Blind Spot: Who Killed Tracy Onawa Jones?
19 Year Old Vanishes in Arkansas - Found Dead in Tennessee
Tracy Onawa Jones
Tracy Onawa Jones was just 19 years old when she decided to join a travelling magazine sales crew in 2006. Her father, of Cherokee heritage, gave her the middle name of Onawa meaning “wide awake”, a reference to the spirit and energy she exhibited just after she was born. These traits would be symbolic of her personality and the way she lived her life, albeit a short 19 years.
Intrigued by Travelling Sales
The new job caught her attention when a young lady selling magazines knocked on Tracy’s door in Albany, Oregon. She couldn’t afford to buy a subscription herself, but she was interested in what she saw as an exciting venture – travelling across the United States with an end goal of winning the top sales prize of a European vacation. Tracy’s magnetism made her a natural for sales. A childhood friend remembered her, saying, “Hanging out with Tracy was always a good time; she was always happy and kind. An occasional jokester with an engaging smile and a contagious laugh; a beautiful girl, inside and out.”
Tracy’s older sister told APB Cold Case that Tracy enjoyed a challenge, wanting to do something different than her current job of working in the deli at the local Safeway supermarket. “With the magazine sales, it gave her a chance to explore and not have an average 9-5. She was seeing the country, she was doing cool things, meeting new people.” Tracy’s father was more skeptical, but he knew that Tracy was going to do whatever she wanted – “I said, you be careful, watch your back. There’s people out there trying to hurt you and they will,” cautioned Tracy’s father.
After speaking with a sales manager about what the job would entail, Tracy was eager to get started, and she set out with new friends across the United States, going door to door selling subscriptions, living on the road, and staying in budget hotels along the way.
Danger on the Road
When the sales crew was in Lincoln, Nebraska Tracy had her first brush with danger when someone tried to force her into a car. Robert Blair was not only Tracy’s crew manager, but he had also become her boyfriend. Though he wasn’t present when Tracy was accosted, she did tell him about it when they met up later that day. “She approached the vehicle… as she was going door to door,” recalled Blair. “And as soon as she approached the vehicle, they tried to pull her in,” he said.
Tracy’s sister said they would text from time to time while Tracy was travelling, and it appeared that Tracy was homesick. But her sales record was above any of her colleagues and she had a real chance of nailing the top prize – that European vacation or the cash equivalent.
Selling Magazines in Truck Stops
At one of their stops across country they were staying at a hotel across the street from a truck stop. Blair said that when his crew and others assembled that morning to begin working the Little Rock area, they sent the sales crew across the street to a truck stop to get breakfast. When Tracy returned to the hotel Blair learned that she had already been asking people to buy magazines. Blair said, “it shocked me that she already had 10 sales before the actual work day started. She told me, ‘I’d prefer to work truck stops, because I know how to talk with the truckers.’ So, from that day forward instead of putting her in regular neighborhoods or apartment complexes I would go out of my way to find a truck stop to put her at.”
Good Job, Keep Going
So, on November 15, 2006, while other crew members were working neighborhoods in Little Rock, Tracy was selling at the Pilot Truck Stop in North Little Rock/Galloway along Interstate 40. But since it was such a distance from the other 10 crew members, Blair was unable to physically check on her in person as he was moving other crew members to different areas on an hourly basis. But Blair did call Tracy every couple of hours, checking on her which was part of their routine. During one of those calls, Tracy gave Robert a positive progress report. “I said good job, keep going. I’ll check in with you later, I’ve got to go pick up these other guys. I love you.”
Tracy, Where Are You?
Blair said it was probably his third phone call to check on Tracy that went unanswered. At first it was not concerning – she could have been speaking with a customer. But successive calls also went unanswered. “So, I left her a message and said call me back, just checking in on you. And she never called back… I kept calling, and calling and calling. It freaked me out,” said Blair. At the end of the work day and still without any contact with Tracy, Blair and the rest of the crew drove to the Pilot Truck Stop to look for her. But Tracy was not there. One of Blair’s colleagues suggested that Tracy may have just decided to leave – something that does happen from time to time in this line of work where crew members are considered independent contractors. But her belongings were still in the hotel room, said Blair. “So, I gave her the evening thinking maybe she would show up, maybe she had gone out decided to party with some people. I gave her the benefit of the doubt. I gave the situation the benefit of the doubt, tried to remain optimistic.” But the next morning – November 16, 2005, said Blair, Tracy still wasn’t there. He knew that Tracy had a list of telephone numbers in her belongings and he decided to call Tracy’s mother in Oregon to see if she had heard from Tracy. But the family, too, had not heard from her. A fretting Blair goes to the local police to file a report. But, said Blair, police told him it was too soon. “They said because of her age and the line of work that she was in, that she probably just ran off. They gave me hell about leaving her at a truck stop being a female. And looking back, I regret that, I believe I had tunnel vision at that time. I saw the money she was making and didn’t really think about the consequences about a female being at a truck stop. I just didn’t really grasp the danger of it...”
