THE GIRL IN THE POLAROID: BOMBSHELL IN SEARCH FOR "POLAROID GIRL" WHO VANISHES ON BIKE

Summary

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Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

Episode Summary:

THE GIRL IN THE POLAROID: BOMBSHELL IN SEARCH FOR "POLAROID GIRL" WHO VANISHES ON BIKE

Date: December 26, 2025

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Main Theme

In this gripping episode, Nancy Grace investigates the decades-old disappearance of Tara Calico—a promising college sophomore from Belen, New Mexico, who vanished during her daily bike ride in 1988. The case became infamous after a mysterious Polaroid surfaced, purportedly showing Tara bound in the back of a van. With new witnesses, major investigative twists, and potential suspects emerging, the episode explores the facts, theories, and bombshells in the ongoing quest for justice.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Tara Calico: The Person Behind the Case

• Tara Calico was a disciplined, popular, and athletic 19-year-old (02:24–03:34).
• She was structured and organized, planning her days meticulously for school, work, and sports.
  • Dave Mack: “She was a very structured young lady… Always had her time scheduled out ahead of time. Everybody loved her.” (03:13)
• Nancy highlights Tara's predictability:
  • Nancy Grace: “She's always where she says she's going to be.” (03:34)

2. Vulnerabilities in Routine

• Tara biked 34 miles daily on a familiar route, making her movements easy to track for anyone with bad intentions.
• Dr. John de la Torre discusses how a structured personality increases vulnerability to targeted crimes:
  • Dr. de la Torre: “The more you stay the same, the more likely someone with nefarious purposes can find out what you’re doing.” (06:18)

3. Life Events Fueling Tara's Determination

• Tara’s commitment to fitness intensified after a traumatic car accident—she became dedicated to rigorous physical therapy and exercise.
• Melinda Esquibel, Tara’s childhood friend and host of “Vanish: The Tara Calico Investigation,” details the impact of the accident:
  • Melinda Esquibel: “She became very conscious of healing, of becoming strong... She would go on a 24 mile bike ride, then she would go jogging, then play tennis...” (08:33)

4. The Day of the Disappearance (Sept. 20, 1988)

• Tara borrowed her mother's bike, planned to return by noon for tennis with her boyfriend, and told her mom:
  • Tara (via family): “Hey, if I’m not back by 12, come looking for me.” (14:02)
• When Tara wasn’t home by 12:05, her mother, Patty, retraced the route—starting a search that soon involved police and much of the community.

5. Early Clues and The Search

• Immediate shoulder-to-shoulder searches yielded little (19:05–20:20).
• Key findings:
  • Skid and tire marks, signs of a struggle (20:56)
  • Tara’s destroyed yellow Walkman and a Boston cassette tape near the scene (20:56, 34:40)

6. Witnesses and Suspect Vehicle

• Multiple eyewitnesses reported an older white/off-white 1953 Ford pickup with a homemade shell following Tara closely (35:27–38:07).
  • Michelle, Tara’s sister: “The truck... stood out, following between 10 and 20 ft behind Tara... close enough that the hunters actually gave it a pass.” (38:07)
• Hunters saw the truck trailing her; at least 14 witnesses corroborated this sighting (41:04).
• Many assumed it was her father watching over her due to perceived safety; Dr. de la Torre explains the human tendency to dismiss sinister possibilities among familiar faces (38:51–39:16).

7. Forensics and Lost Evidence

• Discussion on the recovery of Tara’s bike but lack of usable forensic evidence due to pre-DNA technology and possibly improper evidence storage (15:34–17:20).

8. The Polaroid Bombshell

• A year after Tara vanished, a woman in Florida found a Polaroid in a parking lot: a young woman and boy, both gagged and bound, lying in the back of a van, sparking worldwide headlines (46:32–46:49).
• Tara’s mother and Scotland Yard believed the girl in the photo was Tara; the FBI was inconclusive.
  • Melinda Esquibel: “Scotland Yard says this is her. Her mother says this is her. The FBI says, yeah, we don’t know.” (47:23)
• Melinda actually interviewed the boy in the photo, who described being trafficked and seeing disturbing activities, but ultimately the Los Alamos lab determined the woman was not Tara (51:33).

9. Major Suspects and Theories

• David Parker Ray (“The Toy Box Killer”): Sadistic serial killer in the region at the time, with an MO for abductions.
  • Chris McDonough: “He set up a torture room… FBI was probably chasing him down pretty clearly.” (10:39)
• Local Connection:
  • Focus shifts to a local suspect, Lawrence Romero Jr., the sheriff's son, who allegedly stalked Tara and left menacing notes after she rejected him.
  • Four days prior, a car tied to a motel near Tara’s route was found containing zip ties, guns, and duct tape, but no one was arrested in connection to this due to jurisdiction confusion (53:30–54:30).
  • Melinda Esquibel: “He started stalking her... In one of those notes, he said he was going to get her.” (54:59)

