Interesting Reddit Thread on Tara Calico

[RobinW]

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/UnresolvedMy...eriffs_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/...ce-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.

[LooksLikeCRicci]

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....

[TheCars1986]

So much for the polaroid.

[Charlie99909]

Great read!

[Clockworkhigh]

Originally Posted by TheCars1986

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.

[James T]

Originally Posted by Clockworkhigh

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.

[James T]

Originally Posted by LooksLikeCRicci

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.

[2xJ]

Thank you for sharing! This is an awesome find.

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.

[dynoguy88]

Originally Posted by RobinW

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.

[RobinW]

Originally Posted by dynoguy88

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.ht...65353954011655

[James T]

Looks like a trustworthy man to me.

[LooksLikeCRicci]

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...

[Charlie99909]

Originally Posted by Clockworkhigh

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.

[88keys]

Originally Posted by LooksLikeCRicci

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.

[RobinW]

Originally Posted by LooksLikeCRicci

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.