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Man disappears on Christmas Eve, never to be seen alive again

Security camera video shows Mario Coleman 21, getting into a black car. His body was found a mile away on Christmas Day.

A Valley mom is searching for justice after her son left home on Christmas Eve—never to be seen alive again. 

Police in Phoenix found Mario Coleman’s body on Christmas Day. He leaves behind his mother, sister and 1-year-old daughter.

“The last I spoke to my son, he was on his way to pick up her [His daughter's mother] and his daughter,” Hermein Morgan, Coleman's mom, said. 

Coleman never made it to his daughter's house. 

Surveillance video from the Filiberto's on 23rd Avenue and Camelback shows Coleman driving up and parking near a black car. Coleman gets out and gets into a seat behind the driver. The car sits still for more than a minute before driving away. That is the last time someone will see Mario alive. 

On Christmas, police found Coleman's body less than a mile away, dumped in the 2000 block of Oregon Avenue. 

“At this point, I just want justice for my son,” Morgan said. “It’s devastating, it’s really devastating.“

Coleman and his mom are both from the south side of Chicago and came to Arizona to try and get away from a dangerous life. 

"He loved his daughter, he loved his sister, he loved his family,“ Morgan said. 

His mother hopes the video will help police capture the people who murdered her son. 

On Thursday, the family held a vigil in the parking lot where he was last known to be alive, to honor a memory, and bring awareness to his death. 

“Somebody may know something. Somebody may have seen something. You know they could have heard something, you know people talk,” Morgan said. 

Police say they still don’t know how Coleman died but do say there are obvious signs of trauma. 

The investigation is still ongoing.

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