Resolved FL - Port St Joe, 2 Children 96UMFL & 66UFFL, bound & gagged in photo, Jun'89

[sony12]

After I made this last post I looked at the photo again for the first time in a long time and saw one of the more recent versions that made their way online (one of the ones that isn't darkened and cropped and you get a sense of the true surroundings of the scene).

And both kids look extremely sun tanned and look like two kids that were virtually living outside (like a lot of kids their age would have done during that time period). They virtually look like the complete opposite of what generally happens in a kidnapping where the captor locks their victims away from the world.

 

[MisterJ]

To me, there's a grittiness to the photo that seems authentic. That, combined the lack of any convincing arguments for it being a hoax, leads me to believe it's legitimate.

I wish someone with a lot of pull would get the photo to go viral on Twitter or Facebook, and get it exposed to millions of people.

 

[sony12]

To me, there's a grittiness to the photo that seems authentic. That, combined the lack of any convincing arguments for it being a hoax, leads me to believe it's legitimate.

I wish someone with a lot of pull would get the photo to go viral on Twitter or Facebook, and get it exposed to millions of people.

Have you seen the newer versions of it? The newer versions make the photo seem a lot less ominous. The photos that have been around for decades now were cropped and most all the sunlight that was in the picture was taken out to make it look like a very dark surrounding. Where as the real photo sunlight was gushing in from all areas of the van (I think they very likely had the back open) and it doesn't seem like any attempt was being made at all to cover up what was going on.

 

[sony12]

That does raise a question though. When Tara's mom first saw this photo did she see the version where their was light coming in from all areas or did she see the cropped version that made the atmosphere look a lot darker?

I wonder if it was originally cropped by the news or it wasn't cropped until it found its way to the internet?

 

[sony12]

So has there been anything that has come out that gives further indication that the girl in the photo isn't Calico? We will probably never know for sure if the photo is legit or not but at least there may one day be some confirmation concerning the connection this photo has to the Calico case.

 

[Romulus]

Does anyone here think the girl in the polaroid looks like this missing girl, Melissa Aurora Burgess?

I believe there's a strong resemblance.

Connections:
- Polaroid found in June/July 1989 in Port St. Joseph, FL
- Melissa went missing in St. Petersburg, FL on February 12, 1988

I've found ZERO information on the disappearance of Melissa A. Burgess. If anyone finds information, let me know.

Sources for photos:

polaroid - Case File — VANISHED: The Tara Calico Investigation
melissa - Missing Person Case

Her thread

FL - FL - Mellisa Aurora Burgess, 20, St. Petersburg, 12 February 1988

 

[sony12]

Yeah I think the general thought is that Melissa Burgess would be too old to be the girl in the photo.

 

[ThePhantom]

Honestly I think she's a dead ringer for Tara Calico

 

[sony12]

Honestly I think she's a dead ringer for Tara Calico

Don't think she looks much like Calico either. Calico would be a few years older than the girl in the photo plus the facial features are quite a bit different as well. I think Calico is buried somewhere in the vast desert surrounding the town that she lived.

 

[Daphne1972]

Don't think she looks much like Calico either. Calico would be a few years older than the girl in the photo plus the facial features are quite a bit different as well. I think Calico is buried somewhere in the vast desert surrounding the town that she lived.

I don't think this girl is Tara. Local police was implicated in her disappearance.

 

[ThePhantom]

They were? I thought the rumor was that some local teens may have accidentally hit Tara with the truck they were riding in. I'm sure its been mentioned here, but weren't additional pictures sent to the police department and a local church on one of the "anniversaries" of Tara's disappearance. What did the FBI say about the pics?

 

[Romulus]

They were? I thought the rumor was that some local teens may have accidentally hit Tara with the truck they were riding in. I'm sure its been mentioned here, but weren't additional pictures sent to the police department and a local church on one of the "anniversaries" of Tara's disappearance. What did the FBI say about the pics?

This story has been going on for a while ... have they ever investigated this? Does anyone know anything?

 

[ThePhantom]

Would be great to hear from locals who were there around the time Tara went missing. Seems like it would be difficult to keep such a big secret in a place like that. In other words, I would think that if the perp(s) was/were locals, there would be others in town who would also know about it. And yet in all these years, the police apparently haven't received a legitimate tip. I used to think, what were the odds someone would pick up a picture on the ground in a parking lot in Florida. Then the same pic is sent to police and a church in Belen. I need to go back and dig up those old articles. Maybe I should just start at the beginning of this thread and see if I can find this info.

 

[Laughing]

IIRC, earlier posts detail an incident of being followed by a pick-up on the road where TCs bike was found. Followed, that is, until an LE vehicle pulled onto that highway....

JMHO YMMV

 

[ThePhantom]

Found this article, which I'm sure most of you have seen, in which mention is made of a second set of photos mailed to Port St. Joe police. It could be a continuation of a hoax, or, it could be someone taunting the police. All I know is, it's been over three decades and still no answers...

 

[sony12]

Found this article, which I'm sure most of you have seen, in which mention is made of a second set of photos mailed to Port St. Joe police. It could be a continuation of a hoax, or, it could be someone taunting the police. All I know is, it's been over three decades and still no answers...

Yeah the other photos I have seen all seem to be of completely different people. And most of them look staged as well. To this day there is no solid evidence that the kids in these van photos were ever even missing. Let alone being someone that went missing a year, or two, or three earlier.

The girl photos that were found at a later date have even a higher probability of being unrelated to anything. THe train photo was clearly a joke and the grainy pic of the girl was found at a construction site in California and (just like the van photos) the only thing that connects them to anything else is that Calico's mom thought it could be Tara.

 

[Daphne1972]

Sign the Petition

From 2008, no arrests tho.

 

[Daphne1972]

If you look closely you see that the window has more depth than a van would have. This is some kind of shed.

Plus what's that thing behind the boy's head??

 

[Daphne1972]

If you look closely you see that the window has more depth than a van would have. This is some kind of shed.

Plus what's that thing behind the boy's head??

Forget about this!! I found this pic.

 

[sony12]

Forget about this!! I found this pic.

Yeah it is definitely a van. What you were looking at originally was a cropped version of the photo where they eliminated virtually all the light. Not sure if it was intentionally done that way in order to make the photo look a little more ominous than it really was but it definitely was and the cropped version is what has been circulating around for decades. While the photo that you posted second has only bee going around the net for a couple years now.