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TODDLER ABDUCTED, POLICE SAY / 2-YEAR-OLD GIRL WAS AT TACOMA BOWLING ALLEY WITH HER FAMILY

Dani Dodge
The News Tribune
1/25/1999

One minute she was there: A shy 2-year-old with deep dimples and dark curly hair in ponytails, sitting in the seat of a car racing game Saturday night at New Frontier Lane bowling alley in Tacoma.

The next minute, she was gone.

After exhaustively searching a 1.5-mile radius from the bowling alley at 4702 Center Street for more than 15 hours, police concluded at 5 p.m. Sunday that 2-year-old Teekah Lewis had been abducted.

"There's no concrete evidence about what happened," said Pierce County sheriff's Sgt. Cyndie Fajardo, who coordinated nearly three dozen search-and-rescue volunteers at the scene. "She vanished into thin air."

Four FBI agents began working on the case Sunday; another four were expected to join the effort today in a joint investigation with Tacoma police. Police spokesman Ed Baker said the FBI is brought in whenever a small child is abducted and because the agency offers "a wealth of resources." Teekah's family even brought in a psychic.

"Just bring my daughter back," Theresa English, 27, of Tacoma, begged whoever took her child. "I want my daughter back. I will do anything to get my daughter back."

About 8:30 p.m. Saturday, English, Teekah, and nearly a dozen other family members went to New Frontier Lanes for moonlighting bowling. They took up lanes 7 and 8 of the popular 32-lane bowling alley. Bowlers described it as a fun, rambunctious night with the lanes crowded with families; there weren't even spaces left in the parking lot.

Teekah was playing games, carrying a purse she had bought with Christmas money. The clear plastic bag adorned with fishes was filled with change her uncle had give her and Starburst, her favorite candy. She tried to win a stuffed animal from a coin-operated machine, but when she just lost her quarters, her uncle won a teddy bear for her. Teekah gave her prize to her 10-month-old baby sister.

"About 10:30 p.m., she wandered beyond the lanes to a video games area and "Cruisin' World"," a coin-operated car-racing game, English and others said. English stayed with her- the game is only 6 feet from the exit door. When it was English's turn to bowl, her boyfriend, 27-year-old Fred Biggs, positioned himself near Teekah. Then it was Biggs' turn at the pins, so Teekah's uncle, Timmy Czapiewski, stood near her, English said.

He turned only for a moment to watch Biggs throw his bowling ball , English said. When he turned back, Teekah was gone.

English said she and her family searched for a few moments, then alerted an off-duty Tacoma police officer who was working security at the bowling alley.

An announcement went out over the loudspeaker: A 2-year-old was missing.

"My heart instantly stopped," said Tina Bonomo, 26, who was bowling with her family on lanes next to English's family.

Bonomo said English's family scattered through the bowling alley looking behind every video machine and under every bowling ball rack. English's boyfriend was crying. Police poured in. Fifteen minutes after Teekah disappeared, police cordoned off the parking lot and began searching every car going out.

English said she suspects a woman who had asked to hold a relative's baby during the evening may have been involved in the abduction. Police are investigating that possibility but don't consider her a prime suspect because her whereabouts have been accounted for, police spokesman Baker said.

Baker cautioned that the woman - and everyone else at the bowling alley that night - is being investigated. Police said the case is probably not a custodial dispute involving the girl's father: Robert Lewis is jailed at McNeil Island Corrections Center. English declined to say what Teekah's father was serving time for but said he has been appraised of the search for his missing daughter. He and English have two children. English also has three other children.

Police are looking into lists of registered sex offenders living near the bowling alley and checking the backgrounds of employees who work there for possible leads.

After the disappearance, 33 volunteer search-and-rescue personnel, including eight dog handlers, began combing the area around the bowling alley in case Teekah had simply wandered off. A helicopter scanned the neighborhood with an infrared device looking for heat sources that might indicate the body of a lost toddler.

By midday Sunday, volunteer searchers who had worked through the night were tired but still willing to probe under every bush and behind every building.

"When that call comes through for a 2-year-old little kid, there's no buts about it - you go, and stay till it's over," said Ryan Sorsdahl, a 19-year-old search-and-rescue field leader. "But it's pretty tough when you know what you are looking for."

By midafternoon they had nothing. American Red Cross workers supplied the weary searchers, as well as Teekah's family and officers, with snacks, sandwiches, and coffee.

