The FBI is offering a reward of up to $20,000 for information that leads to the whereabouts of Tara Calico, who was last seen near her home in Belen, New Mexico, in 1988, as well as for the arrest and conviction of those responsible for her disappearance.
Calico, who was 19 when she disappeared on Sept. 20, 1988, had gone for a bicycle ride.
“Tara had her entire future ahead of her when she vanished,” said Special Agent in Charge James Langenberg of the Albuquerque FBI Division. “Law enforcement has never given up the search for this young lady, checking out numerous tips and conducting countless interviews over the course of more than 30 years. But it’s time for someone to come forward and help us finally bring Tara home.”
Calico was last seen riding a neon pink Huffy mountain bike with yellow control cables and sidewalls.
She was wearing a white T-shirt with ‘1st National Bank of Belen’ on it (size medium), white shorts with green stripes, white ankle socks, and white and turquoise Avia tennis shoes. Calico was also wearing a gold butterfly ring with a diamond insert, a gold amethyst ring, and half-inch gold hoop earrings.
Calico left her home on Brugg Street in Belen to go on a bike ride at 9:30 a.m. on September 20, 1988.
She rode her mother’s bicycle as her own was damaged. She was last seen riding along Highway 47 in Valencia County at approximately 11:45 a.m.
Calico biked this route daily during her routine 36-mile ride.
In July 1989, a Polaroid photo of an unidentified young woman and boy, both bound and gagged, was televised to the public after it was found in a convenience store parking lot. Family friends thought the woman resembled Calico and contacted her mother, who then met with investigators and examined the Polaroid. She believed it was her daughter after taking “time, growth and lack of makeup” into consideration, and noted that a scar on the woman’s leg was identical to one that Calico had. Scotland Yard analyzed the photo and concluded that the woman was Calico, but a second analysis by the Los Alamos National Laboratory disagreed. An FBI analysis of the photo was inconclusive.
The FBI is being assisted by the Valencia County Sheriff’s Office in this investigation.
Anyone with information is asked to call the FBI at (505) 889-1300 or send information online at tips.fbi.gov.
