Rumors have persisted for years that Calico was the unidentified female in a Polaroid photo discovered in St. Joe, Florida on June 15, 1989, nine months following her disappearance. The photo was located on the ground in a convenience store's parking lot in St. Joe. A white, late 80's Toyota cargo van had been parked in the spot prior to the discovery of the picture. Authorities believe that the girl in the photo was seen walking along the beach in St. Joe shortly before the Polaroid was located. Witnesses said that the girl was accompanied by several unidentified adult Caucasian males who appeared to be giving her verbal orders. It is not known if this girl was being held against her will by these individuals or if the incident was staged. Investigators are still trying to ascertain the girl's identity, which would allow them to close the case or investigate further.

A copy of My Sweet Audrina by V.C. Andrews, a plastic cup and a squirt gun are also visible in the photo. Polaroid officials say the picture was taken with film not available until May 1989. Two other photos later surfaced. The first was found near a residential construction site in Montecito, California. This Polaroid, taken on film not available until June 1989, shows the blurry image of a girl's face, her mouth again covered with tape, her hairline exhibiting that same cowlick at the right temple. Behind her is light-blue striped fabric similar to that on the pillow in the Toyota van photo. A third Polaroid, this one taken on film not available until February 1990, shows a woman loosely bound in gauze, her eyes covered with more gauze and large black-framed glasses. A man is sitting next to her on a passenger seat of an Amtrak train. [I've read this photo is thought by some to be a hoax.]

An unidentified boy was also pictured in the photo; both he and the girl were bound and gagged.  Some people believed that the boy in the picture was Michael Henley who vanished on a turkey hunt with his father in April 1988 in the mountains south of their hometown of Milan, N.M. [Remains found in the Zuni mountains in June 1990 were eventually identified as Henley's. It is believed he died while on the turkey hunt.]

Though the FBI denies the female in the photo is Tara, scientific analysis done by another professional authority claims it is indeed Tara, providing investigators with the only remote lead in the case. There were numerous unconfirmed sightings of Tara in 1988 and 1989, mostly in the southern half of the United States.