The Mystery of Tara Calico's Disappearance

A bright, young college student vanishes while out on a bike ride, leaving behind a mystery that's endured for over 30 years.

On a sunny Tuesday, September 20, 1988, nineteen-year-old Tara Calico left her home at about 9:30 A.M. to go on her daily bike ride along New Mexico State Road 47. Tara was familiar with this route and rode it almost every morning and was sometimes accompanied by her mother, Patty Doel. However, Patty stopped riding with Tara after she felt that she had been stalked by a motorist. She advised her daughter to think about carrying mace, but Tara rejected the idea and continued with her bike rides as normal.

On the morning of Tara's disappearance, she had told her mother 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 she left, Tara had her Walkman and headphones to listen to some music on a bike ride she'd confidently gone on many times before. When her daughter did not return, Patty went searching for her along her usual bike route but could not find her; she then contacted the police.

The only trace of Tara was pieces of her Sony Walkman and a cassette tape later discovered along the road. Patty believed that she might have dropped them in an attempt to mark her trail. Although several people saw Tara riding her bicycle, neither her or the bike were found. Some witnesses claimed to see Tara being followed by a light-coloured pickup truck (possibly a 1953 Ford) with a camper shell - but again, neither the truck or driver were found or identified.

To this day, Tara is still officially declared as a missing person. Many believe she was abducted, but with no ransom demands or body discovered - it has left many people perplexed over what happened that day.

In the summer of that following year, with Tara still missing - a polaroid was about to bring her case back into the public eye.

On June 15, 1989, a Polaroid 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. 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 moustache 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 in July, and Patty was contacted by friends who had seen the show and thought the woman resembled Tara. 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. Tara and Michael's parents both met with investigators and examined the Polaroid, where Patty said that she was "convinced" it was Tara. 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, said to be one of Calico's favourite books, can be seen lying next to the woman.

Although Scotland Yard analysed the photo and concluded that the woman was Tara, a second analysis by the Los Alamos National Laboratory disagreed and later, an FBI analysis of the photo was inconclusive. So no one could completely agree this evidence of a potential hostage situation was Tara.

The identity of the boy has also been heavily debated, but Michael was found - in tragic circumstances. His mother said that she was "almost certain" it was Michael in the Polaroid at the time. The identification of the boy in the photograph as Michael is considered highly unlikely: his remains were discovered in June 1990 in the Zuni Mountains, about 7 miles (11 km) from his family's campsite from which he had disappeared and 75 miles (121 km) from where Tara disappeared. Police believe that Michael wandered off and subsequently died of exposure.

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, 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 Tara, 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 F.B.I. for further investigation in hope of finding fingerprints or possible D.N.A. evidence.

Two other Polaroid photographs, possibly of Calico, have surfaced over the years. The first was found near a construction site in Montecito, California, 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 train.

The film used was not available until February 1990. Tara'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."

In 2008, Rene Rivera, the sheriff of 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. Tara'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.

Sadly, both Patty and Joel have passed away. Patty suffered several strokes and the last years of her life were spent in a retirement home with Joel, where she'd often stare out of the window - looking up whenever a woman rode past on a bike.

“I’d have to try to explain to her that it wasn’t Tara, that is was a person too old or too young,” John Doel told the Albuquerque Journal in 2006 when Patty had passed away. “Patty was looking for Tara right to the end.”

Patty had appeared on several documentaries, valiantly trying to keep Tara on the public's mind. Patty and Joel were the driving force behind the searches for their daughter with the National Center for Missing Adult and even appeared on several national television shows to raise awareness - According to the Albuquerque Journal, in 2013, a six-person task force of local and federal law enforcement officers was created to re-examine the case of the University of New Mexico sophomore. A year later, the task force dismantled.

After the deaths of her parents, the case seemed to be left unsolved - with no confirmation of her death or leads to find her, there seemed to be no active pursuit of Tara's missing case.

That is when Michele Doel, Tara’s younger sister took up where her mother had left off. Teaming up with Melinda Esquibel, who had known Tara as a member of the Belen High School marching band, they started a new journey together with a common goal — to find Tara.

Melinda had since got into film school and later worked in the entertainment industry, but she had always been concerned about the unanswered questions over Tara's disappearance. During a Christmas dinner in 2008, Melinda had heard of Rivera's statement in an article and was initially relieved that there were some answers - but she was jarred by a flippant remark made about Tara's fate made by old friends:

“Oh Melinda, the whole town knows who did it,” followed by what she called “a lot of rumour and speculation.” Melinda told the Albuquerque Journal.

Her friends were referring to the young boys who had been driving the truck and the son of the prominent law enforcement officer. At that moment, Melinda realized she had to do something to find Tara.

Melinda began working on a documentary about Tara’s disappearance and launched a podcast called “Vanished: The Tara Calico Investigation” that has been downloaded over a million times. In addition, Melinda and Michele also launched a website and Vanished: The Tara Calico Story page on Facebook that has nearly 7,000 followers.

Melinda and Michele are realistic. After so many years have passed, both women know officials are unlikely to further investigate the case without a body. However, they both set out to finish what Patty Doel started — to bring Tara home for a proper burial and to receive the justice she truly deserves.

As of today, 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."

Tara is quite literally is a mystery - with some believing she was kidnapped, the victim of a accident that was covered up or was a teen runaway. Tara's story s one that has made me wonder for years how someone could vanish like that. Based on the evidence - or lack of - I believe she was abducted, but the aftermath of that is still unsolved and in need of answers.

Vocal is having a limited time $1/71p deal for the first month for new signups to Vocal Plus.

This site has really kept me motivated in writing outside script work and analysing screenwriting and storytelling from multiple angles. There are many different communities and themes, so there's plenty of reading material if you have writers block. Follow this link and get writing!