On September 20, 1988, Tara Leigh Calico disappeared near her home in Belen, New Mexico. It is said that she was most likely kidnapped. Not even a year later in July 1989, there was a polaroid picture that was found in a convenience store parking lot of an unidentified young woman and boy, gagged and bound that was later televised to the public. There were family friends that thought the woman resembled Tara Calico, so the police contacted the mother of Calico who then met with investigators, and after looking over the polaroid and considering the time, growth, and lack of makeup on the woman, it was concluded that the woman was Tara Calico. On top of that, there was a scar on the woman’s leg that matched identically to the one that Calico had on her leg. “Scotland Yard analyzed the photo and concluded that the woman was Calico, but a second analysis by the Los Alamos National Laboratory disagreed.” (Wikipedia) An FBI analysis was done on the photo and ultimately was found inconclusive.

Tara Calico disappeared the morning of Tuesday, September 2oth, 1988 riding on her daily bike trail along New Mexico State Road 47. Patty Doel, Tara Calico’s mother would usually ride with her daughter along the trail but has stopped after she felt as though she was being stalked by a motorist. On the morning of her disappearance, Tara had told her mother to come and get her if she was not home by noon because she had plans to play tennis with her boyfriend at 12.30. When her daughter did not return by noon Doel went along her usual bike route and searched for her but could not find any trace of her. When the police were contacted they had found a cassette tape that was discovered along the road where Tara had been kidnapped. Several people have said that they have seen Calico riding her bicycle along the trail but no one has witnessed her abduction, although many people have said they saw a light-colored pickup truck with a camper shell that was following close behind Calico.

There weren’t any developments in the case until later on. In 2008, there was information given to the sheriff of Valencia County that two teenagers had hit Calico with a truck and then panicked and killed her. The sheriff said that without a body he could not make a case. In 2019 it was announced that the FBI would be offering a reward of up to $20,000 for any precise details leading to the location of Calico.