Just came across this interesting thread about Tara Calico on the "Unresolved Mysteries" Reddit, providing a lot of surprising details about the circumstances of her disappearance, including the names of the young men who supposedly ran down on Tara and disposed of her body, along with allegations of a cover-up by the local police:
http://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/3d7sgr/tara_calico_substantiating_the_sheriffs_claims/

What's even more interesting about this thread is that provides a link to official reports from the New Mexico State Police, which is the source for the information presented here:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/270970248/New-Mexico-State-Police-Tara-Calico

Long story short, some witnesses have claimed that the main perpetrator, Lawrence Romero Jr., was the son of the Valencia County sheriff at the time and that Tara's death was no accident. The allegations are that she was abducted, raped and stabbed to death by Romero and three other accomplices who eventually hid her body. What's weird is that there also accusations that Sheriff Rene Rivera has helped cover the whole thing up because Romero's father originally hired him. That might seem weird since Rivera was the one who publicly announced his belief that Tara had been hit by a truck, but he also did so years after Lawrence Romero, Jr. committed suicide. By announcing that he couldn't make any arrests without a body, this could have been Rivera's way of throwing people a bone while still protecting the perpetrators.

I don't how much of this information is true, but it still makes for fascinating reading and a lot of the scenarios presented here seem more plausible than Tara being the girl in the Polaroid.

Wow.

Thanks for sharing. It IS an interesting read! I wasn't aware of any of this. I always assumed her death was a random accident and the people involved just panicked and hid her body. If any of this is true, that is obviously not the case here....

So much for the polaroid.

Great read!

So much for the polaroid.

Maybe so, although it looks an awful lot like her and if it isn't Tara then who in the world is it? Including the boy in the picture.

Maybe so, although it looks an awful lot like her and if it isn't Tara then who in the world is it? Including the boy in the picture.

Possibly people messing about-kids tying each other up for giggles was something that seemed to happen somewhat in the 1970's & 1980's. Noreen Gosch was convinced a picture of a kid tied up was her missing son Johnny, but a cop remembered handling that case around 1979-some years before he went missing & he warned them how stupid it was.

It could also be other missing kids sadly. The girl in the photo really doesn't resemble regular pictures of her that much for me.

Wow.

Thanks for sharing. It IS an interesting read! I wasn't aware of any of this. I always assumed her death was a random accident and the people involved just panicked and hid her body. If any of this is true, that is obviously not the case here....

Of course the question is how much of it is true? Somebody being led to a basement type area where random people party & there is a dead body just lying around, he gets a weird feeling for no reason & sees it & then they randomly tell him they raped & murdered somebody? Sounds likely.

Nothing turns up at any of the dig sites. The woman making the documentary reports being followed & getting death threats-yet she is still walking around 5 years later with her documentary all wrapped & ready for release. The cynical side of me says publicity ploy to get funding & publicity.

Thank you for sharing! This is an awesome find. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

I learned my mistake from the manuscript we've discussed here before - I downloaded a copy of these documents from Scribd, in the event this link goes dark.

Edit: As I'm reading through this documentation, it is mentioned that the FBI has an extensive file on the case. I'm wondering if it might be possible to obtain these records via FOIA? Although I suspect that because it's an active/ongoing investigation, it would be shot down/ridiculously redacted.

What's weird is that there also accusations that Sheriff Rene Rivera has helped cover the whole thing up because Romero's father originally hired him. That might seem weird since Rivera was the one who publicly announced his belief that Tara had been hit by a truck, but he also did so years after Lawrence Romero, Jr. committed suicide. By announcing that he couldn't make any arrests without a body, this could have been Rivera's way of throwing people a bone while still protecting the perpetrators.

That's pretty depressing if it's true. His public announcement of what happened always seemed the most plausible. And he even went as far as to finger the boys parents as accomplices by hiding the evidence and the body.

Several years ago, Rivera wrote out arrest warrants for two of the boys, now men, who he claimed took part in the abduction/coverup. But without a body, they could never be processed. I really hate to imagine if that was all for show on his part.

That's pretty depressing if it's true. His public announcement of what happened always seemed the most plausible. And he even went as far as to finger the boys parents as accomplices by hiding the evidence and the body.

Several years ago, Rivera wrote out arrest warrants for two of the boys, now men, who he claimed took part in the abduction/coverup. But without a body, they could never be processed. I really hate to imagine if that was all for show on his part.

