When 23-year-old Phoenix Coldon vanished from Spanish Lake, Missouri on the 18th of December, 2011, her family was devastated. Her vehicle was located mere hours later in a notoriously unsafe neighborhood of St. Louis. Her parents have spent every last dime they have trying to find their daughter, but so far their search has been fruitless.
It’s time to bring Phoenix home.
Phoenix’s last known location was her family home on Countrybrook Drive in Spanish Lake. Around 2:20 PM, she drove off in her 1988 black Chevrolet Blazer. She has never been seen or heard from again.
The University of Missouri student had gone shopping and attended church with her mother that day. When they returned home, Phoenix changed her clothes to play basketball outside for a while, then her father watched her drive away in her vehicle that afternoon.
Nothing seemed amiss.
When she didn't return the next day, her family reported her missing to law enforcement. Phoenix’s car was found that evening about 25 minutes away from where she was living in East St. Louis. The vehicle appeared to have been abandoned in haste as the driver’s side door had been left open.
However, since the vehicle was impounded in Illinois, Missouri police were not made aware of the discovery. As it had been towed before the missing person report was made, the license plate was not flagged in their system.
A friend of the family noticed it in the tow lot on the 2nd of January, 2012, and notified Phoenix’s family. Inside, they found her purse, ID, shoes, cell phone bill, and glasses. Her bank account, cell phone, and social media accounts were all void of activity after she went missing. Investigators found no evidence linking anyone else to the Chevy Blazer.
Her parents, Goldia and Lawrence, are still haunted every day by the disappearance of their only child. They noted that it was completely out of character for her to leave without telling them where she was going. All of their finances have gone into the search for their daughter. Eventually, they had to foreclose on their home. “Let them take the house. I don’t care,” Goldia says, “All I want to know is where Phoenix is.”
The family has also been victim to hoaxes, including a female who has made calls to the Coldon home pretending to be Phoenix.
Because the I-70 corridor in East St. Louis is known for sex trafficking, some theorize that she was kidnapped and sold into a sex trafficking ring. Others believe she left of her own volition, desiring to start over with a new life. A selfie video found in Phoenix’s personal belongings shows the young woman telling the camera she wants “to start over.” The video was recorded shortly before she vanished.
Was Phoenix met with foul play? Was she abducted by sex traffickers? Did she choose to run away and start a new life?
Phoenix was last seen wearing gray sweatpants with the word “Lindenwood” or the letters “USML” on one leg, a black hoodie, and black tennis shoes. If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Phoenix Coldon please contact the St. Louis County Police Department at (314) 615-5317.
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