Taken in Tacoma: Where is Teekah Lewis?
A Fun Family Night Out Turns to Tragedy
A Family Night Out
In the ‘90s, the New Frontier Bowling Lanes at 4702 Center Street (now the site of Home Depot) in Tacoma, Washington was a hub for locals in the community to gather and have fun. Tacoma resident, Theresa Lewis Czapiewski was a busy mom of five young girls and didn’t have the opportunity to get out much. But on January 23, 1999 her brother convinced her to spend that Saturday evening with his family and some friends. After dinner they drove to the New Frontier Lanes There were several groups bowling when they arrived, but it wasn’t very busy. Some of the kids in their group explored the arcade which was tucked into an alcove on the main level about six feet from an exit door that opened to the parking lot. Theresa’s 2-year-old daughter, Teekah Lewis, was having fun in the arcade where she was drawn to a race car game. “She was trying to play it,” said Theresa. “Her feet couldn’t reach the pedals, so she just acted like she was playing.”
Bowling Alley Gets Busy, and a Strange Encounter
As the night wore on, more and more people arrived and the bowling alley became quite busy. One of the patrons that night was a strange woman who reportedly kept asking people if she could hold their baby. There were three babies in Theresa’s group which apparently drew the attention of the woman and while Theresa’s brother obliged her, Theresa sternly declined the woman’s request to hold her own 10-month-old.
Altogether, Theresa’s group consisted of about a dozen people – they were assigned to lanes 7-8 of the 32-lane alley. The adults took turns watching the kids as the adults in the group took their turns bowling.
Where’s Teekah?
It was around 10:15 PM when it was Theresa’s turn to bowl. She asked her boyfriend and her brother to keep an eye on Teekah. The last time she saw her, Teekah was still playing in the arcade area with her cousin and another child who was about 9 years old. After Theresa bowled her frames and turned back around, she could no longer see her daughter. “where’s Teekah?”, asked Theresa, to which everyone responded, ‘she’s in the arcade.’ But she wasn’t there. She was gone. They began looking, hoping that she just wandered away from the arcade. Theresa described the moment saying, “Everybody in our group started looking. I looked in between the arcade and the bathroom that was right there.” Theresa described a small locker area that she searched – but still, there was no sign of her daughter. “And then, I went to the opposite end of the bowling alley because they had another bathroom down there,” she said. Theresa and her family quickly scoured the facility in a desperate search for Teekah, but they found no sign of her.
Searching for a Missing Girl
Theresa remembered seeing an off-duty Tacoma police officer who was working security there that night. She ran to the service desk and told him her daughter was missing. The officer announced over the P.A. system that a little 2-year-old girl was missing, and gave her description: Teekah is multi-racial: African American, Caucasian and Native American with ancestry from the Turtle Mountain Band of the Chippewa Nation; Teekah was 3’ tall, weighing about 35 pounds. Her hair was black with a silver streak along the right side; she has brown eyes and was wearing a green Tweety Bird t-shirt; white sweat pants; little red, white and black Air Jordan sneakers; red stud pierced earrings; and she was carrying a little purse, a recent Christmas present from her grandmother which had been filled with her favorite Starburst candies that night by her uncle.
After the announcement there was still no sign of little Teekah, and the police officer called for reinforcements. Detective Julie Dier of the Tacoma Police Department is in charge of the case today. She told APB Cold Case that on the night of Teekah’s disappearance, officers stopped cars that were leaving the bowling alley parking lot, searching the trunks for any sign of the missing girl. “They called out more officers to the scene and eventually did a full call-out. Search and rescue started coming out, and this progressed over hours and days… eventually they did a command post there,” said Detective Dier.
Theresa was desperate – she was asking anyone and everyone if they had seen her daughter while the rest of her family were also searching or watching her other kids. Theresa asked a couple sitting by the door at the arcade if they had seen anything – they did not. Theresa doubted that Teekah would have walked away on her own, describing Teekah as a ‘momma’s girl’, afraid to approach or go with anyone unknown to her.
That Woman Has Your Baby!