I know that Tara's stepfather was always very critical of Rivera's decision to publicly make that announcement if he didn't have the evidence to make an arrest. If you read between the lines, he could almost have been covertly warning the suspects: "Get rid of any incriminating evidence which ties you to this crime and make sure the body is in a place where it'll never be found".

It's also worth noting that Lawrence Romero Sr., the former Valencia County sheriff and father of the deceased prime suspect, went on to become Socorro police chief and retired around the same time period Rivera made that announcement:
http://www.stpns.net/view_article.html?articleId=108510865353954011655

Looks like a trustworthy man to me.

https://valenciacountycitizensvoice.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/rene-rivera-1.png?w=497

fujgQXeTPmk

OT: Thanks for exposing me to the wonder that is Reddit, Robin! I can see I'm going to get a whole lot of work done the rest of the week... ;)

Maybe so, although it looks an awful lot like her and if it isn't Tara then who in the world is it? Including the boy in the picture.


This has always been my first thought regarding the picture; they look more annoyed than anything. Almost like: "you want to take my picture right now, really?". I never saw "the fear" that she had in her eyes like everyone seems to see.

OT: Thanks for exposing me to the wonder that is Reddit, Robin! I can see I'm going to get a whole lot of work done the rest of the week... ;)

I just discovered it a couple of weeks ago. You're right; your productivity is going to take a nose-dive. :)

OT: Thanks for exposing me to the wonder that is Reddit, Robin! I can see I'm going to get a whole lot of work done the rest of the week... ;)

Yes, the Unresolved Mysteries thread is amazing and has introduced me to a plethora of obscure cases I didn't know about (some of which I've used in Listverse articles). It's also a great place to find out about updates on cases, as Reddit is where I first found out about the Grateful Doe/Jason Callahan connection earlier this year.

I just discovered it a couple of weeks ago. You're right; your productivity is going to take a nose-dive. :)


I've read a couple of posts on there involving cases from UM. Very interesting reads and opinions.


Could the police bring in the other three accomplices in and question them ? The main perpetrator killed himself taking any knowledge and any secrets about the case with him to the grave. Maybe the other three won't be scared to talk ?

I always wonder what happened to her bike ? I always thought the kidnapper/s wouldn't bother taking the bike and just leave it there. Someone passing by would see it lying on the side of the road and take it ? But this theory on Reddit could be they got rid of any evidence including the bike.

fujgQXeTPmk

Some things can never be unseen.

Hi everyone, we got a new special by Investigation Discovery (ID) magazine at work this week - it's about unsolved mysteries and crimes, and has the infamous polaroid on the cover (yikes!). The Tara Calico article is only 2 pages long, but it was interesting to see the case covered. Aside from DB Cooper, I'm not sure if any other cases were also profiled by Unsolved Mysteries. I thought people might be interested in the magazine regardless. :)

So, if I've read and comprehended the report correctly, Jeff Abeyta was one of the people involved in Tara Calico's alleged murder and was supposedly her boyfriend up until shortly before the murder. I've read several accounts of the day of Tara's abduction stating that she had planned to play tennis with her boyfriend later on that day after her bike ride. I'm assuming that if Tara had indeed dated Abeyta and recently broke up with him, the tennis-date boyfriend was a new one.

So I wonder: do the authorities feel jealousy was a potential motive? I always assumed LE envisioned a scenario where a bunch of idiot boys were out riding around, happened upon a familiar woman and harassed her at best--or were trolling for an assault victim at worst.

So, if I've read and comprehended the report correctly, Jeff Abeyta was one of the people involved in Tara Calico's alleged murder and was supposedly her boyfriend up until shortly before the murder. I've read several accounts of the day of Tara's abduction stating that she had planned to play tennis with her boyfriend later on that day after her bike ride. I'm assuming that if Tara had indeed dated Abeyta and recently broke up with him, the tennis-date boyfriend was a new one.

So I wonder: do the authorities feel jealousy was a potential motive? I always assumed LE envisioned a scenario where a bunch of idiot boys were out riding around, happened upon a familiar woman and harassed her at best--or were trolling for an assault victim at worst.

I read it as she had recently broken up with Abeyta, and this Lawrence Romero guy (who was jealous of her relationship with Abeyta) knew this, and knew that she rode her bike on the highway, gathered up 3 others (Dave Silva, Leroy Chavez, and a tall, red haired guy) who targeted her and ultimately killed her. Based off of that report, it seems like they were trolling for an assault victim, and when Tara threatened to go to the police, they killed her. Doesn't seem like it would've done much good...Lawrence Romero's father was the town Sheriff who was described as extremely corrupt. That's probably why this case is still unsolved to this day.

