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05-06-2005, 12:07 AM
Fifteen years pass, and a tip emerges
Albuquerque Tribune, The (NM)
September 19, 2003
Author: Joline Gutierrez Krueger
Estimated printed pages: 2
New information on a possible suspect in the 1988 disappearance of Tara Calico has surfaced, all because of a chance encounter at an Albuquerque hardware store.
But the parents of the Rio Communities woman who went missing at 19 aren't getting their hopes up just yet.
"We've been on this roller coaster for years," Patty Doel said. "We're not ready to jump on again yet."
Valencia County sheriff's Detective Rene Rivera is also not saying much about the lead's prospects.
"I can't say for sure if it's promising," he said. "It looks good."
Rivera said he does not want most of the details of the tip released for fear that it will jeopardize the investigation.
But the Doels said the tip came about as a result of a vague conversation this summer between someone they know and a person in a Northeast Heights store.
The person provided information on a possible suspect who might have abducted Tara and later killed and buried her, they said.
Rivera said tips have trickled in sporadically for years, although so far none has led to a break in a case.
"I think that people are starting to get a little more open now," he said. "People want to get closure. Maybe they heard a conversation, and they were scared when they first got the information but now it's time to come forward."
For Rivera, the search for the missing young woman has become something of a mission.
"Detective Rivera is tenacious," Valencia County Undersheriff William Martinez said. "He spends a lot of his free time on this case."
Rivera said he has been working on the case little by little during the 14 years he has been with the Sheriff's Department.
"This case is very intriguing," he said. "It's solvable. Sooner or later, we're going to talk to the right person who will give us the information we need to find out the whereabouts of Tara."
Joline Gutierrez Krueger
Copyright 2003 by Albuquerque Tribune, All rights Reserved.
Edition: Evening
Page: A4
Index Terms: crime
Copyright (c) 2003 The Albuquerque Tribune
Record Number: 26928
______________________________________________
Prosecutor Requests Calico File
Albuquerque Journal (NM)
December 20, 2003
Author: Colleen Heild Journal Investigative Reporter
Estimated printed pages: 2
* Investigators in death of state cop's wife ask for records on missing teen
The special prosecutor in the murder case against retired State Police Lt. Mark McCracken has asked to view the investigative file in the 1988 disappearance of Tara Calico off N.M. 47 in Valencia County.
McCracken, 41, was indicted Oct. 31 on first-degree murder charges of killing his 24-year-old wife, Melanie. A supervisor in the Los Lunas State Police office at the time of his wife's death in August 1995, McCracken has denied any involvement in her death.
Special Prosecutor Randall Harris declined on Friday to say why his investigators want to see the information gathered by the Valencia County Sheriff's Department in the Calico case.
Tara Calico, who was 19 years old at the time, was last seen 15 years ago riding her bicycle about one mile from her home in Rio Communities. Her case has been in and out of the public spotlight ever since.
McCracken joined the State Police in 1982. A spokesman said Friday night that McCracken was transferred from the Grants-Gallup district to Los Lunas in the 1980s.
McCracken's attorney, Peter Schoenburg, dismissed the idea of a link between McCracken and Calico's disappearance.
"I haven't ever heard an ounce of evidence to connect any of this," Schoenburg said. "It's hysterical fantasy. Next they'll have Mark as the second shooter on the grassy knoll."
Harris said he is exhausting all leads in preparation for the trial.
"We received some information, I don't know whether it's good information or not," Harris said, referring to the Calico case.
"I have no idea whether this has anything to do with the McCracken case or not. What I can tell you is we want to look at every single lead that comes in."
Patty Doel, Tara Calico's mother, said in an phone interview from Port St. Joe, Fla., that she had heard a rumor within the last six months that her daughter and McCracken had dated.
"I heard that but I just didn't take it seriously because she had never mentioned him at all," Doel said.
Valencia County Sheriff's detective Rene Rivera said McCracken's name has never surfaced in his investigation into the Calico disappearance.
He's working on possible leads involving the body of a young woman found in Oklahoma.
The sheriff's department wants to compare X-rays of that body with Calico's X-rays. Doel said her daughter had portions of two vertebraes removed after being injured in an accident.
Meanwhile, Harris said his investigators also have requested additional tests of McCracken's deceased wife's hair and nails to determine whether they show any traces of any sort of a previously undetected chemical or toxic substance in her system.
Two autopsies have been unable to determine how she died, but a medical expert for the prosecution contends she was asphyxiated.
Samples of hair and nails were saved by the Office of the Medical Investigator during an autopsy.
Melanie and Mark McCracken were married for 18 months when he said he found her unconscious on the bed at their Bosque Farms home.
McCracken said he was rushing his wife to an Albuquerque hospital when he lost control of his car and rolled the car off N.M. 47. She was declared dead at the scene.
