Resolved FL - Port St Joe, 2 Children 96UMFL & 66UFFL, bound & gagged in photo, Jun'89

[cvaldez1975]

i do as well. I think these are abused siblings and were never reported. they may even still be alive. I hope they got help and are ok.

I always thought the photo was real. Something in that little boys eyes...

I have zero belief that the girl is Tara Calico. Eyebrows are 100 percent incorrect. Yes they can grow out, but they don't change their shape. Jmo.

I hate that Polaroid. Always upsets me deep down inside

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

 

[Earth]

At the very least I believe that this was child abuse...

 

[dotr]

Given the advancements made in DNA testing, maybe now something useful can be discovered ?
rbbm.
http://www.heraldtribune.com/news/20090831/troubling-reminder-of-an-old-mystery
By DESPINA WILLIAMS Florida Freedom Newspapers Posted Aug 31, 2009

The development sparked memories for many and revived several unanswered questions: Who are the children in the pictures, are they dead or was it a hoax, and what is the connection to Port St. Joe?

“It obviously is two kids with terror written all over them,” Nugent said of the 1989 Polaroid. “It’s kind of a bad time when you have to look at something like that.”

Port St. Joe Police Chief David Barnes received two letters, postmarked June 10 and Aug. 10 from Albuquerque, N.M.

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 like the 1989 picture. The second letter contained an original image of the boy.

On Aug. 12, The Star newspaper in Port St. Joe received a third letter, also postmarked in Albuquerque on Aug. 10 and depicting the same image, of a boy with black marker drawn over his mouth.

None of the letters contained a return address or a note indicating the child’s identity.

The case file contains “stacks and stacks” of letters and clues gathered during the investigation.

Albuquerque, where the latest letters were mailed from, is about 35 miles from Calico’s hometown of Belen, N.M., and 111 miles from the Zuni Mountains, where Henley’s body was recovered.

All the letters have been placed in evidence bags and have been sent to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement lab in Pensacola where they will be submitted to testing for fingerprints and DNA.

 

[sony12]

Thing is is that you can definitely tell that the two kids have been out in the sun a lot. The boy even looks sun burnt. They definitely don't have the look of two kids who are constantly being locked up in a basement somewhere.

@dotr DNA testing definitely is more advanced but they would need something to test it towards in order to get results. I think at this point we can safely say that these are not two kids in the missing persons 'system'. I think the only thing that could resolve this photo mystery now would be if the people involved in the creation of it came forward. After all this time though that unfortunately likely isn't going to happen. If it is a legit photo there are obviously reasons why they wouldn't want to come forward. If it is a fake chances are the people involved don't even know about it and if it they did find out about it would they want any attention from it (how many of us would want to go back and revisit repurcussions of pranks we did when we were kids).

My family was vacationing in Florida around the same time this photo supposedly would have been taken. The girl looks somewhat similar to my older sister and would have been about the same age at the time. I have a little brother who would have been about the same age as the boy in the photo but doesn't look anything like him. If he did look like him I might have to show the photo to my parents asking them if we were taking prank photos during our trip to Florida that year. Just for and giggles lets say that it did end up being pictures my family took back when we were vacationing in Florida during the summer of '89 the only way we ever would have found out about it is because I was bored one afternoon last summer and decided to just type in 'missing children' on youtube. So even though the picture has gotten a lot of attention you still really have to be looking for information about it in order to hear anything about it.

 

[NadirCake]

Thing is is that you can definitely tell that the two kids have been out in the sun a lot. The boy even looks sun burnt. They definitely don't have the look of two kids who are constantly being locked up in a basement somewhere.

RSBM

People who are being held captive are not necessarily kept indoors all the time. Psychological control can be powerful enough to keep a captive quiet even in public and around other people. Also, it wouldn't be unimaginable that keeping captives in a very remote area would make it impossible for them escape, even if they are allowed outdoors.

 

[sony12]

RSBM

People who are being held captive are not necessarily kept indoors all the time. Psychological control can be powerful enough to keep a captive quiet even in public and around other people. Also, it wouldn't be unimaginable that keeping captives in a very remote area would make it impossible for them escape, even if they are allowed outdoors.

While that can be true it still is just another point of view thing. A lot of things in the photo don't look like a true kidnapping and we are left to fill in all the blanks with our own personal perspective of the photo.

 

[LadyL]

[bbm]

so they could've taken the photo right after they were kidnapped ... or at least right after they were loaded into the van like that IMO

Thing is is that you can definitely tell that the two kids have been out in the sun a lot. The boy even looks sun burnt. They definitely don't have the look of two kids who are constantly being locked up in a basement somewhere.

 

[LadyL]

[bbm]

such as? aside from the suntanned skin which I addressed in that post

While that can be true it still is just another point of view thing. A lot of things in the photo don't look like a true kidnapping and we are left to fill in all the blanks with our own personal perspective of the photo.

