Authorities in Illinois entered the car as “abandoned” to the police database, so it was not immediately discovered by police in Missouri.
The Coldon family was reportedly not told about the abandoned car being found, either.
“I just wish those police had done what they were supposed to do by running those plates and seeing that the vehicle was registered to me. All they had to do is call and say, ‘Do you know where your vehicle is?'” Goldia said.
Rather, they only discovered it after a family friend drove by a tow lot on January 2, 2012. According to Goldia, authorities also claimed that no personal belongings were found inside the vehicle, so police did not create an inventory sheet.
“That was not true. When we checked the vehicle at the impound, there were lots of things in it, including her glasses, her purse with her driver’s license, and her shoes,” she explained.
However, DNA analysis reportedly showed that no other people had been inside the vehicle aside from Phoenix and her parents. Following her disappearance, her bank accounts, social media accounts, and cell phone also showed no activity.
As the search for Phoenix continued, her family hired a private investigator named Steve Foster, who ultimately discovered that she had two birth certificates. One birth certificate was in her mother’s maiden name, while the other was in her adoptive name.
It was also learned that, prior to her disappearance, Phoenix recorded a video. In the recording, she reportedly discussed wanting to “start over” before reciting the Serenity prayer.
Some theorized that Phoenix may have run away, and investigators eventually found someone by the name of Phoenix Reeves living in Anchorage, Alaska. However, it was not her.
Phoenix’s secret boyfriend was also cleared of any involvement in her disappearance.
In 2018, a special on her case entitled “The Disappearance of Phoenix Coldon” was aired by Oxygen True Crime. According to supposedly new information uncovered, Phoenix may have had a second cell phone and been communicating with other men in the months before she went missing.