Body Found in Tennessee
The danger would soon become all to evident when a body is found along the road in Memphis, Tennessee. The young female died of blunt and sharp force injuries.[1] Since there was no identification on or near the body, she was a listed as a Jane Doe until around December 10, 2006 – then 3 weeks from when she was last seen at the truck stop. At that same time Tracy’s family and Robert Blair were visited by the FBI. They were shown photographs of the tattoos on Jane Doe. Both Tracy’s mother and Blair identified that those were Tracy’s tattoos. They were informed of the circumstances known at the time – that her body was found near Memphis, and that she had been murdered. Tracy’s sister learned the heart-wrenching news from her mother. “…I didn’t think that something like that could happen to her. I thought that she was smarter and stronger than that,” said Tracy’s sister.
A Grisly Murder
The details of Tracy’s murder are disturbing. Tracy’s sister described some of the findings from the autopsy report. She said that a knife blade had been broken off in Tracy’s head; there was tape residue on her thighs; and there was wire around her arms and hands, with tape over the wire. Tracy’s sister added, “She, she had to have been fighting really hard for the tape to go all the way up her thighs like… it was like almost to her hips. The tape was that far up.”
According to FBI Agent Ann Alexander in a 2022 interview with Overdrive Radio, she said that Tracy was assaulted and murdered in a “rough manner”; that she was not killed where her body was found. Agent Alexander also commented about the time of death, indicating it was closer to the date when her body was found (November 26), not the date she was last seen (November 15), raising the question, where was Tracy for those intervening days? And what happened during that time? Alexander noted that there was a “lot of evidence” in the case, and that there were “multiple DNA samples.” So far, there has been no word on whether those samples have led to a suspect.
Tracy’s murder was not the only case tied to truck stops along the Interstate 40 corridor. There were others in Oklahoma, Texas, Mississippi and Arkansas[2]. Most of those killings involved young women, prostitution and drugs. Although clearly, Tracy does not fit that victimology, it would not likely have mattered to a predatory and opportunistic killer. The FBI said that most of the suspects in those murders were long-haul truck drivers. They also noted that the cases are difficult to solve because of the mobile nature of the offenders, the unsafe lifestyles of the victims, the significant distances and multiple jurisdictions involved, and the scarcity of witnesses.[3] In 2017 the FBI brought a renewed focus to Tracy’s case starting with a media push. According to THV-11 News, billboards featured Tracy’s picture along with reward information and a contact number for the FBI[4]. But so far, it doesn’t appear that anything has led to a suspect.
Where is Tracy’s Sales Portfolio?
When Tracy’s body was found she was wearing only a sweatshirt. There is no information available as to whether other items were recovered elsewhere, or details of any other evidence found at the scene where her body was recovered. However, one item that appears to be missing is her pad case, a portable folio where sales agents would keep a listing of the magazines offered for sale, subscription forms, along with their identification. Robert Blair explained, “That’s where they would put the orders, the checks or cash, they would carry their magazine list, price list, everything was carried in that pad case.” Did she lose her pad case in a struggle? Did the killer discard it? Or did he keep it as some offenders do as a trophy? – something that let’s them relive their crime.
Tracy’s Impact
After 17 years without resolution, Tracy’s family and friends continue to mourn the loss of a vibrant young woman on the brink of an exciting future. Her sister said, “when she was in your life, she touched it in some way…” When one of Tracy’s friends posted a remembrance on social media a few years ago, it resulted in a number of comments remarking about Tracy, and how she was their “best friend.” Those same family and friends still want answers, and they hope that between DNA and information from the public, that an answer will come. “…if somebody knows something, it would be great if they come forward…if we could catch this person, it would be great because we’re going to save someone’s life,” said Tracy’s father. Her sister said, “I would like to know what happened and I would like to know whoever did it, gets what they deserve.”
Report Tips to FBI
Report tips to your local FBI Office or to the FBI Little Rock Field Office at 501-221-9100. At the time of this report there is a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Tracy’s killer.
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[1] According to Special Agent ANN ALEXANDER and Public Affairs Officer CONNOR HAGEN of the FBI Little Rock Field Office in an interview from 2022 with (Overdrive Radio, Feb. 4, 2022); Accessed 6/10/2024)
https://www .youtube.com/watch?v=CRg-32EyosY; Accessed 6/10/2024
[2] https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/news/stories/2009/april/highwayserial_040609
[4] THV -11.com News