Does anyone know where to find those two photos online?

Hmmm I dont believe they were ever realeased to the public, or at least that is my understanding :) But I would think any leads would greatly help the case, especially the photo from the train that supposidly shows her next to a man might possibly open some leads if the public could see it.

Gosh this story was just so bizarre and sad on so many levels and I hadnt thought about it in quiet some time before coming here. A lot of these cases dont really hit home as hard because you rarely see the aftermath, but the photo from the hotel room really gave the case an even more distinct feeling of reality some times lacking in a recreation. I hope that make sense?

Hmmm I dont believe they were ever realeased to the public, or at least that is my understanding :) But I would think any leads would greatly help the case, especially the photo from the train that supposidly shows her next to a man might possibly open some leads if the public could see it.

Gosh this story was just so bizarre and sad on so many levels and I hadnt thought about it in quiet some time before coming here. A lot of these cases dont really hit home as hard because you rarely see the aftermath, but the photo from the hotel room really gave the case an even more distinct feeling of reality some times lacking in a recreation. I hope that make sense?
What hotel room photo? ive only seen the van photo

hahah I made a mistake in my post last night, that should read van photo :) So yes it would be the same photo you're thinking of.

Yes I also read somewhere that the other two photos were never released. It also seemed to say that police didn't think the other two photos were credible (I don't think even Tara's mother thought they were) so its just as well they were never released although for curiousity's sake I wouldn't mind seeing them. I believe they described one of them as a girl having duct tape across her eyes and she appeared to be sitting on a train. Its terrible that there are such cruel people out there who would try to add to this family's misery by manufacturing misleading photos. :mad:

I wouldnt mind seeing them either crystaldawn, after all the disscussion of this case and so much talk of the two other photos just out curiosity I would like to see them now. From what I was reading last night, I got a sense that the second photo was a blurry close up of her face, same duct tape over her mouth and stripped pillow was seen behind her head. Taras mother remarked that she thought the third photo was cruel joke, apparently it shows a girl with gauze over both eyes, wrists also bound by gauze, wearing dark rimmed glasses and sitting next to man on a train whos trying to make a scary face. I would think even if this photo turned out to be a joke it might help the case by releasing it and possibly getting an ID on the man and opening up a new lead. Or perhaps the photo is just so over the top that its an obvious joke and just a waist of time. Regardless I agree, if somebody is trying to pull off a joke its beyond sick and cruel and I find it very sad that people like that do exist and would take pleasure in tormenting this poor family.

The release photo was enough of a bummer for me.... I'm with crystaldawn on this one its sad that people that would take that photo are here with us in this world.

Patty Doel waited for Tara until the day she died
By Joline Gutierrez Krueger (Contact)
Thursday, June 8, 2006

Every girl, every woman, everyone who rode past on a bike was always Tara Calico.

Nearly 18 years since the freckle-faced 19-year-old failed to return from a bike ride near her Rio Communities home, and still it was always Tara.

Her mother, Patty Doel, imagined it was Tara, anyway. She always believed Tara would return on that neon pink bike, would have survived whatever snatched her up that warm September 1988 morning.

"Tara was always coming back," said her stepfather, John Doel. "Patty was looking for Tara right to the end."

The end came May 11. Patty Doel, 64, died of complications from a series of strokes in Port Charlotte, Fla.

They moved there nearly three years ago to a home John built on the water just for Patty. It was her dream home. It was a new start, but it had been agonizing to leave.

There was always the chance Tara would come back to the family home on Brugg Street, southeast of Belen, two miles from where bike tracks and remnants of the cassette tape she was listening to that day were found.

"If she were to come home, I could not ever tell her we gave up on her," Patty told me then.

Tara, then a very organized and active University of New Mexico sophomore, had gone off the morning of Sept. 20, 1988, like she always did for a 17-mile bike ride along an empty stretch of N.M. 47.

She worried about another flat tire delaying her plans for a tennis match with a boyfriend at 12:30 p.m.

"If I'm not back at noon, come get me," she told her mother.

Patty Doel left the house at 12:05 p.m. to look for her.

She looked for nearly 18 years.

The Doels organized search parties, sought media attention from local newspapers and national shows including "Oprah," "America's Most Wanted" and "48 Hours."

They were deputized so that they could conduct their own investigations, mailed out 200,000 fliers and photos of Tara, contacted law enforcement agencies around the world, prayed.

The case of Tara Calico became one of the most infamous missing persons cases in the nation, long before Elizabeth Smart, Chandra Levy or Robbie Romero.

And Patty Doel became a force of nature, hurling all her grit and passion into a heartbreaking search that her husband said eventually contributed to her failing health.

"She wanted, she needed to make a change, to put all this behind," he said in a phone call from Port Charlotte. "So we moved here."

For two years, they made a go of letting go in Port Charlotte. But neighbor Linda Killinger said Patty could never completely do that.

"She never gave up hope that Tara would return," she said.

A year or two after the move, the strokes came, each one taking another piece of Patty Doel. Her legs, her speech, her swallowing. She communicated by a message board until her loss of cognitive abilities made that impossible, too.

"We spent our golden years going to the doctors and the hospitals," John said.

Patty, a once-hardy woman now whittled down to 94 pounds, spent her last days looking out onto the waterway near their home. Each time a bike rider would pass, her disintegrating mind thought: Tara.

"I'd have to try to explain to her that it wasn't Tara, that it was a person too old or too young," John said.

Two months ago, FBI agents came around to take another blood sample from Patty. The sample will be analyzed for its mitochondrial DNA sequencing then stored in the National Missing Persons DNA Database should Tara ever be located, dead or alive.

Patty had always refused to get rid of all Tara's Christmas and birthday gifts that accumulated in the years since the disappearance. Back in New Mexico, the gifts were kept atop Tara's bed.

The gifts are still waiting in Florida.

