What Happened to Tara Calico?
I’ve heard about this case many times, but I never heard the full details of the case. I listened to Nancy Grace’s podcast, Crime Stories about it, and she also interviewed a woman named Melinda Esquibel, who was a classmate of Tara’s in high school. Melinda has also made a podcast called Vanished about her case, and is in the process of creating a documentary. I recommend listening to the episode, but many people have a love/hate relationship with Nancy Grace. Now I will get into the details of what happened to Tara.
Background
Tara Calico was born on February 28, 1969. She lived in Belen, New Mexico and was 19 years old when she disappeared or was kidnapped, as many people believe.
Tara Calico
Disappearance
On September 20, 1988, Tara went out on her morning bike ride like she usually did. She left her home around 9-9:30am, and was going to ride 17 miles out, and 17 miles back to her house. She also reportedly told her mom, Patty, that if she wasn’t home by 12pm, then to come look for her. Her mom was worried about Tara going out on a ride, because she had been having issues with her bike and Tara’s mom had reported issues of harassment while she had been out on her bike and feared for her daughter’s safety. Tara went anyways and was never seen again.
Tara was supposed to play tennis with her boyfriend around 12:30pm, which is why she wanted to be around noon. Her mom went to look for her when she wasn’t home by then. Tara’s usual route was New Mexico State Road 47, and when her mom couldn’t find her, she called the police.
Many witnesses came forward and said that Tara was being followed by a light colored Ford pick-up truck. In Nancy Grace’s podcast, it was reported that there could have been two trucks following her that day. The witnesses never came forward, because they thought the truck could have been someone that Tara knew who was making sure she was safe on her bike ride.
A sketch of the truck following Tara. This picture is from https://www.taracalico.com
The police would also end up finding Tara’s cassette tape and a broken Sony walkman on the side of the road.
The Photograph
On June 15, 1989, a photograph was found in a parking lot of a convenience store in Port St. Joe, Florida. The picture was of a woman and a younger boy, who were both bound and their mouths were duct taped.
The infamous polaroid
The woman who found the picture said she saw a white van that was windowless Toyota cargo van. She also said the driver was a man in his 30’s and had a mustache.
The photo was shown on A Current Affair in July of 1989. Tara’s mom, Patty, said the woman in the photo resembled her daughter. There was apparently a scar on the woman’s leg, which matched Tara’s. Tara had gotten into a car accident and Patty was more convinced that it was Tara. There was also a book in the picture, the book was My Sweet Audrina by V.C. Andrews, which was Tara’s favorite book.
The family of Michael Henley, who also disappeared from New Mexico, believes that the boy in the picture is Michael. However, Michael’s remains were discovered in the Zuni Mountains in 1990. He had disappeared from his family’s campsite, and his remains were found 7 miles from the campsite. The police and other investigators who have analyzed the photograph, don't believe the boy is Michael Henley. They also don’t believe Michael was kidnapped, they believe he wondered off from his campsite and died from exposure or hypothermia.
The little boy vs a picture of Michael Henley
Other Information
In 2008, Rene Rivera, the sheriff of Valencia County received information about who killed Tara. He said he heard that two teenagers accidentally killed Tara by hitting them with their vehicle, and possibly panicked after they realized she was dead. The sheriff apparently knew the names of these boys, but said he couldn’t make a case without Tara’s body being found.
John Doel, Tara’s step-father was furious and said that the sheriff should not have made those comments if he wasn't going to do anything about it. I 100% agree, like why would you give this family hope just to take it away from them?
The FBI has put out a reward of $200,000 for any information on what happened to Tara.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I decided to do this case because putting out information about missing persons cases is SO important. Tara has been missing since 1988, and nobody has ever been arrested, and her body has not been found.
I hope that powerful names like Nancy Grace, or TV shows like Disappeared can help solve Tara’s case, and many others like it. There has to be someone out there who knows what happened and hopefully one day they will be found or even come forward themselves.
Tara and her family deserve justice. Also, this other boy, whoever he is deserves justice too. This awful monster is probably still walking the streets and deserves to be put in prison.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Tara_Calico
https://www.taracalico.com/home
https://people.com/crime/tara-calico-polaroid-photo-true-story/