The family called on a psychic Sunday morning but didn't get any leads. Teekah's grandmother, Mary Czapiewski, was trying to stay strong for her family.

"Everything is going through my mind," she said. "Everything."

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Searchers Fail To Find 2-Year-Old -- Girl Vanished From Tacoma Bowling Alley

Christine Clarridge, Nancy Bartley
Seattle Times
1/25/99

TACOMA - Fearing the worst for a missing toddler, police began going door to door today, and searching through databases, looking for known predators and sex offenders who prey on tiny children.

The 2-year-old girl, Teekah Lewis, was still missing this morning despite an all-day search yesterday involving hundreds of volunteers, police, tracking dogs and a psychic.

Though they combed the brush surrounding the bowling alley where the child was last seen Saturday night, the searchers found no clues, and police said they were refocusing their search today from a rescue operation to a criminal investigation.

"We'll be looking at anyone who has a history of preying on children," said Lt. Jim Howatson of the Tacoma Police Department. "We'll be going door to door looking for somebody who saw something and we'll be talking to the bowling-alley employees. There's a lot to do this morning."

Ed Baker, a public-information officer for the department, said police also were checking with businesses in the area that have surveillance cameras, hoping one of them may have inadvertently recorded the abductor and child on film.

Teekah was reported missing at 10:30 p.m. from New Frontier Lanes at 4702 S. Center St.

Her mother, Theresa English, 27, said she had turned her head away for just a moment and then discovered her daughter was gone.

"We don't know the circumstances," said Howatson. "She could have gotten into a car to get warm and been driven away

unintentionally, or she could have been taken, but it appears she did not walk away on her own. We are expanding our investigation beyond the search area."

Baker said it was league night at the bowling alley and police are also hoping that bowlers may have brought video cameras to record the competition. Police want to speak with anyone who was at the bowling alley Saturday night, and are asking patrons to call officers at 253-591-5649.

English described her daughter as shy and clingy. "She wouldn't go outside on her own. She's a momma's girl. She sleeps with me and her blankie, and if I'm not there, she's crying, and if she doesn't have her blankie, she's crying."

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is involved in the case, a standard procedure when young children disappear, Howatson said.

This morning, a 22-member task force of FBI agents, Tacoma police detectives and detectives from the Pierce County Sheriff's Department met with the girl's mother and grandmother.

The Center for Missing and Exploited Children also joined the search yesterday.

"It's extremely rare to find absolutely no clues after a search this exhaustive," Howatson said. "We've searched with helicopters and infrared, with bloodhounds and German shepherds . . . and we think, if she was here, they would have found her."

Grant L. Smith of Explorer Search and Rescue said "the police don't seem to think the family is involved in anything suspicious and that's usually the first thing they look for."

Teekah's biological father, estranged from English, is in prison at McNeil Island, police said.

Police set up temporary headquarters for the search-and-rescue effort in a metal building at a landfill and recycling center behind the bowling alley. Teekah's family gathered there yesterday afternoon and again this morning, waiting for any news.

English said Teekah is half African American and half Native American, 3 feet tall and 35 pounds, with brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a green sweat shirt with a "Tweety Bird" design, white sweat pants and Nike "Air Jordan"-brand shoes. Her black hair was in ponytails. On Saturday night, Teekah was at the bowling alley with her mother, her mother's boyfriend, her 10-month-old sister and a host of aunts, uncles and cousins.

English said Teekah was playing near some arcade games when she looked away for a moment while one of her brothers bowled his turn. When she turned back around, her little girl was gone.

The family began searching the building, the parking lot and the steep, weed-covered hills surrounding the lot. They notified the police officer on duty at the bowling alley and an announcement was made over the facility's loudspeaker. People inside began to help and the officer and a couple of Teekah's uncles went out to the parking lot to monitor leaving cars.

"We looked in the back seats and in the trunks," said the girl's uncle, Ernest Czapiewski.

Czapiewski and his girlfriend, Tamura Keeton, said they frequent the bowling alley.

Howatson said there are no suspects at this time.

Anyone with information on Teekah Lewis' disappearance is urged to call a 24-hour police tip line: 253-591-5649.

