Teekah Latres Lewis
Teekah, circa 1999; Age-progressions to age 26 (circa 2022); Vehicle similar to the one seen in the vicinity of where Teekah was last seen
- Missing Since 01/23/1999
- Missing From Tacoma, Washington
- Classification Endangered Missing
- Sex Female
- Race Biracial, Black, Native American, White
- Date of Birth 07/04/1996 (28)
- Age 2 years old
- Height and Weight 3'0, 35 pounds
- Clothing/Jewelry Description A green Tweety Bird sweatshirt or t-shirt, white sweatpants and black and white Air Jordan sneakers, hair pulled into ponytails. Carrying a clear purse with a fish design, containing Starburst candies.
- Medical Conditions Teekah is asthmatic and requires medical supervision, as well as usage of an inhaler and/or ventilator. Teekah received medical care prior to her 1999 disappearance at Indian Health Practioners in Puyallup, Washington, a nationwide clinic available for Native Americans.
- Associated Vehicle(s) Maroon four-door late 1980s or early 1990s model Pontiac Grand Am with dark-tinted windows and a large spoiler
- Distinguishing Characteristics Multiracial female. Black hair, brown eyes. Teekah is of African-American, Caucasian and Native American descent. She has a large birthmark on her left buttock and red natural highlights in her hair. She has patches of light discoloration on her face and the left side of her buttocks as the result of eczema. Teekah has facial dimples, and pierced ears.
Details of Disappearance
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. Photographs of a similar car are posted with this case summary.
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.
In November 1998, two months before Teekah disappeared, a four-year-old boy was sexually molested in the bathroom at New Frontier Lanes. The suspect had brown curly hair and a beard, and two security guards believed they'd seen him at the bowling alley before but didn't know his name.
A few weeks after that, a Caucasian man with brown hair tried to lure a six-year-old boy from the same bowling alley, claiming he was the child's father. Earlier on the day Teekah went missing, a man with curly brown hair attempted to take two children from a park less than a mile from the bowling alley. The children's father chased him away and he fled in a blue 1995 Pontiac Grand Am.
The children's father didn't report the incident to the police until three days later, after he found out about Teekah's disappearance on the news. No arrests were made in any of these cases and it's unclear whether they're related to Teekah's apparent kidnapping.
Teekah's biological father was imprisoned at the time of her disappearance and has been ruled out as a suspect in her case. Teekah is described as having a quiet, shy personality. She enjoys eating candy, her favorite brand being Starbursts. Foul play is suspected in her case, which remains unsolved.
Investigating Agency
- Tacoma Police Department 253-798-4721
- Federal Bureau of Investigation 202-324-3000
Source Information
- The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
- Child Protection Education of America
- Operation Lookout
- America's Most Wanted
- The Seattle Post-Intelligencer
- The Columbian
- The Eatonville Dispatch
- Washington Lieutenant Governor Brad Owen
- The Detroit News
- The Seattle Times
- Missing: Teekah Lewis
- For the Lost
- The Kansas City Star
- The Child Seek Network
- KOMO TV
- Q13 FOX
- MySpace Page for Teekah Lewis
- KIRO TV
- The Tacoma News Tribune
- Facebook Page for Teekah Lewis
Updated 14 times since October 12, 2004. Last updated March 29, 2023; age-progression added.