Tara would be 37 now. She is still missing. And now, so is her mother

http://www.forthelost.org/acantrell.html

Antreas Chester Cantrell

Last seen on January 16, 1988 in Shasta Lake in Shasta County, California

http://www.forthelost.org/acantrell.html

Antreas Chester Cantrell

Last seen on January 16, 1988 in Shasta Lake in Shasta County, California

Incredible....looks like a possible match to me.

http://www.forthelost.org/acantrell.html

Antreas Chester Cantrell

Last seen on January 16, 1988 in Shasta Lake in Shasta County, California

There is some reason to believe it's not him. I can't remember. Ask DarkDante.

Tara ALWAYS went for a bike ride on an EMPTY stretch of N.M. 47?

That's risky to say the least since you'd biking all alone and if something were to happen to you then no one would see it.

Any sick predator could've staked the area out and noticed that Tara rode there all the time and then could've just been hiding in wait one day and just grabbed her!

This was not a good idea for Tara to have done this regularly and if she did do it she should've gone in a group or at least 1 other person. Also back then they didn't have cell phones plus you might not even be able to get a signal there even if they did.

There is some reason to believe it's not him. I can't remember. Ask DarkDante.

Well, the fact that the boy was on a boat that capsized over 3,000 miles away from where the photo was recovered and was never seen again does strongly suggest that he likely drowned that day...

Tara ALWAYS went for a bike ride on an EMPTY stretch of N.M. 47?

That's risky to say the least since you'd biking all alone and if something were to happen to you then no one would see it.

It's the type of case that would make someone afraid to be in an area like that alone. I myself am afraid to be in such an area by myself, especially if it's the type of area where you could go for miles without seeing another person.

It kind of reminds me of movies like Duel and The Hitcher.

I'm very interested to see the other two photos as well especially the second one. The reason is because there are supposedly a lot of similarities to the infamous first pic.

The first one, the film was not available until May 1989. And in the second one the film was no available until June 1989. Very close time line here.

Both pictures had the girl lying on similar blue-striped fabric.

There are also characteristics of Tara in the second photo such as the lazy eye and cowlick on the side.

Her mother believed the second one was also of her. She didn't think the third one was. Also it's worth noting, the scientists at Los Alamos believed the girl in the first picture was Tara Calico. And the photograph was taken in the back of a white Toyota cargo van with no windows, manufactured in the late 80's. The photo was found right where a white Toyota cargo van was parked a few minutes earlier.


I'd like to see the third one but only because everyone said it's so damn creepy. I think everyone dismissed it as a hoax though. Notice how a location was given as to where the first and second photos were found but not the third one. After the pictures hit the news, somebody likely sent in a prank photo.

I do find the similarities between the first two photos awfully interesting.

Tara ALWAYS went for a bike ride on an EMPTY stretch of N.M. 47?

That's risky to say the least since you'd biking all alone and if something were to happen to you then no one would see it.

Any sick predator could've staked the area out and noticed that Tara rode there all the time and then could've just been hiding in wait one day and just grabbed her!

This was not a good idea for Tara to have done this regularly and if she did do it she should've gone in a group or at least 1 other person. Also back then they didn't have cell phones plus you might not even be able to get a signal there even if they did.

You raise an excellent point that I have thought about for a long time but was afraid to mention it. Of course, no one deserves to be killed, but a lot of the victims on UM do things that put themselves in jeopardy. Everyone and everything from Matthew Chase going to an ATM at midnight in L.A., to Gretchen Buford not locking her car doors, to Don Adams picking up a hitchhiker.

I still would like to see that second and third photo if anyone has come accross it.

I would too. I think I read somewhere that possibly Dark Dante has seen it on a website but I'm not sure the website exists anymore?

I still would like to see that second and third photo if anyone has come accross it.


It's on page one of this thread. Just go to this website and scroll all the way down. :)

http://www.forthelost.org/acantrell.html

It's on page one of this thread. Just go to this website and scroll all the way down. :)

http://www.forthelost.org/acantrell.html

not that I can see. To my knowledge, the second and third photos aren't avaialble anywhere on the net currently.

The computer generated image of the boy is not common, though. I think I may have seen the third photo a long time ago and it was really fake looking.

http://www.forthelost.org/acantrell.html

Antreas Chester Cantrell

Last seen on January 16, 1988 in Shasta Lake in Shasta County, California

The boy looks similar but Antrea's eyebrows are stronger and darker while you can barely see the boy's in the photo. You can see the girl's clearly, so it's not a trick of the light.

I highly doubt the boy in the photo is Antreas Cantrell. Antreas was involved in a boating accident, what's the probability that he washes up to shore somewhere to be kidnapped by the sickos who also kidnapped Tara Calico?

The biggest reason I don't think the girl in the photo is Tara is because I don't believe Tara was ever abducted. Her bike was never found, had some creep pulled up alongside her, why would they take the time to subdue Tara and also take her bike so they could hide it later? It doesn't make any sense. Had someone kidnapped her, in all likelihood they would have snatched her off her bike and hightail it out of there. The fact that her bike has never been found suggests that this may have been an accident that was covered up.

The biggest reason I don't think the girl in the photo is Tara is because I don't believe Tara was ever abducted. Her bike was never found, had some creep pulled up alongside her, why would they take the time to subdue Tara and also take her bike so they could hide it later? It doesn't make any sense. Had someone kidnapped her, in all likelihood they would have snatched her off her bike and hightail it out of there. The fact that her bike has never been found suggests that this may have been an accident that was covered up.

well it would only take a few seconds to toss her bike in a van, for example. Plus, I believe this happened in a deserted area.

well it would only take a few seconds to toss her bike in a van, for example. Plus, I believe this happened in a deserted area.

How would they be able to subdue her long enough to where they could retrieve the bike and put it in the van? And why were they so concerned about taking the bike, but not her headphones and cassette player?

How would they be able to subdue her long enough to where they could retrieve the bike and put it in the van? And why were they so concerned about taking the bike, but not her headphones and cassette player?

well if it's several large men we're talking about, I don't think Tara would be able to put up much of a fight.