As Theresa was speaking with some of the police officers in the parking lot, her sister-in-law came running up to her shouting, “that woman has your baby in her car!” It wasn’t 2-year-old Teekah, but it was Theresa’s 10-month-old baby. Theresa demanded that the lady give her baby back to her, but the woman refused. Theresa alerted police and the officer told the woman to get out of her car. Theresa took her 10-month-old while police placed the woman in the back of a squad car. The woman was identified as Rita Miller. Detective Dier told us that while Miller was in the back of the police car she attempted suicide with a seat belt. Dier said that Miller was involuntarily committed to a hospital that night. Some men who were with Miller were questioned by police.
What Teekah Left Behind
The night wore on without any sign of Teekah. With nothing more that she could do at the bowling alley, Theresa left. When she got home, she saw what Teekah had left on the couch. “That night she told me she was going to be a big girl and she was gonna leave her Pooh bear at home. So, she put him to sleep on the couch. And that’s where he lay”, said Theresa, crying as she recounted the heartbreaking memory.
A Car Speeding Away from the Bowling Alley
In the first hours of Teekah’s disappearance Theresa and her family desperately waited for any bit of news, but there was nothing. And then, 2 days later police received a tip from a woman who had driven into the bowling alley parking lot at about the time Teekah went missing and saw a car speeding away. The vehicle was described as a late 1980’s to early 1990’s Pontiac Grand Am, possibly dark red or burgundy in color*, with dark tinted windows and a rear spoiler. Police continued their investigation into the search for Teekah, checking DMV records for a similar Pontiac Grand Am, and using dozens of searchers[1] and canines on the ground, as well as a helicopter with infrared technology. During their searches, two canines tracked to an area across from the bowling area[2] where a ball of men’s clothing was found beneath a bush. Police said that they have made no connection between the recovered clothing and Teekah’s case.
Man Ushering a Little Girl to Bathroom
Another witness came forward saying that they had seen a man ushering a little girl similar to Teekah’s description toward a bathroom in the bowling alley on the evening she went missing. The man was described as a white male in his 50’s, about 5’ 10”, with his most distinguishing feature being a pock-marked face. The same night that tip was received, Tacoma police received a call from a woman who was concerned over something her son said to her. “If I were to leave town right now, would you come with me?” the woman recalled to police. Detective Dier said that they investigated that lead and interviewed the man. Dier said he did not give direct answers to their questions, and they were not able to connect him to the bowling alley. But about one month after interviewing the man, he died. Police did not disclose how the death occurred but said they are still exploring that lead.
Attempted Kidnapping Same Day as Teekah’s Disappearance; Pontiac Grand Am
Another lead that police examined was an incident that occurred the same day that Teekah disappeared. Earlier on January 23, 1999, a man described as having curly brown hair allegedly tried to kidnap two children from a park less than a mile from the bowling alley. The children’s father chased the man who then fled in a blue* 1995 Pontiac Grand Am.
Other Incidents
There were also another pair of previous incidents at the New Frontier Bowling Lanes that police examined. A couple months before Teekah disappeared, a 4-year-old boy was sexually assaulted in a bathroom at the New Frontier Lanes. A few weeks later, a man attempted to lure a 6-year-old boy from the bowling alley. He claimed to police that he was the boy’s father. Police said the man had mental health issues and had called the boy and his mother by different names.
In October 2010 a 56-year-old man attempted to lure of a 3-year-old girl from the Tower Lanes on Sixth Avenue in Tacoma. The girl’s father intervened and the suspect fled temporarily before being apprehended by police.[3] No connection between this man and Teekah’s case has been cited.
Why Don’t You Give Me Teekah?
It is a routine part of a missing person’s case to investigate the parents. Theresa told us that Teekah’s father was incarcerated at the time when Teekah disappeared. Reports indicate that Tacoma Police and the FBI simultaneously investigated the disappearance while also scrutinizing family members. But about 1-2 weeks before Teekah went missing, Theresa’s boyfriend’s mother asked if Theresa would give her Teekah. “When I was dating my ex at the time, his mother had asked me for Teekah,” remembered Theresa, adding “And that was maybe a week or two prior to Teekah’s disappearance. She said, ‘hey, why don’t you give me Teekah, you have a newborn...’”