10. Law Enforcement Developments & Frustrations

• In June 2023, authorities said “substantial progress” had been made, and offenders had been identified, but no arrests ensued—delays attributed to the DA’s office and political influences (52:00–53:12).
  • Nancy Grace: “Law enforcement says they’ve identified the offenders... But there’s not an arrest.” (52:15)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Structure as Vulnerability:
  • “The more you stay the same, the more likely someone else with nefarious purposes can find you.” – Dr. de la Torre (06:18)
• Polaroid Shock & Debate:
  • “A Polaroid photo emerges of Tara and a little boy bound in the back of a van. Even Scotland Yard says that's Tara.” – Nancy Grace (35:07)
  • “I do not believe it’s Tara... Los Alamos came to the determination—although it looks similar—that it was not her.” – Melinda Esquibel (51:33)
• On Missed Opportunities:
  • “Can they all be wrong? I don’t think so.” – Nancy Grace on the multiplicity of truck/driver witnesses (36:59)
• On the Homegrown Suspect:
  • “He started leaving notes on her vehicle...they became violent over time...he was going to get her.” – Melinda Esquibel (54:59)
• Forensic Regrets:
  • “If the evidence is not destroyed, it can still be obtained off the bike... DNA doesn’t just go away unless it’s removed.” – Nancy Grace (16:28)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Tara’s Background and Disappearance Setup: 02:24 – 05:55
• The Fateful Day & Early Search: 13:17 – 15:02
• Witness Accounts and Vehicle: 35:27 – 41:04
• Polaroid Emerges: 46:32 – 51:33
• Local Suspect Named (Romero Jr.): 53:30 – 54:59
• Law Enforcement Updates (No Arrests): 52:00 – 53:12

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Flow and Tone

Nancy Grace leads with her characteristic urgency and no-nonsense analysis, often pressing guests for clear, direct answers. The panel includes expert voices—investigators, psychologists, attorneys, and Tara’s own friends and family—producing a lively but always respectful and passionate pursuit of justice.

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Conclusion

The episode both honors Tara Calico’s memory and sharply critiques the missed opportunities, systemic failures, and haunting “what-ifs” of the investigation. With new tips, apparent breakthroughs, and continuing community heartache, Nancy closes with a powerful plea to listeners to bring Tara home.

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Contact Info for Tips:
Valencia County Sheriff: 505-866-2400
FBI tip line: FBI.gov

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If you haven’t listened to the episode, this summary captures the full arc: Tara’s vibrant life, the chilling disappearance, the haunting clues (including the notorious Polaroid), the frustrations with stalled charges, and the enduring hope for answers. The case remains unsolved, but never forgotten.

Transcript

[Nancy Grace]

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That'S odoo.com crime stories with Nancy Grace, the so called Girl and the Polaroid There is a bombshell in the search for the Polaroid girl who vanishes on her mom's Huffy bike. I mean Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. I want to thank you for being with us.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Tara Calico, a bright, energetic 19 year old college sophomore studying psychology in Belen, New Mexico. Known for her love of life and active campus involvement. With a promising future ahead, everything changes.

[Nancy Grace]

Everyone saw Tara go that day on a 34 mile round trip bike ride and it was in an area that was believed to Be very low crime. People moved there because their children could play outdoors until it was time for supper. What happened? Let's start at the beginning.

[Narrator/Reporter]

A sophomore at University New Mexico, Tara is in school full time while working at a bank. 9:30am Sept. 20, Tara takes her mom's pink Huffy for her daily bike ride, telling mom she is playing tennis with her boyfriend later, so home by noon.

[Dave Mack]

She worked at the bank. She went to school full time. So she was a very structured young lady. Always had her time scheduled out ahead of time. Very sweet girl, too. Very sweet. A good friend. Everybody loved her. Everyone thought she was so beautiful and, you know, very popular.

[Nancy Grace]

Interesting. All of that matters, everything you just heard. Structured, always had a plan. You know, there are a lot of people that just fly by the seat of their pants like a frog that jumps from one lily pad to the next, never really knowing where they're headed. But not Tara. No. She was very organized, very well thought out. That was just her nature that matters. Straight out to Chris McDonough, joining me, Director, Cold Case foundation, former homicide detective. He has worked over 300 homicides during his le law enforcement career. You can find him where I found him on the interview room. The star of the interview room on YouTube, Kris. It matters because when someone has a structured personality, when they say, I'm gonna go on my bike ride, mom, that's where they're going. They're not gonna suddenly go, hey, I'm gonna jump in the pickup and I'm gonna go, I don't know, to the grocery store to fill in the blank, because that would change the complexion of this search. Very structured. She's always where she says she's going to be. And she had a plan for after riding the bike, she was going to go play tennis, remember?

[Chris McDonough]

Yeah, absolutely, Nancy. And that structure is key to beginning this investigation when it started. And the reason for that is that's what they call a pattern of life. Meaning if this individual, to your point, is just kind of scattered in many directions, that opens up a lot of other lanes of investigative possibilities. But in this case, it sounded and looks very clear this girl had her.

[Nancy Grace]

Act together with me. Melinda Escobel, a longtime friend of Tara Calico's, knows her even back to childhood. And she's the host of a hit podcast, Vanished the Tara Calico Investigation. She's still looking for her childhood friend Tara. Was Tara's personality like that even as a child?

[Melinda Esquibel]

Yes, she was. From the beginning, you know, she was very organized, very structured. You know, she had a good relationship with her mother. You know, if she said she was going to be somewhere, that's exactly where she was going to be.

[Nancy Grace]

You know, all of the psychologists and psychiatrists. Dr. John de la Torre joining me, licensed psychologist and mediator, Dr. De la Torre say, and this came from Freud, I believe that once you're four years old, it's done, your personality is set and it may not change, will likely not change. Do you agree with that?

[Narrator/Reporter]

For the most part, I, you know, I think a lot of parents can see what their child's personality is going to be even from the moment that they're born. So it's not you. You can get a sense of what kind of person is going to. What kind of person a person is going to be From a very early age. Personality characteristics don't really change. Behaviors change. But it sounds like she was very structured and she liked things to go a certain way. And that actually creates a vulnerability. Right. The more you stay the same, the more likely someone else who has nefarious purposes can find out what you're doing and when you're doing it.

