Tara Leigh Calico (born February 28, 1969) is an American woman who disappeared near her home in
Belen, New Mexico
Belén (; es, Belén) is the second most populous city in Valencia County, New Mexico, Valencia County, New Mexico, United States, after its county seat, Los Lunas. The population was 7,360 at the 2020 Census.
Belén is Spanish language, Spanish ...
, on September 20, 1988. She is widely believed to have been
kidnapped
Kidnapped may refer to:
* subject to the crime of kidnapping
Literature
* ''Kidnapped'' (novel), an 1886 novel by Robert Louis Stevenson
* ''Kidnapped'' (comics), a 2007 graphic novel adaptation of R. L. Stevenson's novel by Alan Grant and Ca ...
. In July 1989, a
Polaroid
Polaroid may refer to:
* Polaroid Corporation, an American company known for its instant film and cameras
* Polaroid camera, a brand of instant camera formerly produced by Polaroid Corporation
* Polaroid film, instant film, and photographs
* Polar ...
photo of an unidentified young woman and boy,
gagged
A gag is usually an item or device designed to prevent speech, often as a restraint device to stop the subject from calling for help and keep its wearer silent. This is usually done by blocking the mouth, partially or completely, or attempting ...
and seemingly bound, was televised to the public after it was found in a
convenience store
A convenience store, convenience shop, corner store or corner shop is a small retail business that stocks a range of everyday items such as coffee, groceries, snack foods, confectionery, soft drinks, ice creams, tobacco products, lottery ticket ...
parking lot in
Port St. Joe, Florida
Port St. Joe is a city located at the intersection of U.S. Highway 98 and State Road 71 and the county seat of Gulf County, Florida. As of the 2020 census,the population was 3,357. This was a decline from 3,644 as of the 2000 census.
Histo ...
. Family friends thought the woman resembled Calico and contacted her mother, who then met with investigators and examined the Polaroid. She believed it was her daughter after taking "time, growth and lack of makeup" into consideration, and noted that a scar on the woman's leg was identical to one that Calico had.
Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London's ...
analyzed the photo and concluded that the woman was Calico, but a second analysis by the
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos National Laboratory (often shortened as Los Alamos and LANL) is one of the sixteen research and development laboratories of the United States Department of Energy (DOE), located a short distance northwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico, ...
disagreed. An
FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
analysis of the photo was inconclusive.
Calico's case received extensive coverage on television programs such as ''
A Current Affair
''A Current Affair'' may refer to:
* ''A Current Affair'' (Australian TV program), 1971–present Australian current affairs program that airs on Nine Network
* ''A Current Affair'' (American TV program), a 1986–1998 American television news ...
'', ''
Unsolved Mysteries
''Unsolved Mysteries'' is an American mystery documentary television show, created by John Cosgrove and Terry Dunn Meurer. Documenting cold cases and paranormal phenomena, it began as a series of seven specials, presented by Raymond Burr, Karl ...
'', and ''
America's Most Wanted
''America's Most Wanted'' (often abbreviated as ''AMW'') is an American television program whose first run was produced by 20th Television, and second run is under the Fox Alternative Entertainment division of Fox Corporation. At the time of i ...
''. It was also profiled on ''
The Oprah Winfrey Show
''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', often referred to as ''The Oprah Show'' or simply ''Oprah'', is an American daytime broadcast syndication, syndicated talk show that aired nationally for 25 seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, in Chicag ...
'' and ''
48 Hours''.
[ ] As of 2022, no arrests have been made and the case remains open.
Disappearance
On Tuesday, September 20, 1988, Calico left her home at about 9:30 A.M. to go on her daily bike ride along
New Mexico State Road 47
New Mexico State Road 47 (NM 47) is a state highway in Bernalillo, Valencia, and Socorro Counties in New Mexico. NM 47's southern terminus is at an intersection with U.S. Route 60 (US 60). The highway then proceeds north interse ...
. She rode that route almost every morning and was sometimes accompanied by her mother, Patty Doel. However, Doel stopped riding with Calico after she felt that she had been
stalked
Stalking is unwanted and/or repeated surveillance by an individual or group toward another person. Stalking behaviors are interrelated to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person or monitoring them. The term ...
by a motorist. She advised her daughter to think about carrying
mace, but Calico rejected the idea.
