For nearly two decades, the unsolved case of Tara Calico went cold.
Patty agreed and unknowingly said goodbye to her daughter for the last time.
When she didnt return by 12:00 PM, Patty set out to find her.
After driving back and forth twice, there was no sign of Tara along her normal route.
As panic set in, Patty called the Valencia County Sheriffs Department to report her daughter missing.
For weeks, investigators searched the area.
The only evidence they found were pieces of Taras broken Sony Walkman and bike tracks.
She was said to have her headphones on and multiple witnesses recalled an older-model pickup trailing behind her.
Its believed that the truck was pulling a shell camper.
In the first 9 months since Tara disappeared, this was the only information investigators obtained.
Until June 1989, when a strange development swept the nation.
She described the vans driver as a man with a mustache who appeared to be in his 30s.
Officers set up roadblocks, but the vehicle was never found.
The picture was shown onA Current Affairthe following month.
Friends watching the show contacted the Doels, noticing similarities between Tara and the girl in the photograph.
The Doels and Henleys met with investigators to examine the picture.
Patty Doel and Henleys mother both asserted that the picture was of their children.
Tara had a scar on her leg that was identical to the womans.
Patty also pointed out a visible copy ofMy Sweet Audrinaby V.C.
Andrews in the Polaroid, which was Taras favorite book.
The Doels had the photo analyzed by the Scotland Yard who determined it was Tara.
But the Valencia County District Attorney sent it to the Los Alamos National Laboratory who concluded it wasnt Tara.
FBI analysis came back inconclusive.
This discovery cast immediate doubt that he was the boy in the photograph.
Foul play was later ruled out and its presumed that Michael died of hypothermia.
For nearly two decades, the unsolved case of Tara Calico went cold.
But in the years since 2008, several odd circumstances have thrust her story back into the spotlight.
He thinks they panicked, drove off with Tara, and killed her.
Patty Doel died in 2006.
As of now, no arrests have been made and Rivera has not publicly named any suspects.
Barnes was mailed a second letter containing an original image of the boy.
The case was reopened by local and federal agents.
A death bed confession was made by a man named Henry Brown.
Romeros father was the Valencia County Sheriff at the time of Taras disappearance.
Browns confession and subsequent documents are public record and can be readhere.
The FBI releasedage progression photosshowing what Tara would currently look like.
The film was made after June 1989.
The other was taken on film available after February 1990.
Thesecondis widely regarded as a gag photo.
Had she not been tragically taken so soon, Tara would have celebrated her 51st birthday on February 28th.
Patty spent the rest of her life asserting that the girl in the Polaroid was Tara.
It was her glimmer of hope that she would someday be reunited with her daughter.
This case has been unsolved for over 30 years, but its anything but cold.
Perhaps 2020 is the year that Tara and the Doels finally get justice.