[Michelle (Tara's Sister)]

Berlin is a small town of about 7,000 people, 35 miles south of Albuquerque. Tara grows up very active, from cheerleading to softball to marching band. During physical therapy to overcome a car accident, Tara becomes even more fitness focused. Riding a bike on a 34 mile round trip every day.

[Dave Mack]

She had gone to either. It was either homecoming or prom. I don't remember which one. But she, her date had been drinking and there was an accident and she was injured. That was kind of the beginning of this physical fitness craze that she adopted. And, you know, she was very conscious of her body. She was an exercise fanatic. And, you know, after she would go bike riding, then she would go running or then she would go play tennis. So she was very physically fit.

[Nancy Grace]

That's Melinda speaking on her hit podcast Vanish. Melinda is with us. Melinda Esquimaux. Thanks for being with us tonight, Melinda. This is an uphill challenge. We hear there's a breakthrough in the case, and I think that there is. And what I don't understand, it's why authorities are not acting on it. But I want to circle back to the fact that many people call her a fitness fanatic. I don't know that I would call it that. She went through a traumatic experience, a major car crash because her date was drinking and driving through no fault of her own. And she ended up having to claw her way back, claw her way back to physical fitness. Could you describe what happened?

[Melinda Esquibel]

Yeah, they the vehicle Flipped, I believe, off the road. And it. She hurt her, the back of her neck, the spine area. And so. And she has a. She had a scar back there from her surgery. And so she had to be put into physical therapy. And when she started physical therapy, she really enjoyed it. And it kind of, you know, jump started what they called the physical fitness crave. It's. She became very conscious of healing, of becoming strong, and, you know, like you said, climb her way back. And she was, you know, very conscious of it all and, and decided that she, you know, she really wanted to be physically active. And so she would. She would ride. She would go on a 20, you know, 24 mile bike ride, then she would go jogging, then she would go play tennis, then she would go to school, and then she would go to work. You know, she was a very busy individual.

[Nancy Grace]

You know, Melinda, a lot has been made of her job at the bank because you're either inside the bank branch or you are at the teller window where people drive through, they see you. You don't necessarily pay attention to every customer that comes through the bank. And she came in contact with a lot of guys and just, you know, Chris McDonough, hold on, let me throw this to you. Let's just get real about what we're talking about. She was not kidnapped by a woman. Statistically, it's virtually impossible. We're looking for either one or more males. Would you agree?

[Chris McDonough]

Statistically, yes, statistically, 100%. And one of the interesting things about this particular case is one of those characters that would come to the top is a guy named David Parker Ray. He's one of the most sadistic serial killers that ever existed in the United States. And he had a ranch nearby.

[Nancy Grace]

Wow, okay. You're just full, chock full of information. Would you say that again? Because that's an angle I have not explored. And I'll circle back to the bank. Tell me about him.

[Chris McDonough]

So David Parker Ray actually was known as the Toy Box Killer. And what he did is he set up a torture room where he would kidnap women and bring them in there and hold them for months. And so in this particular investigation, because he was so close, I would submit that the FBI was probably chasing him down pretty clearly.

[Nancy Grace]

You know, Chris McDonough, you and I have been on a lot of murder investigations, a lot of kidnap investigations. And there, it's like you remember Dorothy and Wizard of Oz, and she's trying to figure out which path to take. Sometimes there are so many avenues, it can be overwhelming. But that's. That's a give me right there to check out David Parker. Ray. I was going to talk about the weirdos that come in and out of banks. All right. I remember in law school I worked at a sandwich shop and we, you know, had customers that come in and we had customers that would come through a drive through. I don't remember any of their faces at the time. I was thinking about, you know, my next law school assignment and just trying to make sandwiches as fast as I could. But they would know all of our names, everybody that worked there and know things about us. I'm just thinking about people going through that drive through teller all day long and looking at her. You know, that can be a very dangerous situation when you're talking about stalkers. You may not even know you've got a stalker.

[Chris McDonough]

Oh, 1,000%, Nancy. And think about this, right? If let's say he's in play, not saying he is, okay. But you not only have the locals that you have to look at, but now you have this individual that subsequently turns out to be one of the most horrific serial killers in the country. And so you got two tracks going in the investigation. A local track and of course this national track if that guy was in play. So to your point, yeah, it's very dangerous.

[Dave Mack]

He worked. They had a basement in there where they were counting. Me, I know that she would deliver money to the different branches. I think she had like several jobs over there, but I. They had, you know, she would get promoted or whatever. So I think she like started counts in doing some kind of counting in the basement. Then they moved her to delivering cash to the different branches. So there was interaction with other people at like at least two or three different branches within the Valencia county area.

[Nancy Grace]

Dave Mack, we know the FBI is now in on the investigation, but she's not just at one branch. She goes to multiple branches with multiple drive thrus.

[Michelle (Tara's Sister)]

She's obviously the FBI got involved because of the fact that it is so spread out. Nancy. It is not just a cut and dry simple. She went and did one thing and that's all they had to figure out. We're talking about somebody who was seen all throughout the community and by the way, somebody who grew up there that everybody knows. You've got a town of seven people. Everybody knows everybody. They know everybody's business and they know she's got cash and she's going from one place to the other. So she is seen by countless people from every walk of life on a daily basis.

