Kierra Coles, a 26-year-old U.S. Postal Service worker, was filled with joy and anticipation for the future. She was three months pregnant with her first child and had recently moved into her own apartment in Chicago's Chatham neighborhood. Her family describes her as a vibrant person who loved makeup, dancing, and her job. She was in regular contact with her mother, Karen Phillips, and they had spoken on the afternoon of October 2, 2018, while Coles was out shopping for baby supplies.
That day, however, held a series of events that would lead to her mysterious disappearance, leaving her loved ones in a state of perpetual anguish. Although she had called in sick to work, surveillance footage captured her that morning in her postal uniform. This detail was one of the first of many that her family and investigators would find unsettling and out of character.
The timeline of Kierra's last known movements, pieced together from various surveillance videos, paints a concerning picture. On the evening of October 2nd, she was seen leaving her apartment with a man police have since identified as a person of interest. They drove off in her car, with Kierra at the wheel. Their first stop was a Walgreens, where Kierra withdrew $400 from an ATM at approximately 10:43 p.m., an act her mother later described as unusual given her typically frugal nature. This ATM footage would be the last confirmed image of Kierra Coles. Less than an hour later, her car was seen parking in a different part of the city. Video from that location shows the male person of interest exiting from the passenger side of the vehicle; no one is seen getting out of the driver's side. The following morning, the same man was recorded parking Kierra's car near her apartment building. He then entered her residence and emerged a short time later carrying unknown items before driving away in his own car, which had been parked on the street overnight. Kierra's car was later found with her purse, cell phone, and a packed lunch still inside.
Years have passed since Kierra Coles vanished, yet no arrests have been made and no suspects have been officially named. The person of interest seen in the surveillance footage was questioned by police but has reportedly not cooperated further and has since moved out of state. The investigation, a joint effort between the Chicago Police Department and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, has been fraught with frustration and unanswered questions for her family. At one point, the case was suspended due to a lack of new leads, though it can be reopened if more information becomes available. Kierra's family continues to hold out hope and actively seeks to keep her story in the public eye, pleading for anyone with information to come forward. The disappearance of Kierra Coles is a heartbreaking story of a young woman on the cusp of motherhood whose life took a tragic and unknown turn. The strange circumstances of her last known hours, including the out-of-character ATM withdrawal and the puzzling movements of her car and a person of interest, have left investigators and her family with a painful and unresolved mystery.Last Seen: Oct 2, 2018
