NM NM - Tara Calico, 19, Belen, 20 Sept 1988

[Henry2326]

Here is a great source of info. I'm friends with Melinda and she knows this case inside and out. More to come in the future....

Blog — VANISHED: The Tara Calico Investigation

 

[Blue Girl1991]

Here is a great source of info. I'm friends with Melinda and she knows this case inside and out. More to come in the future....

Blog — VANISHED: The Tara Calico Investigation

Thank you for the link to the Blog Henry2326
Melinda is amazing and so brave ,she will never stop to search for justice for Tara
, a real amazing Friend.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Remarks:
Calico was last seen riding a neon pink Huffy mountain bike with yellow control cables and sidewalls.

She was wearing a white t-shirt with '1st National Bank of Belen' on it (size medium), white shorts with green stripes, white ankle socks, and white and turquoise Avia tennis shoes. Calico was also wearing a gold butterfly ring with a diamond insert, a gold amethyst ring, and half-inch gold hoop earrings.

Details:
Tara Leigh Calico left her home on Brugg Street in Belen, New Mexico, to go on a bike ride at 9:30 a.m. on September 20, 1988. She rode her mother's bicycle as her own was damaged. She was last seen riding along Highway 47 in Valencia County at approximately 11:45 a.m. Calico biked this route daily during her routine 36-mile ride.

She was 19 years old at the time of her disappearance, and was never seen again.

TARA LEIGH CALICO | Federal Bureau of Investigation

 

[tarabull]

Photo of missing girl, 19, bound and gagged turned up a year after she vanished | Metro News

 

[Lavender Moon]

Photo of missing girl, 19, bound and gagged turned up a year after she vanished | Metro News

Has it been proven that the photo is definitely of Tara?

 

[TedMac]

Has it been proven that the photo is definitely of Tara?

No, it has not. It has been looked at and studied by several LE agencies and they were divided in their opinion whether or no it was Tara.

 

[dotr]

Photo of missing girl, 19, bound and gagged turned up a year after she vanished | Metro News

Thanks for the link.

"Tara left her home in Brugg Street to go for a bike ride at 9:30am on Thursday September 20 1988. She was last seen riding along Highway 47 in Valencia County at 11:45am that morning, with several witnesses claiming to have seen Tara being followed by a light-colored Ford pickup truck. The missing teenager regularly took the same route during her favorite 36 mile ride. Copy of missing poster distributed shortly after Tara vanished Tara’s disappearance sparked a huge search, with the FBI assigning a six-strong team to the case in 2013. It remains open, but no arrests have ever been made (Picture: FBI) Tara sometimes rode the same route with her mother Patty Doel, but Doel had recently stopped after becoming convinced she was being stalked by a motorist."

Read more: Photo of missing girl, 19, bound and gagged turned up a year after she vanished | Metro News

 

[BethAnn777]

The eyebrows are different which tells me it isn’t Tara in the picture. Tara’s eyebrows curve and point down at the ends. The girl in the picture has straight eyebrows.

 

[BethAnn777]

Thanks for the link.

"Tara left her home in Brugg Street to go for a bike ride at 9:30am on Thursday September 20 1988. She was last seen riding along Highway 47 in Valencia County at 11:45am that morning, with several witnesses claiming to have seen Tara being followed by a light-colored Ford pickup truck. The missing teenager regularly took the same route during her favorite 36 mile ride. Copy of missing poster distributed shortly after Tara vanished Tara’s disappearance sparked a huge search, with the FBI assigning a six-strong team to the case in 2013. It remains open, but no arrests have ever been made (Picture: FBI) Tara sometimes rode the same route with her mother Patty Doel, but Doel had recently stopped after becoming convinced she was being stalked by a motorist."

Read more: Photo of missing girl, 19, bound and gagged turned up a year after she vanished | Metro News

Wait a second... Tara’s mother Patty often rode with Tara but stopped because she convinced she was being stalked, but then allowed Tara to continue riding ALONE? I don’t know if you can stop a 19 year old from doing whatever they want to do, but I hope she tried. I’ve never heard anything about Patty discouraging her from riding, but of course I don’t know the whole story.

I am seriously shocked! If Patty truly thought she was being stalked isn’t the all the more reason to go with Tara every single time? Again, maybe Tara didn’t want company or went against the advice of Patty. This lends more credence to me that Tara was killed by the stalker and the picture referenced a few posts back is not her.

 

[dotr]

Wait a second... Tara’s mother Patty often rode with Tara but stopped because she convinced she was being stalked, but then allowed Tara to continue riding ALONE? I don’t know if you can stop a 19 year old from doing whatever they want to do, but I hope she tried. I’ve never heard anything about Patty discouraging her from riding, but of course I don’t know the whole story.

I am seriously shocked! If Patty truly thought she was being stalked isn’t the all the more reason to go with Tara every single time? Again, maybe Tara didn’t want company or went against the advice of Patty. This lends more credence to me that Tara was killed by the stalker and the picture referenced a few posts back is not her.

Maybe the mother thought that she was the one getting stalked, not her daughter Tara?
speculation.

 

[BethAnn777]

Maybe the mother thought that she was the one getting stalked, not her daughter Tara?
speculation.

Yes, the article states that Patty thought she was being stalked, not Tara. But still!