[Nancy Grace]

You know, I'm thinking about that aspect. But what we do know is she went on that long trek on her mom's pink Huffy bike. She says, mom, I'll be back at 12. And really, in prophetic words, she says, hey, if I'm not back by 12, come looking for me.

[Michelle (Tara's Sister)]

When Tara isn't back at 12:05, mother Patty gets in her car to retrace.

[Chris McDonough]

Tara's bike route, expecting to see Tara.

[Michelle (Tara's Sister)]

With her bike driving out to train.

[Chris McDonough]

Tracks where Tara normally turns around.

[Michelle (Tara's Sister)]

Patty doesn't see Tara and assumes she missed her and heads back home.

[Nancy Grace]

So let me understand, she had a regular trek, and I write about that in my book don't be a Victim yet. I still do it. It just must be habit. She always took the same route. Melinda Esquimaux, star of Vanish, the Terracalico Investigation podcast. Is that right? Her trek was always this long ride and then she'd get to train tracks and turn around and come back?

[Melinda Esquibel]

Absolutely. She used to. She was a creature of habit. So she would go out on this 17 mile bike, ride out to the train tracks and back, and she didn't. I don't think she realized right away that she was being tracked and followed, you know, and then, you know, she, she was always, you know, creature of habit. They saw her, her route, they watched it, they knew where to find her. It was, you know, it's all the things that you talk about that we're not supposed to do. We didn't realize how dangerous things were.

[Nancy Grace]

John Day is joining me, veteran criminal defense attorney at John Day Law. John, thanks for being with us. Let's talk about the bike. The bike was recovered. What forensic evidence could have been obtained from the bike?

[John Day]

Law enforcement could have gotten DNA from the bike. If we had that technology, law enforcement could have gotten any kind of samples. If there had been some kind of a collision, that would have been something we would have seen. But there's no evidence at that point that there was anything like that. So we're looking at before DNA technology had advanced. Now, of course we can use it if there's anything available, but there didn't seem to be. So we have a bike. It's a clue, but it's a clue. That doesn't get us anywhere in this investigation because there's nothing on the bike, at least at the time, that's recoverable and traceable.

[Nancy Grace]

Well, another issue, John Day, is how the bike has been stored since it was recovered. If it has been handled by a lot of people, it's probably destroyed any DNA evidence. But if the evidence Is not destroyed. That can still be obtained off the bike. I don't care how many weeks or months have passed she goes missing, it can still be obtained. DNA evidence doesn't just go away unless it's removed.

[John Day]

So many cases, so many cold cases are solved by going back in time, getting the evidence, if it's been stored properly, doing the analysis. We know that's possible. In this case, though we don't have any sense of how it was stored. And you're exactly right. If this is sort, sort of haphazardly, there's nothing that can be done. Nobody anticipated the developments in DNA. Nobody could predict the future. And so anything that was on that pink Huffy bite, it's probably lost to time.

[Nancy Grace]

You know, John Day, I may have told you this story before. True story. Regarding trying to put together a case in law school. There was a murder and an ag assault in Atlanta. I got through law school, was a judicial law clerk, then was in antitrust. I finally made it to the DA's office and I got called down to put together the case. It had been reversed. Went all the way up to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, one step below the U.S. supreme Court. Got reverse interlocking statements. Anyway, I go to the. I never heard of it. I go to the property room, the evidence room. Guess what was left. One X ray, which meant nothing to me. I didn't even know what it was. And a baseball hat that said kiss my bass. I'm like, how does that fit in anywhere? Well, it later became apparent, but that was all the evidence left due to the way the storage room had been handled. It had been moved a couple of times. Evidence was actually lost through no one's nefarious intent. But it happened and it happens a lot. We always hear about evidence being lost. Evidence was lost in the Sean Combs case. There was a bombing of a car bomb, a Molotov of Kid Cudi's car. Guess what? The fingerprints were lost within the lapd. I mean, in a high profile case, lost. Now, as I was saying, very often there is no nefarious intent. Well, sometimes there is. That said, what you're saying does not bode well about getting any evidence off that Huffy bike. And John Day, you're right. Okay, let's move forward.

[Michelle (Tara's Sister)]

Listen, Patty calls Tara's boyfriend who says he hasn't seen Tara, then calls police in a panic. Police begin an immediate search as her disappearance is out of the ordinary. Sister Michelle joins the search with Tara's friends and boyfriend. A storm coming, temperature dropping. Friends walking two feet apart, hand in hand across both sides of the road looking for any sign of Tara.

[Nancy Grace]

When you don't get anything with a shoulder to shoulder search, you're in trouble. Back to Melinda Esquibel, star of Vanish, the Terra Calico Investigation. Boyfriend. Okay, all sorts of alarm bells go off. Tell me about the boyfriend. Wasn't she supposed to play tennis with him after the bike ride?

[Melinda Esquibel]

Correct. She was supposed to play with tennis with him, I think at 12:30. So she was expected back home at noon. And when she didn't get back at noon, Patty went looking for her because on the previous day she had a flat tire and they were concerned that maybe her tire might be flat if she didn't make it back by noon because she had this appointment with her boyfriend at 12:30 and sure enough, you know she didn't make it back.

[Nancy Grace]

So the mom retraces the daughter steps. She drives all the way to the train tracks where Tara normally turns around, doesn't see her, and mom assumes, well, I missed her and she goes back home. Then she starts contacting the boyfriend. The boyfriend had not seen or heard from her. Mom calls police in a panic. But then two and a half miles down the search route, evidence about two.

