Disappearance of Tara Calico

Tara Calico
Portrait of Tara Calico at age 16
Born
Tara Leigh Calico

(1969-02-28)February 28, 1969
DisappearedSeptember 20, 1988 (aged 19)
NM 47, New Mexico, U.S.
StatusMissing for 36 years, 2 months and 6 days
EducationBelen High School (Class of 1987)
Known forMissing person
Parents
  • David Calico (father)
  • Patty Doel (mother)
RelativesMichele Doel (sister)
Chris Calico (brother)
Tod Calico (brother)

Tara Leigh Calico (born February 28, 1969)[1] is an American woman who disappeared near her home in Belen, New Mexico, on September 20, 1988. She is widely believed to have been kidnapped. In July 1989, a Polaroid photo of an unidentified young woman and boy, gagged and seemingly bound, was televised to the public after it was found in a convenience store parking lot in Port St. Joe, Florida. Family friends thought the woman resembled Calico and contacted her mother, who then met with investigators and examined the Polaroid. She believed it was her daughter after taking "time, growth and lack of makeup" into consideration, and noted that a scar on the woman's leg was identical to one that Calico had. Scotland Yard analyzed the photo and concluded that the woman was Calico, but a second analysis by the Los Alamos National Laboratory disagreed. An FBI analysis of the photo was inconclusive.

Calico's case received extensive coverage on television programs such as A Current Affair, Unsolved Mysteries, and America's Most Wanted. It was also profiled on The Oprah Winfrey Show and 48 Hours.[2]

  1. ^ "The Doe Network: Case File 257DFNM". www.doenetwork.org. Archived from the original on June 8, 2013. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
  2. ^ Smith, Toby (November 3, 1996). "Where's Tara Calico?". Albuquerque Journal. pp. A1, A10–A11. Archived from the original on June 24, 2018. Retrieved June 24, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. Free access icon