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Tips Pour In, But Still No Sign Of Missing Girl

Nancy Bartley
Seattle Times
1/26/99

TACOMA - Seventy-one phone calls came in on a Tacoma Police Department tip line over several hours, and 33 law-enforcement officers went door to door yesterday, but police still have no leads on the whereabouts of missing 2-year-old Teekah Lewis.

Police spokesman Ed Baker said patrons at the New Frontier Entertainment Center at 4702 S. Center St. reported seeing the little girl, but so far no one has information as to how she disappeared.

Teekah was reported missing at 10:30 p.m. Saturday. Her mother, Theresa English, 27, said she had turned her head away for just a moment and then discovered her daughter was gone.

Police searched the area Saturday night and all day Sunday with helicopters and infrared equipment, bloodhounds and German shepherds, but found no clues in the girl's disappearance.

Yesterday, the investigation turned from a rescue search to a criminal investigation. About 35 police officers from Tacoma and the FBI joined forces to staff a tip line and continue searching, this time in the business districts, where among other things, they hoped surveillance cameras might have inadvertently recorded the abductor and child on film.

Police also are hoping some league bowlers may have brought video cameras Saturday to record the competition. Anyone who was at the bowling alley at that time is urged to contact the task force at 253-591-5649.

Teekah was at the bowling alley with her mother, her mother's boyfriend, her 10-month-old sister and a host of aunts, uncles and cousins when she disappeared, Baker said.

When her mother saw her, Teekah was playing near some arcade games. English said she looked away for a moment while one of her brothers bowled and turned around to find Teekah gone.

Police say they will interview all members of English's family who were at the bowling alley that night, as well as the relatives of the girl's biological father, who is incarcerated at McNeil Island.

Baker said there had been no custody dispute over the girl.

English said Teekah is half African American and half Native American, 3 feet tall and 35 pounds, with brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a green sweat shirt with a "Tweety Bird" design, white sweat pants and Nike "Air Jordan"-brand shoes. Her black hair was in ponytails and she was carrying a clear plastic purse with a fish design and shoulder strap.

Explorer Scouts were to join police in contacting residents of a nearby apartment complex last night

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Missing Girl's Kin Go Door To Door As Police And FBI Continue Search

Nancy Bartley
Seattle Times
1/27/99

TACOMA - While police continue to look for clues in the disappearance of 2-year-old Teekah Lewis, the girl's extended family and friends are going door to door passing out fliers.

Tim Czapiewski, Teekah's uncle, said about 24 people, some of them strangers rallied by a request for help by a Seattle radio station, passed out fliers with the girl's photo.

"We really want to thank them all," Czapiewski said, adding that he hoped more people would show up at noon today at the Tacoma Dome to hand out fliers.

Teekah's mother, Theresa English, underwent a lie-detector test Monday to clear her of any involvement in her daughter's disappearance, Tacoma police said.

Police said such a test is routine, but they did not say how English fared.

"She understands it was to rule her out. She had no problem with it, once it was explained to her," said another brother, Kenneth Czapiewski.

Teekah was last seen Saturday about 10:30 p.m. while playing near the arcade area of the New Frontier Bowling Alley in south Tacoma. English was with her family and told police she turned her head for just a minute to watch her brother bowl and that when she looked again, Teekah was gone.

Patrons searched the bowling alley and police cordoned off the area, checking in cars for the missing child without success.

For the past few days, a combined task force of about 35 Tacoma police and FBI agents has scoured the neighborhood around the bowling alley at 4702 S. Center St. And tips keep pouring into the 253-591-5649 tip line set up by police.

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Family Draws Close In Search For Toddler

Nancy Bartley
Seattle Times
2/1/1999

TACOMA - Sporting a sweat shirt with her little sister's photo on it, Dominique Czapiewski paused during her card game with her grandfather to point to her signature on a white-and-blue banner spread across the living-room floor.

In childish handwriting were the words, "I love you Teekah."

As police search for clues and friends and family members hand out fliers around the city, the disappearance of 2-year-old Teekah Lewis left more victims than just the child who vanished.

"Scared" and "sad" is how the oldest of Theresa English's five children sums up her feelings about her sister's disappearance.

Dominique's grandfather, Ernie Czapiewski, said English's children have been especially quiet since the girl disappeared from the New Frontier Entertainment Center in Tacoma on Jan. 23. The hardest thing is not knowing who took her or why.

