In July 1989, a Polaroid photo of an unidentified young woman and boy, gagged and seemingly bound, was televised to the public after it was found in a convenience store parking lot in Port St. Joe, Florida.

Family friends thought the woman resembled Calico and contacted her mother, who then met with investigators and examined the Polaroid.

She believed it was her daughter after taking "time, growth and lack of makeup" into consideration, and noted that a scar on the woman's leg was identical to one that Calico had.

Scotland Yard analyzed the photo and concluded that the woman was Calico, but a second analysis by the Los Alamos National Laboratory disagreed.

Calico's case received extensive coverage on television programs such as A Current Affair, Unsolved Mysteries, and America's Most Wanted.

[5][8] On June 15, 1989, a Polaroid photo of an unidentified young woman and a boy, both gagged with black duct tape and seemingly bound, was discovered in the parking lot of a convenience store in Port St. Joe, Florida.

[4] The photo was broadcast on A Current Affair in July, and Doel was contacted by friends who had seen the show and thought the woman resembled Calico.

[6] Scotland Yard analyzed the photo and concluded that the woman was Calico, but a second analysis by the Los Alamos National Laboratory disagreed.

[6] In 2009, twenty years after the Polaroid photo was found and shared by the media, pictures of a boy were sent to the Port St. Joe police chief, David Barnes.

None of the letters contained a return address or a note indicating the child's identity, making the officials there believe it may have something to do with the disappearance of Tara Calico.

The letters were sent at the same time that a self-proclaimed psychic had called about Calico, saying that she had met a runaway in California with whom she worked in a strip club; this girl was eventually murdered.

[16] In 2008, Rene Rivera, the sheriff of Valencia County, reported that he received information that two teenagers had accidentally hit Calico with a truck, panicked, and subsequently killed her.

Calico's stepfather, John Doel, said that the sheriff should not have made these comments if he was not willing to arrest anyone and that strong circumstantial evidence should be enough for a conviction.

"At this time, law enforcement believes there is sufficient evidence to submit this investigation to the district attorney's office for review of potential charges," Vigil said.