WA TEEKAH LEWIS: Missing from Tacoma, WA - 23 Jan 1999 - Age 2 (2 Viewers)

Teekah's photo is shown age-progressed to 17 years. She was last seen on January 23, 1999, at approximately 10:30 p.m. at the New Frontier Lanes bowling alley in Tacoma, Washington. Teekah is Biracial. She is Black and American Indian. Teekah was wearing a Tweety Bird T-shirt, white sweat pants and Air Jordan sneakers. She has eczema, with a skin discoloration on her face and left side of her buttocks. Teekah's ears are pierced. When she was last seen, her hair had a silver streak on the front right side. Teekah may require medical attention.
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Teekah and nearly a dozen of her family spent the evening of January 23, 1999 at New Frontier Lanes bowling alley on Center Street in Tacoma, Washington. Teekah was last seen playing a race car video game in the arcade section of the alley between 10:00 and 10:15 p.m.

She was a few feet from her family members and approximately six feet from the building's exit. Teekah's mother, Theresa English, said that she turned away for a moment and the child vanished. She has never been seen again. An extensive search of the area produced few clues as to her whereabouts.

A witness at the bowling alley told authorities that an unidentified maroon Pontiac Grand Am sped out of the parking lot during the night Teekah disappeared. The vehicle may have had four doors and was possibly a late 1980s or early 1990s model with dark-tinted windows and a large spoiler.

Another witness stated that an unidentified Caucasian man may have followed a child to one of the alley's exits during the night. The individual is described as being in his thirties with shoulder-length brown hair, facial pockmarks, a mustache and a large nose. Investigators do not know if the vehicle or the unidentified man are connected to Teekah's case.

NCMEC -

Have you seen this child? TEEKAH LEWIS

Missing From: TACOMA, WA. Missing Date: 01/23/1999. Teekah's photo is shown age-progressed to 17 years. She was last seen on January 23, 1999, at approximately 10:30 p.m. at the New Frontier Lanes bowling alley in Tacoma, Washington. Teekah is Biracial. She is Black and American Indian. Teekah...

api.missingkids.org

NamUs -

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

Doe Network -

The Doe Network: Case File 2486DFWA

Charley Project -

Teekah Latres Lewis – The Charley Project

edited by staff to add media link

TEEKAH LEWIS has been missing from a busy bowling alley in Tacoma, #WASHINGTON since 23 Jan 1999.

Teekah and nearly a dozen of her family spent the evening at New Frontier Lanes bowling alley. She was a few feet from her family and six feet from the building's exit. Teekah's mother said that she turned away for a moment and the child...

www.crimewatchers.net

 

[Guess Who]

Person of interest in 1999 disappearance of 2-year-old Teekah Lewis is dead, police say

Tacoma Police are sharing new details in a 1999 dissapearence of 2-year-old Teekha LewisTACOMA POLICE SHARE NEW DETAILS IN A 1999 DISAPPEARANCE OF 2-YEAR-OLD TE

komonews.com

Person of interest in 1999 disappearance of 2-year-old Teekah Lewis is dead, police say
Tacoma police are shedding more light into the 1999 disappearance of 2-year-old Teekah Lewis - with investigators telling KOMO News a person of interest they interviewed is now dead.


Julie Dier, the lead investigator and sergeant with the Tacoma Police Department, said in either 2020 or 2021 she picked up this cold case.

"At some point, I was made aware that there was a [person of interest] that popped up in some of the investigation. And it wasn't somebody that they looked at initially. Ultimately, we came to the point where we went and interviewed this person," Dier said.

The person of interest they interviewed matched the description of a man seen at the bowling alley the night Teekah went missing.

During the search and investigation, police described him as a white man with longer brown hair, age 30-40 in 1999, standing around 5'11" with a "husky" build. He was wearing a blue checkered flannel shirt and jeans.

"The most distinctive thing about him was that he had a pockmarked face, which I know was talked about in the initial investigation. There was somebody who was observed walking with a little girl that matched the description of Teekah," Dier said. "During this conversation, he said nothing that would have convinced us that he was a suspect or involved. But he also didn't say anything that ruled him out completely."