Didn't I read somewhere where they found human remains a few short years ago some ways near where Tara vanished? Did they ever say if the bones were hers or not? I am convinced Tara is dead, and I think both of her parents have since passed away too?

Didn't I read somewhere where they found human remains a few short years ago some ways near where Tara vanished? Did they ever say if the bones were hers or not? I am convinced Tara is dead, and I think both of her parents have since passed away too?

Like the Sheriff's statements nothing has ever come of it. Yep, both her parents passed away-her father in 2002 & her mother in 2006. The annoying thing about this case is the only 'lead' was a photo which obviously isn't her.

Sadly, I'm not sure the Tara Calico documentary they've been working on for years will ever get completed and released. I know they set up an Indiegogo for extra funding awhile back, but didn't raise anywhere near their goal. Apparently, some of this money they were trying to raise was going to be set aside for legal fees since they were concerned about potential blowback from some of the allegations made in the film.

I noticed that the contents of the original Reddit post I shared have since been deleted, but the scanned incident report is still available for viewing. While I'm not sure if all the allegations in that report are true (the story about Tara's body just lying around in the killers' basement while they invited an outsider in there to party with them sounds farfetched), I'm pretty certain that Tara was killed in New Mexico on the day he disappeared and there was some sort of cover-up.

FYI, Lawrence Romero, the Valencia County Sheriff who originally investigated this case, has passed away:
http://www.news-bulletin.com/news/lawrence-romero-former-valencia-county-sheriff-commissioner-dies/article_33b3b6c8-2f7c-11e7-b7df-031c4a3d1ce7.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=user-share

This article touches about the investigation into Tara Calico and briefly mentions Romero's deceased son, who is rumoured to be one of the suspects who killed Tara.

This article touches about the investigation into Tara Calico and briefly mentions Romero's deceased son, who is rumoured to be one of the suspects who killed Tara.

Yes, here is his suspected participation...

https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hjpv7RVSoZw/WNKrSwQIpKI/AAAAAAAACX0/sXJnSfqYWEMorr-WCt7LcLX1ILSucgGggCEw/s640/tara002.jpg

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zc45VUGCyQ4/WNKrTaG-8YI/AAAAAAAACX4/twIIrT5LXuolTOT9DCF4BnjzQ0aHAQzeACEw/s640/tara003.jpg

The Curiosity Kills podcast recent did an interview with Tara Calico's sister and the filmmaker who's been trying to get the documentary off the ground these past several years. You could tell they were just itching to share specific details about this cover-up, but they decided to tread lightly in order to avoid potential legal trouble and didn't name any names.

Wow.

Thanks for sharing. It IS an interesting read! I wasn't aware of any of this. I always assumed her death was a random accident and the people involved just panicked and hid her body. If any of this is true, that is obviously not the case here....

It's one of those frustrating cases - like Jeremy Bright and Jennifer Pratt - where several people knew what had happened to the victim, the investigators had credible second or third-hand information about what occurred, but there's no way to move forward with the case.

Maybe I'm misremembering, but didn't a couple Florida kids come forward a while back and admit to taking the photo as a prank or something like that?

Thanks for sharing this Reddit thread. I haven't delved nearly enough into the Reddit unsolved mysteries world, so it's always interesting to hear what's going down over there. FWIW I never bought into the Polaroid being real. If the thread referenced is legit, and it seems like it is, it'd make a hell of a lot more sense than the "creepy kidnap van in a convenience store parking lot" theory.

Maybe I'm misremembering, but didn't a couple Florida kids come forward a while back and admit to taking the photo as a prank or something like that?

This hasn't happened here, but you might be thinking of the Johnny Gosch case, where Johnny's mother received a series of photos featuring some tied-up young boys, one of whom she believed was her son. However, a detective claimed that he had investigated those photos years before Johnny was even abducted and it was just bunch of kids of playing a prank.

I think I am going crazy, but I cannot locate the Tara Calico segment on the Farina versions...not sure if the title of the segment is misleading? Any help would be appreciated :)

I think I am going crazy, but I cannot locate the Tara Calico segment on the Farina versions...not sure if the title of the segment is misleading? Any help would be appreciated :)



It wasn't on the Farina version

This hasn't happened here, but you might be thinking of the Johnny Gosch case, where Johnny's mother received a series of photos featuring some tied-up young boys, one of whom she believed was her son. However, a detective claimed that he had investigated those photos years before Johnny was even abducted and it was just bunch of kids of playing a prank.

Yep I think you're right. Not sure how I managed to mix those two cases up. :lol: