The Last Known Moment S2E2: The Disappearance of Phoenix Coldon — Full Case Breakdown

Season 2, Episode 2 of The Last Known Moment is streaming now. Listen to the full episode below, then read on for the complete case breakdown.

On December 18, 2011, 23-year-old Phoenix Coldon left her family's home in Spanish Lake, Missouri, in her black 1998 Chevy Blazer. She has not been seen since. Fourteen years later, her case remains open, unresolved, and largely unknown outside true-crime circles — despite a jurisdictional failure that may have cost investigators their earliest and best chance at finding her.

Who Was Phoenix Coldon?

Phoenix Coldon was born in 1988 in California as Phoenix Reeves. She was adopted as a child by Goldia and Lawrence Coldon, and the family later moved to Missouri for her father's job, where her adoption was formalized (Wikipedia).

She was mostly home-schooled, played a variety of musical instruments, and was the local junior fencing champion. By 2011, at 23 years old, she was a student at the University of Missouri–St. Louis (UMSL).

What Happened That Day

December 18, 2011, was, by her mother Goldia's account, a normal Sunday. The family attended church together in Spanish Lake, Missouri, and ran some errands. Afterward, around 3:00 PM, Phoenix left her family's home in her black 1998 Chevy Blazer. Her father told reporters she was supposedly headed to a convenience store nearby, or possibly a friend's house — a short trip.

She was last seen wearing grey sweatpants printed with either UMSL or Lindenwood lettering, a dark hoodie, and tennis shoes.

Just a few hours later, around 5:27–5:30 PM, Phoenix's Blazer was found abandoned roughly 25 minutes from home — across the Missouri-Illinois state line, on 9th Street and St. Clair Avenue in East St. Louis, Illinois.

A Jurisdictional Failure That Cost Critical Time

This is where the case gets complicated, and where law enforcement's handling of it has been criticized for over a decade. There were early, conflicting reports about the state of the vehicle — some accounts said the engine was still running when it was found; other officials later said that was inaccurate, and that the vehicle appeared locked and shut off.

What is documented is that East St. Louis police impounded the Blazer that evening and logged it as an abandoned vehicle. But because it was impounded on the Illinois side of the river, it wasn't cross-referenced against the missing persons report Phoenix's parents had just filed with Missouri police. The Coldon family says they weren't notified that the car had been found. Instead, a family friend, searching independently, found the Blazer sitting in a tow lot (Oxygen).

When the family finally got access to the vehicle, they found Phoenix's glasses, her purse, her shoes, her ID, and a cell phone bill that had gone to collections — all still inside. There was no sign of a struggle. DNA evidence recovered from the SUV reportedly showed no one else's presence in that vehicle besides Phoenix and her own parents.

The Silence That Followed

After that afternoon, every trace of her went silent. Her cell phone, her bank accounts, and her social media all stopped completely on December 18, 2011, and never resumed.

You may encounter podcast retellings and forum posts online that add extra details to this story — a note supposedly left in the vehicle, a mysterious phone call to her mother months later, references to men in her life with nicknames like "Mike B." We want to be direct about this: none of those specific claims have been confirmed by law enforcement or verified in mainstream reporting. They circulate in independent true-crime retellings, but there is no police statement, court record, or credible news source backing them up as fact. We are not repeating them here as established parts of the case.

A Family That Never Stopped Searching

The investigation moved slowly, and the Coldon family has spent years saying local law enforcement did not do enough. Frustrated with the pace of the official search, Phoenix's parents began investigating on their own. They talked to local drug dealers and sex workers looking for any lead. They hired a private investigator. They poured their own money and time into finding their daughter — to the point that their home went into foreclosure, and their life savings were drained.

Media Attention Over the Years

In 2016, the case was profiled on the podcast The Vanished. In November 2018, Oxygen aired a two-night documentary special called The Disappearance of Phoenix Coldon, featuring investigative reporter Shawndrea Thomas and retired St. Louis County deputy police chief Joe Delia, who sat down with Phoenix's friends and family and laid out competing theories — that she may have been abducted, lured away by someone she knew, the victim of trafficking, or, according to some, that she staged her own disappearance to start a new life. None of those theories has ever been confirmed. In 2023, the case was profiled again on the podcast Crime Junkie, introducing Phoenix's story to a new generation of listeners.

Where the Case Stands Today

As of this writing, Phoenix Coldon has been missing for over fourteen years. No arrest has been made. No body has been recovered. Her case remains open and unsolved.

If you have any information related to Phoenix Coldon's disappearance, you're encouraged to contact the St. Louis County Police Department at 314-231-1212, or St. Louis Regional Crimestoppers at 1-866-371-TIPS.

🎧 Hear the full breakdown of this case — on the podcast.

New episodes, evidence breakdowns, and case updates like this one drop every week. Subscribe on our homepage so you never miss a drop.

Sources cited in this article:

• ◦Disappearance of Phoenix Coldon — Wikipedia
• ◦Oxygen — Everything You Need to Know About the Disappearance
• ◦FOX2 Now — Phoenix Coldon: Still Missing After Nearly 12 Years
• ◦PEOPLE — Mo. Woman Vanished 7 Years Ago

This article is based on publicly available reporting and family statements. NaturalQueen77 TV strives for accuracy but cannot guarantee completeness; corrections are welcome.