Post by HeadMarshal on Sept 18, 2013 11:10:04 GMT -5
(Above: Grinstead, circa 1988 photo credit: Charley Project)
Missing Person Profile as of September 4th, 2014 (Based on Charley Project website):
Missing Since: September 20, 1988 from Belen, New Mexico
Classification: Endangered Missing
Date of Birth: February 28, 1969
Height and Weight (at time of disappearance): 5'7, 120 lbs
Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian female. Brown hair, green eyes. Calico has a large scar on the back of her right shoulder and a scar on her calf. She has a dime-sized brown birthmark on the back of one of her legs. She has a lazy eye. Calico has a cowlick on her right temple. She has previously had braces on her teeth.
Clothing/Jewelry Description: An orange sweater
TIPS: If you have any information, please call the FBI's Albuquerque office at 505-224-2000
Tara Calico has been missing for the past 25 years. Her case was aired on Unsolved Mysteries and I've read it was also on AMW but I don't know exactly when (probably the early 90s).
On Sep 20, 1988, 19-year old Tara Calico proceeded to go on her daily 36-mile bike ride outside the community of Belen, New Mexico. Witnesses saw her being followed by a 50s model Ford Pickup truck on New Mexico Highway 47. She was never seen again, and her mother's bicycle which she was riding because her's had a flat tire was also never recovered. It hasn't been determined if the truck had anything to do with her disappearance.
A theory was believed for several years that Tara was the woman who was pictured in a Polaroid photo, that was found in Port St. Joe, Florida on Jun 15, 1989. The woman in the photo was seen bound and gagged along with an unidentified boy. The mother of nine-year old Michael Henley who disappeared in 1988 in the same area as Tara believed the boy to be her son. Henley's remains were found in New Mexico's Zuni mountains in 1990. It was believed that Henley had wandered off and died around the same time when he disappeared.
Several agencies examined the Polaroid photo and came to different conclusions. Scotland Yard said the photo might have been of Tara and Michael, the Los Alamos National Laboratory disagreed and the FBI was inconclusive. Polaroid officials said the photo had to have been taken after May 1989. A copy of a novel was seen in the photo, the author of the novel was Tara's favorite author. Two other photos were found in 1989 and 1990, one was found in Montecello, California which Tara's mother thought might have depicted her daughter. The other one, found in 1990 may have been a cruel joke. This theory has never been proven but it is unknown to this as to who is in the photos.
2008 Update: Rene Rivera, the Sheriff of Valencia County, New Mexico believes he knows what really happened to Tara. According to Rivera, two teenage boys were following Tara while on her bike ride but accidentally hit and killed her. They could have disposed her body somewhere in the local area and had assistance from accomplices, possibly their own parents. This has not been confirmed and no names have been released. Rivera has said that he needs more evidence to prove that this theory is correct.
Thoughts?
Admin Note: If you have any news-related updates on this case, please contact us here: amwfans.com/thread/1662/website-contact-form
www.charleyproject.org/cases/c/calico_tara.html
www.trutv.com/library/crime/blog/article/girl-in-the-photograph-the-tara-calico-story/index.html
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tara_Calico
