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

[sony12]

I just read that the FBI has a $20K reward for info that leads to the location of Tara's remains. It does seem Tara was killed in that area and the crime has been well hidden. One would think that after decades someone would come forward with helpful info. Then I remember Jacob Wetterling, whose perpetrator was right there in his community, and had actually been on the police's radar. Instead the police zeroed in on an innocent man, and adamantly refused to focus on other suspects. I cannot believe there wasn't anyone else in that community who didn't know about Heinrich's proclivities. But no one was talking and to this day I don't understand why. I was just re-reading Tara's case and saw the other pictures of the little boy that were mailed years later to the police. The article said the police have file folders full of letters and clues. Are these pictures meant to be a distraction from the real culprits of this crime? It's been thirty years and this case appears cold. Maybe it's time to have someone else examine the clues, before all local suspects leave the planet.

I think a lot of those photos were just sent by trolls wanting to stir things up. I know the other pictures that have been sent regarding the girl in the van photo and Tara Calico look really nothing like either girl. A couple of them look extremely staged and it seems to just be a couple people goofing off. And another one is just a close up image of a girls face seemingly lying naked on the bed with tape over her mouth. She doesn't look much like either girl anyway and there also would be no way of knowing if that is even real or if it is just a couple messing around with a camera while in bed.

The only image that in my opinion looks anything close to any of the potential missing individuals is that one pic of the boy that was sent with someone using black marker where his face was. And honestly who really knows if that was even real. Lots of kids around that age looked like that during the '80's and '90's. Both cases were well known by the time that photo was sent so it easily could have just been someone playing a joke.

 

[thebigcookie]

I have read through all the posts in this thread over the last day or so. I am pretty much convinced the girl in the photo is not Tara. She just seems too young. I am under the impression also that the children in the Polaroid were never missing. Upon first glance the photo looks disturbing but after a while and seeing others thoughts on it, I think it was a family on vacation. Seems strange a kidnapper would have the back of the van set up that way and the definitely don’t appeared to be tied up and the tape only covers their mouth and doesn’t cover their whole face. The book is the only convincing item, but then again it sounds like VC Andrews was extremely popular back then. I never read any of her books I’m a guy that was born in 1990 after this happened. Honestly doesn’t sound like anything I would want to read either. Seems like they were playing a game or something to pass time and someone took a picture that fell out. Seems like I may have played a quiet game somewhere as a kid where we put tape on our face so they were probably doing something similar.

I also wonder how this photo got connected to Tara’s case in the first place. Was her case known nationwide at the time or only locally in New Mexico? Belen is in the Albuquerque/Santa Fe television market so it would have been on those stations. Also Port St Joe is in the Panama City television market. Her mother was probably convinced it was her because she wanted to keep hope alive. I don’t even see the scar the mother mentioned. Must be something you would really have to be looking for to know it was there. I think she was hit and killed on her bike, whether it was on purpose or an accident, then her body was hidden somewhere there to cover up what happened. I don’t believe those other two pictures are her either. The one from the California construction site is strange and disturbing as well but it’s not even the same girl as the first Polaroid and her mother thought it was. That third photo on the Amtrak train seems even stranger. The woman in it is wearing glasses. Earlier I read Tara had a lazy eye, but do we know if she ever wore glasses sometimes? Also the man seems to be joking around and we see a Diet Sprite can, a pair of sunglasses, and a carton of cigarettes on the tray. I don’t think this is connected to her either.

 

[chatnoir84]

I have read through all the posts in this thread over the last day or so. I am pretty much convinced the girl in the photo is not Tara. She just seems too young. I am under the impression also that the children in the Polaroid were never missing. Upon first glance the photo looks disturbing but after a while and seeing others thoughts on it, I think it was a family on vacation. Seems strange a kidnapper would have the back of the van set up that way and the definitely don’t appeared to be tied up and the tape only covers their mouth and doesn’t cover their whole face. The book is the only convincing item, but then again it sounds like VC Andrews was extremely popular back then. I never read any of her books I’m a guy that was born in 1990 after this happened. Honestly doesn’t sound like anything I would want to read either. Seems like they were playing a game or something to pass time and someone took a picture that fell out. Seems like I may have played a quiet game somewhere as a kid where we put tape on our face so they were probably doing something similar.