Teekah vanished in what English said was virtually the blink of an eye. Teekah was last seen playing near an arcade area not far from lanes 7 and 8 where her mother, uncles and their friends bowled. English said she turned to watch her brother bowl, looked back and saw that Teekah was gone.

Over the past week English's family has drawn closer, bound together in grief, they say - grief made more painful when the lack of obvious suspects has - at times - turned suspicion toward them.

English took two polygraph tests and has been cleared as a suspect, police say.

`We don't see you cry'

At times the family has seemed stoic when talking about Teekah's disappearance, said Phillip Czapiewski, English's brother. "A lot of people have said, `We don't see you cry.' "

He said it was not part of his family's half-Native-American, half-Polish traditions to openly express emotions.

"What you don't see on our faces, we feel in our hearts," he said. "It's a private matter."

On Saturday night, as 150 people gathered at the bowling alley for a candlelight vigil and prayer, English broke down and sobbed, and pleaded for the return of her daughter.

Despite massive searches and campaigns to distribute fliers, there remains no suspects and few clues as to Teekah's whereabouts, police say.

The East Tacoma home of Mary and Ernie Czapiewski has become command headquarters for the family, with many of English's seven brothers and sisters coming and going. About 25,000 fliers have been distributed so far.

"I don't know why anybody would take a child that's not your own," said English's sister, Dawn Czapiewski.

She said she walked the short distance from lanes 7 and 8 to the arcade to try to make some sense of what happened.

"It must have been 10 to 15 seconds that she looked away," Dawn Czapiewski estimated. "It was that close. Someone had to have been watching."

Teekah is described as half Native American and half African American, 3 feet tall and 35 pounds. She was last seen wearing a green Tweety Bird shirt.

Friends often take care of English's other children so she can focus on searching for Teekah, and her brothers have all been granted time off from work so they can help distribute fliers.

Strangers also have come to help.

Help from strangers

At the Tacoma Mall yesterday, Linda Mueller of Spanaway, Pierce County, who heard about Teekah and volunteered to help, handed out fliers with Teekah's photo and a police hot-line number (253-591-5649).

"I'm an advocate for kids," she said. "Whether we know it or not, we're all related one way or another. I had the time . . . now I just hope they find her."

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Missing Girl's Mother Is Grateful For Police Help

Christine Clarridge
Seattle Times
2/8/1999

Two weeks after her 2-year-old daughter's disappearance from a Tacoma bowling alley, Theresa English said yesterday that she is grateful that more than 20 law-enforcement officers still are assigned to the search.

"The community, the police, the FBI, the profilers have all been trying to find out what's happened and we appreciate it," English said. "They've been working hard on it."

Officials from the Tacoma Police Department, FBI and Pierce County Sheriff's Department are working on the case; the tip hotline is still open (more than 500 calls have been received); Teekah Lewis' disappearance was featured for a second time on the TV program "America's Most Wanted;" and her picture is posted on the Internet site of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

The efforts don't stop there: Community volunteers still are distributing photos of the toddler; candlelight vigils have been held; and people still are offering the family condolences and support, English said.

"As long as the child is missing the case will be open, but they do shut down the hotline if the tips stop coming, they run out of leads and the case starts to grow cold," said sheriff's Lt. Thomas Miner.

Cases often are cold within a month, Miner said.

Teekah last was seen by her family Jan. 23 at the New Frontier Entertainment Center. Her relatives said they last saw her playing at a video game about 6 feet from an exit door around 10:30 p.m. English said that she took her eyes off Teekah for just a moment to watch her brother bowl and that when she turned back, Teekah was gone.

More than 200 searchers and 10 tracking dogs spent that night and the next morning combing through hills around the bowling alley.

By midafternooon the day after her disappearance, police believed Teekah was abducted. And after polygraph tests later cleared some family members of any involvement in the case, police believed she was abducted by a stranger.

According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, stranger abductions are rare. Most involve noncustodial family members.

Of the more than 354,000 children reported abducted or missing annually, only an estimated 4,000 are committed by someone outside the family, such a neighbor, baby sitter or coach. Of those 4,000, only 200 to 300 are committed by strangers.

English thinks her daughter is still alive. "We're always hoping and praying, and until we know otherwise we hold onto those last vestiges of hope."

"I believe my daughter is still alive and that she's out there somewhere and that the person who has her doesn't want to give her back," English said. "I'll never give up hope."