About two months later, when TPD went back to interview him, "he was deceased," Dier said.

Investigators said there is no video surveillance or physical evidence to work with.

"The biggest hope with this case is that somebody ultimately will come forth and say, 'hey, I know something.' And will give us something concrete about this case that will lead us to a suspect or some evidence that we can test and bring closure to this case," Dier said.

I sure hope this isn't one of those they will mark solved because a POSSIBLE person has now died.

 

[GrandmaBear]

Article dated recently but no matter how many times I read it, it is unclear when he was talked to but he is dead a month or two later. How? Did he kill himself shortly after or was I natural causes? What is it that is news here? Was this recently or a few years ago? He's not any kind of POI really they say so what is the point exactly? Police are shedding more light it said. Really. What light? This is news? Where is the rest of there is any?

Is it supposed to mean they think he was of interest but they can't say so so instead they say this which is saying nothing? Or just an attempt to show they have done something with no further indication of when this was or why it is even news. I kept rereading to see if I missed something but apparently not.

 

[Kimster]

I sure hope this isn't one of those they will mark solved because a POSSIBLE person has now died.

They better not say it's solved! Teekah is still missing!

 

[GrandmaBear]

IF LE everywhere hasn't learned by now you don't call something closed or solved if it isn't, then they'd better, and NOT be saying such.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

The Trail Went Cold - Episode 429 - Teekah Lewis | The Trail Went Cold

January 23, 1999. Tacoma, Washington. Two-year old Teekah Lewis accompanies her family to the New Frontier Lanes bowling alley, but while playing inside the arcade, she vanishes without a trace. It seems apparent that Teekah was the victim of a stranger abduction and there is speculation that...

www.trailwentcold.com

The Trail Went Cold - Episode 429 - Teekah Lewis​

January 23, 1999. Tacoma, Washington. Two-year old Teekah Lewis accompanies her family to the New Frontier Lanes bowling alley, but while playing inside the arcade, she vanishes without a trace. It seems apparent that Teekah was the victim of a stranger abduction and there is speculation that her disappearance might be connected to a recent series of incidents in which other children from the area were preyed upon by an unidentified white male. Twenty-five years later, investigators announce they have been looking into a person of interest who seems like a compelling potential suspect, but there is no conclusive evidence to implicate him and Teekah is never found. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore a heartbreaking missing children’s case which has remained unsolved for over a quarter of a century. Special thanks to listener Rey Hettrick for narrating the opening of this episode.

Listen at link

 

[GrandmaBear]

Such a haunting case, and honestly, not sure what I think sometimes... Mostly because of a few things that night that just bother me...

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

This has not been officially confirmed as related to Teekah, but that’s the local chatter.

Cold case tip prompts excavation of Tacoma backyard, large police response

A significant police presence has been seen in a Tacoma neighborhood for hours Monday as authorities respond to a cold case tip.

komonews.com

Cold case tip prompts excavation of Tacoma backyard, large police response​

The Tacoma Police Department is investigating a tip related to “an ongoing cold case investigation” that prompted a significant law enforcement presence in the backyard of a Tacoma home on Monday.

The department said detectives have been “actively investigating the information” and started searching a home on the 3200 block of South Gunnison Street Monday morning. Photos and video from the KOMO 4 Drone show pop-up canopy tents and several police vehicles still at the home Tuesday morning.

During an update Tuesday morning, TPD spokesperson Shelby Boyd said there were 147 active cold cases in Tacoma and could not share what case the tip was related to or if investigators had found any evidence during their search. Boyd did confirm no other agencies are currently involved in the investigation.

Some residents told KOMO News they watched as an excavator dug up part of the backyard early Monday morning.

"I'd say they took about six big scoops of dirt," said one neighbor who encountered the scene when he went out to walk his dog, adding that his home security camera caught some of the police activity, too.

The homeowners whose backyard is now part of a police investigation asked for privacy but told KOMO News the police department “was taking care of them” while they set up operations in their backyard. They wouldn't say if investigators told them what cold case brought them to their home.

According to two neighbors, a sidewalk that leads from the home's backdoor to the driveway was partially dug up. The TPD has not shared any details about what detectives are looking for or if they found anything Monday, but crews remained at the home overnight into Tuesday morning.