I also wonder how this photo got connected to Tara’s case in the first place. Was her case known nationwide at the time or only locally in New Mexico? Belen is in the Albuquerque/Santa Fe television market so it would have been on those stations. Also Port St Joe is in the Panama City television market. Her mother was probably convinced it was her because she wanted to keep hope alive. I don’t even see the scar the mother mentioned. Must be something you would really have to be looking for to know it was there. I think she was hit and killed on her bike, whether it was on purpose or an accident, then her body was hidden somewhere there to cover up what happened. I don’t believe those other two pictures are her either. The one from the California construction site is strange and disturbing as well but it’s not even the same girl as the first Polaroid and her mother thought it was. That third photo on the Amtrak train seems even stranger. The woman in it is wearing glasses. Earlier I read Tara had a lazy eye, but do we know if she ever wore glasses sometimes? Also the man seems to be joking around and we see a Diet Sprite can, a pair of sunglasses, and a carton of cigarettes on the tray. I don’t think this is connected to her either.

I don't recall the case being nationwide, maybe on Unsolved Mysteries, but I didn't hear about this case until I was an adult. I do hope this was a gag photo, but you never know. VC Andrew's was very popular in the early 90s, but I don't recommend the books, too dark.

 

[ThePhantom]

I believe similar photos were mailed to the Belen police department on one of the "anniversaries" of Tara's disappearance, as well as to a local church. Does anyone else recall this?

 

[sony12]

I have read through all the posts in this thread over the last day or so. I am pretty much convinced the girl in the photo is not Tara. She just seems too young. I am under the impression also that the children in the Polaroid were never missing. Upon first glance the photo looks disturbing but after a while and seeing others thoughts on it, I think it was a family on vacation. Seems strange a kidnapper would have the back of the van set up that way and the definitely don’t appeared to be tied up and the tape only covers their mouth and doesn’t cover their whole face. The book is the only convincing item, but then again it sounds like VC Andrews was extremely popular back then. I never read any of her books I’m a guy that was born in 1990 after this happened. Honestly doesn’t sound like anything I would want to read either. Seems like they were playing a game or something to pass time and someone took a picture that fell out. Seems like I may have played a quiet game somewhere as a kid where we put tape on our face so they were probably doing something similar.

I also wonder how this photo got connected to Tara’s case in the first place. Was her case known nationwide at the time or only locally in New Mexico? Belen is in the Albuquerque/Santa Fe television market so it would have been on those stations. Also Port St Joe is in the Panama City television market. Her mother was probably convinced it was her because she wanted to keep hope alive. I don’t even see the scar the mother mentioned. Must be something you would really have to be looking for to know it was there. I think she was hit and killed on her bike, whether it was on purpose or an accident, then her body was hidden somewhere there to cover up what happened. I don’t believe those other two pictures are her either. The one from the California construction site is strange and disturbing as well but it’s not even the same girl as the first Polaroid and her mother thought it was. That third photo on the Amtrak train seems even stranger. The woman in it is wearing glasses. Earlier I read Tara had a lazy eye, but do we know if she ever wore glasses sometimes? Also the man seems to be joking around and we see a Diet Sprite can, a pair of sunglasses, and a carton of cigarettes on the tray. I don’t think this is connected to her either.

The reason why this photo got connected to the Tara Calico case is pretty much because of Tara's mother. They broadcast the story of the polaroid on 'Current Affairs' and some of Tara's mothers friends saw it and contacted her thinking the girl may have resembled Tara and she was adamant about it being Tara from then on after.

Yeah and I think the chances that these kids were ever 'officially' missing is pretty slim. Sure they may have had some weird parents or guardians but if they were officially missing children that had been reported as missing other leads (and better leads) would have come up by now.