Not to sound like a jerk. but if two men held her down in the van and the third one grabbed the Bike it wouldn't be that hard to snatch her. just sayin'. the main investigator on the case seems to think a few (then young) men abducted her, killed her, and buried her. but since there is no proof or a body he can't arrest them.

Or there is another theory that surmises she was accidently hit by a vehicle and then buried in somewhere.

Even though it is currently unproven, and the two boys, now grown men, are still free due to lack of evidence, I think the local sheriff's office was dead-on when they recently released information about what happened to Tara Calico.

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/c/calico_tara.html

Gives a brief summary of what LE believes happened. For a lot more detail, I recommend pages 14-19 of "Bound" on the missing and unidentified website

http://missing-and-unidentified.org/bound.pdf

As for the famous photos... I hope (perhaps naively) that they are cruel hoaxes.

well if it's several large men we're talking about, I don't think Tara would be able to put up much of a fight.

Aren't most child abductions perpetrated by one person? Even if there was two people involved, one would have been driving while the other was nabbing Tara. I just doubt anyone would have wanted to wait around (no matter how desolate the area was) to pick up the bike. In all likelihood they would have wanted to hightail it out of there ASAP.

Even though it is currently unproven, and the two boys, now grown men, are still free due to lack of evidence, I think the local sheriff's office was dead-on when they recently released information about what happened to Tara Calico.

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/c/calico_tara.html

Gives a brief summary of what LE believes happened. For a lot more detail, I recommend pages 14-19 of "Bound" on the missing and unidentified website

http://missing-and-unidentified.org/bound.pdf

As for the famous photos... I hope (perhaps naively) that they are cruel hoaxes.

Thanks for this link. Until reading this "book," I had never known of suspect "M" who is referred to in the text. Does anyone have more information on the potential suspect(s)? I know from reading these boards (admittedly, I'm a lurker, haha) that the police department had two men in mind but never had enough evidence to charge them, but this "M" is something new to me.

On the subject of the second and third photos: Going entirely on memory alone the second photo was a closeup of the side of a girl's face while the third seemed to be a picture of a girl with her hands bound with some type of plastic handcuffs and "her abductor" was also in this shot.

The third photo was believed to have been a hoax and was even featured for awhile on a website covering the case although that site is long gone now. I believe Tara's mother even mentioned that she didn't believe that the girl in the third photograph was her daughter.

That Van picture is creepy. The look of fear in their eyes haunts me. I think there is no doubt at all the girl is Tara Calico, but the boy does seem to look alot like that Antreas Chester Cantrell kid more than the Michael henley kid....just my opinion

That Van picture is creepy. The look of fear in their eyes haunts me. I think there is no doubt at all the girl is Tara Calico, but the boy does seem to look alot like that Antreas Chester Cantrell kid more than the Michael henley kid....just my opinion

There is definitely a resemblance, but I read that Tara's Walkman was found near the potential burial site for her body. In order to leave this area [campground], one would have to exit the same way they entered. If it is correct that her Walkman was found there, why would it be unless someone was going to either bury her body or bring it there temporarily until the time of burial? I feel that her body is still in the county she lived in.

Even though it is currently unproven, and the two boys, now grown men, are still free due to lack of evidence, I think the local sheriff's office was dead-on when they recently released information about what happened to Tara Calico.

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/c/calico_tara.html

Gives a brief summary of what LE believes happened. For a lot more detail, I recommend pages 14-19 of "Bound" on the missing and unidentified website

http://missing-and-unidentified.org/bound.pdf

As for the famous photos... I hope (perhaps naively) that they are cruel hoaxes.

Apologies for the thread revival, but I noticed the page featuring "Bound" is now vacant. Does anyone have (or know of an active link) to the Bound.pdf? I wish I would've downloaded it before when I first read it.

There was some speculation that Tara dropped pieces of her Walkman and cassette to leave a trail.

I know people will disagree but I am 100 pct positive it is not Tara in the pic. In the past few days I have been compelled by the Polaroid, looking at it and comparing it to school pictures of Tara. Look at the eyebrows. The shape of the eyebrows is dramatically different , it really isn't close.

Something kept bothering me about the photo, I think this was what it was.

I know people will disagree but I am 100 pct positive it is not Tara in the pic. In the past few days I have been compelled by the Polaroid, looking at it and comparing it to school pictures of Tara. Look at the eyebrows. The shape of the eyebrows is dramatically different , it really isn't close.

Something kept bothering me about the photo, I think this was what it was.

I've always agreed with that. The jawline doesn't look right either: the girl in the photo has a much squarer jawline than Tara.

The one thing that has never been brought up, at least to my knowledge, is this: Tara disappeared on a lonely road in New Mexico. The van and the picture showed up in a one-horse town (population under 3,000 in 1989) in Florida. How many people would have enough of a connection with both areas to kidnap Tara in rural New Mexico then drop a photo in Port St. Joe, FL? I'm thinking there's a very small possibility that anyone did.

Considering that, the discrepancies between Tara and the girl in the picture, and the inability of authorities to decide which missing kid the boy in the photo is ("it's this kid....no wait we found his body, so it must be this other missing kid!") I am certain that the first photo is a hoax as well. Why someone would do that is beyond me, but it's the only explanation that makes sense.

Im gonna have to disagree....while I do respect your opinion Im gonna have to go and say that Im sure this photo has been dissected to death by professionals....and with the amount of professionals that have viewed this photo and said they think it is Tara Im inclined to go ahead and believe that it is cause I know my untrained eye while not thinking it looks like her isnt as sharp as those that do it for a living. And its hard to tell in pictures if certain facial features are right due to different angles in different photos...Ive seen many pictures on UM and they show more than 1 of a person and it looks like a total different person. And most kidnappers take people from a small town and travel a long distance to a bigger town.