Photos and video from the KOMO 4 Drone show three pop-up canopy tents in the backyard of the home as detectives appeared to focus on an area under one of the tents.

The police operation, which includes a mobile command unit, prompted neighbors to wonder if the case may be linked to the disappearance of Teekah Lewis, one of Tacoma’s most well-known cold cases.

Teekah was just 2 years old when she disappeared during a family outing at New Frontier Lanes bowling alley on Jan. 23, 1999. The home being searched is just over a half-mile away from where the bowling alley Teekah was last seen in 1999 used to be located.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

https://amp.thenewstribune.com/news/local/crime/article306843371.html

Tacoma home being searched in cold case once was a presumed drug house​

The home was once used as a place for methamphetamine users to buy their drugs and get rid of stolen property, according to a 2003 search warrant obtained by The News Tribune.

The current occupants of the home are not related to the case in any way.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Teekah’s mom has been at the scene. They won’t tell her anything either.

Neighbors hopeful for closure as Tacoma police investigate cold case

There is a cold case mystery unfolding in Tacoma as crews with Tacoma Emergency Management were seen digging in the backyard of a home.

mynorthwest.com

Neighbors hopeful for closure as Tacoma police investigate ‘heartbreaking’ cold case​

There is a cold case mystery unfolding in Tacoma as crews with Tacoma Emergency Management were seen digging in the backyard of a home at the corner of South Gunnison Street and South Wright Avenue.

Neighbors suspect the investigation is related to 2-year-old Teekah Lewis, who disappeared in 1999 from a bowling alley a short distance away.

“I feel bad for her mom,” neighbor Milo Moawad said. “I couldn’t imagine. I have kids. Not knowing where your 2-year-old has been for 26 years…that’s heartbreaking.”

The Tacoma Police Department (TPD) has been hard at work.

“Officers and detectives worked into the night,” Shelbie Boyd with TPD said Tuesday. “They went home, got some rest, came back this morning. So, yeah, it’s a tip in a cold case. Someone died.”

However, law enforcement is being very tight-lipped about whatever is going on—including to Lewis’ mother, Theresa Cziapiewski.

“I knew when I talked to her last time, she said she was working on something, but she wouldn’t tell me,” Cziapiewski said.

Moawad is hopeful Cziapiewski will get the answers she needs.

“I just hope her mom can get closure,” Moawad said. “I heard she was out here all night.”

Neighbors told KIRO Newsradio that since the beginning of this month, they have seen teams, including the FBI, in the home’s backyard. They started digging on the property Monday at approximately 7:30 a.m.

A mobile command center was set up just outside the home they were investigating.

“We have family members out there,” Boyd told KIRO Newsradio. “We have friends that want closure. And so of the 147-cold-cases in the city of Tacoma, this is one, and we’re going to investigate it like we investigate every lead.”

When asked, TPD could not confirm which specific cold case they were working on.

“We cannot, at this point,” Boyd told KIRO 7. “We’re just out here investigating a cold case. Once there’s information available, we’ll make sure to let the public know. But at this point, it’s just another cold case tip.”

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Police confirm Tacoma backyard excavation was related to missing toddler Teekah Lewis

A dig this week in a Tacoma backyard was related to the 26-year-old cold case of missing toddler Teekah Lewis, officials confirmed on Wednesday.

komonews.com

Police confirm Tacoma backyard excavation was related to missing toddler Teekah Lewis
A dig this week in a Tacoma backyard was related to the 26-year-old cold case of missing toddler Teekah Lewis, officials confirmed on Wednesday.

On Monday, Tacoma Police Department detectives were seen searching a home on the 3200 block of South Gunnison Street and excavating the property's backyard.

On Thursday, the TPD confirmed the backyard dig was over, and that the tip had been related to Teekah's case.

Officials stated that nothing related to Teekah had been discovered at the site.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Teekah Lewis cold case lead comes up empty in Tacoma

There is a cold case mystery unfolding in Tacoma as crews with Tacoma Emergency Management were seen digging in the backyard of a home.

mynorthwest.com

‘This is not over’: Teekah Lewis’ mom vows to continue cold case as Tacoma lead comes up empty​

Tacoma cold-case investigators and a forensics team concluded the search of the backyard of a Tacoma home late Wednesday morning. They now admit they were following a tip in the 1999 disappearance of then two-year-old Teekah Lewis, and that nothing was found.