PHOTO: Color
CALICO: Last seen in 1988
Section: Metro & New Mexico
Page: E1
Index Terms: crime
Copyright (c) 2003 Albuquerque Journal
Record Number: 0FF9D61195FC2DB1
Albuquerque Tribune, The (NM)
September 19, 2003
Author: Joline Gutierrez Krueger
Estimated printed pages: 2
New information on a possible suspect in the 1988 disappearance of Tara Calico has surfaced, all because of a chance encounter at an Albuquerque hardware store.
But the parents of the Rio Communities woman who went missing at 19 aren't getting their hopes up just yet.
"We've been on this roller coaster for years," Patty Doel said. "We're not ready to jump on again yet."
Valencia County sheriff's Detective Rene Rivera is also not saying much about the lead's prospects.
"I can't say for sure if it's promising," he said. "It looks good."
Rivera said he does not want most of the details of the tip released for fear that it will jeopardize the investigation.
But the Doels said the tip came about as a result of a vague conversation this summer between someone they know and a person in a Northeast Heights store.
The person provided information on a possible suspect who might have abducted Tara and later killed and buried her, they said.
Rivera said tips have trickled in sporadically for years, although so far none has led to a break in a case.
"I think that people are starting to get a little more open now," he said. "People want to get closure. Maybe they heard a conversation, and they were scared when they first got the information but now it's time to come forward."
For Rivera, the search for the missing young woman has become something of a mission.
"Detective Rivera is tenacious," Valencia County Undersheriff William Martinez said. "He spends a lot of his free time on this case."
Rivera said he has been working on the case little by little during the 14 years he has been with the Sheriff's Department.
"This case is very intriguing," he said. "It's solvable. Sooner or later, we're going to talk to the right person who will give us the information we need to find out the whereabouts of Tara."
Joline Gutierrez Krueger
Copyright 2003 by Albuquerque Tribune, All rights Reserved.
Edition: Evening
Page: A4
Index Terms: crime
Copyright (c) 2003 The Albuquerque Tribune
Record Number: 26928
______________________________________________
Prosecutor Requests Calico File
Albuquerque Journal (NM)
December 20, 2003
Author: Colleen Heild Journal Investigative Reporter
Estimated printed pages: 2
* Investigators in death of state cop's wife ask for records on missing teen
The special prosecutor in the murder case against retired State Police Lt. Mark McCracken has asked to view the investigative file in the 1988 disappearance of Tara Calico off N.M. 47 in Valencia County.
McCracken, 41, was indicted Oct. 31 on first-degree murder charges of killing his 24-year-old wife, Melanie. A supervisor in the Los Lunas State Police office at the time of his wife's death in August 1995, McCracken has denied any involvement in her death.
Special Prosecutor Randall Harris declined on Friday to say why his investigators want to see the information gathered by the Valencia County Sheriff's Department in the Calico case.
Tara Calico, who was 19 years old at the time, was last seen 15 years ago riding her bicycle about one mile from her home in Rio Communities. Her case has been in and out of the public spotlight ever since.
McCracken joined the State Police in 1982. A spokesman said Friday night that McCracken was transferred from the Grants-Gallup district to Los Lunas in the 1980s.
McCracken's attorney, Peter Schoenburg, dismissed the idea of a link between McCracken and Calico's disappearance.
"I haven't ever heard an ounce of evidence to connect any of this," Schoenburg said. "It's hysterical fantasy. Next they'll have Mark as the second shooter on the grassy knoll."
Harris said he is exhausting all leads in preparation for the trial.
"We received some information, I don't know whether it's good information or not," Harris said, referring to the Calico case.
"I have no idea whether this has anything to do with the McCracken case or not. What I can tell you is we want to look at every single lead that comes in."
Patty Doel, Tara Calico's mother, said in an phone interview from Port St. Joe, Fla., that she had heard a rumor within the last six months that her daughter and McCracken had dated.
"I heard that but I just didn't take it seriously because she had never mentioned him at all," Doel said.
Valencia County Sheriff's detective Rene Rivera said McCracken's name has never surfaced in his investigation into the Calico disappearance.
He's working on possible leads involving the body of a young woman found in Oklahoma.
The sheriff's department wants to compare X-rays of that body with Calico's X-rays. Doel said her daughter had portions of two vertebraes removed after being injured in an accident.
Meanwhile, Harris said his investigators also have requested additional tests of McCracken's deceased wife's hair and nails to determine whether they show any traces of any sort of a previously undetected chemical or toxic substance in her system.
Two autopsies have been unable to determine how she died, but a medical expert for the prosecution contends she was asphyxiated.
Samples of hair and nails were saved by the Office of the Medical Investigator during an autopsy.
Melanie and Mark McCracken were married for 18 months when he said he found her unconscious on the bed at their Bosque Farms home.
McCracken said he was rushing his wife to an Albuquerque hospital when he lost control of his car and rolled the car off N.M. 47. She was declared dead at the scene.
PHOTO: Color
CALICO: Last seen in 1988
Section: Metro & New Mexico
Page: E1
Index Terms: crime
Copyright (c) 2003 Albuquerque Journal
Record Number: 0FF9D61195FC2DB1