The Cold Case of Tara Calico

The Hook: It was a routine 36-mile bike ride on a sunny New Mexico morning. 19-year-old Tara Calico left her home in Belen on September 20, 1988, telling her mother to come get her if she wasn't back by noon. She never returned.

The Case: What started as a missing persons search turned into one of the most haunting mysteries of the 20th century. While Tara’s bike was never found, pieces of her Walkman were discovered scattered along her route, suggesting a struggle or a trail left by design.

The Infamous Photo: Nearly a year later, a chilling photo was found in a Florida parking lot: a Polaroid of a young woman and a small boy, bound and gagged in the back of a van. Tara’s mother was convinced the girl in the photo was her daughter. But as decades passed, DNA evidence and conflicting expert opinions have left the identity of the girl in the "white van photo" one of the most debated pieces of evidence in true crime history.

Recent Breakthroughs: After 35 years of cold leads, law enforcement made a major announcement in 2023. With new witness statements and re-examined evidence, investigators believe they finally know what happened on that stretch of Highway 47 and they may be closer than ever to an arrest.

Let’s pull back the shadows that have kept these cold cases in the dark for far too long. Piece by piece, we’ll work to rebuild the truth not just for the story, but for the victims and the families still waiting for answers. The puzzle isn’t complete yet, but together, we’re getting closer.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:23