Lol, and I commend you for reading through all 45 pages of this thread as there is virtually no substance and all speculation during the 10+ years this thread has been going on. There are probably lots of photos out there of kids tied up but we just never hear about them because they never got attached to any official cases like this one did-some are real but most probably aren't- people liked to joke around with pictures back then the same way people like to joke around with videos now.

 

[sony12]

And one thing in regards to the book. Those authors books were kind of like what the Twilight series is today. Way too popular of a book amongst teens to take any substantial clues from it.

 

[sony12]

Lol, looks like everyone got tuckered out in trying to decipher what a book and water bottle are supposed to mean in a 30+ year old picture.

 

[aThousandYearsWide]

There are probably lots of photos out there of kids tied up but we just never hear about them because they never got attached to any official cases like this one did-some are real but most probably aren't- people liked to joke around with pictures back then the same way people like to joke around with videos now.

They had tied up pictures in the Johnny Gosch case too. I dont remember if they positively ID'd him in the pictures or not but he was wearing similar sweatpants when he disappeared. This was also in the 80's.

 

[q64ceo]

I believe the photo is more likely than not to be willing participants in a joke

Look at the position of the book. It looks like she was reading it and put it down to do something else, like to make a funny photo

Plus, we only see tape over their mouths. We don't see anything binding them anywhere in the picture. And if you look over at the boy, it looks like there is a small piece of tape on the pillow like the tape was just applied and they hadn't cleaned up the area of their activity.

The items in the van look like they are on a camping trip. I can see a pair of siblings finding tape on their camping trip and deciding to make a funny photo by acting like they were kidnapped.

 

[Springrain]

I believe the photo is more likely than not to be willing participants in a joke

Look at the position of the book. It looks like she was reading it and put it down to do something else, like to make a funny photo

Plus, we only see tape over their mouths. We don't see anything binding them anywhere in the picture. And if you look over at the boy, it looks like there is a small piece of tape on the pillow like the tape was just applied and they hadn't cleaned up the area of their activity.

The items in the van look like they are on a camping trip. I can see a pair of siblings finding tape on their camping trip and deciding to make a funny photo by acting like they were kidnapped.

Plus, it looks like they're both just sitting on their hands.

The little boy looks more into it and "fearful" - more dramatic. The girl looks kind of over it. I wouldn't be surprised if they were on a vacation and they were siblings (or maybe cousins, something like that) sitting in the backseat, she was reading the book and he wanted to do it and she was like "Sure, whatever, just make it quick, I'm reading my book."

 

[sony12]

Yeah. The pic really looks a lot more intense when you crop it to the point where a lot of the light from the outside is taken out of the scene. Once you see it closer to what the original picture was like it doesn't look quite as sinister.

If people were really keeping a couple kids tied up and captive in a van I seriously doubt they would put them in a vehicle where the light was all shining in.

 

[specialistblend]

Hi all. I first learned of this case in 2018 and it is what brought me here as a member. I've more or less read through most of this thread. Regarding the polaroid... I have some comments/observations I'd like to make. Also, I have found a wee bit of info that wasn't mentioned here, I wouldn't say it's that helpful but is interesting nonetheless.

Some thoughts/questions:
1. First off, for the record, I do not think that is Tara Calico. The whole cover-up story with the boys hitting the bike, hiding the body, etc. makes sense to me, everything clicks. What doesn't click is why a kidnapped girl from NM was taken to FL. Yes, of course, human trafficking can occur across an entire continent, that's understandable, but I would think traffickers would find a closer place for their "transactions". But either way, I don't think that is her in the pic.

2. So this thread was started in 2009 around the time that the newer pics of a boy with a black marker drawn across his mouth made headlines. Every recent article I've read online about this has mentioned a "letter" (or was it two?), an "original" pic of the boy, then of course the version with the black marker. All recent sources simply show 1 pic with the black marker, I see no "original" pic without it, nor do I see anything regarding the contents of the "letter" itself. I'm assuming by letter they are referring to words written on a piece of paper, so wtf did it say?