[Michelle (Tara's Sister)]

And a half miles down the search route, some tire tracks that look spun out are discovered on the side of the road. It looks like there was a scuffle and the bike marks are visible amongst the tire marks from the vehicle. Tara is known to use a distinctive bright yellow Walkman on her bike ride. And when a broken piece of a bright yellow Walkman is found in the area of the tire marks, her sister Michelle believes it is Tara leaving a trail to follow.

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[Narrator/Reporter]

One morning, Tara set out for a routine bike ride. But that day is different. As she borrows her mother's bike, she casually tells her call the police if I'm not back soon.

[Michelle (Tara's Sister)]

Little did they know it would be.

[Narrator/Reporter]

The last time anyone saw her. Tara never returned home.

[Nancy Grace]

To John Day joining us. And he's joining us tonight because he's a veteran trial lawyer. He is a criminal defense attorney. True. He's tried a lot of cases and won a lot of cases atjohndaylaw.com John I would be very hesitant to introduce something like that into court because hunches or something that's a little bit prophetic can be attacked by the defense. And you don't want to introduce anything that can be attacked because it could then taint your solid evidence. But I believe in hunches. I believe in gut instincts, and I think that they are developed over thousands and thousands of years of evolution. It was very interesting that when she leaves, she says, hey, mom, if I'm not home by noon, come and look for me. And lo and behold, you know, a couple hours later, the mom is out searching for Tara.

[John Day]

Yeah. You know, what's significant is that, is this something that she said to her mom every time she left, or was this a singular, unique moment when she had, as you said, some hunches, you know, we all know to trust your instincts. And was this a moment when she thought, I better tell this to my mom, or is this something that she said every single time she left? It was sort of their routine significant, because if that indicated that she had some foreshadowing that there was some reason to be concerned, it wasn't enough to stop her from the bike ride, though.

[Nancy Grace]

You know, it's really interesting that you brought that up, and I think it's right. I think you're right. John Day to Melinda Esquibel. Melinda, you are friends with Tara. You know her. I mean, in my world, whenever anybody walks out the door, I say, if you're not home by 6pm I'm calling police. I mean, that's just a given. And I always say it, and it's true, but I don't get the sense that Tara and her mom were like that. I mean, is that prophetic? Was she worried about anything when she left that day? If I'm not home, come look for me.

[Melinda Esquibel]

Well, it was because the previous day she had went out on a bike ride and her tire went flat. And I think her and Michelle walked home seven miles. And so you always, you know, also, please remember that her life was very structured, so she was on a schedule for work, for school, you know, time with her boyfriend and doing different things. So as a Structured person. She said, I would be home at this time, you know, but I think specifically that day it was due to the fact that they were having issues with the tire on her bike.

[Nancy Grace]

So there was a reason. Got it. You cleared that up for me. You answered a lot of questions just then. So there's nothing to suggest she thought she was being stalked or that anybody had been following her or threatening her. It's all because of it. Attire the day before.

[Melinda Esquibel]

Right.

[Nancy Grace]

Okay, let's move. What?

[Melinda Esquibel]

So there was an incident. So Tara wasn't worried about whether, you know, something was going to happen to her. But there was an incident previously while her mom went on the bike ride with her and they were followed by a van. And so that, you know, made Patty stop riding. She just didn't feel comfortable. But Tara said she wasn't going to live in fear, so she didn't think anything of it and she wasn't worried about it. And so, you know, Patty knew that there were potential dangers. But, you know, Tara lived her life like she wasn't going to live in fear. She wasn't going to be worried and she wasn't concerned.

[Nancy Grace]

So let me understand something, Dave. Matt with U.S. crime Stories investigative reporter. About two and a half miles down the search route, there are tracks that look spun out and on the side of the road, it, quote, looked like there was a scuffle. And there are bike marks visible among tire marks from a vehicle. We know that Tara used one of those bright neon yellow Walkmans. And there was a piece of broken, bright yellow plastic found in that area where there were tire marks. I'm trying to determine how you can look down at the dirt and look at the asphalt and tell me that there had been a bike and vehicle scuffle. And what does that mean?

[Michelle (Tara's Sister)]

Okay, well, Nancy, think about it this way. You've got people looking for Tara's bike or her anything they can find. And they're walking, as we mentioned, they're walking, you know, elbow to elbow. You're looking at the pavement and then into the dirt. Now in the dirt right there, you can see tire marks which are going to be what, 6, 8 inches wide. But a bike is going to be an inch and a half at the most. So you're going to be able to see tire tracks. And you would expect tire tracks in the shoulder just be moving one way. You would not expect to see tire tracks going side to side. And then you certainly wouldn't expect to see a bicycle tire also in that same area. That's what that's the point. You can actually see the difference in the size of the tires, and you can see that there's something going on. It's not just simple travel where you're having to fix a flat. You've got tires that are making multiple marks in the same area. As you mentioned, you mentioned the bright yellow Walkman. And I find this really, really important. Not just the fact that there was a piece of yellow Walkman sitting there, but think about this. She's riding and she's focused on the ride. She's thinking about things. She's listening to music on the Walkman. She's not thinking about anything else. She's looking straight ahead and she's got the music pump. So she's not even going to be totally aware of what may be behind her. NANCY so when you see this area off the side of the road where all of a sudden you've got tire tracks going kind of crazy, a little wonky, between the thin bike track and the thick, the wider car track. Yes. You could see something took place in this one spot.

