http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news...k-tracy-ocasio-missing-082709,0,4622149.story
Investigators said the discovery of a small woman's boot in a patch of woods could help them in the case of missing Ocoee resident Tracy Ocasio.
Ocoee police investigators on Wednesday revealed that Orange County sheriff's deputies on horseback found the boot a few days ago during a routine training exercise in the woods, off State Road 50 and Bluford Avenue.
"The boot is the same size that Tracy wears," Sgt. Mike Bryant of the Ocoee Police Department said. Detectives sent a digital picture of the boot by e-mail to one of Ocasio's friend for identification. "Tracy's friend feels that it is one of Tracy's boots."
Ocasio has been missing since May 27. Video surveillance cameras recorded Ocasio leaving a MetroWest bar with James Hataway -- the last person to see her alive. He is being held at the Orange County Jail on unrelated charges.
Investigators at the Florida Department of Law Enforcement are testing the boot for DNA. Ocoee police did not disclose when those results are expected.
After several weaks of weak leads, Bryant said the discovery of the boot is "our freshest lead" in the Ocasio case. Police now are searching that area.
On Wednesday night, police investigators confirmed that bags of decomposing remains found in a freezer in an abandoned animal shelter in west Orange County did not belong to Ocasio. A medical examiner determined they were animal bones, Orange County sheriff's spokesman Jim Solomons said.
A tip to Ocoee police led them to the animal shelter, Bryant said. The caller said officers should investigate whether the body was that of Ocasio.
Liz Ocasio, Tracy's mother, said her emotions and those of her husband are mixed at the news.
"We're kind of relieved, but we still want to find her [Tracy] and get this part of our life over," Liz Ocasio said. "As long as you have this going on, it's hard to deal with day after day after day."