On the morning of Calico's disappearance, she had told Doel to come and get her if she was not home by noon, as she had plans to play tennis with her boyfriend at 12:30.
When her daughter did not return, Doel went searching for her along Calico's usual bike route but could not find her; she then contacted the police. Pieces of Calico's Sony Walkman and a cassette tape were later discovered along the road. Doel believed that she might have dropped them in an attempt to mark her trail.
Several people saw Calico riding her bicycle, which has never been found.
No one witnessed her presumed abduction, although several witnesses observed a light-colored pickup truck (possibly a 1953
Ford
Ford commonly refers to:
* Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford
* Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river
Ford may also refer to:
Ford Motor Company
* Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company
* Ford F ...
)
[ with a ]camper shell
A camper shell (also canopy, and sometimes called truck topper, truck cap, bed cap, box cap, or simply shell) is a small housing or rigid canopy used as a pickup truck or coupe utility accessory. The housing is usually made of fiberglass or alum ...
following closely behind her.[
]
Photographs
Toyota van
On June 15, 1989, a Polaroid
Polaroid may refer to:
* Polaroid Corporation, an American company known for its instant film and cameras
* Polaroid camera, a brand of instant camera formerly produced by Polaroid Corporation
* Polaroid film, instant film, and photographs
* Polar ...
photo of an unidentified young woman and a boy, both gagged with black duct tape and seemingly bound, was discovered in the parking lot of a convenience store in Port St. Joe, Florida
Port St. Joe is a city located at the intersection of U.S. Highway 98 and State Road 71 and the county seat of Gulf County, Florida. As of the 2020 census,the population was 3,357. This was a decline from 3,644 as of the 2000 census.
Histo ...
. The woman who found the photo said that it was in a parking space where a white windowless Toyota cargo van had been parked when she arrived at the store. She said that the van was being driven by a man with a mustache who appeared to be in his 30s. Police set up roadblocks to intercept the vehicle, but the man has never been identified. According to Polaroid officials, the picture had to have been taken after May 1989 because the particular film used in the photograph was not available until then.[
The photo was broadcast on '']A Current Affair
''A Current Affair'' may refer to:
* ''A Current Affair'' (Australian TV program), 1971–present Australian current affairs program that airs on Nine Network
* ''A Current Affair'' (American TV program), a 1986–1998 American television news ...
'' in July, and Doel was contacted by friends who had seen the show and thought the woman resembled Calico. Relatives of Michael Henley, also of New Mexico, who had disappeared in April 1988, saw the episode and said that they believed he was the boy in the photo. Doel and Henley's parents both met with investigators and examined the Polaroid. Doel said that she was "convinced" it was Calico. She also noted that a scar on the woman's leg was identical to one that Calico had received in a car accident. In addition, a paperback copy of V.C. Andrews' ''My Sweet Audrina
''My Sweet Audrina'' is a 1982 novel by V. C. Andrews. It was the only stand-alone novel published during Andrews' lifetime and was a number-one best-selling novel in North America. The story takes place in the Mid-Atlantic United States duri ...
'', said to be one of Calico's favorite books, can be seen lying next to the woman. Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London's ...
analyzed the photo and concluded that the woman was Calico, but a second analysis by the Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos National Laboratory (often shortened as Los Alamos and LANL) is one of the sixteen research and development laboratories of the United States Department of Energy (DOE), located a short distance northwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico, ...
disagreed. An FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
analysis of the photo was inconclusive.
Henley's mother said that she was "almost certain" it was Michael in the Polaroid. The identification of the boy in the photograph as Henley is considered highly unlikely: his remains were discovered in June 1990 in the Zuni Mountains Zuni may refer to:
Peoples and languages
* Zuni people, an indigenous people of the United States
* Zuni language, their language
Places
* Zuni, Virginia, an unincorporated town in Virginia in the United States
* Zuni Pueblo, New Mexico, a ce ...
, about from his family's campsite from which he had disappeared and from where Calico disappeared. Police believe that Henley wandered off and subsequently died of exposure.