 

[dotr]

Oct 5 2019
CRIME HUNTER: Detroit serial killer targeted middle-aged prostitutes

Tara Calico went for a bike ride in 1988. They believe this is her in the photo with a boy who has never been identified. FBI

FBI OFFERS REWARD IN CHILLING COLD CASE

The photo is by turns chilling and heartbreaking.

And it is a mystery that has vexed cops for three decades.

Tara Calico went for a bike ride in her home town of Belen, New Mexico on a warm September day in 1988. She was never seen again except for one tantalizing piece of evidence.

A Polaroid photo of the 19-year-old was found in a car park about a year after she disappeared. In the disturbing photo she has her hands tied behind her back, black tape covers her mouth.

The photo was discovered 2,400 km away in Florida. Seen in the image with her is a young boy, also bound and gagged, who has never been identified.

Tara’s family believes it’s their loved one because of a scar on the bound girl’s leg.

Now, the FBI is offering a $20,000 reward for information that leads to the missing woman’s whereabouts.

“It’s time for someone to come forward and help us finally bring Tara home,” FBI special agent James Langenberg said. “Tara had her entire future ahead of her when she vanished.”

Tara Calico went for a bike ride in 1988. They believe this is her in the photo with a boy who has never been identified. FBI

He added: “Law enforcement has never given up the search for this young lady, checking out numerous tips and conducting countless interviews over the course of more than 30 years.”

Her family thinks Tara was being stalked on her daily 54 km route by a man in a light-coloured Ford pickup.

She was last seen on Sept. 20, 1988 around 11:45 a.m.

bhunter@postmedia.com

 

[pillywiggin]

People.com/crime/tara-calico-polaroid-photo-true-story/

This is a link to a People magazine article about the photo. It states that while Scotlandriving Yard identified the woman in the photo as Tara, the FBI did not. Some people believed the boy in the photo was another missing New Mexico person, but the his remains were found not far from where he disappeared.

 

[Lavender Moon]

It's been years since that picture was found. I wish both of those young people could be identified. I'm surprised they haven't been.

 

[Cascadia Mount]

I've never thought the photo was Tara because the family wasn't positive. I don't see how you could not be certain a picture weren't of a loved one if it were actually them.

 

[Moonwalker9]

002 - The Disappearance of Tara Calico – Trace Evidence – Podcast

Listened to this crime poddcast about her case.

What I can make of it and this has been said before and I think it's pretty miuch what happend.

She was abducted by 3 boys from her school, She was raped and murdered when she said she was gonna report them. The boys buried her body and and thew away her bike. The boys had a father in LE and they probabably helped cover up evidence. The case went cold quite fast.

Then these polaroid photos came out, they were taken in 1989 though and found in FL. They were not related to Tara but it stirred renewed interest in her already cold case by then and it has amazed people since. Then more photos came out but they were probably a hoax.

I think local LE knew what happened but without a body they won't go to trial, and unless somebody find it it will remain cold. I think one of the boys is deceased by now.

 

[Cascadia Mount]

The people who do a podcast about Tara claim that the photos are evidence of something but won't say what.

 

[ReformationRose]

I watched Cold Valley last night on Hulu. They are loosely tying the murder of Kristin David to Voss. What struck me was how similar her case was to Tara Calico. A witness saw her on the ground with her bike and a man standing over her. He was driving a brown window;Ed’s van. Differences would be that her body was found dismembered wrapped in newspaper and bags. Now there is a clear route from This area of Idaho to Albuquerque. I guess I’m wondering if these 2 cases could be connected?

 

[AC4RD]

.... they're prank photographs by friends trying to be funny. The duct tape wouldn't stay on like that, and the girl isn't actually bound. She's just got her hands behind her back. .

I think you're completely correct, though a lot of people would disagree. Just MHO but you're right, the girl isn't really bound, the black tape looks loose, the book in the photo looks staged, and--some people would disagree strongly--I don't think she even looks scared. And if the photo were real, there would be NO reason I can think of for the bad guy to deliberately leave such a significant 'clue' where it would certainly be found immediately.

MHO only, but nothing about that photo seems to have anything to do with the Calico case. I think the most likely explanation is that it's a stupid prank.

While I'm offering opinions, I think that "accidentally hit the bike" story was cobbled together to make the whole thing seem less sinister. If it were accidental, IMO, the logical thing would be to get her to a hospital right away and tell the story honestly. The boys would be in trouble, but not as much as if they were covering up an accidental death.

So, I think the obvious (though I'd guess a majority of the group will disagree) explanation is: no accident, photo unrelated, poor girl was grabbed for sex by some rotten kids, and was killed; family influence kept anybody from going to jail for it. Very very sad IMO, but easily explained. I think if I had daughters that age, I wouldn't let them out of the house without a couple of armed guards. (sigh)

 

[AC4RD]

Thank you for the link to the Blog Henry2326
Melinda is amazing and so brave ,she will never stop ...

Agree, Blue Girl! I didn't know anything about this case until yesterday; I've listened to most of the "Vanished" podcast episodes since then, and I think it's a remarkable achievement. Ms Equibel has obviously done a lot of research, she's assembled the material well, and I'm eager to listen to the rest of the podcast episodes soon. Great work!

"Blue Girl"--any relation to Laura Palmer? ;-)