Tara Cossey was 12 when she left her San Pablo, California home on June 6, 1979, to walk to Pirelli’s liquor store and buy a bag of sugar for her mother. She was last seen inside the Montalvin Shopping Center and never returned. Tara was biracial, of Choctaw Native American and Caucasian descent, about 4 feet 11 inches and 65 pounds. She was wearing cutoff Levi’s jeans, a blue tank top, thong sandals and had a red long-sleeved shirt tied around her waist.

Investigators have classified her as an endangered missing person. Despite extensive searches and the creation of age-progressed images, there have been very few leads and her whereabouts remain unknown. If anyone remembers Tara, the places she spent time around the shopping center that day, or has information that could help, please contact the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Department.