Other photos
In 2009, twenty years after the Polaroid photo was found and shared by the media, pictures of a boy were sent to the Port St. Joe police chief, David Barnes. He received two letters, postmarked June 10 and August 10, 2009, from Albuquerque
Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...
, New Mexico. One letter contained a photo, printed on copy paper, of a young boy with sandy brown hair. Someone had drawn a black band in ink on the photo, over the boy's mouth, as if it were covered in tape as in the 1989 picture. The second letter contained an original image of the boy. On August 12, ''The Star'' newspaper in Port St. Joe received a third letter, also postmarked in Albuquerque on August 10 and depicting the same image, of a boy with black marker drawn over his mouth. The boy has not been confirmed to be the same one as in the previous photo. None of the letters contained a return address or a note indicating the child's identity, making the officials there believe it may have something to do with the disappearance of Tara Calico. The letters were sent at the same time that a self-proclaimed psychic had called about Calico, saying that she had met a runaway in California with whom she worked in a strip club; this girl was eventually murdered. The caller said she had dreams suggesting the runaway may have been Calico and that she may be buried in California. Searches did not lead to any discoveries. The photos were given to the FBI for further investigation in hope of finding fingerprints or possible DNA evidence.
Two other Polaroid photographs, possibly of Calico, have surfaced over the years. The first was found near a construction site in Montecito, California
Montecito (Spanish for "Little mountain") is an unincorporated town and census-designated place in Santa Barbara County, California.McCormack, Don (1999). ''McCormack's Guides Santa Barbara and Ventura 2000''. Mccormacks Guides. p. 58. . Located ...
, and is a blurry photo of a girl's face with tape covering her mouth and light blue striped fabric behind her, "similar to that on the pillow in the Toyota van photo". It was taken on film that was not available until June 1989. The second shows "a woman loosely bound in gauze, her eyes covered with more gauze and large black-framed glasses", with a male passenger beside her on an Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
train. The film used was not available until February 1990. Calico's mother believed the first one was Tara, but thought that the second may have been a gag.[ Her sister stated, "They had a striking, uncalming resemblance. As for me, I will not rule them out. But keep in mind our family has had to identify many other photographs and all but those three were ruled out."]
Later developments
In 1998, Calico was declared officially dead. A judge ruled her death a homicide
In 2008, Rene Rivera, the sheriff of Valencia County, New Mexico, Valencia County, reported that he received information that two teenagers had accidentally hit Calico with a truck, panicked, and subsequently killed her. According to Rivera, the boys, who knew Calico, drove up behind her in a truck and some form of an accident followed. Calico later died and those responsible covered up the crime. Rivera stated that he knew the names of those involved, but that, without a body, he could not make a case. He did not release the evidence that led him to this conclusion. Calico's stepfather, John Doel, said that the sheriff should not have made these comments if he was not willing to arrest anyone and that strong circumstantial evidence should be enough for a conviction.
In October 2013, a six-person task force was established to reinvestigate Calico's disappearance. As of 2017, no arrests have been made and the case remains open.
On October 1, 2019, the FBI announced that they are "offering a reward of up to $20,000 for precise details leading to the identification or location of Tara Leigh Calico and information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for her disappearance."
In September 2021, the Valencia County Sheriff's Office and the New Mexico State Police issued a statement that they have a new lead in the case, and that the focus of a sealed warrant for an unknown private residence located within Valencia County has been issued; however, no further details were provided.
See also
*List of people who disappeared
Lists of people who disappeared include those whose current whereabouts are unknown, or whose deaths are unsubstantiated. Many people who disappear are eventually declared dead ''in absentia''. Some of these people were possibly subjected to enfo ...
References
External links
Case File 257DFNM
The Doe Network
Tara Leigh Calico
The Charley Project
Vanished: The Tara Calico Story
documentary by a friend of Calico ()
*
Official police report
{{DEFAULTSORT:Calico, Tara
1988 in New Mexico
1980s missing person cases
September 1988 events in the United States
Missing people
Missing person cases in New Mexico
1969 births
History of women in New Mexico
Valencia County, New Mexico