[Nancy Grace]

You know, Chris McDonough, did you see the photos we're showing everyone right now the vast nature of the terrain around where Tara disappeared? I mean, it goes on and on and on. We're showing you pictures of the area from where she disappeared. Look at that. Imagine being told, okay, you got to search this. You'd have to use overhead helicopters, you'd have to use cadaver dogs, scent tracking dogs, the works.

[Chris McDonough]

Chris McDonough yeah, Nancy, and this would also tell us in what you're talking about as a geographical profile, right? What's the environment situation and the circumstances look like? And you would measure that against what they call a victim continuum. What that means is this. If the victim is at a high risk, there is a higher probability this was a situation of opportunity for the offender. So then you look at the environment, you say, okay, was the offender comfortable in this particular environment? And if you look at the terrain that you're showing here, the answer would be absolutely yes. This offender knows that area. And so you have to then reverse engineer that and go, hey, wait a minute, why does this offender know this area and is he nearby, or is this a random situation? And the answer would be it's probably not random.

[Nancy Grace]

You know, in Another issue, Chris McDonough, if she was struck, let's say, by a vehicle and animals came and took her body, we would know that cadaver dogs would find her immediately. Scent dogs would find her and at least try to follow her trail. You Know in the Lacey Peterson murder, where Scott Peterson murdered her and their unborn child, Connor. Scent dog. A scent dog tracked her from her home on Covina and Modesto all the way to that San Francisco marina. And she was in a vehicle, and the dog could follow. Okay, so what I'm saying is if that had happened, a dog would have picked up on it. It tells me she was put in a vehicle and taken away.

[Chris McDonough]

Yeah, absolutely. On to both of those points. The. The dogs would have at least picked up some type of scent. And so then you have to go back to your second thought there, Nancy, is if she was hit by a car and the bike doesn't have any indication of any type of damage or anything like that, the big question is, if it's a car, is it a truck? What kind of vehicle is it that could get that bike out of the area? So I'd be real curious where they found the bicycle.

[Nancy Grace]

Well, you're hearing our guest say earlier that I believe it was Dave Mack or Chris McDonough talking about how she, Tara, had her Walkman, her bright yellow Walkman, which somehow was destroyed during whatever happened to Tara. Bits of plastic were found that matched her bright yellow Walkman. She was listening. We even know what she was listening to because of this.

[Narrator/Reporter]

A cassette tape of the band Boston is discovered three miles from home on the side of Highway 47. Tara's mother, Patty, identifies the tape, saying that is what Tara was listening to on her bike ride. Two more Polaroids surface over the next years featuring women in similar distress. Though investigators can't confirm if these women.

[Michelle (Tara's Sister)]

Were Tara, the chilling photos raise more.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Questions than answers a possibility that Tara may have been abducted.

[Nancy Grace]

A Polaroid photo emerges of Tara and a little boy bound in the back of a van. Even Scotland Yard says that's Tara. And then eyewitnesses emerge, and it's not good.

[Michelle (Tara's Sister)]

Several witnesses come forward describing a similar type of older model Ford pickup truck following behind a girl riding her bike on the same date and time Tara was riding. The witnesses all say the truck was running half on the road, half in the shoulder, 10 mph in a 55 mph zone, following 20ft directly behind the bike rider, indicating whoever was operating that Ford pickup truck was focused on doing something for or with the girl on the bike.

[Dave Mack]

She was on her way back home. She was about a mile and a half from the house. And she was last seen cresting a hill by the vineyard. And that's. That's where they saw her last.

[Melinda Esquibel]

You know, the.

[Dave Mack]

These four Hunters who were riding into town that they looked, they had pulled over to the side of the road to unload their muzzleloading guns and they had actually passed Tara on the way previously.

[Nancy Grace]

They say that they saw Tara just at the crest of the hill with this truck following closely behind her. Melinda Esquibel, joining us, star of Vanished the Torot Calico investigation. Melinda, that is so eerie. You've got this older model pickup following right behind her. And she didn't know because she was listening to Boston.

[Melinda Esquibel]

Yeah, and what is strange is that multiple people had saw her on on the road and saw this truck following her. But they had all convinced themselves that it was her father following her to make sure she was safe.

[Nancy Grace]

Guys, Tar Calico is missing. We've got an ID on the vehicle. And coincident fortuitously, hunters were there. You heard about eight witnesses. Can they all be wrong? I don't think so. Listen, why were the hunters there?

[Dave Mack]

And they had tried to pull into a place to unload the guns, but there was a truck there staring at something ahead. They didn't know what it was. So they, he was kind of blocking the entrance. So they pulled out instead of stopping there, pulled out and went down further to unload their guns. And they unloaded their guns. And when they pulled back out, the driver looked back and saw Tara cresting the hill. An old mid-50s truck with two men in it. And they were staring directly ahead. And when they passed Tara, the guys thought, oh, that's probably what they were staring at. Maybe that's their daughter to you.

[Nancy Grace]

Dave Mack, Crime Stories investigative reporter. Tell me about the vehicle falling right behind her with two males in the mount in the older model pickup.

[Michelle (Tara's Sister)]

It's a 1953 Ford pickup truck, but it's a light gray or maybe just off white in color. But Nancy on the back of it is a homemade shell. You see it in the drawing. But this is not something that they bought. This is something that was made and is obviously not what you would expect on the back of a 1953 pickup truck. But it stood out, following between 10 and 20ft behind Tara, where again you pointed out she's listening to music. She doesn't know they're, but they're close enough that the hunters actually gave it a pass. I mean, we don't always think that this is the worst thing that could happen. We think, oh, it's her dad following her, you know, making sure she's okay. We don't always think the worst.

