re: True crime mystery: the Tara Calico polaroid.

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We just had some elected officials in the US government stage fake arrest photos, so maybe.

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One even was able to get free long enough to pump a fist.

It’s a hoax. Taping someone’s mouth like that doesn’t work. It’ll come right off. You have to wrap it all the way around the head. This is just kids screwing around and staging a photo.

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Samantha Koening “proof of life” photo:

….Now, the above Polaroid is creepy enough. I’m not even going to Google the Koening photo. (I saw it once and it’s just too creepy to see again.)

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For those of us who don’t want to Google it either…can you give an explanation at least?

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For those of us who don’t want to Google it either…can you give an explanation at least?

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She got murdered by a serial killer who put makeup on her dead body, sewed her eyes open with some kind of wire, took a picture of her, and sent it to her parents to convince them she was still alive.

I’m totally confused on the photo thing.

The photo was found less than a year after she disappeared, why do they need to consider aging forensics for the photo.

Also, it mentions lack of makeup. How much makeup could she have been wearing to go on a bike ride?

I’ve listened to a couple of podcasts on this and as I recall the consensus is the photo is unrelated and likely a fraud.

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IIRC, one of the lead detectives has said they pretty much know what happened to her but don't have enough evidence to make an arrest or name the suspect publicly. Also, she is not the girl in the photo. Some local kids were fricking with her while they drove past her on her bicycle, accidentally hit and killer her, and then had some help hiding the body.

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But this what I find baffling about the photo. Did 2 kids (one who looks under age 10) stage some weird hoax and drop the Polaroid in the parking lot just to stir trouble?

Another poster mentioned that the duct tape around their mouths but not all the way around their heads is a sign it’s fake. I would also call attention to the way the binds on the hands look like they’re deliberately hidden. So it does lend credibility to the “it’s a hoax” idea.

But then again, if it was just a couple of kids playing a prank, they sure did dress up the back of that van in a very convincing way.

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We used to do all kinds of stupid shite back in that 10-16 age range that seemed like harmless pranks but in hindsight was really dumb.

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This. Still blows my mind we didn’t end up murdered or in jail.