Transcript
Sarah Reid (0:12)
In the last episode, we told you about the story of Tara Calico, a 19 year old college student from Belen, New Mexico, who set out on her usual morning bike ride and never came back home. She was last seen riding her mom's bright pink huffy down Highway 47, headphones in, music on and completely unaware that someone may have been following her. Later, fragments of her Walkman and a cassette tape were found scattered near the side of the road. The signs pointed to a struggle, but no body, no bike, and no clear answers ever emerged. Witnesses described a white or gray Ford pickup truck trailing too close behind Tara while she was riding, but no suspect was ever named. In this episode, we go deeper into the investigation. The missed chances, the long silence. And the photo. The one that surfaced nearly a year later in a Florida parking lot. A photo that stunned the country and gave Tara's family something they hadn't had in months. Hope. And then, more questions. My name is Sarah Reid and this is sequestered, season two, case three, the disappearance of Tara Calico, part two. It was June 15, 1989, nearly nine months since Tara Calico disappeared. A woman steps out of a convenience store in Port St. Joe, Florida. It's an ordinary afternoon. The sun is out. She has errands to run. She's walking across the parking lot and sees something lying face up on the asphalt. It's a Polaroid photo just sitting there, staring back at her. She picks it up and when she sees the image, she freezes. It shows a teenage girl and a young boy, both with duct tape stretched tightly across their mouths. Their wrists are bound. They're laying side by side on what looks like a bed in the back of a van or a camper. There are pillows, blankets and a paperback book visible in the frame. We've posted a link to this Polaroid in the show notes, or you can see it on our website@sequesteredpod.com I've looked at it so many times, it's chilling. I mean, just imagine you're just walking out of a convenience store on a normal Thursday afternoon, keys in hand, you got a soda in the other hand. You're heading to your car, thinking about dinner or traffic or picking up your kid. And there it is. A photo on the ground. Not a receipt, not a shopping list. A Polaroid of two children bound, gagged and clearly laying in the back of a vehicle. And listen, this is the late 80s. There's no iPhone to snap a pic, no way to Google who these kids are or maybe start getting the word out Regardless, the woman knew what she found was not right. So she did what most of us hope we'd do. Maybe after taking a picture. Now she turned it in to the police. And the police immediately flagged something chilling. The girl in the photo looked just like Tara Calico. Authorities quickly contact Tara's family. According to the New York Times, Tara's mother, Patty Dole, was searching for certain. The hair, the face, the scar on her leg. Even the book My Sweet Audrina by VC Andrews. It was one of Tara's favorites. For Patty, there was no doubt this was her daughter. But not everyone agreed. Back in New Mexico, the Valencia County Sheriff's Office expressed doubt. Even the FBI launched an investigation. But their facial recognition testing came back inconclusive. Then came another twist. Some believe the boy in the photo might be Michael Henley, a nine year old boy who had vanished earlier that year, ironically also from New Mexico. The photo set off a wildfire. It aired on America's Most Wanted. It landed in newspapers, tabloids and mailboxes across the country. It reignited hope and fear for everyone who loved Tara. Because if that girl was her, it means she hadn't died on that highway that Tuesday morning. It means she was still out there somewhere. The photo in Port St. Joe didn't just make headlines. It launched a multi agency investigation that stretched across state lines and deepened one of the strangest turns in the Tara Calico case. A store clerk told the police she'd seen a man pull into the convenience store parking lot driving a white Toyota cargo van, possibly with Florida plates. According to a 1990 report in the Albuquerque Journal, the man was described as being in his 30s with a mustache. He walked into the store to buy something and by the time the clerk had noticed the photo on the pavement, the van had already pulled away. The FBI got involved quickly. Facial recognition experts analyzed the photo, comparing it against known images of Tara Calico and the missing nine year old Michael Henley. Tara's parents were convinced, but federal officials weren't so sure. Even Scotland Yard was brought in. Their analysts suggested that the girl in the image was likely Tara Calico. But FBI still refused to confirm the match. Here's a clip from KOB4 News.