It was a week before Christmas in 2011 when Phoenix Coldon, 23, drove away from her house in St. Louis County, Missouri and never returned. Three hours after she left, her black Chevy was impounded by police 25 minutes from her house. The car was empty, and the motor was still running. The driver's side door was open.
Her parents firmly believe she's still alive. The Christmas tree remains lit as they wait to have her home again.
Phoenix's father Lawrence Coldon tells Anderson Cooper that law enforcement didn't tell him and his wife about finding their daughter's car that day. "We lost two weeks of investigative time trying to find our daughter, and we didn't know where the vehicle was."
The Coldons believe that authorities are treating the missing persons case differently because of their daughter's age. They've tried to explain that their daughter is not the type of person to just leave without telling them.
To get through the pain each day, Goldia Coldon says she turns to God and hopes Phoenix is also finding strength in her faith, wherever she may be. "My hope is in the Lord."