Tara Calico: Disappeared in 1988 (Belen, NM) | Part Two

SEQUESTERED Podcast

Road Trip Studios

True Crime, Society & Culture

4.6 • 640 Ratings

🗓️ 7 July 2025

⏱️ 22 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

EPISODE 05: THE DISAPPEARANCE OF TARA CALICO

Nearly a year after Tara Calico vanished, a Polaroid photo surfaced in a Florida parking lot—showing a bound and gagged teenage girl who looked hauntingly like her. The image launched a nationwide media frenzy, reignited public interest, and deepened the mystery surrounding one of New Mexico’s most infamous cold cases.

In Part 2, we follow the leads: the man in the van, the sealed search warrants, and the theories that stretch from small-town secrets to federal investigations. We hear from Tara’s mother, Patty, who carried that photo in her purse for years, believing it was proof her daughter might still be alive.

Thirty-five years later, new evidence may finally be pushing this case toward the truth.
Because someone still knows what happened on that desert highway.

If you have any information about the disappearance of Tara Calico, please contact the Valencia County Police Department at (505) 866-2400.
Or call the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI or online at tips.fbi.gov.

See pictures and more source links at our website: SEQUESTEREDpod.com

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	In the last episode, we told you about the story of Tara Calico, a 19-year-old college student from Berlin, New Mexico, who set out on her usual morning bike ride
0:23.3	and never came back home. She was last seen riding her mom's bright pink Huffy down Highway 47,
0:32.0	headphones in, music on, and completely unaware that someone may have been following her.
0:38.3	Later, fragments of her Walkman and a cassette tape were found scattered near the side of the road.
0:45.3	The signs pointed to a struggle, but no body, no bike, and no clear answers ever emerged.
0:53.3	Witnesses described a white or gray Ford pickup truck trailing too close behind Tara while
0:59.9	she was riding.
1:01.3	But no suspect was ever named.
1:04.5	In this episode, we go deeper.
1:07.2	Into the investigation, the mischances, the long silence, and the photo, the one that surfaced
1:14.6	nearly a year later in a Florida parking lot. A photo that stunned the country and gave Tara's
1:21.5	family something they hadn't had in months, hope. and then more questions.
1:31.3	My name is Sarah Reed, and this is sequestered season two.
1:35.3	Case 3, The Disappearance of Tara Calico, Part 2. Two. It was June 15, 1989.
1:45.0	It was June 15th, 1989.
2:01.6	Nearly nine months since Tara Calico disappeared.
2:05.6	A woman steps out of a convenience store in Port St. Joe, Florida.
2:11.6	It's an ordinary afternoon.
2:13.6	The sun is out. She has errands to run.
2:16.6	She's walking across the parking lot and see 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,
2:38.4	both with duct tapes stretched tightly across their mouths. Their wrists are bound. They're
2:44.8	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
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 15 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Road Trip Studios, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Road Trip Studios and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.