It's really a shame that despite so many people from Valencia County claiming to know what happened to Tara and are now speaking up, nothing has changed. The Governor of New Mexico even issued an arrest warrant for these boys for Tara's murder in 2008 but without a body, no arrest can be made.

http://www.change.org/petitions/the-governor-of-nm-issue-arrest-warrants-for-the-suspected-murderers-of-tara-calico

Tara Calico mysteriously disappeared on Septemeber 20, 1988. According to a press relase from their office in 2008, the Valencia County Sheriff's Department claimed they know who killed/hurt or abducted Tara Calico in 1988. They have enough information for an arrest warrant but the New Mexico DA's office will not arrest anyone without finding Tara's body first. The killer(s) have been allowed to continue with their normal lives.

A girl rides a bike on a lonely stretch of road. Then, poof, she's gone.

The mystery of Tara Calico's disappearance began to unfurl a little after noon on Sept. 20, 1988, when Tara's mother drove south on N.M. 47 from Rio Communities, expecting to find her daughter with a flat tire. Instead, all she found in the dirt on the side of the road was a tire track from the bike Tara was riding.

Tara never came home, and so began a family's chain of sorrow. And a puzzle that fed the television crime shows. And a police case that has now stretched out to fill two banker's boxes and 20 years.

Gone without a trace.

At least that has been the storyline.

But to Valencia County Sheriff Rene Rivera, the case isn't much of a whodunit.

He says he knows what happened, and has for years.

Twenty years into the Tara Calico mystery, Rivera would like to let everyone in on what happened to 19-year-old Tara out on N.M. 47 on that September day:

"The individuals who did the harm to Tara, knew who she was," Rivera told me. "They knew who she was, and they're all local individuals. And I believe that the parents (of the attackers) were some of the people that helped the individuals with hiding the truth or hiding the body or trying to escape prosecution."

Tara was 19 and starting her second year in college. Her attackers were boys she had gone to high school with, although they were behind her in school and younger, Rivera says.

"She was a real pretty girl. She was very athletic and a lot of guys wanted to talk to her, they wanted to meet her, they wanted to go out with her. And while she was riding the bike, they went up to try to talk to her, try to grab her, whatever, while she was on the bike."

The truck they were driving accidentally hit Tara, Rivera says, and bad turned worse.

Rivera has been working on the case since he started as a deputy in 1989, since he was promoted to detective in 1996 and since he was elected sheriff in 2006. For all of those years, the walls of Valencia County have been talking, naming names of the boys who were in the truck, names of the boys who helped bury Tara's body after they killed her, names of the parents and other relatives who helped clean up and cover up the mess.

Rivera says he has had enough information to get arrest warrants for the two boys - now men - whom he has identified as the killers. Two others have been identified as accomplices.

Then why, 20 years later, are we marking another milestone anniversary of a missing person's case?

Because Tara Calico is still missing.

"It's kind of hard to make a case," Rivera says, "without a body."

Rivera and Detective James Purdy are still talking to people about Tara Calico, and they're hoping that time will wear away some of the resistance to answering that one lingering question: What did they do with her?

"You know it's very frustrating, being that there's a lot of people that know what happened," Rivera said. "They know the whereabouts of the body or the remains.

"A lot of the information that we are getting is because people are starting to open up a little more. When this first happened, people were scared. People were threatened not to speak out because what happened to Tara could happen to them."

One of the most riveting aspects of the Calico case was a Polaroid photo found outside a convenience store in Florida a little less than a year after Calico went missing. It showed a bound young woman who looked strikingly similar to Tara, in the back of a van, staring at the camera. A boy, also bound, was lying next to her.

Tara's parents had the photo analyzed by Scotland Yard and said it was determined to be Tara. An investigator for the Valencia County District Attorney had a Los Alamos National Laboratory analysis that determined it wasn't.

Maybe the photo was of Tara, Rivera says. But all of his informants tell him Tara never left home.

"I believe the body's nearby," he says. And he believes her bike will be with it.

Tara's father died in 2002. Her mother died in 2006. Living family members, kids when Tara was a kid, are grown. Tara would be 39 later this month.

"I want to be able to give them closure, to be able to say, you know, I got the individuals who did whatever they did to her. I was able to recover the remains and give them to them to give her a proper burial."

Tara Calico's disappearance is one of New Mexico's oldest, most lingering cold cases.

"Actually, it's a mystery that's getting hotter every day," Rivera told me. "Some people have this information, and they've had it for so long that they've gotten sick by hiding the information they have, and now they're coming forward to try to relieve themselves.

"Some of these people that were witnesses to the crime have been scared to come forward. They think that, being that they were there, that they're going to get prosecuted for the death. At this point, what I want to let people to know is that, if there were witnesses there, I'm willing to work with them. I need to have their information. I need to be able to recover this body."

That's a very interesting read, dynoguy88. Thanks for posting it.

Someone made these points on another site: the FBI believed that the girl in the "van picture" was 15 years old. Tara Calico was 19 when she disappeared. I suppose that there are 19-year-old girls who look younger than they are, but I've never heard that claim for Tara.

The other thing I noticed again when looking at the picture is--and it almost seems weird to say this--the girl in the van picture just doesn't look like someone who took daily long-distance bike rides. Because I didn't own a car when I lived in the UK, I took my bike everywhere, and, believe me, your legs get solid. Even years later you can tell I exercised extensively. I just can't believe that Tara, who rode at least 36 miles a day and probably rode more than that if she were going somewhere else during the day, would have had her legs atrophy in nine months to the point where she looked like the skinny-legged girl in the picture.

Oh, one other thing: those "second" and "third" pictures were likely never on the internet. NOTHING disappears from the internet completely...the Wayback Machine or Google Cache should have held them if they had been on the net.

Oh, one other thing: those "second" and "third" pictures were likely never on the internet. NOTHING disappears from the internet completely...the Wayback Machine or Google Cache should have held them if they had been on the net.

One related picture that I remember seeing (perhaps in the "Bound" manuscript) was the train photo with a woman who was blindfolded (IIRC) and a rather creepy dude sitting next to her, purportedly her abductor. I think it was considered a hoax, but I have never been able to find it again. :/

Oh, one other thing: those "second" and "third" pictures were likely never on the internet. NOTHING disappears from the internet completely...the Wayback Machine or Google Cache should have held them if they had been on the net.

