A University of Missouri – St. Louis student, Phoenix Coldon, junior, undeclared, disappeared from her home with her parents on Sunday, December 18, 2011. Since this time, searches have occurred, flyers have been posted and lines have been tied up with inquiries regarding the young student’s condition, whether she has been heard from or seen, etc. What follows is the account of Phoenix’s disappearance and the process followed since that day by her parents, Goldia and Lawrence Coldon.
“Sunday, December 18, 2011 was a beautiful day. It was sunshiny and warm. Phoenix and I attended worship together at our church, Westminster Presbiterian Church. She played in the Hand Bell Choir that day. We stopped at Aldi’s between Belfontane and 270 on the way home. She went in her room to change and went down to the garage to get a basketball and shoot hoops. I was in my room, and watched her play for awhile, because I heard the ball hitting the side of the house. I always pray she doesn’t break the bedroom window when she does that – she shoots it so hard. She’s just like a little girl with the basketball. I didn’t see her come inside, but Lawrence said she put the basketball back in the garage and went to sit in her truck in the driveway. We thought she was on the phone, and I remember stepping out on the porch , seeing her silhouette in the truck. You can see past the front windows to the end of the truck from our house. I remember peeping off the porch and seeing her. I came back inside, and Lawrence saw her leave,” Gloria Coldon, mother, said.
Lawrence continued the day’s transcription at this point.
“I saw Phoenix back out of the driveway and pull off. That was the last time we saw her, at about 3 p.m. That Sunday. She didn’t come back home – we thought she had gone to the store or a friend’s house, something like that. When she didn’t come back home that night, my wife was worried, saying something was wrong since Phoenix was not home – Phoenix isn’t the type to stay out all night and not inform us. We later found out that the same day, at 6:23 p.m., her truck was towed from a location in East St. Louis at 9th Street and St. Claire Avenue. It was found with the key still in the ignition and the door open. We didn’t know the truck had been towed at that time though. The next day we called friends and hospitals, and that night, we called the St. Louis County Police Department. The officer came to take a report and basically lectured us on how given Phoenix’s age, she didn’t have to tell us where she was, etc. She was grown and would be home when she wanted,” Lawrence Coldon Sr., father, said.
The police, it turns out, were not helpful to the Coldons. The officer taking the report offered to run the plates of Phoenix’s truck, but reported turning up no responses. He also did not file a missing person’s report, citing his earlier mention of Phoenix’s age. The next day, another officer did come out and say she would file a report, although her check of the truck’s tags also came up empty. According to Lawrence, it was later discovered that the police in East St. Louis received a 911 call about the abandoned truck, in the previously stated condition but did not file a tow sheet report on it.
“It took two weeks for us to find her truck in East St. Louis because the people over there did not do their jobs. We did not find that truck until January 1, two weeks after she went missing. We had made flyers, called people all around the country – we found the truck through a family friend, who had his friend run the tags. It took them fifteen minutes to find the truck. There was a two week lag in which we could not search for our daughter because we did not know where her truck had gone missing, or that it had been found the very same day,” Lawrence said.
According to Lawrence, three or four days into her missing, he and Gloria called local TV outlets, but were refused coverage due to police department guidelines – the police would have to notify the TV outlets for a story to be run.
“The major case squad was assigned to search for Phoenix about five days after her disappearance, since they have more resources and people to work with. Even at this time, the TV stations did not get involved. One station even said the production manager had said the story was not interesting enough to cover. I have sent flyers to my friends, put it on my Facebook page, and asked for it to be passed on. Down the line, the Black and Missing Foundation got ahold of the flyer, and the founder and CEO, Derrica Wilson, called me herself. She offered any help she could give, even though I had never heard of them before. Derrica is an ex-police officer and told me that a young black lady went missing in her hometown in South Carolia. She saw how that family was impacted due to the lack of attention their missing daughter was given – their anguish and disappointment. This was around the same time as Natalie Halloway, mind you, whose face was everywhere. Derrica was touched by this family’s dedication to their daughter and started the Black and Missing Foundation. Her site has people of all colors and races, not just African Americans,” Gloria said.
Derrica was able to potentially link Phoenix’s disappearance and that of a young lady named Stacy English, who disappeared from Atlanta, due to several coincidental similarities. There is no absolute connection at this moment. Derrica also helped to redesign the Coldon’s flyer for Phoenix and Gloria cites that Derrica is available to help them with anything they ask.
“I called her a couple days ago and asked for some help, because I saw Derrica was on The View with this family in New York, whose daughter is missing. An hour after that episode aired, an anonymous call came in and they found that young lady. I’m going to see if Derrica can get Phoenix’s story on The View as well. She has connections,” Gloria said.
Phoenix’s parents still have a great deal of hope and are hoping to find their daughter as soon as possible.
“We are where we were when we started. We have no clues…none…mainly, because that truck sat out in the elements, was moved around the tow yard for two whole weeks…we didn’t find out anything for two weeks. The police have done a few searches with kadaver dogs, helicopters and infrared equipment but haven’t found anything. My husband and brother also searched a lot of those vacant buildings in the area, but found nothing. We just want to find our daughter,” Gloria said.
Lawrence also cited that the Student Government Association has invited them to come to UMSL this Thursday to talk further about Phoenix. The meeting will be Thursday, March 8, in the Pilot House of the MSC at 4 pm. A discussion will take place concerning Phoenix’s disappearance and how the UMSL community can help. Those looking to learn a bit more about Phoenix can turn to page 14 for further details from her parents concerning who Phoenix is.
by Matthew Poposky, Editor in Chief of The Current.
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