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Family of mail carrier who was pregnant when she disappeared renews call for help from police and potential witnesses

Chicago Tribune - 6/28/2021

Kierra Coles disappeared more than two years ago, but her family is still searching for information about their daughter, then a mail carrier who was pregnant with her first child.

Joseph Coles, Kierra Coles’ father, and mother Karen Phillips gathered Sunday afternoon with other advocates in Daley Plaza to again ask anyone with information about her disappearance to come forward and urge officials to do more.

“I know she would want me to do everything possible to track her down,” Joseph Coles said. “If you know something, say something.”

Kierra Coles, a letter carrier for about three years, went missing Oct. 2, 2018, on her way to work. Phillips reported Coles missing two days later as calls to her cellphone went straight to voicemail. Her baby was due in April 2019, her family has said.

Joseph Coles, who has long distributed flyers, posted on social media and searched for his daughter, has previously criticized police for a lack of information, and said Sunday that communication has continued to be scarce.

Coles and Philips said every day is a struggle, but they still have hope.

“You just don’t know,” Philips said. “Everything goes through your mind. What if it’s this? What if it’s that? What if this happened? What if that happened?”

Last September, Kierra Coles’ family and friends celebrated her birthday, asking authorities and neighbors to do everything possible to aid in the search for the missing daughter and grandchild. Police said that they were working jointly with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the FBI to continue the search and that the case remains a high-risk missing person investigation with potential foul play suspected.

There are no updates in the investigation, police said Sunday.

Mack Julion, president of the local chapter of the National Association of Letter Carriers, said Coles has not been forgotten, and the reward for information, at least $45,000, still stands.

“We stand in solidarity with the family,” Julion said. “We will not rest until we get information that leads to her whereabouts.”

Coles is 5 feet, 4 inches tall and weighs about 125 pounds. She is Black with brown eyes, black hair and a medium brown complexion, Chicago police said in a missing persons alert. She has a tattoo of a heart on her right hand and a tattoo that says “Lucky Libra” on her back.

“We miss her and we’re ready for her to come home,” Philips said.

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