You would be surprised. I've seen things online "disappear". I think DD even said he saw the third photo online at some point. I have no reason to doubt him. The poster above me claims to have seen it too. There are too many descriptions of this photo floating around for it not to have been published somewhere.

The second photo hasn't been released to my knowledge.

Just following up on a previous mention that the link to the Bound Site is now down. Anyone know where this article can be found?

You would be surprised. I've seen things online "disappear". I think DD even said he saw the third photo online at some point. I have no reason to doubt him. The poster above me claims to have seen it too. There are too many descriptions of this photo floating around for it not to have been published somewhere.

The second photo hasn't been released to my knowledge.

I've definitely seen the 3rd photo, and it was in the "Bound" manuscript. I can't recall ever seeing the 2nd photo. But the 3rd photo is most definitely a hoax, it's just too weird not to be, and certainly doesn't seem to be involved in the Tara Calico disappearance at all other than it being another hostage-type image.

I've definitely seen the 3rd photo, and it was in the "Bound" manuscript. I can't recall ever seeing the 2nd photo. But the 3rd photo is most definitely a hoax, it's just too weird not to be, and certainly doesn't seem to be involved in the Tara Calico disappearance at all other than it being another hostage-type image.

Something about reading of descriptions of the third photo freaks me out a bit. Apparantly info on this photo varies I read someone describe the abductor in the photo as making a goofy face and another as making a very creepy face. The fact that it was taken on an Amtrak train leads me to believe it was a hoax. Atleast I would hope if someone was being held hostage with gauze around their face on a train some of the other passengers would notice! I'm suprised it wasn't reported to someone even if it was a hoax by one of the passengers on the train. Were there any other passengers in the photo?

I wish someone that remembers seeing this photo could post a more detailed description of it and their opinion of it.

It's strange how this third photo has all but dissapeared from the internet.

Something about reading of descriptions of the third photo freaks me out a bit. Apparantly info on this photo varies I read someone describe the abductor in the photo as making a goofy face and another as making a very creepy face. The fact that it was taken on an Amtrak train leads me to believe it was a hoax. Atleast I would hope if someone was being held hostage with gauze around their face on a train some of the other passengers would notice! I'm suprised it wasn't reported to someone even if it was a hoax by one of the passengers on the train. Were there any other passengers in the photo?

I wish someone that remembers seeing this photo could post a more detailed description of it and their opinion of it.

It's strange how this third photo has all but dissapeared from the internet.

No from what I recall there were no other passengers in the third photograph and the girl in the photograph from memory resembled the actress Rebecca Schaeffer not Tara Calico.

Something about reading of descriptions of the third photo freaks me out a bit. Apparantly info on this photo varies I read someone describe the abductor in the photo as making a goofy face and another as making a very creepy face. The fact that it was taken on an Amtrak train leads me to believe it was a hoax. Atleast I would hope if someone was being held hostage with gauze around their face on a train some of the other passengers would notice! I'm suprised it wasn't reported to someone even if it was a hoax by one of the passengers on the train. Were there any other passengers in the photo?

I wish someone that remembers seeing this photo could post a more detailed description of it and their opinion of it.

It's strange how this third photo has all but dissapeared from the internet.

To echo what Dante said, it is only two people in the photo, a man and a woman (the victim, who does not resemble Tara Calico whatsoever). It's entirely possible they were on a train and came upon an empty car. I apologize for not being able to remember many details, it's been awhile since I've seen it. FWIW, I believe the abductor had glasses on, and the victim had her eyes covered with what looks like drug store medical gauze.

I think the question of "goofy" or "creepy" is entirely subjective. Personally, it just has the look of the kind of picture that you'd take with friends as a joke (albeit a sick one). Maybe they got bored on a train and thought it would be funny. Maybe as an inside joke, it was, but when juxtaposed with the Tara Calico photo, it's seems pretty creepy overall.

Again, I've tried finding a copy of the Bound manuscript but no such luck. For what it lacked in something that would be professionally published, it was clearly someone's labor of love who was interested in the case. I'm hoping whomever took the time to write the manuscript will re-upload it at some point in the near future.

Also, as far as it being on the internet, I've never seen it. I believe the only place I've personally found it was in that manuscript.

Also, as far as it being on the internet, I've never seen it. I believe the only place I've personally found it was in that manuscript.

Off topic, but I LOVE your avatar!

Also, about these photos, I've seen neither but curiosity is getting to me!

Off topic, but I LOVE your avatar!

Also, about these photos, I've seen neither but curiosity is getting to me!

Haha many thanks! :D

I even pulled out an old hard drive backup image I made awhile ago just to see if I had the Bound manuscript on there, but no such luck. I'd like to think at least one of the members here downloaded it at some point and may have it lying around in a "True Crime" folder somewhere on their PC!

These photos (especially the 2nd and 3rd ones) feel very dubious to me, just like red herrings. I mean, how many cases have there been where a young girl is abducted and then months if not years later her abductor still not only has her alive and held captive somewhere, but is actually taking photos of her for public display? Sure this could be one of the few cases of that, but I doubt it.

That NM sheriff just needs to stop beating around the bush, if he really knows anything. And if he does, that -- not the photos -- seems the likely way we'll ever find answers to this mystery.

These photos (especially the 2nd and 3rd ones) feel very dubious to me, just like red herrings. I mean, how many cases have there been where a young girl is abducted and then months if not years later her abductor still not only has her alive and held captive somewhere, but is actually taking photos of her for public display? Sure this could be one of the few cases of that, but I doubt it.

That NM sheriff just needs to stop beating around the bush, if he really knows anything. And if he does, that -- not the photos -- seems the likely way we'll ever find answers to this mystery.

Agree on the 1st point. On the 2nd, the sheriff has basically said they know who the perpetrators are but don't have enough evidence to secure a conviction, and that there are certain political/moneyed interests that have played a role in the suppression of evidence. If that is indeed the case, the discussion of the photos is a moot point as the sheriff has basically said that TC was killed and buried not far from where she disappeared. It would mean none of the photos are legitimate, at least in terms of the TC case.