[Nancy Grace]

Dr. John Delatorre with a psychologist specializing in forensic psychology. Dr. De la Torre, why do our minds function that way? Is it because we don't want to think a violent crime is about to happen? Are we insulating ourselves from it? We don't leap to the conclusion, hey, those guys are following her, they're going to kidnap her.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Well, it's because most of us don't have criminal thoughts. Right. The only reason why you would think, you know, there's something nefarious is going to be happening is because you've either been involved in a nefarious act previously or you've been the victim of a nefarious act previously. So our instinct isn't to assume that a bad thing is going to happen. I mean, you were talking about evolution earlier in the show, and that's because we have to assume that everyone around us has our same best interest, the way that we would have in someone else. So thinking negatively is not going to be something that would be appropriate to proliferate the species unless you think something bad is going to happen. And unfortunately, because they weren't thinking that way, it sounds like something bad ultimately happened that could have been stopped.

[Nancy Grace]

And Chris McDonough joining us, star of the Interview Room on YouTube. Also, people are fed the line over and over, stranger abduction, that never happens. It does happen. So I'm sure at the beginning no one wanted to accept this is a stranger. On stranger abduction, the boyfriend was cleared.

[Chris McDonough]

Yeah, Nancy, I mean, this, and this goes back to what we were just talking about a little bit ago, right? That the, the high risk area that she was at, it puts her into that category of a victim of opportunity. And when you have a predator, they're going to take advantage of that and go for it.

[Nancy Grace]

To Melinda Escobell, star of Vanish, the Tar Calico investigation, that number eight witnesses based on your work and investigation has expanded to 14 witnesses. What did they see?

[Melinda Esquibel]

They. The first thing the woman that was going to the doctor saw in the morning when Tara was writing out, they said that her face looks strained. And so previous to her scene or when Tara turned onto Highway 47 or Highway 6 at the time, a friend of hers that went to school with her saw her turning and kind of waved at her. And she waved and she turned. But when she was getting ready to go, she had to slam on the brakes because a truck was coming and it was moving at a strange pace, like kind of slow. And so that was the first witness. And then. But I don't think Tara was aware what of what was going on. A little further down, another witness saw her. And they said that her face looks strange. So we think that the stalking had started, you know, right as she got into the clearing where there's nothing out there. And then she went and continued her ride out. And then on the way back, she was seen by more people, you know, coming. And. And that's when the. They saw the truck behind hers following her. And. And everybody. It's just very strange that everyone convinced themselves that that was her father. You know, I think they were worried about it, and then somehow in their mind, they balanced it out, you know, like we were gonna stop, but, you know, we just decided it was her father. So there were people who lived out there that had seen the birds.

[Nancy Grace]

Well, that gives me a clue as to who the perp is. A white male old enough to be Tara's father. We know that the bike was found. We know that there were skid marks. It looked like a scuffle that was corroborated. But now we find more was found, and it's not good.

[Dave Mack]

It was found between Mount near, right outside of Mount Neer, which is a little over 60 miles from Belen. And there were also pieces of clothing found, like a bra, underwear, and a shoe.

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[Nancy Grace]

Stories with Nancy Grace.

[Narrator/Reporter]

After hours of searching, authorities were left.

[Michelle (Tara's Sister)]

With only one lead. A white truck may have been following her. Then, a year later, a woman from.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Florida discovers a Polaroid of a young.

[Michelle (Tara's Sister)]

Woman bound and gagged in a truck.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Who eerily resembles Tara.

[Nancy Grace]

Is that Tara in the photograph? According to her mother and Scotland Yard, it is.

[Chris McDonough]

A photograph surfaces in Florida of a.

[Michelle (Tara's Sister)]

Boy and a young woman both facing.

[Chris McDonough]

The camera, their hands tied behind their backs and tape over their mouths in the back of a van lying down in distress.

[Michelle (Tara's Sister)]

The picture is a color Polaroid photo in good shape. Patty believes the woman in the photo is her daughter Tara. Another family in New Mexico believes the boy is nine year old Michael Henley. He vanished while Hunting with his father. Headlines circle the world with the photo. The photo itself is analyzed at least three times by legitimate agencies, including the FBI and Scotland Yard.

[Nancy Grace]

Melinda Esquimaux, star of Vanish, the Tara Calico Investigation podcast, which is amazing, by the way. Melinda. Scotland Yard says this is her. Her mother says this is her. The FBI says, yeah, we don't know. But you actually interviewed the little boy in the photo. What happened?

[Melinda Esquibel]

Correct. So he had reached out to me a number of years ago because he was looking into the photo kept popping up, and he wanted to see what was happening. And he saw that I was working on an investigation and docu series on Tara, and so he asked if I could interrogate him, because he was five at the time, to see what he didn't know, what he knew. But he wanted to see what I could pull out of him in regards to any information that might be helpful to Tara's case. So I went with my investigator, James Carsten. He is the man who trained me to be an investigator. And we went and we interrogated him for a day, and we pulled out some information, but he didn't know who the young lady was. But the.

[Nancy Grace]

There.

[Melinda Esquibel]

There was a lot of, you know, nefarious activities going on that he did tell us about, and. But we weren't able to necessarily connect it to Tara.

[Nancy Grace]

Okay, I got a question. You said he mentioned a lot of nefarious activities. What?

