Hundreds of thousands of people, both adults and children, go missing in the United States every year. Most of them return or are quickly found within a relatively short amount of time, alive and in good condition.
That still leaves many thousands of individuals in locations and conditions unknown. People go missing for many reasons, such as personal choice, abduction, natural catastrophe, mental disability, or abduction.
While it is true that the vast majority of cases of missing persons happen mysteriously, some incidents are more inexplicable than others. They continue to baffle authorities and haunt the loved ones left behind.
The disappearance of Tara Leigh Calico in her hometown New Mexico on the morning of September 20, 1988, remains unsolved to this day, more than three decades later.
She was 19 years old at the time of her disappearance. The discovery of a Polaroid photograph showing a female who appeared to be Tara Calico gave her parents high hope that it would lead investigators to find their missing daughter.
10 /10 Last Seen Alive
Tara Calico left her house in Belen, New Mexico, at 9:30 on September 20, 1988, to go on a bike ride.
Since her bicycle had a flat tire, she took her mother’s mountain bike for the ride. It was a neon pink Huffy with yellow sidewalls and control cables.
Nothing peculiar happened that day, except that flat tire. Tara rode her usual 36-mile route and was just two miles from home on Highway 47 in Valencia County at around 11:45. No one has seen her again since.
9 /10 A Busy Schedule
At the time of her disappearance, Tara was enrolled as a sophomore at the University of New Mexico in Valencia.
It was a rather busy day for Tara. At 12:30 p.m., she plans to play tennis with her boyfriend and then attend class at 4:00 p.m.
Her mother, Patty Doel, remembered that Tara was particularly concerned about staying on schedule. On the day she vanished, Tara asked her mother to come to get her if she was not home by noon from the bike ride.