That's unfortunate that they don't have sufficient evidence... hopefully there will be a break in the case eventually! And as for political/moneyed interest suppressing it... truly sad. I suspect something similar in the more recent Maura Murray case, and probably many others we just don't know about.

That's unfortunate that they don't have sufficient evidence... hopefully there will be a break in the case eventually! And as for political/moneyed interest suppressing it... truly sad.

The way I understood it (please correct me if I'm wrong) is that the sheriff has claimed that two young men were involved in the TC case. Somehow they hit her with their truck. The parents of these two young men took deliberate steps to hide/destroy evidence (i.e. Tara's bike) and to make sure the body was hidden with enough care and foresight that the location has eluded investigators to this day. The sheriff implied that this information has been revealed as a result of witnesses/certain people close to the situation who have finally come forward. Again though, the lack of a body and other evidence to tie these suspects to the scene seems to preclude the sheriff from moving forward. It seems like this case could grow from a murder investigation to a larger conspiracy investigation as well.

Personally, I'm surprised that they don't try to find her body again, especially with these informants coming to light.

I've always wondered why the sheriff would publicly reveal all this stuff and let the perps know that they're this close to being arrested. I have to wonder if he's hoping they might panic and try to move the body or something, so he can catch them in the act. Otherwise, he's giving them ample opportunity to cover their tracks or dream up an escape plan should they be forced to go on the run.

I've always wondered why the sheriff would publicly reveal all this stuff and let the perps know that they're this close to being arrested. I have to wonder if he's hoping they might panic and try to move the body or something, so he can catch them in the act. Otherwise, he's giving them ample opportunity to cover their tracks or dream up an escape plan should they be forced to go on the run.

It was mentioned in that article that the sheriff collected enough evidence (minus a body) over the years to make an arrest. I assume that means he's interviewed these guys many times. They had to have known they were the main suspects before the sheriff even revealed what he did. Even so, he never gave away their names. The Governor of New Mexico had already signed their arrest warrants. The sheriff revealing what he did was probably more for the public who has been dying to know what had happened to Tara for the past 2 decades.

These guys know that without a body, nothing can be done to them. Even with all the evidence pointing to them. So covering any tracks doesn't make a difference. They could have buried her anywhere in that desert, sadly.

To get this thread back on topic I just wanted to point out some other things I read in connection with this third photo. In one article I read it was mentioned that the police received several prank photos in connection with this case (just reminds you how sick some people are), yet this photo was taken seriously by the police and is mentioned in most articles on Tara Calico along with the first two photos.

Also it was mentioned in an article that a composite drawing was made by the police of the "abductor" in the third photo and released in connection with this case (unfortunately locating this composite online is just as hard as trying to locate the third photo itself). The fact that police took this photo seriously enough to have it mentioned in several articles and that a composite was made of the man in the picture is very telling especially when one considers the police dismissed other photos they received which they believed to be pranks.

This raises the chance that this "prank" photo may not be a prank at all :eek:
Heck there are several people who believe the first photo may be a prank and I find that hard to believe so there is a chance that if this photo is posted it might not be as cut and dry whether this is a prank or not.

I also wish the articles which mention how and where this photo was found. We are given details in articles about where the first two photos were found, but not the third one.

Also like I had mentioned before there are various descriptions of the man in the man as making a goofy face or a creepy face. There is a big difference between the two and I wish I could see the photo and judge for myself.

I really hope someone can find this picture and post it again. It is an important part of this case and hopefully someone can recognize and locate that man. Atleast we would then find out if this was a prank or something alot more sinister.....

If the third photo the police refer to is indeed the "train" photo some of us have seen, I'm not sure how they can be taking it seriously unless there is more evidence regarding the photo than has been revealed to the public (e.g. a ransom note, suspects, etc.). It doesn't share much with the 1st photo. The 1st (and the only one readily available) seems to show genuine looks of terror on those kids faces, but no kidnapper whatsoever. I'm going off of memory on the 3rd photo, but the 3rd photo is different. The girl (again, from what I can remember) is completely calm and furthermore looks nothing like Tara Calico; the "abductor" is present in the photo, and by definition, there has to be another conspirator who is taking the picture. In fact, unlike some of the ties found in the first picture (the novel, for one), the third picture seems to only be related on the premise that a.) there is someone possibly kidnapped and photographed b.) Tara Calico was possibly kidnapped and then photographed.

If the third photo the police refer to is indeed the "train" photo some of us have seen, I'm not sure how they can be taking it seriously unless there is more evidence regarding the photo than has been revealed to the public (e.g. a ransom note, suspects, etc.). It doesn't share much with the 1st photo. The 1st (and the only one readily available) seems to show genuine looks of terror on those kids faces, but no kidnapper whatsoever. I'm going off of memory on the 3rd photo, but the 3rd photo is different. The girl (again, from what I can remember) is completely calm and furthermore looks nothing like Tara Calico; the "abductor" is present in the photo, and by definition, there has to be another conspirator who is taking the picture. In fact, unlike some of the ties found in the first picture (the novel, for one), the third picture seems to only be related on the premise that a.) there is someone possibly kidnapped and photographed b.) Tara Calico was possibly kidnapped and then photographed.



yes the third photo is the train photo.
don't get me wrong when reading a description of it I initially thought this photo was a hoax due to the fact it was taken on an amtrak train, however when I read that the police received several other photos that were either mailed in or found and dismissed them but had reason to look into this photo some more. The fact that they had a composite made of the man in the photo confirms something you brought up and that almost always happens in police investigations and that is that it is possible there is more to the third photo that the police have not revealed or are withholding for whatever reason.

I'm actually suprised the second photo was never released since based on what I read it is almost certain it is the same girl in the first photo.

All three photos are disturbing considering the possibilities of what could be taking place.

I'm going off of memory on the 3rd photo, but the 3rd photo is different. The girl (again, from what I can remember) is completely calm .

wasn't her whole face covered in gauze?
how could you tell if she was calm or not.