[Melinda Esquibel]

So he was put in a van by his father and taken to Florida. He was held in a house where there was. There were girls that were being videotaped in those old VHS cameras. And then he said that there were decks that they would put this thing in and it would go into. He didn't understand what he was explaining to me. But I don't know if you remember the Internet in the early days, in order to have Internet, there were these decks of networks that you would plug into the phone, the phone line. And what he described was something similar to that. And he said he even escaped the house, ran away, and the police brought him back to the house. And he said that he was upset because he. That's when he knew the police were in on it. Melinda.

[Nancy Grace]

At first, a little boy named Michael Henley was believed to be the child in the photo with who we think is Tara Calico. But the boy in the photo was not Michael. His remains have been found. Do you believe the boy you interviewed was in the car, was in the vehicle with Tara?

[Melinda Esquibel]

Yes, I do. And when we met with him, we took a lot of photos of his face, the. His side view, his front view, his back view, everything. And we have identified certain markings that are so imperceptible here on this photo that align with the photos of him as an adult.

[Nancy Grace]

What did he say became of the girl with him in the vehicle?

[Melinda Esquibel]

He doesn't remember. He. He knows. He remembers being tied up with the thing on his mouth, the tape, and he said that when that photo was taken, he had just woken up and he was shocked. He didn't know what was happening and why they were taking a photo of him. But he doesn't know what ultimately became of the girl because he became separated from her.

[Nancy Grace]

Was the girl, who we believe to be Tara, ever in that house he described with him?

[Melinda Esquibel]

Yes, they were in the house together. And I believe that the girl was seen later by authorities at a market. And they went up to her and. And looked at her and. And decided that it was not Tara. They found her at, like, a farmer's market or some type of market.

[Nancy Grace]

Much has been made about the Polaroid. Melinda, based on what you learned from the lab in Los Alamos, do you believe that's Tara? Correct?

[Melinda Esquibel]

I do not believe it's Tara. They did a whole analysis on the young lady in the photo and came to the determination that although it looks similar to Tara, that it was not. They even state that the girl's eyes are blue. And so, you know, that was their conclusion. And like I said, not Tara. Not Tara.

[Nancy Grace]

But in the last months, law enforcement claims they made substantial progress and they're ready to make an arrest.

[Chris McDonough]

The investigation continues without success until the.

[Michelle (Tara's Sister)]

Sheriff'S office issues a press release in.

[Chris McDonough]

June 2023, announcing substantial progress has been made, claiming they identified the offenders and are seeking to charge and arrest the offenders.

[Nancy Grace]

Okay, I. I don't understand. That was in 2023. Le Law enforcement says they've identified the offenders, Melinda. But there's not an arrest.

[Melinda Esquibel]

Correct. So the police, the sheriff's office, turned over a case to the district attorney's office, and the district attorney's office then has to do their due diligence. They had called me in to see what I had had in my files, because, you know, we had put an entire investigation together, along with data sets, and I started meeting with the investigators, and we started from what was going on in Tara's life previous to her disappearance. There was an incident four days before she went missing. And then we went into the day she went missing, and then all of a sudden, the meeting stopped. And I came to the understanding by my sources that they were not going to pursue charges. And so now it is in the hands of the sheriff sophists and the FBI.

[Nancy Grace]

Melinda esquimaux joining us. You mentioned an incident four days before. And when that incident was brought up during your Q and A with law enforcement, suddenly everything got shut down. What was the incident?

[Melinda Esquibel]

There was a bust at a motel which was very close to Tara's route, where she turned left onto Highway 47. And four days prior to her disappearance, there was a vehicle that police were watching that was associated with that hotel room. And one agency called another and asked him not to pull the vehicle over because they were watching it. But one agency actually did pull it over. And when they found. When they pulled them over, they opened the trunk and they found zip ties, tape, guns, and, you know, a lot of things, rope, things you would carry to try to kidnap somebody. And they believe that someone in that vehicle got to a phone to tell the people at the motel room what had happened, and they dispersed. So they weren't able to catch anyone there, but they think it was some type of drug deal going down in multiple, you know, with people from multiple states.

[Nancy Grace]

And in the back of the vehicle, Zip ties, guns, tape, duct tape.

[Melinda Esquibel]

Correct.

[Nancy Grace]

Isn't the suspect connected to that hotel room? And discussion of that hotel room shut down your Q A regarding Tara's disappearance. That suspect was Lawrence Romero Jr. The son of the sheriff who then convinced himself.

[Melinda Esquibel]

Yes, correct. He was. I. We were able to connect him to that motel room. And previous to her disappearance, we can. We found out that he had asked her out on a date. She had turned him down. He had gotten angry about it. He started following her. He started stalking her. He started leaving notes on her vehicle that were nice originally and then became violent over time. He sent her a bouquet of flowers with another note attached, and he was seen watching her. And in one of those notes, he said he was going to get her.

[Nancy Grace]

As we all gather together this holiday season, whether it's around a manger scene, a Christmas tree, or a menorah, we are together as a family. Not everyone has that blessing, that luxury to be together during the holidays. Tonight, please help us bring them home for Christmas. People across our country missing, sometimes for days, sometimes for hours, sometimes for years. Won't you help us bring them home for Christmas? Where is Tara, Calico? What happened to her? Her family? Still looking for answers. Can you imagine that? Hell, if you know or think you know anything, please contact Valencia Sheriff's 505-866-2400 or better. Yet. Go to FBI.gov we remember an American Hero Officer Roger Smith, Wakemed Campus Police, North Carolina Shot in the line of duty, leaving behind his grieving daughters Kaylee and Alyssa. American Hero Officer Roger Smith Nancy Grace signing off. Goodbye friend.

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[Nancy Grace]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.