The Disappearance of Kierra Coles: The Unsolved Case of a Pregnant Chicago Postal Worker
On Oct. 2, 2018, Kierra Coles, a 26-year-old U.S. Postal Service employee who was about three months pregnant, vanished from Chicago's South Side. Her car was found outside her apartment, with her purse, cell phone and a packed lunch still inside. More than eight years later, no arrest has been made and no suspect has been publicly named. She has not been found.
The case rests on a short list of confirmed facts, a handful of surveillance clips released by police, and years of appeals from a family that wants answers. This article separates what has been reported from what remains unknown.
The Last Known Day
Coles was last seen on Oct. 2, 2018, in the Chatham neighborhood on Chicago's South Side. The Cook County Sheriff's Office missing-person record (case MP56098) describes her as a postal worker who went missing about three months into her pregnancy.
It says she was last seen on surveillance video leaving her apartment near 81st Street and Vernon Avenue. Her vehicle was later found in front of the building with her purse, phone and a packed lunch inside. Descriptions of the location vary across published reports: a 2018 Chicago Sun-Times report placed her last sighting near 82nd Street and Coles Avenue, while the sheriff’s record and later reporting use 81st Street and Vernon Avenue. The available sources do not explain the discrepancy.
The same record gives her physical description:
- Height: 5 feet 4 inches
- Weight: 125 pounds
- Hair and eyes: black hair, brown eyes
- Tattoos: a heart on her right hand or wrist, and the words "Lucky Libra" on her back
- Clothing listed: a postal worker uniform
The record lists her last contact date as Oct. 2, 2018, and was last updated in January 2020. Later reporting added detail that the sheriff's entry does not contain, mainly the surveillance footage that Chicago police released in 2022.
A Life Interrupted
Coles worked for the Postal Service. Her family has described her as someone who loved makeup, taking pictures, dancing and her job, according to FOX 32 Chicago's report on the family's continuing search. The same report says she had been looking forward to becoming a mother.
Her mother, Karen Phillips, gave a fuller picture in an ABC News interview published by Good Morning America in October 2020. Phillips said Coles was the last of her children to have a baby and that the whole family was excited. In their last conversation, Phillips said, Coles seemed happy and asked her mother for advice on what milk to drink during pregnancy.
Phillips also said Coles told her in that conversation that her boyfriend planned to come over on the night of Oct. 2.
Phillips said she last saw the boyfriend when she filed the missing-person report, and that afterward he "vanished." ABC News could not reach him, and Chicago police declined to comment about him, citing the ongoing investigation. The reporting does not say whether he is the person of interest in the surveillance footage, and that connection should not be assumed.
Phillips has said she realized something was wrong when she did not hear from her daughter. In 2019 she put it this way: "When I woke up that morning and still hadn't gotten a call from her, I knew something was wrong."
What the Surveillance Footage Shows
The public timeline comes largely from surveillance video and police descriptions. Taken together, FOX 32 Chicago's account of the reward announcement and the other reporting give this sequence:
- Morning of Oct. 2. Video shows Coles in her postal uniform, even though she had called in sick to work that day.
- That night. Video shows her leaving home with a person of interest. The two stopped at a nearby ATM, where she made two cash withdrawals.
- The next morning. Authorities said video shows the same man returning to Coles' home in a vehicle. He went into the building and later left with unknown items, then drove away in his personal car, which had been parked on the block overnight.
CBS Chicago adds that police released the ATM footage in 2022. It was recorded inside a Walgreens in Chatham and shows Coles withdrawing cash. CBS describes it as the last known images of her. It also reports that video from minutes earlier shows her driving away from her apartment with the man detectives call a person of interest, and that he returned the next day and left her car parked outside.
A Timeline at a Glance
| Date | What was reported | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Oct. 2, 2018 (morning) | Coles seen on video in her postal uniform despite a reported sick call | Reported by police and news outlets |
| Oct. 2, 2018 (night) | Coles leaves with a person of interest; two ATM withdrawals | Reported by police; ATM footage released in 2022 |
| Oct. 3, 2018 | Person of interest returns, enters the building, leaves with unknown items; her car is left outside | Reported by authorities; contents of the items unknown |
| Oct. 2018 | The Postal Inspection Service announces a $25,000 reward for information leading to Coles’ whereabouts | Reported in contemporary coverage |
| Oct. 2020 | Police describe the case as suspended | Dated status; could be reopened |
| 2022 | Chicago police release ATM surveillance video | Reported |
| 2026 | Reward raised to $250,000 | Reported |
What the Footage Supports, and What It Does Not
The video establishes a sequence of movements and gives investigators a person to question. It does not tell the public what happened to Coles after the ATM, or why a man connected to her car and apartment behaved as he did the next day.
What the reported footage supports:
- Coles was alive and moving around Chatham on the night of Oct. 2.
- She was with another person for at least part of that evening.
- That person was later seen at her building and with her car.
What it does not establish:
- Where Coles went after the Walgreens ATM.
- What the unknown items were that the man took from the building.
- Whether any crime occurred, who committed it, or why.
Police have called the man a person of interest. That is not a charge, and no source supplied for this article names him or reports an accusation against him.
The Sick Call and Open Questions
One detail has drawn attention from the start: Coles appears in uniform on video the morning of Oct. 2, yet someone had called in sick for her. Mack Julion of the National Association of Letter Carriers questioned that, as quoted by FOX 32 Chicago: "Calling out sick and leaving for work that day in uniform is quite out of the ordinary. Was she the one who made that phone call? We think there's more to the story."