 

[LadyL]

case in point ... Elizabeth Smart

RSBM

People who are being held captive are not necessarily kept indoors all the time. Psychological control can be powerful enough to keep a captive quiet even in public and around other people. Also, it wouldn't be unimaginable that keeping captives in a very remote area would make it impossible for them escape, even if they are allowed outdoors.

 

[LadyL]

wow I've never heard of it until reading back on this thread ... looks just like regular ol' duct tape to me
and I'm not googling it either

I'm not sure that pain-free bondage tape was available 30+ years ago. (Not going to Google that at work! LOL)

I still think it's a real photo of kidnapped / abused children.

 

[jccoa1999]

I think they're siblings and we're suffering from child abuse from their parents! Probably why they aren't listed as missing! Could be anything! Serial kill killed rest of family and they took the kids! There's just something about their eyes and how they are laying that makes me feel like they are scared but in a sic way comfortable!as if they're looking at someone they know

Sent from my XT1635-01 using Tapatalk

 

[NadirCake]

Bondage tape still isn't pain free if applied incorrectly. However the way it was applied in the photo is how they instruct you to apply it to avoid a loss of circulation and all that other stuff
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bondage_tape

Sorry, I skipped a lot of this thread, and missed the talk of bondage tape before now. Hope I'm not repeating.

In my experience and to my knowledge, bondage tape adheres to itself but not to skin or hair. The way it's applied to the kids' faces would NOT work if it's self-adhesive bondage tape alone.

If it was wrapped completely around their heads, that would work as it could stick to itself.

If it is indeed bondage tape on their faces in the photo, it would have to be glued on with something else.

 

[sony12]

I think they're siblings and we're suffering from child abuse from their parents! Probably why they aren't listed as missing! Could be anything! Serial kill killed rest of family and they took the kids! There's just something about their eyes and how they are laying that makes me feel like they are scared but in a sic way comfortable!as if they're looking at someone they know

Sent from my XT1635-01 using Tapatalk

See I look at that photo and see a girl who is just sitting on her hands and is not tied up at all.

 

[sony12]

If someone has their hands forcibly tied behind their back their shoulders and elbows generally aren't in that position. I would be a lot more likely to buy into the scene say if the girl was on her side like the boy was. But the position the girl is in really kills the realism of the scene for me.

 

[sony12]

If any of you havn't tried to already try to lay on your back on the ground with your hands together like they were tied up like the girl was. As you can see it is very difficult to get your shoulders flat on the ground like the girl had them in the pic and it also is difficult to get your elbows in the position the she had them as well. Another issue is that your butt is usually sticking up a little bit as well. Also when you have your legs up in the air like the girl did your butt is usually sticking up in the air even more.

Now after you have done that just sit on your hands and don't act like they are tied together. As you can see when you do that it is much easier to get your shoulders and elbows in the exact position the girls shoulders and elbows were in the picture. Your butt is also much more squarely on the ground like the girls was as well. When you try to put your legs up in the air like the girl had them it is much easier to have your legs in that position with your butt squarely on the ground if you are just sitting on your hands as well.

It really does seem like the girl is just acting like she is tied up. And if she is just acting like she is tied up you really can put the validity of the whole picture into question. The boy is selling the scene a lot more than the girl is in my opinion.

 

[jccoa1999]

See I look at that photo and see a girl who is just sitting on her hands and is not tied up at all.

I can kind of see that too! Of both kids! The way the boy is laying, if he was tied up wouldn't that be a hard position to get into or at least uncomfortable! I think I can see part of the girls hand under her butt!

Sent from my XT1635-01 using Tapatalk

 

[Triss]

staged or not, that picture is very disturbing.

 

[sony12]

I can kind of see that too! Of both kids! The way the boy is laying, if he was tied up wouldn't that be a hard position to get into or at least uncomfortable! I think I can see part of the girls hand under her butt!

Sent from my XT1635-01 using Tapatalk

Yeah. The boys position is more believable than the girls is but it also isn't a natural position someone would go into if they had their hands tied up behind their back while laying on their side. The unnatural thing that the boy is doing is that his head is laying down like that. When your hands are behind your back and your on your side like that the natural thing to do is to raise your head up off the ground. Having your head lay down while your in that position puts added pressure on your neck.

Both kids honestly look like they are just chillin. You'd think if they were going through the stress of being taken captive and tied up (and their captives were in the room taking pictures of them) they would be seeking out the most comfortable and natural positions for them to be in. And neither one of them seems to be in a natural position given the circumstances of the photo.

 

[sony12]

staged or not, that picture is very disturbing.

Definitely true. Which is why it is being disected as much as it is. Luckily for me when I have disected it I have found more reasons to believe it is not legit than I have reasons to believe it is.

 

[jccoa1999]

I think this was a family on summer vacation and the kids were in back of van all set up for road trip and they all thought it would be funny to stage something like this.. maybe it was going to be an inside joke for family members and the picture fell out of van! Family gets home and sees their photos all over the news and they're like uhoh we are in trouble! 20 years later send photos to police station as a joke amongst each other

Sent from my XT1635-01 using Tapatalk