Several Theories and Possibilities
With all of the theories and suspicious activity surrounding this case, investigators have their work cut out for them. Could the luring incidents at the bowling alley be connected to Teekah’s disappearance? Or the attempted abduction at the park on the same day as Teekah went missing? What about Rita Miller? Or Theresa’s then-boyfriend’s mother who said she wanted Teekah?
Precious Doe?
As the investigation continued, there was a lead in 2001 that drew the attention of Tacoma police. The discovery of a torso in Kansas City, Missouri that matched the description of Teekah Lewis. The case there was dubbed Precious Doe, whose body was found decapitated and unclothed. Her head was located later. As the investigation into that case developed, DNA would later confirm that Precious Doe was Erica Michelle Marie Green of Kansas City.[4] Her parents were charged with her murder.[5]
Again, Teekah’s case goes cold.
Another Incident at the Bowling Alley
Then, in 2010, John William Black was charged with the attempted luring of a 3-year-old child from Tower Lanes in Tacoma. Police said that the man reportedly frequented the New Frontier Lanes. But police say that Black is not connected to Teekah’s case.
No Evidence
In many missing children cases there is a single theory or a particular person of interest. But in this investigation, there are several possibilities. Police have eliminated some of those theories, and they continue to analyze others. It becomes more complicated because they have no witness to an actual abduction. “We know kind of what she was wearing the last time she was seen. But none of those items have ever been found,” said Detective Julie Dier. “We don’t have a body that we could get evidence off of. There is nothing. And that’s what makes it, a unique case,” Dier added.
In recent years Detective Dier said that she did re-interview Rita Miller, but said that her condition has deteriorated and she does not remember anything that will help their investigation.
Searching for Answers, Closure
Dier urges the person responsible to come forward and tell their story. “Give the family the answers they need, give them the closure. It’s not fair to her family, it’s not fair to Teekah.” Theresa also is looking for closure. “Just tell me what happened to my daughter, she said. “Tell me where she’s at or what happened to her, that’s all I want to know. I been saying this for 25 years. It’s time to bring Teekah home to us. Regardless if she’s here or not. Just bring her home. I want to know”, added Theresa.
If you think you might be Teekah
If Teekah was brought up under another identity, perhaps she still has memory of her mother and sisters, Starburst candy, her red stud earrings, her clear plastic purse with a fish design, or her favorite Winnie the Pooh doll. If you think that you might be Teekah, call Tacoma PD detectives. You can see photographs of Teekah at www.apbcoldcase.com and at MissingKids.org.
What are the clues?
If you were in Tacoma in the years before or after Teekah’s disappearance, do any of these clues sound familiar to you?
· A man with a pock-marked face and a mustache;
· Someone with access to a Pontiac Grand Am (descriptions range from dark red to blue*);
· Someone connected to Rita Miller;
· A person or family who suddenly had a 2-year-old resembling Teekah in the household in 1999 – the girl may be using a different name, and may be within Tacoma or far beyond.
There is a reward for information in this case. Call CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS or Tacoma PD at 253-591-5950.
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*Editor note: the description of the car by two witnesses in separate observations is specific to a Pontiac Grand Am. The color of the vehicle differs, however, with one witness describing a dark red-burgundy color, and the other witness a blue car. In this writer’s experience where night time exterior/security lighting in the 1980’s and 1990’s routinely consisted of sodium vapor lights which produced an orange-yellow glow, interfering with true color recognition by witnesses and police officers. It is unknown if that effect may have a bearing on witness observations in this instance.
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[1] 2-year old still missing after intensive search; Centralia Chronicle; Jan. 25, 1999, p. 5.
[2] Police seek public’s help in child’s disappearance ; Centralia Chronicle; p. 4; Jan. 29, 1999
[3] Man arrested after attempted child luring incident at Tacoma bowling alley; The Olympian; Oct. 14, 2010
[4] Missing girl’s DNA sent to Kansas City; Walla Walla Union Bulletin; May. 10, 2001, p. 14
[5] Stepfather faces first-degree murder; Sedalia Democrat; Aug. 3, 2005, p.3