The mysterious and traceless disappearance of cyclist Tara Kaliko

On September 2, 1988, Tara Calico, a resident of the small town of Belen, New Mexico, USA, went for a bike ride. When the 19-year-old student did not return home on time, her mother raised the alarm. A large-scale search began with the participation of police and volunteers. But, despite all efforts, the girl could not be found. Her disappearance is considered one of the most mysterious in the United States.

Tara Calico was born in 1969 into an ordinary American family. She grew up as an obedient and kind child. Even as a teenager, she did not cause any trouble to either her parents or school teachers. Tara was an active girl and played sports from an early age. She was also distinguished by her high level of organization and punctuality - Tara kept a diary, with whom she shared her thoughts and plans every day.

Knowing how punctual her daughter was, Tara's mother Patty Doel became concerned when she didn't return from her bike ride by lunchtime. The girl was never late, and besides that, she agreed to play tennis with her boyfriend. Tara always followed the same route. His mother knew him thoroughly, because she herself kept her company more than once.

The mother's concern was intensified by the fact that Tara received threatening notes several times. Unknown people attached them to the girl's bicycle when she left it near a store or cafe. So Patty Doel insisted that her daughter carry pepper spray with her. It was the same that day, but Tara just laughed and instead of a means of protection, she took a player with a cassette of her favorite band.

At 12:05 p.m. Patty got on her bike and went looking for Tara. She completely examined her daughter's route, but did not find her. Then she contacted the police and the real search began. There were witnesses who saw Tara at 11.45. The girl was driving along the road, followed by a white pickup truck. But this did not mean anything, because the car could have been filled with ordinary citizens going about their business.

On the second day of searching, they found a cassette from Tara’s player. She was lying by the road 2 km from her house. Bicycle tire tracks were clearly visible nearby. A little later, fragments of the player were discovered. They were scattered over 30 km. It seemed that the girl was trying to show the police the path along which her abductors were taking her. This was the end of the findings, and the investigation reached a dead end. The police assumed that Tara had simply run away from home, but her mother refused to believe it.

A year passed, during which the investigation did not move forward. Photos of Tara Calico were posted all over the state, but to no avail. Only on June 15, 1989, a woman called the police and reported that she had seen a similar girl in the company of several men. It seemed to her that the guys were holding their companion against her will, but she was afraid to contradict them.

The police immediately went to the place indicated by the witness, but could not find anyone. But they found a strange photograph in the parking lot. It showed a girl and a boy lying on a mattress in a van with their mouths taped and their hands tied. Patty Doel immediately identified the girl as her daughter, but the police had doubts about this. The unknown woman in the photo looked several years younger than 20-year-old Tara.

But the mother of the missing woman was confident that she was right. Moreover, in the photo next to the girl lay Tara’s favorite book, “My Tender Audrina.” Having enlarged the photo, investigators saw that a telephone number was written on the cover. True, it was not possible to consider all the numbers. The police had to call more than 300 numbers, but only 57 of them were answered. Unfortunately, these actions did not move the investigation forward.

Then they decided to focus on the personality of the boy in the photo. It was possible to identify him very quickly, but this further confused the investigation. The child in the photo turned out to be 9-year-old Michael Henley, who had disappeared a year earlier. The boy went hunting with his father and fell behind him. No one saw him again. The police were considering the possibility of a double abduction. But Michael's body was soon found. It lay in the mountains and had no signs of violent death. Most likely, the lost child died of thirst and hunger.

There were no more leads and the search for Tara Calico stalled. Her mother was literally distraught with grief. The woman constantly talked about her daughter, asked everyone about her and hopefully rushed to each girl on a bicycle. Patty Doel devoted all her time to searching for her missing child. She died in 2006 and never received an answer to the question of where her daughter disappeared to.

In 2008, the sheriff of the county where Tara lived made a surprising announcement. He said that the girl was hit by teenagers in a white pickup truck, and her body was taken into the forest and buried. The sheriff did not want to name the participants in this story because, according to him, he did not have a single piece of evidence.

In 2003, Tara's ex-boyfriend, with whom she had planned to play tennis on the day of her disappearance, killed his wife. This led the police to suspect that he might also have killed his girlfriend in 1988. But the man categorically denied this, and there was no evidence of a crime.

The police considered a variety of versions of the girl's disappearance. They also discussed the possibility of her being kidnapped and sold into sexual slavery. This assumption also has not received any confirmation. In 2009, one clairvoyant said that Tara Kaliko was killed and she knew where to look for the body. The cops believed the woman and searched the place she indicated, but found nothing.

More than three decades have passed since Tara disappeared. Her case is still not closed and the police are responding to signals from citizens who may reveal this secret. Also, enthusiasts and journalists sometimes undertake searches, but their attempts are unsuccessful. The likelihood that we will ever find out where to do Tara Calico is extremely low.

No less mysterious was the disappearance of another Tara, who disappeared from her home. But after 12 years, the police still managed to solve the case.