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

[Murkywaters]

[video=youtube;6mdV_Uiwuhs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mdV_Uiwuhs[/video]
Melinda Esquibel says the documentary will be out in the next year. Melinda who came up with the documentary idea told news reporters in 2013 that she fears for her and her families safety now in Belen. Melinda has stated that they had to even call 911 a couple times during filming down there. Also she started having people show up at her families home, and had a number of break ins and had threats put out. It's evident there's a group of people in that town that are guilty as sin. They are looking for Tara's body, currently because apparently that's the only way they can solve the case. Which really worries me for two reasons. 1. The killers and accomplices could move Tara's remains at anytime, (if they hadn't already) 2. By looking at this video of Belen's terrain, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v890ZfcZ3kM There's just so many places you can hide a dead body. Not too mention the road Tara was riding her bike is pretty much just a desert with a road.

 

[Swedeldome]

Made some improvements to the image. Mostly regards the car witnesses said they observed. This says nothing about my personal David parker ray theory.

 

[Swedeldome]

It's evident there's a group of people in that town that are guilty as sin.

Indeed so. Pressure should be applied to these individuals. A guilty mind has a tendency to act in certain ways when pressured. I for one call for outside pressure. If the family has had break ins and threats. Outside forces not connected to the community could do a lot of good.

 

[Kristin83]

Is the general consensus that this was not something sinister (like an abduction for sexual assault) but more like a hit and run, or a prank that went terribly wrong?

Of course, I realize these people are sinister for what they're doing now.

 

[Leprikawn]

This is a case that the FBI should be actively involved. If local LE can't be trusted to either stop the continued attacks or solve this case, then an outside source needs to.

 

[soooblessed]

Bump for Tara

 

[PastTense]

Volunteers helping to try and solve cold case after task force runs out of money

Her disappearance has never been solved, but Tara Calico's family, friends, and much of the town she lived in believe she was murdered.

Now, KOB Eyewitness News 4's Danielle Todesco has learned the task force assigned to Calico's cold case has run out of money. Calico's sister, Michele Doel, says investigators on the task force are now volunteering their time to work on the case. Doel is grateful for that, and she continues her own investigation on the case.

http://www.kob.com/article/stories/S3625680.shtml?cat=516

 

[CanManEh]

So glad to hear the documentary will be done soon. Just to awnser the one post above i read about the polaroid pic .As far as the boy goes and who they thought it was with tara tied up ..the back ground for him was that him and his dad were hunting and they kinda split up and the dad could not find the boy again for days they looked and could find nothing so they thought he had been abducted well after the pic came out that theory was even stronger however im not sure of the date but a hikers dog later found bones and a rifle and clothes it all matched the boys stuff and dna eventually said it was him basically he got lost and died of exposure.So for certain i can say it was not that boy that was tied up in that pic that most believe is tara also tied up in....also i did read in a article about the case and the police were all pretty sure they could say exactlly what had happend that day tara went missing and just who had done it how ever there was never any actual evidence that could lead for them to make an arrest .

 

[Migmuu]

http://www.news-bulletin.com/2014/11/12/news/skeletal-remains-found-on-belen39s-west-mesa.html

Skeletal remains were found in Belen just last week. I can't find any more info than what's already in the article, but it sounds like the remains have been there for a long time. There's a thread in the Unidentified forum here.

 

[Murkywaters]

http://www.kob.com/article/stories/S3625680.shtml?cat=516

Very interesting piece, especially at the end of the news clip, it is said they have two different theories on what happened to Tara, and both will be included in the documentary. The first theory is probably the hit and run theory introduced by the Valencia county sheriff, The other theory is something Melinda has heard many times is Tara was taken to a party in the mesa, raped and then stabbed to death. It's also interesting to note the human remains found in Belen were located in the west mesa.

 

[zwiebel]

http://www.news-bulletin.com/2014/11/12/news/skeletal-remains-found-on-belen39s-west-mesa.html

Skeletal remains were found in Belen just last week. I can't find any more info than what's already in the article, but it sounds like the remains have been there for a long time. There's a thread in the Unidentified forum here.

It's been confirmed the remains are not Tara's. They remain unidentified though.

http://krqe.com/2014/12/11/bones-found-near-belen-not-missing-womans/

 

[thefragile7393]

Sigh. Another dead end

 

[OhYeah]

Hello all,

Like many of you here, I started to be interested in missing/abducted persons by reading about Tara Calico's case and seeing the creepy polaroid. Here are my thoughts:

1. I cannot say whether the girl in the polaroid is Tara. There are some definite similarities, and if count that the picture was found relatively close to where Tara lived AND that there was a book by her favourite author in the picture (what are the chances of that happening?) you'd think that we should be 99% sure. However, couple of things are nagging me in the back of my head: Tara's mother's identification of her on the pictures always seemed a bit hesitant and irresolute. That bothered me, because in a similar photograph I would recognize my daughter without any doubt. It would either be her, or not. There would be no doubt, I'm sure of it. The second detail which makes me question whether it was Tara is the fact that the girl in the polaraid seems to be a bit younger, or with more petite features.