“Nothing of evidentiary value, on any case,” Tacoma Police Department (TPD) spokesperson Shelbie Boyd said, “Not on any of the 147-cold-cases and 20 missing persons. That is the thing about these cases. They get tips. They get information. They run them down. Some end in a successful apprehension, and some end like today.”

It’s been 26 years since Lewis disappeared from a family outing at a local bowling alley in January 1999. Investigators said it was a tip that led them to the backyard, at the corner of South Gunnison Street and South Wright Avenue, and that they had been working the tip for about two months. However, they still won’t say where the tip came.

Neighbors gathered daily at the site of the search. They know all too well the tragedy of Lewis’ disappearance, and they were hoping for the best possible outcome for her mom, Theresa Czapiewski.


However, Czapiewski is not giving up.

“It’s a lot to deal with,” she said. “And not knowing is the biggest thing. Not knowing what happened to Teekah or where she is. I will be talking to the chief on what’s next because this is not over. I’m going to make sure we have answers, regardless if it’s good news or bad news.”

TPD said it will continue to work on other leads in Lewis’ case. It also hopes media coverage will lead to even more tips, which the department said it will aggressively pursue. Meanwhile, Czapiewski is holding out hope.

“Everyone knows my daughter comes first in this world,” she said. “I’m her voice right now, and I’m going to do everything I can to stay on top of her case.”

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/crime/article308607240.html

Tacoma disappearance of Teekah Lewis to be featured on Dateline podcast Tuesday
Perhaps Tacoma’s most well-known missing person case, the 1999 disappearance of 2-year-old Teekah Lewis, will be featured Tuesday on Dateline’s Missing in America podcast.

Missing in America’s 35-minute episode, “Taking Teekah,” dives into the details of the night she went missing, the search that followed and some of the case’s most compelling leads. NBC News correspondent Josh Mankiewicz speaks with the Tacoma police detective who inherited the case in 2021, Teekah’s grown-up siblings and her mother, Theresa Czapiewski, who has never given up the search for her daughter.

The episode also explores the latest development in the case, the three-day excavation of a Tacoma home’s backyard in the 3200 block of South Gunnison Street, a short drive from where Teekah vanished. That search ended without any findings.

 

[Kimster]

https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/crime/article308607240.html

Tacoma disappearance of Teekah Lewis to be featured on Dateline podcast Tuesday
Perhaps Tacoma’s most well-known missing person case, the 1999 disappearance of 2-year-old Teekah Lewis, will be featured Tuesday on Dateline’s Missing in America podcast.

Missing in America’s 35-minute episode, “Taking Teekah,” dives into the details of the night she went missing, the search that followed and some of the case’s most compelling leads. NBC News correspondent Josh Mankiewicz speaks with the Tacoma police detective who inherited the case in 2021, Teekah’s grown-up siblings and her mother, Theresa Czapiewski, who has never given up the search for her daughter.

The episode also explores the latest development in the case, the three-day excavation of a Tacoma home’s backyard in the 3200 block of South Gunnison Street, a short drive from where Teekah vanished. That search ended without any findings.

I can listen to dateline podcasts in my car when I’m traveling around and I am definitely going to be listening to this one.

 

[GrandmaBear]

I can't get over in this one that a woman ried to take her kid/s? that same night. Each time she claimed a member of their group was watching them, they were not. Was this a place a number of kidnappers were hanging out? I mean that part of the story is very odd to me. Never heard a thing like it in my life. It is something hard to let go of in it. I don't know what it means, but it's odd. And if I recall, the cops were there and it still happened.

I think it bears mentioning.

 

[Kimster]

I listen to the podcast and it is so sad! Back then we didn’t really think that kids would be taken right out of a bowling alley of all places! I’m surprised they didn’t name the suspect that had the Grand Prix since he’s deceased. Why not mention his name and maybe it would jog someone’s memory somehow? At least give people an idea of places that he hung out so maybe they could find Teekah’s remains.