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Missing Girl's Mother Still Hopes -- Case Of Teekah Lewis Is Still A Mystery

Nancy Bartley
Seattle Times
7/21/1999

Six months ago Friday, 2-year-old Teekah Lewis vanished from Frontier Bowling Lanes in Tacoma, but her mother has kept the vigil alive.

Theresa English has raised funds for a reward by organizing a spaghetti dinner, bowling tournament and car wash.

She has lobbied talk shows, and says one has agreed to include Teekah when they do a segment on missing children.

And in the next few days, English and her brothers and sister plan to tack posters asking for information on utility poles.

Although Tacoma police say there are no new leads in the case, and the number of officers working the case has switched from dozens to two, English says she will never give up looking for her daughter.

"If it was up to me, I'd travel around the world to look for my daughter."

Teekah disappeared at 10:30 p.m. Jan. 23 while English and her family were bowling.

English told police she saw her daughter standing near the bowling lanes' video games. When she looked back, Teekah was gone. Police at first thought the little girl had wandered off. But when an extensive search of the area turned up nothing, the girl's disappearance began to look more like an abduction and no one - including English and her family - was immune from suspicion.

Today, Tacoma police spokesman Jim Mattheis says English and her family have been ruled out as suspects. But despite a 24-hour tip line and interviews with people who were at the lanes that night, no suspect has emerged.

A K-9 dog initially tracked a scent to a vacant lot near the bowling lanes at 4702 Center St. About a week afterward, police cut brush on the lot and found a coat and pants in the same location. But the adult clothing has yielded no clues, and it's unknown if it's related to Teekah's disappearance, Mattheis said.

In the meantime, Teekah lives on in memory for English and her family.

They celebrated her third birthday July 4, turning loose 36 helium-filled balloons, attached to messages, hoping they'll end up in the hands of someone with information.

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Mother hopes for a miracle

Nancy Bartley
Seattle Times
1/20/2000

The photos are painfully familiar: a dark-eyed toddler, her black hair pulled on top of her head like a pompom, or with loopy braids adorned with a bow.

Teekah Lewis stares solemnly at the camera in those photos taken during the Christmas season of 1998. It was one month before the 2-year-old in the green Tweety Bird shirt vanished from the New Frontier Lanes in Tacoma.

Now, nearly one year later, Teekah lives on in memory for her four sisters, her grandparents, aunt, uncles, father and her mother, Theresa English.

And while the "Teekah Team" of Tacoma police remains hopeful of a break in the case, there is no new information, said Detective Larry Lindberg, who leads the investigation. Police, however, continue to look into two possibilities:

Two unidentified men were seen in the area of the bowling alley's arcade where Teekah had been playing. One of the men, according to a boy at the bowling lanes, appeared to have been following Teekah as she walked toward the door. While many people in the bowling lanes that night have been accounted for, those men haven't, Lindberg said.

A maroon Pontiac Grand Am with a spoiler, built in the late 1980s or early '90s, was seen speeding out of the bowling lanes parking lot at the time of Teekah's disappearance.

Police have a list of all cars of that description licensed in the state, but it's nearly an impossible task to find one that might be linked to the crime.

In the meantime, English, who is raising her other four daughters alone while Teekah's father - her boyfriend - is in prison, has her own theories that police say switch weekly.

But Lindberg said that until there is more evidence, absolutely no one - including family members - is being eliminated as a possible suspect.

In the plain, white duplex in a modest Tacoma neighborhood, faded yellow ribbons are tied on a post. A large poster with Teekah's face and a request for information about her whereabouts is next to the front door.

Inside, in a room with a poster of Winnie the Pooh on the door, English sat on the floor with Tameeka, now the same age as Teekah was when she disappeared. Tameeka bears a striking resemblance to her sister.

While Tameeka is social and outgoing, English said, Teekah was shy and fearful of strangers.

That's why the disappearance is so hard for English to accept. She wouldn't have gone to just anyone, English said.

It was 10:30 p.m. Jan. 23, 1999, and Teekah was playing near the video arcade of the New Frontier Lanes at 4702 S. Center St. English, who had been watching family members bowling, turned around and Teekah was gone.

The girl's disappearance was announced over the bowling alley's public-address system, and English and her family began to look for her.

When police arrived, they searched the surrounding parking lot and spread out through the neighborhood.

They combed through the list of known sex offenders in the area but were hampered when they realized how few of the offenders - who were supposed to register their address with the police - had done so.

