OCALA, FL (352today.com) – Ocala Police Chief Mike Balken held a brief press conference on the morning of Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026, to provide the media with more details about the double homicide that took place at Marion Springs Condominiums on the evening of Tuesday, Feb. 10.
According to Balken, OPD responded to a report of shots fired at around 9:16 p.m. Tuesday night, and discovered the bodies of 34-year-old Nancy Bacon and her 4-year-old daughter, both of whom had been shot.
Witnesses told investigators they had seen Bacon’s estranged husband, 38-year-old Ralph Bacon, leaving the scene in a dark SUV with North Carolina license plates.
Using license plate reader technology, authorities were able to locate and track the SUV’s route as it headed north, toward the Florida-Georgia state line. Eventually, police in Kingsland, Georgia, spotted the SUV traveling north on I-95, about seven miles north of the state line. They initiated a traffic stop and, according to their report, Bacon died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound before they could reach the vehicle.
Balken characterized the Bacons’ relationship as “challenging,” adding that according to information gleaned during the investigation, Ralph Bacon had moved back in with his wife sometime around the Christmas holidays. He said the OPD also learned that the fact that Nancy Bacon’s daughter was not Ralph Bacon’s biological offspring was an ongoing source of discord within the family.
Balken called the use of networked license plate reader technology “instrumental” and “critical” in locating Ralph Bacon and preventing any potential further violence on his part against others, including members of law enforcement.
He also said that the OPD was still actively investigating the incident.
“There were some family members left behind that are going to want some answers,” he said, “and we’re going to try to do our best to get them those answers on why this even happened.”