 

[Guess Who]

I listen to the podcast and it is so sad! Back then we didn’t really think that kids would be taken right out of a bowling alley of all places! I’m surprised they didn’t name the suspect that had the Grand Prix since he’s deceased. Why not mention his name and maybe it would jog someone’s memory somehow? At least give people an idea of places that he hung out so maybe they could find Teekah’s remains.

Chucky Cheese even had safeguards for the child leaving with the person that brought them way before this. So people did think of it happening. Amber Alerts were even in place several years before this.

 

[Tresir]

Did we know all of this before? Not sure I recall some of it...?

What the HE77 kind of peopled lives in this City at that time? It seems there are people everywhere that night either try to take or actually taking kids!

So she had another child kidnapped that night!! Why is it any time she asked her bf and brother to watch a kid of hers they never did...? How did the woman get the baby all the way to her car and the SIL never noticed, nor the bf or brother??!!! Did the SIL watch the woman take the baby all the way to her car and only then tell the mother?? I mean how did she know the child was in the car if not??

I am quite suspicious of the people who were with her right now...!

So she had two of her kids with her that night and BOTH were kidnapped. She has a kid already missing, it's known and her bf can't watch the other one??? People, possibly different people wanted two of her kids???

And what about this cop?? HE was with her yet she had to be the one to tell the woman to give her baby back??

That woman kidnapped the baby and they never charged and tried her for kidnapping?? HE WROTE NO report EITHER?? That baby was shut in her car, that child WAS kidnapped for God's sake.
Then the man who wanted to leave town wish his mom IS strange too...

Then there was someone at a park trying to take kids, possibly the same man...

All these people are downright WEIRD, what the HE77 was going on around there??

The cops don't seem too impressive at all back then... This sergeant now seems to be trying hard but why wasn't all the sh*t she is doing done back then??

I read all of this and still can't get over it... I'm OUTRAGED actually.

Oh and the brother thought the woman odd earlier and did not want her holding his baby again yet three other adults and none of them could ensure she got near neither baby NOR watch two babies?? For God's sake. How did she get the baby all the way to the car?? No one noticed...

It all makes no sense, it's almost like the people with her wanted her kids kidnapped. SO ODD. I'd never let another one of them near my kids again, even the family members.

I have so much more I want to say but I can't wrap my head around all this and come up with the words...

And everyone too is just so brazen. Someone just picked the baby up, someone just picked Teekah right up it would seem...I don't think the woman likely did it although she could have picked Teekah up, left with her and came back without her. Seems unlikely though. She could have had her in the trunk but seems unlikely. Yet what are the odds of two kidnappers being there and both of the same woman's kids being taken??

The man seems the most likely but again TWO KIDNAPPERS on the SAME NIGHT?

What kind of cop lets a woman go who kidnapped a baby??

He's dead and the woman is now too mentally gone...

Maybe the names of the two should be released, it may trigger a tip...

For instance someone who knew him may have seen him at the bowling alley that night...

With her, say if she took her, someone who knows her may remember seeing her with a 2 year old at some point in time...

The case is decades old, it's time to try something different.

I am still just shaking my head....

Did we know any of this?? I sure don't recall it...

I am wondering if the woman and the pockmarked face guy were in it together and put one girl in each car as they only had one car seat in each car and the woman was caught but the man wasn't. I am with you and that woman should have been arrested. Did they even take the reg number? It seems they did find her later but she was not able to be interviewed or something? Something weird about that whole thing. I mean how weird that two of her kids were kidnapped and it be two isolated incidents on the same evening?

 

[Tresir]

And now this house search. It should be possible to check the address to see who lived there from 1999 onwards.

 

[Kimster]

Chucky Cheese even had safeguards for the child leaving with the person that brought them way before this. So people did think of it happening. Amber Alerts were even in place several years before this.

I guess living in a small town was the difference. When I think about how far we let our kids go to and from school when my kids were young in the 90s..... No way would I want my grandkids doing the same now!

 

[Kimster]

And now this house search. It should be possible to check the address to see who lived there from 1999 onwards.

That's what I was thinking!