That is a union representative's question, not a finding. Nothing in the supplied reporting says who made the call.
The Investigation and Its Limits
The Chicago Police Department and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service have both worked the case. The Postal Inspection Service is involved because Coles was a postal employee. The FBI is also part of the case, though it deferred comment to Chicago police when ABC News asked in 2020.
At that time, Chicago police classified the matter as "a high-risk missing person investigation with potential foul play suspected." That wording was the department's classification as reported in 2020. It was not a finding about what happened.
The same report quotes police spokeswoman Sally Bown describing the case as suspended. She explained: "Suspended means the case cannot be continued further at this time." She added that there are "many possibilities such as having exhausted all the available evidence," and that a suspended case can be reopened if more evidence emerges. In plain terms, as of that October 2020 statement, police said they had no further leads they could pursue at that point. This was a status as of October 2020, and later reporting does not say whether it changed. The Postal Inspection Service, however, has since raised its reward substantially, which signals continued interest in the case.
According to CBS Chicago, police questioned the person of interest and said he gave varying accounts of what happened that night. No arrest has been made. FOX 32 Chicago's reporting adds that despite years of investigation, no suspects have been named.
Phillips has said she felt police "just put it to the side because they're frustrated with it." That is her view of the investigation. Chicago police responded in 2020 by asking anyone with knowledge of Coles' last whereabouts to come forward, saying they would "not stop" until she is located.
A Family's Search for Answers
Phillips has appealed publicly for years. In 2020 she was "begging for anybody to come forward" with information. She described the toll of not knowing, including what happened to the baby Coles was carrying: "He or she will almost be 2."
Her words in that interview capture the uncertainty of the case: "What really happened? I don't know if she's being tortured or if she's safe or what." These are a mother's fears. No evidence has been reported that supports any particular theory about Coles' condition.
Six months after Coles disappeared, her due date came and went. FOX 32 Chicago notes that milestone as part of the family's story. It says nothing about the outcome of the pregnancy.
The family has marked other milestones in public. Coles' birthday falls on Sept. 24, and FOX 32 Chicago reported that her 33rd birthday, seven years after she disappeared, was marked with a family press conference calling again for information. The Black and Missing Foundation has also urged the public to share Coles' profile and offered an anonymous tip line at 1-877-97BAMFI, as cited in the ABC News report.
Rewards and Renewed Attention
Money has become one of the main tools in the effort to find new witnesses. The amounts have changed over time, and several figures are in circulation. They come from different sources and different moments.
| Reward | Offered by | When reported | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| $25,000 | U.S. Postal Inspection Service | Announced in October 2018; cited in 2020 | Original reward for information leading to Coles’ whereabouts |
| $63,000 | Coles' family | Reported by CBS Chicago in 2026 | Offered for information to find her |
| $68,000 | Not specified in the report | Reported by FOX 32 Chicago around her 33rd birthday | Described as a reward for tips leading to an arrest and conviction |
| $250,000 | U.S. Postal Inspection Service | 2026 | Largest reward the agency offers |
The $63,000 and $68,000 figures should not be treated as interchangeable. FOX 32 Chicago did not say who was offering the $68,000, and the supplied reporting does not explain the difference between the two amounts. The most reliable approach is to treat each as a figure reported at that time.
On August 18, 2026, shortly before the eighth anniversary of Coles’ disappearance, the Postal Inspection Service announced a reward of up to $250,000. CBS Chicago reported that this is the largest reward the agency offers, and that it first announced $25,000 days after she disappeared. The reward is for information leading to an arrest and conviction. The agency said information will be kept strictly confidential.
Phillips told FOX 32 Chicago she was "Shocked. Like shocked. Happy. Grateful." She added that "sometimes money do bring people out and it may just give us more answers."
Where the Case Stands
As of the latest cited reporting, published in August 2026, Kierra Coles remains missing. No arrest had been reported. Police have not publicly named the person of interest seen in the surveillance video as a suspect or reported that he has been charged. The circumstances of her disappearance, and what happened after the ATM withdrawals on the night of Oct. 2, 2018, remain unexplained.
If you have information about Kierra Coles’ disappearance, contact the U.S. Postal Inspection Service directly.
Phone: 1-877-876-2455 (say “Law Enforcement”)
Reference: Case No. 2693502-WPV
The Postal Inspection Service says information will be kept strictly confidential. Murder Mayhem Chicago is an independent publication; please submit tips to investigators, not to this website.
References
- Kierra Coles — Cook County Sheriff's Office
- Kierra Coles: Missing Chicago postal worker's family still searching for answers — FOX 32 Chicago
- Missing pregnant postal worker Kierra Coles' disappearance still a mystery 2 years later: 'What really happened?' — Good Morning America
- Kierra Coles: $250K reward offered in missing Chicago postal worker case — FOX 32 Chicago
- $250,000 reward offered in 2018 disappearance of pregnant postal worker Kierra Coles - CBS Chicago
- MISSING POSTAL SERVICE EMPLOYEE: Kierra Coles — U.S. Postal Inspection Service (official case page)
- New video shows missing postal worker Kierra Coles before she vanished in 2018 — CBS Chicago, June 14, 2022
- $28.5K reward offered for information on mail carrier missing from South Chicago — Chicago Sun-Times, October 17, 2018
- Kierra Coles case: Family demands answers, ups reward for info in postal worker’s disappearance — FOX 32 Chicago, March 7, 2023
