Katharina Buczek
Phoenix Coldon was born Phoneix Reeves and raised in California before she ultimately moved to Missouri and was adopted by her father, Lawrence Coldon.
As a child, she was frequently home-schooled and participated in recreational activities. She played multiple musical instruments and was even a local junior fencing champion.
Then, once she turned 18, she was able to get her parents to co-sign a lease, and she moved into an apartment with a friend. That friend ultimately turned out to be Phoenix’s boyfriend, whom her parents didn’t know about.
By 2011, Phoenix was a 23-year-old junior attending the University of Missouri – despite not enrolling in any fall classes.
And shortly before the holidays, on December 18, 2011, she mysteriously disappeared.
According to Phoenix’s mother, Goldia Coldon, that day began like “a normal Sunday for her family.” Phoenix visited her parent’s home in Spanish Lake, and together, they went to church and completed some shopping.
Later, around 3:00 p.m., Phoenix’s father watched as she got into her car – a 1998 black Chevrolet Blazer – and drove away.
At the time, her family reportedly believed she might have just gone to the store. But after Phoenix never returned home, they contacted authorities and reported her missing the following morning.
Her car was subsequently found abandoned on St. Clair Avenue in East St. Louis, approximately 25 minutes away from her home, around 5:30 p.m. The vehicle’s driver-side door had been left open, and the vehicle was impounded.
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