Kierra Coles likely would have spent the last several months going about her typical routine, delivering letters along her Chicago postal route -- until a probable pause this week for another scheduled delivery: her baby's.
But the Tuesday due date doctors predicted passed with no news, much like the previous seven months had since the day, Oct. 2, when the 27-year-old vanished.
Her disappearance, which was reported two days later by her mother, raised plenty of questions.
Coles had reportedly called out sick from her U.S. Postal Service letter carrier job on Oct. 2 -- but investigators spotted her on video that day leaving her apartment and wearing her uniform. She was also seen on surveillance footage from a neighbor's home.
And then nothing.
Authorities discovered her cellphone was in her car, which was parked near her apartment, but the public learned little else.
A massive search ensued and, now nearly seven months later, her family is left holding on to hope that Coles -- and her baby – are still alive.
“All I can do is keep hope alive. I take my grandkids, we pass out flyers every day. We don’t miss a day,” Coles’ father, Joseph Coles, told the Chicago Sun-Times.
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Chicago police said two weeks after Coles went missing that they suspect possible foul play, but did not elaborate further.
Police told FOX32 they have “two or three people of interest” and a good idea of what may have happened to Coles, but authorities apparently didn't yet have the hard evidence to build their case. Though officials continue the work, there have been no other updates on the investigation.
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Coles is described as 5-4 and 125 pounds, with a “Lucky Libra” tattoo on her back and a heart tattoo on her hand.