Hey guys, I'm your host Sarah, and welcome to Shadows Uncovered. Today, the case I want to talk about is a roller coaster. I'm telling you, from the past to the present, avenues that still don't end anywhere. Evidence leaked and suspects questionnaire still unknown. Today, the case I want to talk about today is the case of Tara Calico. Now, I'm going to take you back to September 20th, 1988, in Bellin, New Mexico. 19-year-old Tara Calico pedals her mother's neon pink Huffy bike north on Highway 47. She's listening to a Boston's cassette tape on her yellow Sony Walkman. She tells her mom, if I'm not back by noon, come find me. By twelve oh five, she's gone. But she left a trail. Investigators find pieces of her Walkman and the Boston tape smashed along the pavement. It looked like she'd dropped them, marking her path as she was taken. For 37 years, the trail went cold. But today, in 2026, the desert is finally giving up its secrets. I'm gonna go through this timeline. I don't want to call these acts because guys, I'm telling you, this roller coaster, hold on tight. Act one, the 2021 leak and the unraveled thread. For decades, the world was haunted by a Polaroid found in a Florida parking lot. A girl bound and gagged in a van. We assessed over it, but while we looked at Florida, investigators in Valencia County were looking closer to home. In twenty twenty one, a massive shift happened. A search warrant was executed at a private residence in Valencia County. It stayed quiet until it leaked. Lead investigators Lieutenant Joseph Roland says they unraveled a thread. They reinterviewed someone who had stayed silent for thirty years. That interview led to a raid. We don't know exactly what they found because Judge Cindy Mercer sealed the warrants. But whatever was in those files was enough for the sheriff to stand up in June 2023 and say four words the world never thought they'd hear. We have identified the offenders. Now act two. Follow me guys, because like I said, we're going back to present. The 1988 group, quote unquote, versus the lone trucker. We've always heard about that dirty white Ford pickup shadowing Tara, but the 2026 investigation is focusing on a different dark memory. A pivotal witness, now deceased, once described a group of four or five young men and a woman parked across from Tara's path. One man was tall, shirtless, waving his arms like a predator drawing in prey. The theory isn't random. It's not a random abduction anymore. It's a local nightmare. Rumors have swilled for years that a group of quote unquote well connected local youths, including the son of a high ranking official, hits Tara with their car and panicked. A hit and run turned into a thirty-seven-year-old cover up. Cover up, guys. While official court documents remain sealed, several local names and specific identities have been long associated with the leaks, rumors, and reinvestigation efforts in Valencia County. Now, side note, okay, guys, I did, you know me, investigating, questioning everything. I did some more digging into some of like who were the specific local names that were leaked in 2021. And now the primary leaked name I found was Lawrence Romeo Jr. They says the most prominent name linked to this case is Lawrence Romeo Jr., the son of then Valencia County Sheriff Lawrence Romeo. The allegation, rumors, and local informants alleged that the Romero Jr. and group of friends accidentally or intentionally struck Tara with their truck, then kidnapping and killing her. The cover up had to be widely alleged to his father, Sheriff Romero. Discovered a suicide note or confession left by his son, who died in nineteen ninety-one, and destroyed or suppressed it to protect the family legacy. Hmm. So it's a theory, like they said, that his the sheriff's son did she did he purposely hit Tara? Was she dead on scene? Or was it intentional hit, put her in the back of the car, drive off, torture, and kill her? And then literally live with it until it drives you fucking crazy. Sorry for the language, guys. But till you commit suicide. So yeah, anyways. Other current as of September twenty-five, investigators explicitly stated that both Lawrence Romero and his son were no longer persons of interest. Yet there are other names mentioned in leaks and the community rumors. Beyond the Romero family, other individuals have been named by local sources in community discussions. Now, I found some of these discussions. The first one, his name was Henry Brown, a local man who reportedly made a quote unquote deathbed confession or provided detailed information to a former sheriff regarding Tara's murder, naming specific accomplices. There's okay, quote, quote again, his name was Red. Real name was Charlie Houghton. A name that surfaced in a community forum and local rumors as a close associate of Romero Jr., who was allegedly present at the time of the incident. Okay, so again, he's there. We don't know if it was an accident, if it was on purpose, but they pinned him there. And now he has associates. Then there was Lawrence Chavez, another name frequently cited in a local quote unquote leaked discussions, often linked to the group of youths involved in the alleged hit and run. Another one, Donald Dutcher, a witness who came forward in twenty thirteen claiming that one of the suspects had personally confessed the crime to him. Now I'm gonna bring us back now to September twenty-five. It's the mineshaft and the forensic files. You asked mineshaft. Yes, guys. Welcome to First Rabbit Hole. If they hit Tara, then where is she? In September twenty twenty five, investigators moved to an abandoned copper mine north of Bellin. It is a sixty foot drop, but someone had filled it with thirty feet of deliberate rubble. Question How do you find a body after thirty-seven years under tons of rock? Right? Thirty-seven natural decomposition. Rock okay. Anyway. Investigators used biology. The investigators deployed fly traps into the shaft. They are looking for the bugs. They're looking for what the bugs ate. Certain flies feed only on decomposition remains. If those flies have Terra's DNA or chemical markers in their system, the quote unquote sealed mystery is over. That's unique, but that makes sense. Now as of April 2026, I'm gonna call this the legal gauntlet, guys, because again, all this you can't imagine the legal troubles that are still to this day pending because of all these unanswered questions. Question, obviously, is why hasn't anyone been arrested? I mean, we are currently in April of 2026, and the case is still sitting on the desk of the district attorney Barbara Rameau. The clock the clock's the enemy here, guys. It's been nearly forty years. The Statute of Limitations has killed any chance of charging them with kidnapping or tampering with evidence. It is a first degree murder or it will be nothing. The DA is reviewing three decades of files, vetting the suspects, and waiting for those forensic results from the mineshaft. They read the smoking gun to ensure that when they finally unseal those names, the charges will stick. Now the end of this ride, guys. Tara Calico's parents died without seeing justice for their daughter. But the quote unquote offenders are now looking over their shoulders. The secrets of Highway 47 are no longer buried. They are being analyzed in a lab. And maybe, just maybe, Tara's bike ride that started in 1988 can finally approach its destination. So guys, what do you think about this? Like, let's recap. She's going for a ride on her bike down the street, listening to Boston on her yellow walkbin. She's la la la la la driving down the street, nothing going on. A bunch of these youth guys, we don't know if it was intentional or accident, hit her with a car. They can't find her body. The main suspect is the son of the sheriff of Bellin. And he literally takes it to the grave, kills himself to quote unquote protect the family legacy. Family legacy of what? That you're a murderer? I mean, it could be criminal, it could be vehicular. I mean, you again, what are the exact details? Unknown. But not only do you have that theory, now you have those other names I mentioned that also point to the sheriff's son and some of the other youths that were with him when that event happened. So now they're freaking out. They don't know what to do with the body. So they possibly filled a band in copper shaft with thirty feet of just rubble rock. They throw her down and then put thirty feet of rock on her and call it a day. And forty years later, we're waiting for forensic evidence from flies. Are we chasing shadows or what? There is no literal evidence in their hand that they can hold to prove anything of this case. And yet, forty years later, here we are. Still wondering. All right, guys. Hope you enjoyed this one. Told you it was a roller coaster. Ins and outs and past and present, and still no idea. But all right, guys, catch me next week when we have another unsolved, cold, unfiltered kind of case. All right, guys. Bye.