In my humble opinion I believe the Photos mailed in are fakes. Yes kidnappers and serial killers etc. really *are* that brazen to taunt the Police like that. But it just seems so over the top. Posing on a Train for a Kodak moment? I just can't picture the kidnapper dragging a girl wrapped up in tape etc. around the station without someone alerting authorities.to me it seems like a sick joke. the "creepy/disturbing face" the kidnapper apparently makes just seals it for me.

I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to track the guy in the photo down for impeding the investigation when he mailed Photos in. can't people get arrested for making prank phones calls etc. to the Police? Maybe I've been watching too much TV.

wasn't her whole face covered in gauze?
how could you tell if she was calm or not.

It's not her entire face. Just her eyes. You can still see the rest of her face and her body language. Staged and stiff, perhaps? Yes. But very different from the original TC photo.

Not sure if this is indeed the "Bound" manuscript, but it's the closest I've come to finding it online:

http://books.google.com/books/about/Tara_Calico.html?id=QdPcXwAACAAJ

It's not her entire face. Just her eyes. You can still see the rest of her face and her body language. Staged and stiff, perhaps? Yes. But very different from the original TC photo.

I see thanks for posting that it definately clears that up.
This third photo definately sounds like a hoax so I'm baffled as to why the police took this seriously.

2xJ what is your opinion on the notorious first photo?
Do you believe it was staged and do you beleive it was Tara in the photo?

I am undecided as to whether it is indeed Tara in the photo, but I do not feel the photo was staged. The girl in the photo definately does not appear to be acting or faking her expression. The same goes for the boy.

An article I read makes a claim that witnesses claim they saw the girl in the photo walking along a beach with a group of men following closely behind her apparantly ordering her to keep walking.
Very Creepy.
I just hope we find out someday what happened to her.

I see thanks for posting that it definately clears that up.
This third photo definately sounds like a hoax so I'm baffled as to why the police took this seriously.

I think it's as you've alluded to: law enforcement knows more than they're revealing about it. What's most odd to me is that the the first picture is almost guerrilla style whereas the third photo, from memory, just seemed completely staged, like an art project of some sort. But I'm not sure. I can't remember the second photo at all, so I'm not sure about its providence or relevance to the Tara Calico case. Somewhere along the line, a profiler or investigator must have thought enough about them to group them in with the Tara Calico file for reasons unbeknownst to us.


2xJ what is your opinion on the notorious first photo?
Do you believe it was staged and do you beleive it was Tara in the photo?

Honestly, I don't think it's her. And it isn't because I've studied the photo intently - I know from lurking here for awhile that there have been discussions down to the girl's eyebrows and other similar microanalysis - but I think the sheriff's story seems to be the most plausible. She was riding her bike, the victim of a hit and run, and the perpetrators had the resources to cover up the crime. As dynoguy88 said, without a body though, it's not enough to stand up in court. I'm assuming Tara's bike was scrapped or destroyed in such a way that investigators haven't been able to find it. That pretty much leaves her walkman and this photo as our base of knowledge. And the photo, like I said, I'm still skeptical about. I know Tara's mother believed it was her.

The girl in the photo definately does not appear to be acting or faking her expression. The same goes for the boy.

An article I read makes a claim that witnesses claim they saw the girl in the photo walking along a beach with a group of men following closely behind her apparantly ordering her to keep walking.
Very Creepy.
I just hope we find out someday what happened to her.

It makes me wonder if because this photo was assumed to be Tara Calico and Michael Henley for so long, maybe whomever the children actually are have been done a tragic disservice. We know it isn't Michael Henley. We know FBI experts couldn't confirm it was Tara Calico in the picture. In fact, the photo was found in Florida, not New Mexico, where Tara disappeared. So who are these children? The idea of them being sold into the sex trade or the victim of someone like Philip Garrido seems like a real possibility. Like you said, witness information from Florida identified a girl matching her description was at the beach the presence of several males and seemed to be in distress. Florida may have been the source for young children and teenagers who were kidnapped and trafficked into Latin America (perhaps in a similar vain to Lisa Bishop and the "Freedon"). I'd suspect the authorities in Florida would know more about that but if the photo is indeed of Tara, it seems odd that she'd be surreptitiously taken from New Mexico and brought to Florida.

If the photo really is of Tara, and it was for some kind of sex trade/human trafficking, it's scary to think of that image like some sort of catalog and her captor distributing it to willing buyers. But that's taking this way too far in the speculative direction, and opens up entirely new cans of worms (e.g. if this is for some sort of sex trade, why has this one polaroid been found and not other copies to potential interested parties? You'd think at some point investigators would have, whether it was looking at pedophiles or other related criminals, they'd find another copy of this picture).

I'd suspect the authorities in Florida would know more about that but if the photo is indeed of Tara, it seems odd that she'd be surreptitiously taken from New Mexico and brought to Florida.

Just to play devil's advocate, he could have taken the photo in NM, "disposed" of those two poor victims, and driven to FL, where the picture was left on accident/purpose.

No, I don't believe that, but just covering the bases.

Just to play devil's advocate, he could have taken the photo in NM, "disposed" of those two poor victims, and driven to FL, where the picture was left on accident/purpose.

No, I don't believe that, but just covering the bases.

Absolutely. And I think that gets right to the heart of the issue - if the photo is legitimate, Tara Calico's situation gets extrapolated into something much more nebulous.

Like you said, witness information from Florida identified a girl matching her description was at the beach the presence of several males and seemed to be in distress.

This is what troubled me alot. This was the first UM case I ever saw as a kid and that polaroid has haunted me. I have read a ton of articles on this case and while I am still on the fence as to whether or not the girl in the photo is Tara If I was forced to choose I was lean toward saying it was not her.
An article mentions the witnesses seeing a girl on the beach in distress being followed very closely by a group of men. One I read mentions these witnesses reported it to the police that day and were later shown the polaroid after it was discovered and they all identified the girl in the photo as the girl they saw at the beach. This leads me to believe the girl at the beach was being kidnapped and was probably being threatened not to run or else they would harm her. I am assuming these men were taking her to their vehicle.

