Profiling Tara Calico's "abductor"

[wiseguy182]

I just rewatched the segment and noticed the bruising on the boy's neck.

I think it would be freaky if it turned out to be Borer, seeing as he was profiled on UM.

Another reason why I think it's more likely Borer is that he had a history of hitchhiking, making him more likely a victim of kidnapping, whereas Antreas Cantrell likely drowned and Henley likely died of exposure.

Police believe the photo was taken inside of white van. I don't know how they came to that conclusion, but they know more than I do about this. I really don't think this is a hoax. I wish it was.

I know we've probably talked about this before, but while Tara and the girl look in the photo look similar, the one difference I noticed was the eyebrows. Tara's are curved, whereas the girl's are straight. Granted, they could have been trimmed differently or what not, but I don't know how likely that is.

[MegtheEgg86]

Originally Posted by wiseguy182

Police believe the photo was taken inside of white van. I don't know how they came to that conclusion, but they know more than I do about this. I really don't think this is a hoax. I wish it was.

Same here. I don't think what's going on in the photo is a fabrication at all.

[WishfulDreamer]

Originally Posted by MegtheEgg86

Same here. I don't think what's going on in the photo is a fabrication at all.

I really wish it was a hoax, but I agree. Just the expressions on their faces really stand out to me, particularly the boy looking so terrified. Just a hunch, but the girl looks like to me like she's trying not to show fear, which is probably what a sick abductor would want. It just doesn't seem like a joke/hoax.

You would think, however, that other people would come forward to identify the boy and girl. Sometimes I surf the Charley Project trying to see if any ages/appearances match up around that time frame but so far no luck. Of course, there's always the possibility that they're no longer missing and were found deceased. But in any case, wouldn't people come forward saying, ''Hey, that looks like [someone familiar]!'' After all, this segment was aired repeatedly on UM and I've seen the photo widely circulated on the internet when talking about disturbing photos and mysteries.

[TheCars1986]

Guess I'm in the minority on this one, but I think the girl in the photo looks pretty bored, or not amused.

[justins5256]

One question I have for those who think the photo is real. Why is there so much emphasis on these being abducted and/or missing children? Some people have mentioned looking on CharleyProject and various other sites for matches. While that is certainly noble, I just don't think we know enough to say that these are abducted or missing children. Even if we assume that the photo is "real" (i.e., these weren't some kids playing a "tie up" game) the photo could still be something a parent or guardian took of their own kids as part of some kind of abuse or pornography type scenario.

[MegtheEgg86]

Originally Posted by justins5256

One question I have for those who think the photo is real. Why is there so much emphasis on these being abducted and/or missing children? Some people have mentioned looking on CharleyProject and various other sites for matches. While that is certainly noble, I just don't think we know enough to say that these are abducted or missing children. Even if we assume that the photo is "real" (i.e., these weren't some kids playing a "tie up" game) the photo could still be something a parent or guardian took of their own kids as part of some kind of abuse or pornography type scenario.

No idea--but I'd wager it's primarily because of the very public association with Calico, and Henley to a lesser degree. I wouldn't rule out an abuse or pornography scenario at all.

[wiseguy182]

Originally Posted by justins5256

One question I have for those who think the photo is real. Why is there so much emphasis on these being abducted and/or missing children? Some people have mentioned looking on CharleyProject and various other sites for matches. While that is certainly noble, I just don't think we know enough to say that these are abducted or missing children. Even if we assume that the photo is "real" (i.e., these weren't some kids playing a "tie up" game) the photo could still be something a parent or guardian took of their own kids as part of some kind of abuse or pornography type scenario.

If these kids were U.S. residents and not abduction victims, it seems like they would have been positively ID'd by now, 25 years later. Somebody at their schools would have noticed, I would imagine. The only other options were that they were born outside the U.S. (as I speculated earlier), or they had been abducted quite some time previous and nobody recognized them. (that's an unsettling thought).

[justins5256]

Originally Posted by wiseguy182

If these kids were U.S. residents and not abduction victims, it seems like they would have been positively ID'd by now, 25 years later. Somebody at their schools would have noticed, I would imagine. The only other options were that they were born outside the U.S. (as I speculated earlier), or they had been abducted quite some time previous and nobody recognized them. (that's an unsettling thought).

I'm going to have to disagree. To me, the fact that these kids have not been identified is a non-issue either way. The quality of the photo isn't the greatest, and with their mouths being covered by the tape, it is really hard to make out details that might otherwise help ID them. Also, as I've stated before, we have no idea where the photo was taken originally. The fact that it was recovered in Port St. Joe, frankly, means squat to me. There is nothing in the photo that would indicate precisely where it was taken. It could have been taken anywhere in the US or abroad. And that's the thing...if you open your mind to that possibility, the kids could be anyone, anywhere, and that could explain why they haven't been identified, even if the photo was a hoax by a group of kids.

