Mothers facing the anguish of missing children made a public appeal for assistance and awareness this Mother's Day, gathered in Daley Plaza. Karen Phillips and La Shann Walker, whose loved ones have vanished without a trace, have become reluctant symbols of a club wrought with perpetual despair and hope.
Phillips, still seeking answers about her daughter Kierra Coles, a 26-year-old pregnant postal worker last seen in October 2018, refuses to relent in her quest. She affirmed that she'll never give up as long as there's breath her body, a sentiment echoed amid the somber Mother's Day vigil, as reported by the Chicago Sun-Times. Coles, described by the Chicago police as a Black woman with distinctive tattoos, remains a figure of ongoing concern and a symbol of unresolved mysteries in the South Chicago area.
Walker, caring so deeply, is quite literally spent, with days taken off from work to glean any police updates about her daughter and grandson, Diamond Bynum and King Walker, who have been missing since July 2015. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Bynum, now 30 and with a genetic disorder, alongside her nephew King, then only 2, vanished from Gary, Indiana, leaving Walker amidst a years-long fight, hitting the cold wall of a seemingly indifferent system.
The shared grief of Phillips and Walker highlights a broader issue of unsolved cases in the Chicago area. With each year passing, these families confront the stagnant pace of investigations once more, leading them to take their pleas to the public in hopes of igniting action. They pray, not only to their respective faiths but also to the collective conscience of those who might hold answers. "It's so stressful not knowing where my child is," Phillips divulged in her interview, expressing a relentless torment plaguing her every day, as detailed by CBS Chicago in a report.
Police affirm that the cases remain open and urge anyone with information to come forward, a continuous call that echoes in the void for these families. As these mothers beseech the present public, the past's unanswered cries remind us of the essential role community awareness has in possibly solving these heart-wrenching mysteries.
