Firstly I hope you don't mind if I talk generally about my take on the whole remuneration review during the GFC before addressing the specific question.
Communication during salary reviews has taken on a whole new meaning this year. No longer is it just about communicating the bad news to those few who get paid too much and perform too little, but now it's about telling a whole bunch of talented people that you can't recognise their contribution financially. It is not enough just to tell people that there will be no salary reviews this year because of the GFC. That can put the fear into people that the company is struggling, that redundancies are coming, when in fact this may not be the case. They need to know what you are doing about securing the company. If employees think you are making cuts and slashing salary budgets willy nilly with no real long term plan then they will become disengaged, and what we don't need is a country full of disengaged workers when we are trying to get through this financial crisis.
There are a number of reasons why you might freeze salaries: 1) Can't afford it; 2) The market is not expected to move much in 2009 so there is no need to adjust; 3) Everyone else is doing it.
Unfortunately in my work I see a lot of organisations freezing salaries as a reaction to number 3 when in fact in their own organisation there is possibility of a budget (however big or little), or they are already behind the market. I see a lot of organisations 'not having a salary review this year' because we don't have a budget anyway. Not having a budget is no reason not to review and assess where you are at and where your danger areas are so you can act on them when things start to turn around. Not to mention the fact that job advertisements are not zero, some organisations are still recruiting, and they are recruiting those people who are best equipped to help turn an organisation around. YOUR best people. You need to know if you are vulnerable to losing them and proactively make them feel special in some other way - training, opportunities for development, etc.
Having to communicate to employees the real reasons why salaries are being frozen and what the future holds (for salaries and for the organisation generally) can force management to consider if what they are doing is actually the best thing or just following the leader.
Ok, I'll get off my soapbox and address the specific question.
I agree that if you are keen to keep this person you should make every effort to ascertain who made this promise to her in the first place and what was the nature of the promise? ie. perhaps she was brought in on a below median salary because she needed to be trained up in the job and promised an increase to bring her into line with median when she had spent 12 months improving her skills?
Obtaining a market benchmark will help you to frame your communications in a logical way. If she is already paid above the median (or whatever position your organisation targets) then you can let her know this. If she is paid below the median (or below others in similar roles in the organisation) then you should acknowledge that she may be in line for an increase as promised but that the budget has been frozen and the obvious reasons why that is in this market. You obviously can't make any promises about when her next increase will be but let her know that you are conscious of her situation and will attend to her at the next available opportunity.
If on the other hand she is not worth the effort then just communicate to her the same message you are sending to everyone else (bearing in mind my suggestions above).
I hope that helps. Sorry for the rant!
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