I also tend to think that the early coverage on the story may have muddied the waters. When news of the photo went public, the two names associated with it were Tara Calico and Michael Henley. It's always been that way, even though we know it's virtually impossible the photo depicted Henley. It's also pretty darn unlikely that the photo depicts Calico, but, for better or for worse, their names are still synonymous with the photo all these years later. It's what people tend to believe, especially in regard to Calico.

Moreover, I think when people learn of the story, it's presented within the context of the photo possibly being of Calico. That's got to affect a person's perception because they think the photo is either Calico, or an abducted child. The possibility of it depicting the girl next door never occurs to anyone.

[cordwainer1453]

Even if someone did come forward and admit it was them self in the picture playing a tie up game or whatever, do you think we'd even hear about it? This case is pretty old (25 years?) and even though we like to rehash these cases, they are not in the general public consciousness. Also, the sensationalist aspect of these things gets more attention. Kids kidnapped and tied up and taken pictures by some pervert gets attention. Kids playing around doesn't. Sort of like when John DeLorean was arrested for "selling" cocaine. It was barely reported that he was acquitted because of entrapment, and the authorities even admitted that they had entrapped him. It was all over the news when he was arrested, though.

[wiseguy182]

Originally Posted by cordwainer1453

Even if someone did come forward and admit it was them self in the picture playing a tie up game or whatever, do you think we'd even hear about it? This case is pretty old (25 years?) and even though we like to rehash these cases, they are not in the general public consciousness. Also, the sensationalist aspect of these things gets more attention. Kids kidnapped and tied up and taken pictures by some pervert gets attention. Kids playing around doesn't. Sort of like when John DeLorean was arrested for "selling" cocaine. It was barely reported that he was acquitted because of entrapment, and the authorities even admitted that they had entrapped him. It was all over the news when he was arrested, though.

I disagree. UM and this forum have been exceptional at providing updates in every instance they occur. I think if this were a known hoax, we would have heard about it. UM wasn't afraid to update a case that turned out to be a hoax (KROQ DJ's for example). Also, the media does report hoaxes when the occur.

[TheCars1986]

The image is forever associated with Tara Calico, so naturally people are going to assume that if it isn't Tara, it's got to be another girl that was abducted. I still think the location it was found (a vacation spot in Florida), the time of year it was found (summer), would seem to indicate that this was a vacationing family. Whether or not the parents took the picture is up for debate, but I do not think that the children in the photo were abduction victims.

[wiseguy182]

I know there's been a lot of speculation that the children may have been acting. The thing is, children are not, by nature, good actors. I can't tell you how many untalented child actors I've seen on t.v. shows, and these are supposed to be professionals.

Take for example the Greenbush twins (Carrie) on Little House on the Prairie. Couldn't act to save their lives. They usually had one sentence between them per episode or flat out didn't appear in others. It got to the point were they had the Ingalls adopt children so that they wouldn't have to rely on them. (Jason Bateman for example). There was one Carrie-tastic episode during the 9 year run and it was probably the worst episode of any show ever (I used to do hilarious episode reviews on another forum. I still have them all saved.) And it is because kids can't act that they usually make bad and unconvincing liars.

Anyways, my point is I don't think most children would be capable of faking or acting the fear that is in the boy's eyes, for example. As we've said, if this was a hoax, I doubt the kids would have realized that they would need to act afraid in order to pull of this prank. And in regards to the girl, I think she looks more tired than anything.

[elg0rd0]

I think for me the biggest thing is that it can't be proven that it is in fact Tara in the photo, which makes me speculate if it is even her. I have in fact heard of the V.C. Andrews theory, that the author was her one of her favorites. That fact alone makes me even more skeptical it is Tara. Kidnapping is about power and the photo gives me no indication the kidnapper gives a damn about the alleged victims in the photo. For me the odds are 50/50 that it's real. My opinion, I think people initially wanted it to be Tara because of some of the similarities in facial features that they just came to that conclusion.

[wiseguy182]

This hasn't been talked about before, but it's important to note that this is a POLAROID, which I believe were relatively new to the market at the time. The big thing about Polaroids were that they dispensed the picture within a matter of seconds. Whereas with all the other cameras available at the time, you had to take them somewhere to get them developed. An abductor would want to use a Polaroid and not another camera because he obviously wouldn't want whoever developed it to see the picture.

And you couple that with the van, the bruising, the fear. Not a hoax, IMO.

[elg0rd0]

Originally Posted by wiseguy182

This hasn't been talked about before, but it's important to note that this is a POLAROID, which I believe were relatively new to the market at the time. The big thing about Polaroids were that they dispensed the picture within a matter of seconds. Whereas with all the other cameras available at the time, you had to take them somewhere to get them developed. An abductor would want to use a Polaroid and not another camera because he obviously wouldn't want whoever developed it to see the picture.

And you couple that with the van, the bruising, the fear. Not a hoax, IMO.

Polaroid cameras had been around long before this picture was taken. I believe the film was knew to the market at the time. There is no proof this picture came from the van parked outside of the market and there is 100% no proof this is Tara. If in fact this is real, this would open another whole new case.