bright yellow Chevy Cobalt was located on W Franklin St within 2 blocks of Hataway’s home with the front seats reclined.  Cadaver Dogs were deployed to the scene but did not “hit” on the car or anywhere near Hataway’s house.

Video of what was believed to be that of Tracy Ocasio in a light blue and white baseball hat, a sweatshirt and black heeled boots, leaving with an unidentified man was released. Kyle Coziel and Greg Toole, friends of Hataway and patrons of The Tap Room, identified him on the tape immediately.

Jimmy Hataway agreed to a voluntary search of the home on Lyle St in Ocoee he shared with his hearing impaired Father. He stated that he and Tracy hung out for a bit, and she left on her own. Hataway told his best friend he commonly referred to as his brother, Colt Hickox, that he took and passed a polygraph. Investigators refute that, going as far as stating that he “failed miserably.” 

Recent Developments involving two of Tracy’s friends possibly receiving text messages from her that evening saying “Gone to the Lake” could not be verified through cell phone records due to the length of time that has passed. However, two of her friends both agree it was sent either that evening, or the previous day.

When Hataway was interviewed, he told Ocoee Police they should be talking to Paul Hutto, the man who “attacked her at The Tap Room last month.” He also said that Hutto called him and told him if police asked him if he knew Ocasio, he was to deny it.  Both Paul and Jeremiah Hutto were questioned by detectives as a result, flatly denying they had anything to do with Ocasio’s disappearance. Although Paul Hutto had a solid alibis up till 2:30AM when Gators Bar closed, as an Ocoee detective was sitting across the bar from him waiting for a friend, both he and Jeremiah refused to take polygraph examinations.

It is not clear if Hataway also told Police at that time that he had been working for Hutto.    

Upon learning of Ms. Ocasio’s disappearance and the mutual acquaintances involved, Apopka PD renewed efforts to speak to Watters and Hataway in regards to Chris George’s disappearance. Although the White Nissan Xterra that belonged to Chris was now released to new owners, Apopka PD impounded the vehicle briefly for further processing . The results of that examination are being withheld for investigative reasons.

FDLE agents, at the request of Apopka PD, finally interviewed the female residents/witnesses from Sun Resorts in June, 2009.

While it has been confirmed through those interviews that Hataway was not present when Chris George went missing, police believe he was part of a “set-up” regarding his disappearance and presumed murder. He is the only named suspect to date in the disappearance of Tracy Ocasio and is currently awaiting trial next week for the attempted murder of Casselberry woman Rachael Clark. On December 8, 2010 a previously continued docket sounding will be held in Seminole County to schedule trial, and possibly to entertain any last minute plea offers. Mr. Hataway is represented by Public Defender Leukel.

Tyler Watters is on bond awaiting trial for charges for trafficking in over 4 grams of heroin, and recently hired private counsel Victor Mead. His next hearing is scheduled for February 2, 2011.

Paul Hutto is pending driver license suspension for non-payment of a careless driving and non-wear of seatbelt charge from September 2010. He has not been charged with the assault on Tracy Ocasio as the charge pending at the time of her disappearance did not have a “corroborating witness”.

Anthony Zedde, president of Anthony Zedde’s Lake Clearing Services, who is believed to be the former employer of Jeremiah and Paul Hutto,  is on bond awaiting trial for trafficking in dillaud and has entered a no contest plea for trafficking in heroin. His current docket shows a capias was issued on November 17, 2010 on the substance offense felony, for which he is due in court this Thursday December 2, 2010.

Last week, the parents of Tracy Ocasio and a Tampa news station received a letter from a man claiming to be the former boyfriend of the Mother of Jimmy Hataway’s daughter, Amanda Case.

Adam Craig, who dated Case briefly in 2007 and claims to have met Hataway, produced a letter and map of 2 locations where he states that Case told him 3 bodies of individuals, in which she participated in their murders, would be located.

An Ocoee detective was dispatched to Craig’s Lakeland residence and while the claims appear to be largely discounted, they remain under investigation at the time of this publication.

Adam Craig is currently facing felony charges for allegedly running into a man with his vehicle, and has had prior drug convictions. According to his face book, the prosecution in his instant case has offered a plea deal of 6 years.

It is possible Mr. Craig may be attempting to affect his current criminal trial by alleging he has information in other cases. 

The investigations into the disappearance of Chris George and Tracy Ocasio are ongoing.

Check Back to blinkoncrime.com for Volume 4: Epilogue

Images by Klaasend