Disclaimer: This case involves the unsolved disappearance of a young child and a brief mention of child molestation. If that is a trigger for you, Check out one of my other stories!
In Tacoma, Washington, while a family was having a fun night at a local bowling alley, tragedy hit the Lewis’ Family and Little Teekah disappeared. What happened to her?
Who is Teekah?
Teekah Lewis was born on July 4, 1996. She was born to Theresa and Robert Lewis. Robert was not a big part of her life, because he was serving a four year sentence, for theft. Teekah was such a mommy’s girl and close to her sibling. She was third of four siblings. She loved them so much that she check on them each morning. Family described Teekah as a mature toddler, always by her mother’s side. Everyday she would ask to watched Winnie the Pooh.
New Frontier Lanes
On January 23, 1999, Teekah, who was two, went to the New Frontier Lanes, in Tacoma, Washington, with her family. They were located at lanes 7 and 8. It was a busy night, because it was league night, at the bowling alley. multiple family members kept looking back to check on the kids, at the arcade. She spent a lot of time at the claw machine and kept going back and forth to get coins. Her Uncle help her win a teddy bear, which she gave to her ten month-old sister.
Teekah’s Disappearance
By 10 PM, that night, she was missing. A 15-hour search occurred, with limited clues about where Teekah went. A witness saw an unidentified male speed off in a vehicle. It was an late 1980s or early 1990s, marron or dark colored Pontiac Grand AM, with possible four-door, dark tinted windows and a spoiler. Another witness came forward that a man was seen following a child by the exits. The person was described as a white male, 5 Feet 11 Inches tall, husky build, brown curly or wavy hair, a mustache, and pockmarks on his face. Pockmarks are scars from acne, chickenpox,etc.
Witnesses last seen Teekah with her pulled into a Tweety bird shirt, white sweatpants, black and white Jordans. She is a multiracial (African American, Native American, and Caucasian) female, with brown eyes and black hair with red highlights with a small streak of gray, by the hairline. Â Teekah has patches of light discoloration on her face and on and the left side of her buttocks, due to eczema. She also has a large birthmark on her left buttock. She has noticeable facial dimples, and pierced ears. Teekah is asthmatic and likely requires medication. On January 26, dogs alerted to deserted clothing, labeled JS or IS but could not tie it to Teekah’s case.
Other Suspicious Events
There has quite a bit of suspicious activity that has occurred at or near the bowling alley. Two months prior to Teekah’s disappearance, a man molested a four year old boy on the restrooms. The security guard said that he seen the man hanging around previously and thought the man at the bowling alley was his father. Early on the day that Teekah went missing, A man attempted to abduct two children from a park near the bowling alley. The father chased him off and he sped away. He said that he had blue Pontiac Grand AM. I guess it could the same guy, but it was dark at the bowling Alley. Blue may have looked Maroon in the dark.
The Aftermath
In 2020, Tacoma Police released a person of interest seen near Teekah, at the bowling alley. He was wearing blue jeans and and blued checkered plaid shirt. The police did not release the clothes description previously, which i do not know why you would wait 20 years to release that. Who would remember what someone was wearing 20 years ago?
The family helped to pass Teekah’s Bill. This would create a special task-force, of multi-agencies, where there worked together to find missing and exploited children, like Teekah. The police received a potential break in the case. A little girl was found in the woods, decapitated, in St. Louis, Missouri. They called her Princess Doe, but this ended being Erica Green. Erica’s mother and stepfather murdered her.
On January 23, 2023, Teekah’s family, held a candlelight vigil to get her story back out there. They do them every year, hoping to get new information. Her mother said at the vigil, “I’m asking the community to please come forward with any information you have on Teekah, it could be the littlest thing, it could be your neighbor that looks like Teekah, you never know.” Every year, she holds up that Teekah will show up at the vigil. I can only imagine how hard that would be. I would just constantly look for my daughter and never seeing her. That would be torture. This year’s vigil is the for that the police and mayor showed up, which is awful. It does not look like it has gotten much media attention.
Final Thoughts
This case is very personal to me. I was 11 years old when this happened. At this point in my life, I never heard of kids getting abducted or anything. I remember seeing it on the news. It has stuck with me for 24 years and I never forgot her face. I still remember her Tweety bird shirt vividly. I truly hope this can finally be solved. She would be 28 in July.
Anyone with information about the case can leave anonymous tips at the Tacoma Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.
Sources
https://uncovered.com/cases/teekah-lewis
~Please note that the images used on this site are for educational and illustrative purposes only, and are utilized under the Fair Use Act, which allows for limited use of copyrighted material without permission from the copyright holder.~
Leave a Reply