Tracey Lee Monteiro, a 33-year-old man remembered by his family as kind and caring, was settling into a quiet life with his girlfriend in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Born in Brockton, Tracey worked as a pad printer for the golf equipment company Titleist. His sister, Marissa, described him as a "great guy" who loved to cook. Though he had no children of his own, he was a devoted presence in the lives of his stepson, Kylen Pina, and his nieces and nephews, who "were his life." According to his sister, Tracey was not in any trouble and was a "pretty loved person" who was simply "living life, going to work, coming home, spending time with his girlfriend."
The Thanksgiving weekend of 2011 began with holiday celebrations. On Thanksgiving night, Tracey and his sister had a routine phone call, discussing their day and making plans for Christmas. Nothing seemed out of place. In the final hours of his life, Tracey attended a neighbor's baby shower with his girlfriend, Tiffany Lewis.
After she returned to their apartment at 120 Locust Street, he continued his night out, first going to a local nightclub and then to a private after-party. He stayed out until the early morning hours of Sunday, November 27, 2011.
Shortly before 5:30 a.m., Tracey accepted a ride home from relatives of his upstairs neighbors. As he arrived at his apartment building, he was ambushed in the driveway. Inside their apartment, his girlfriend was startled awake by the sound of gunfire. She ran outside and made a devastating discovery: Tracey’s body was at the end of the driveway. He had been shot to death just steps from his front door.
When Tracey’s sister Marissa arrived a few hours later, driving in from her home in Brockton, she was confronted with a shocking and traumatic scene. She recalled arriving around 8:00 a.m. and not expecting her brother's body to still be at the scene. "There was caution tape everywhere," she said. "We walked to his house from a couple blocks away. There were markers everywhere from bullets just being sprayed all over the neighborhood." The sheer number of bullet casings scattered across the area suggested a chaotic and violent attack.
The investigation into Tracey Monteiro's murder was launched by the New Bedford Police Department and Massachusetts State Police detectives assigned to the Bristol County District Attorney's Office. Despite the evidence collected at the scene, the case quickly grew cold. No suspects have ever been publicly identified, and no arrests have been made in connection with the homicide. The motive for the brutal ambush remains unknown.
More than a decade later, the case remains an open and unsolved homicide. It is featured on the Bristol County District Attorney’s unsolved cases list, a silent testament to a life cut short and a family left without answers. His sister Marissa continues to advocate for justice, remembering her big brother and hoping that someone will come forward with the information needed to solve his murder. As of late 2024, the case officially remains unresolved. Investigators urge anyone with information, no matter how insignificant it may seem, to contact the Massachusetts State Police Unresolved Case Unit at (855) MA-SOLVE.