The girl in the photo also was believed to be 15 by some people and not 19 which is the age Tara. I am assuming that since this girl was 15 she was still young enough to be scared enough to listen to these men's threats instead of running and screaming which likely would have done more good for her not being abducted. She was in a public place and had these people done anything I would like to believe someone would have stepped in to try and save her. I can only assume she was scared and hoped if she listened to what these men said they would have eventually let her go
Unfortunately it does not appear that is what happened :(

It's reading about this eyewitness testimony that leads me to believe the first photo is not staged.
As for the chances that could have been Tara on the beach, well it is likely but I highly doubt it.
It seems like you said that if this girl is not Tara and whoever the girl is in that photo is likely to never have her identity known.

What gets me about this case is the sheriff who is sure that two boys slightly younger than Tara did this. HOW did this information come to light about hitting her and then killing her to cover it up? I know she was seen being followed, but where did they get this nugget of information, if it is indeed true? Did it come from a rumor and the sheriff found witnesses to corroborate? All I know is, if the boys did do it and their families helped cover it up, they should feel guilty for the rest of their lives. Tara's parents died without answers and that is just despicable.

I still have to wonder if the first photo is legit because of the mark Tara's mother said matched a birthmark of her daughter's. And that VC Andrews connection is SO creepy. Tara was a fan and it's in the picture? Is it possible that she had a bag with her that day and the book was inside? Just wondering. Trying to find connections here.

What gets me about this case is the sheriff who is sure that two boys slightly younger than Tara did this. HOW did this information come to light about hitting her and then killing her to cover it up? I know she was seen being followed, but where did they get this nugget of information, if it is indeed true? Did it come from a rumor and the sheriff found witnesses to corroborate? All I know is, if the boys did do it and their families helped cover it up, they should feel guilty for the rest of their lives. Tara's parents died without answers and that is just despicable.

I can't remember the exact article on this point, but for some reason I want to say it was a relative of one the killers who had finally come forward with information regarding her death and the subsequent coverup which prompted further investigation.

I still have to wonder if the first photo is legit because of the mark Tara's mother said matched a birthmark of her daughter's. And that VC Andrews connection is SO creepy. Tara was a fan and it's in the picture? Is it possible that she had a bag with her that day and the book was inside? Just wondering. Trying to find connections here.

Has anyone here ever read the book in question? I'm curious as to it's plot and if it has any relevance to a kidnapping or other crime. It could be entirely coincidental that it was Tara's favorite author. But maybe the book's contents may have some sort of significance to the abductor - if we're assuming the photo is authentic whether or not it actually is Tara - rather than being of significance to the victim? Reminds me of the Cindy Anderson "kidnapping."

FWIW, I think Michael Henley's parents also felt that the boy in the photo was their son, yet in hindsight that seems to have been impossible.

Holy s***. I just found this on Reddit. What do you guys think? Could it be her?
http://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/33w74q/possible_new_lead_found_in_tara_calico_case/

Interesting development. I'm at work, so I can't dig too deep right now. Incidentally, I clicked on the link and saw boobage, so just an FYI, it's not work safe.

Holy s***. I just found this on Reddit. What do you guys think? Could it be her?
http://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/33w74q/possible_new_lead_found_in_tara_calico_case/

I saw this yesterday. I'm 100 % positive the girl in the second photo is not Tara or the same girl from the Polaroid. It's clear that the second girl's eyes and nose are totally different. But either way, I do hope this is thoroughly investigated in case the girl in the second photo is in real jeopardy.

I saw this yesterday. I'm 100 % positive the girl in the second photo is not Tara or the same girl from the Polaroid. It's clear that the second girl's eyes and nose are totally different. But either way, I do hope this is thoroughly investigated in case the girl in the second photo is in real jeopardy.

Its interesting that they are relating this to Tara differences you mention are striking, Robin. I wonder what makes them think it may be Tara?

Its interesting that they are relating this to Tara differences you mention are striking, Robin. I wonder what makes them think it may be Tara?

I think the fact that there are two other alleged Polaroids of Tara which were never publicly released has made people think that they will be leaked onto the Internet someday. I know one of those Polaroids supposedly showed a girl with duct tape over her mouth, much like this photo circulating right now.

One poster posted this on Reddit.

http://i.imgur.com/ZFfWTTK.gif
This is the "new" image and Tara's portrait from a yearbook or something. The eyes and eyebrows and bridge of the nose are identical (if you ignore the different lighting and direction the eyes are pointed), although in the new image the eyebrows look a little bit thinner (plucked, or just ****ty image quality).

http://i.imgur.com/D6iM0IA.png nsfw Is this the second photo?

^ nope. IIRC, the second photo shows the same girl as in the first photo, on the same pillow. This photo (which was posted on 4Chan, I believe) is some other girl.

http://culturecrossfire.com/etc/unsolved-mysteries-and-scary-stuff-tara-calico-and-joan-gay-croft/#.VYwfbflViko

I did a write up on Joan Gay Croft and Tara Calico's stories for my true crime series.

That 4chan/Reddit discussion is quite interesting! I'm wondering what comes out of it. They even linked to this thread for the earlier discussion on the manuscript.

FWIW, I did a bit more searching this morning with the Wayback Machine and found that the parent site for the missing-and-unidentified page (which is where the "Bound" e-book was originally hosted) is at the following URL:

http://z10.invisionfree.com/usedtobedoe/index.php?

Anyone here a member of this forum? Perhaps someone can dig a bit and see if they can find a working link on here to that manuscript. If nothing else, any evidence of the photos in question should be documented.

Here's an interesting reply to my article above from a FB page:

Lois Duncan Months after Tara Calico vanished in Albuquerque, NM, our own teenage daughter, Kait Arquette, was chased down in Albq. & shot to death. Tara's mother, Patty, immediately phoned me to discuss the possibility of our daughters' cases being somehow linked. But hard as we tried, we could find no connection. The girls didn't seem to have known each other & had little in common other than their ages.