2. I'm glad and surprised that the case is still open and being investigated and that there is even a documentary coming out. If the director did not exaggerate and her family and the film crew has been harassed then we can be almost sure that the sheriff's account of what happened is the truth and the girl in the polaroid is not her. I have a gut feeling that says that we are now at the most critical point. The case being reopened, the documentary being made, all this has kicked up the momentum and if they stay focused and dig hard enough, they can crack the case and bring those responsible to justice. If we let this dwindle and carry out too long, we have lost what is probably our last chance of finding the truth.

3. There have been reports of a couple of other pictures related to the case. Why have they not been released? They might contain important clues and the investigators might've missed something. It has happened before. We need those other pictures!

 

[thesiren]

Any update on when the doc is coming out?

Also, does anyone know when/where the photo first appeared online? I know it goes far back (maybe 2002?), but where did the photo first appear online?

 

[FTRocha]

There was an interesting/creepy/probably-trolling 4chan (saw it later on Reddit) post on Tara Calico last evening. Anyone else see it?

 

[Troubleshanks]

FTRocha - yes, I read that thread. Not really sure what to make of it. I suppose it could be her in the new photograph but I don't think it is - I'm not entirely convinced the original photograph is her (although other unreleased photographs found in California seem to support the validity of Photo #1). I am coming to the realization that the Tara Calico story is getting distorted by trolls with some foolish agenda. Specifically, that 4chan thread starts bringing in Youtube channels with creepy videos and started to associate them with Tara. I do not think there is a connection - I watched the videos and they appear to be filmed in Europe. It is unfortunate when this happens with high profile cases - the conflation of fact and fiction, the transformation of a tragedy into "entertainment" for some.

For those who are interested, here is a reddit thread that summarizes what happened on 4chan. It includes the "new" Calico picture : Reddit Thread

I am somewhat new to posting on Web Sleuths (longtime lurker) - is there a more active Tara Calico thread?

Thanks!

 

[ZooSleuth]

I also saw the thread. We still don't even know if the original picture is of Tara. So even if this new picture is of the same person, it doesn't prove much.

IMO the original picture is not of Tara, but the new picture very well could be of the same woman in the original picture. I'm basing my opinion that it is not Tara off the fact that it doesn't sound like she was abducted and held, according to the Sheriff who seems to know what happened but can't make an arrest.

 

[AfterDarkAndrew]

The Sheriff that held the press conference years ago isn't highly regarded for his police work from what I can see online.

 

[Scout]

I know that the t-shirt worn by the bound teen girl resembling Tara in the Polaroid has been determined to be an Egghead Software shirt.

First question: Has it ever been determined what the character on the boy's t-shirt is?

Second question: I read that there is a squirt gun visible in the Polaroid. Can anyone tell me or show me where it is? I can't spot it.

 

[cmarieclark]

This case has always fascinated me and left me wondering through the years. I don't really believe in coincidences either. I guess that for me I believe that we see more often than not what we want to believe, hence the famous Polaroid.

If it were my daughter, I would absolutely hands down believe with pure conviction that it was my daughter in that picture because it would be based off of what I want. When I look at that picture I don't see Tara, to take it a step further I don't see terror in the eyes of either young person. The V.C. Andrews book? In the 80's you'd be hard pressed to find a young girl who wasn't reading that series. Sad yet true, only if our parents knew what the books were really about.

We don't know if the kids were actually bound nor do we know if the eye witness description was accurate or not. The police had some pretty good road checks in place and came up empty.

I go back to the sheriff of Valencia, who doesn't seem to be all that reliable, convincing or well liked. He stated that he knows who did it yet he can't say because he has no body? From that I've seen a lot of theories arise because he said that, some seem plausible while others implicate part of if not half the town in a cover up, some even think her parents had something to do with it.

I personally do not believe he knows who did it, I do not believe he has statements from infomants saying who did it either. I believe he said that in an attempt to draw out the truth based off of his suspicion. In all likelihood he is correct in that Tara Calico was abducted and murdered in her hometown and by people that she knew. I am absolutely certain of that.

As for the Polaroid? I believe that to be yet another mystery that is separate from the Tara Calico disappearance.