Early posts in this thread link to the original news articles that contain both pics plus the letter contents. Someone here even linked everything separately on an image hosting site:

http://www.newsherald.com/news/joe-76835-port-rekindled.html
http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/4264/koshwrboyandletter.jpg
http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/6610/kosxc0unsolvedmystery2.jpg
http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/5079/kosxc0unsolvedmystery3.jpg

Well none of these work now. The News Herald link no longer exists, I even tried searching for it on their site, nope. Fox news did a similar one at that time too, same problem. I can understand the image hosting links probably expired, by why are the news links missing for this story? Why doesn't anyone talk about what that letter says? Somebody here mentioned regarding the letter "The numerals are made in a very old style. The seven in particular and the four and the six remind me of the European style of writing numerals." Maybe someone who was around here back then could shed light on that?

3. There's talk about a phone number written on the spine of the book. Experts say that it could be any one of 300 possible combinations, 57 of which are active. I may know one or two things but I'm not a photoshop expert, has anyone here with those skills tried to unsharpen those pixelated numbers on the book? Speaking of which, when zooming in on the book, I noticed what "may" look like a clear/silver bracelet on the girl's wrist. Maybe my eyes are playing tricks?

4. Being that nobody has come forward regarding who they are, could one of these scenarios be possible:

a) They are siblings abused/enslaved by the parents who are twisted/sick individuals.
b) They are not US citizens. Port St Joe is close to Panama City, an area notorious for trafficking, right? Maybe this photo is of the kids when they arrived in Florida from overseas and they were sold to a FL/US resident.

5. The photo was said to be found just outside a convenience store where a white van was parked. However, I don't think that photo was snapped right then and there in the parking lot. I think this photo was taken at another location (that same day) just after the driver or whoever loaded these two kids into the van. By another location, I mean wherever they were being held in FL just prior to being transported in the van. From that point, the driver must have accidentally dropped it when leaving the store.

With that said, I'd like to add two things...

1. That Egghead software shirt... Someone on here mentioned a while back that they were aware an Egghead software employee spoke on another social media site about being approached by LE regarding the girl wearing one of their shirts in the pic. I saw this post and sent a private message to the employee. Apparently, the "full police report" was sent to the company and it sounds like LE knows more about the kids in the pic than we do. For one, they somehow know the girl is a vegetarian, they had "names", as well as pics of the kids before they were kidnapped. The report also acknowledged that the girl was held captive longer than the boy.

I was shocked to hear this. Since LE supposedly knew the identities of these kids, I inquired further about that bit but the employee responded saying memory was vague on that bit. I scared to press for any further details so I just left it at that. I don't know how many missing person reports state whether or not the person was vegetarian or not, but if so that should definitely narrow down the list for girls that went missing in the late 80s.

2. Somebody in the thread photoshopped a close up of the girl without the tape on her mouth. I took that pic and did a bit of photoshopping of my own, clearing it up a bit. What a huge difference, see attached pic.

Also, there is a mobile app called MyHeritage which many people had downloaded a few months back for the sole purpose of its "animation" feature, or as i call it "RE-animation". They were uploading pics of their deceased loved ones and the app edits the image so that it can move or imitate movement as if the person were alive again. It's not 100% but it's sure damn close and creepy AF.

I came up with the idea of trying this with the girl in pic, both with and without tape on her mouth. I figured maybe seeing the face/head move certain ways would give a better look at who she could possibly be, just trying to see her from different angles. You can even make her smile a bit and little things like that. I will upload them here later.

In the meantime, any thoughts/ideas?

 

[sony12]

Hey @specialistblend thanks for the post. This thread has been quite dead for awhile (this page alone goes back almost two years).

To be honest I wouldn't get too caught up with any 'suppposed' scoops other users mention. I have been following this thread since 2016 and from what I have seen no one knows anything and are just giving their own personal opinions regarding the case.

Not saying what you heard of the egghead employee is completely made up. However at the same time if it's just someone from here mentioning it then you don't really know who you are talking to and if they legitimately know anything or just like telling stories.

The fact that they started being pretty vague when you began inquiring further leads me to believe they are someone who probably likes to tell a story or two.

