Family Puts Pressure On Efforts To Find Kierra Coles, Postal Worker Who Has Been Missing Since 2018
CHICAGO (CBS) -- It has been nearly three years since Kierra Coles was last seen.
The Chicago mail carrier vanished without a trace on the city's South Side. And as CBS 2's Marissa Parra reported Sunday, her family is trying to put pressure on efforts to find her.
Coles, then 26, was three months pregnant when she went missing on Oct. 2, 2018. She was last seen at 81st Street and Vernon Avenue in the Chatham neighborhood.
Her family does not want this to turn into a case gone cold. Together on Sunday at Daley Plaza, they prayed for Coles and her baby, and for closure.
"We're not giving up that she may still be alive," said Wallace "Gator" Bradley of United Peace Inc. "We pray that she's not suffering."
When Coles vanished, her phone was found inside her car that remained outside her apartment.
Her parents, Justin Coles and Karen Phillips, told CBS 2's Parra that surveillance video showing a letter carrier walking on the South Side the day their daughter went missing – originally thought to show Kierra Coles herself – ended up not being her.
Her family said the investigation process has been disheartening. They have not heard anything from her boyfriend since she vanished, and they have not heard anything from police in a year and a half.
"We're not getting the proper answers. We're not getting the proper phone calls. No one is knocking our door down to tell us anything," said Justin Coles. "They're still here asking us for information. We would like to know the information they have."
"Every time I call, someone is off or someone is on vacation or I'm told they'll take a message and I never get a call back," Phillips added.
Another mother, La Shann Walker, came forward Sunday with her own story. Her daughter and grandchild – Diamond Bynum and King Walker – have been missing in Gary, Indiana for nearly six years.
She echoed the frustration of not hearing any updates from police.
Together, loved ones of missing children and women begged for more information – any information – that could lead to closure and end the agony of wondering.
"Dude, come forth," Bradley said.
"Say something," added activist Vera Giles Norris. "If it was your child; if it was your sister; if it was your loved one, you would need someone to do it for you."
"Everything goes through your mind – what if it's this? What if it's that? What if this happened? What if that happened?" Phillips said. "We just don't know."
Coles' 29th birthday is in September. Her baby would be 2 years old.
If you have any information, the National Association of Letter Carriers reminded us Sunday that there are rewards that add up to more than $40,000.
"She's a member of our union… she will always be our sister," says Mack Julion from the association.
Police said in July 2020 that they had exhausted all their leads into Kierra Coles' disappearance and had suspended the investigation.
Anyone who can provide information in the case cal call the Chicago Police Area Two Special Victims Unit at (312) 747-8274.
