Phoenix Coldon Still Missing One Year Later

Today, Dec. 18 marks the one-year anniversary of the disappearance of Phoenix Coldon who  was first reported missing from her North County home on Sunday, Dec. 18, 2011.

Coldon, 23, was last seen in the driveway of the family's North St. Louis County home at about 3 p.m. on Dec. 18. Her mother, Goldia Coldon, said she was sitting in her vehicle one minute and the next, she was gone.

Goldia said she initially thought her daughter had gone to the store but when she did not return that night, she reported her daughter and her black 1998 Chevy Blazer missing to police the following morning.

According to Goldia, her daughter's disappearance is highly out of character.

"She is very responsible, very sweet, very athletic and very intelligent," she told the Huffington Post in April. "Phoenix is a regional fencing champion. She plays the piano and (is) in the handbell choir at church. Phoenix is loved. Her name stands for a beautiful, unique person of distinction -- that's Phoenix."

On Jan. 1, Coldon's family found out the missing Chevy Blazer had been impounded at 6:23 p.m. the day she disappeared. It was discovered at Ninth and St. Clair in East St. Louis. The keys were in the ignition with the vehicle running and the driver's door open.

Investigations Stalls

There is an ongoing investigation as to the whereabouts of Phoenix Coldon. St. Louis County Police Department investigators will continue to seek out new information relative to this case, the department spokesperson said in an email to media.

Anyone who has new information concerning this case to call Crimestoppers at (866)371-TIPS, or (314) 889-2341.

Phoenix Coldon is 5 feet 6 inches tall, and weighs about 125 pounds. She has brown hair with reddish tint and pierced ears. She was last seen wearing gray University of Missouri-St. Louis sweatpants with the word "UMSL" printed vertically down one pant leg, a dark hoodie and tennis shoes.

Anyone with information on the case is asked to call St. Louis County Police at

The family has a group about Phoenix's case on Facebook.

Coldon Family Loses Home Chasing Hoax News Tip

The Coldon family has endured a turbulent year.

A promising lead about the whereabouts of Phoenix Coldon turned out to be a cruel hoax, causing the missing North County woman's their entire life savings and possibly their home.

"Unfortunately, we will now be losing our family home," Goldia said in August. "We have tried to explain the situation to our mortgage company but they don't care."

A tip that led the family to Texas came from a man who claimed to know Coldon’s whereabouts and provided her family with very convincing details, Goldia said earlier in the year.

The family already had invested much of their money to search for Phoenix, she said, but spent the remainder of their savings on private investigators to follow up on the lead. It was not until after the family’s money was gone that the man who provided the tip admitted he fabricated the story, Goldia said.

“They said he made it up to get attention,” she said. “It cost us dearly and it led absolutely nowhere.

"It was just his idea of a joke.”

Goldia said her husband and she have no regrets and will continue to do whatever it takes to find their missing daughter.

"It is just money and it is just a house," she said. "We did what we had to do for Phoenix."

How to Help the Coldon Family

Anyone wishing to contribute to the search for Phoenix Coldon can make an online donation via PayPal, PhoenixMissingFund@Hotmail.com, or by sending a donation to Goldia Coldon, c/o: Missing Phoenix Coldon, P.O. Box 38645, Saint Louis, Missouri 63138.