What you mentioned the person said isn't really something that would be released to the general public anyways.

 

[sony12]

Also @specialistblend egghead filed for bankruptcy back in 2001.

 

[specialistblend]

Hey @specialistblend thanks for the post. This thread has been quite dead for awhile (this page alone goes back almost two years).

To be honest I wouldn't get too caught up with any 'suppposed' scoops other users mention. I have been following this thread since 2016 and from what I have seen no one knows anything and are just giving their own personal opinions regarding the case.

Not saying what you heard of the egghead employee is completely made up. However at the same time if it's just someone from here mentioning it then you don't really know who you are talking to and if they legitimately know anything or just like telling stories.

The fact that they started being pretty vague when you began inquiring further leads me to believe they are someone who probably likes to tell a story or two.

What you mentioned the person said isn't really something that would be released to the general public anyways.

Hi Sony thanks for your reply. I totally hear what you're saying and wouldn't rule it out, of course, but I just thought it might be worth mentioning here being that it wasn't already mentioned here or anywhere else.

As I said before, someone way back on this thread knows what I'm talking about regarding the Egghead software employee. It was discussion about the case, just like this thread here, but on Reddit a few years back. They were talking about the shirt and one member came forward "claiming" to be an manager for the company back in '89, she confirmed the shirt as being one of their's and briefly told everyone how the police came to her company with their full report (with the details I mentioned above). When she mentioned this, that's when I privately messaged her.

But who knows, maybe she was, maybe she wasn't. Either way, it's food for thought.

 

[sony12]

Hi Sony thanks for your reply. I totally hear what you're saying and wouldn't rule it out, of course, but I just thought it might be worth mentioning here being that it wasn't already mentioned here or anywhere else.

As I said before, someone way back on this thread knows what I'm talking about regarding the Egghead software employee. It was discussion about the case, just like this thread here, but on Reddit a few years back. They were talking about the shirt and one member came forward "claiming" to be an manager for the company back in '89, she confirmed the shirt as being one of their's and briefly told everyone how the police came to her company with their full report (with the details I mentioned above). When she mentioned this, that's when I privately messaged her.

But who knows, maybe she was, maybe she wasn't. Either way, it's food for thought.

Good deal. Can you tell me the page number on here where the discussion started? I remember talking about the egghead shirt but it was just people trying to figure out what the wording on the shirt said and what 'egghead' was.

 

[specialistblend]

Good deal. Can you tell me the page number on here where the discussion started? I remember talking about the egghead shirt but it was just people trying to figure out what the wording on the shirt said and what 'egghead' was.

I'm pretty sure it was above page 20. Possibly between 20-30. If you don't see it there, I can check 30-40. I believe the reddit post was sometime b/w 2012-2016, so the one on here should correlate to around that time.

 

[sony12]

I'm pretty sure it was above page 20. Possibly between 20-30. If you don't see it there, I can check 30-40. I believe the reddit post was sometime b/w 2012-2016, so the one on here should correlate to around that time.

Yeah I found it. It's on page 23 by a poster called lethalmatthew on Feb 14th 2015.

Basically they don't say much more than you did here so it's hard to tell if there is any validity to it at all. Also the person hasn't even logged on here since 2016. So who knows.

 

[specialistblend]

So I am trying to post the mp4 files of the girl's face moving that I was talking about. It says they are too large, even when I try to post them one at a time. Any ideas on how I can get them on here?

I've attached a couple of screenshots for now. Again, the clips themselves are not perfect; depending on the angle she turns, the app uses a sort of fill-in-the-blanks element every now and then, mostly when she turns all the way to her right.

You can also try it yourself by downloading MyHeritage from your app store and simply uploading the same pic (or the one with her gagged) and selecting the animation tool. It lets you try a few different variations for free. The first time I did it, I didn't even wait for it to finish loading because I felt like I was gonna freak out, a part of me was reluctant to see anything in that horrifying image come to life.

 

[Earth]

That was quite interesting. I do not think that she looks like Tara Calico. Unfortunately she also looks like virtually any other young woman of that physical description.