Most, Lindberg said, had moved on, leaving no trace as to their whereabouts.

A $27,000 reward has been offered for information on Teekah's whereabouts.

Lindberg believes Teekah is dead. The two other detectives on the "Teekah Team" hope for information that will solve the case.

In the meantime, English stirs up a flurry of what she believes are possible clues from talk-show appearances and calls to psychics.

The psychics have varied in their predictions, some saying Teekah would be found alive, one saying the girl's remains would be found along the Green River in two months, which has long passed.

English is now 28 and working as a night stock clerk as she waits for Robert Lewis, Teekah's father, to get out of prison in a year. He's serving a four-year term for theft. Police say it's unlikely that he's connected to the girl's disappearance.

"He wants his little girl back," said English, who keeps Teekah's room the same as it was when she disappeared.

An unopened Christmas present rests on the top bunk bed along with a collection of stuffed animals, one a soft peach bear with a bow, a gift from Detective Rebecca Zeutschel.

"That's Teekah's welcome-home bear," English said.

On the wall in Teekah's room is a banner with her name and the inscriptions of family and strangers. "God be with you." "See you soon." "We love you."

"My hopes and dreams are for her to walk in that door," English said. "I'm hoping for a miracle."

[Admin]

Body found in Missouri may be Tacoma girl's

By Christine Clarridge
Seattle Times
5/10/2001

The family of a little girl missing from a Tacoma bowling alley more than two years ago is waiting for police in Kansas City, Mo., to say whether the body of an unidentified child found last month is that of Teekah Lewis.

Tacoma police said they were contacted Friday by Kansas City police detectives who had been working to identify the unidentified child's body found April 28.

"We're in a holding pattern," said Tacoma police spokesman Ed Baker. "We sent out information, including DNA samples taken from ... the mother that should have reached them Tuesday and hopefully will either rule out or confirm that it's her."

Teekah's family, however, said they saw a police composite picture from Kansas City and don't think it's the same child.

"It doesn't look like her," said Dawn Czapiewski, one of the girl's aunts, "and we believe Teekah is still alive."

Teekah was 2 when she disappeared Jan. 23, 1999, during a family outing to a bowling alley. Relatives said they last saw her playing at a video game six feet from an exit door around 10:30 p.m.

Teekah's mother, Theresa English, said that she took her eyes off the girl for just a moment to watch her brother bowl and that when she turned back, Teekah was gone. More than 200 searchers and 10 tracking dogs spent that night and the next morning combing through hills around the bowling alley.

Nearly two dozen detectives worked on Teekah's case. Hundreds of relatives and friends passed out fliers, and a reward of more than $20,000 was offered for information leading to the child's return.

Teekah's story was twice featured on the television show "America's Most Wanted," and her picture was posted on the Internet site of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Thousands of tips poured in, but none proved fruitful.

The body of the girl in Kansas City was found decapitated in the woods while police were working another case. The girl's head was found a few days later in a plastic bag near where the body had been, and police released an artist's composite and asked for help identifying the girl.

She was described as a black girl with cornrows, 3 to 6 years old, about 3 feet tall and weighing about 41 pounds. The only clue to her identity at that time was an inch-wide crescent-shaped birthmark on her left shoulder.

Community activists in Kansas City rallied around the child, naming her Precious Doe, holding a mourning ceremony for her and raising a $10,000 reward for information about her.

[Admin]

Body Found In Kansas City Not Teekah Lewis

KOMO TV
May 31, 2001

TACOMA - Police say the results of DNA tests show that a girl's body found in Kansas City is not that of a girl who disappeared from Tacoma.
Tacoma Police had sent DNA samples to Kansas City police after the body was found and the case was featured on the television show "America's Most Wanted."

But police say that blood taken from relatives of Teekah Lewis did not match DNA from the body, which has been named Precious Doe.

Teekah's name had figured in more than 20 tips that stemmed from the "America's Most Wanted" segment earlier this month. She was reported missing in January of 1999 and would now be four years old.

She was 2 when she was reported missing from a Tacoma bowling alley.

Precious Doe's decapitated body was found in a wooded area on April 28. Police still do not know her name or who killed her.

[Admin]

'I Won't Give Up, I Know She's Out There'

By Kevin Reece
KOMO TV
1/26/03

TACOMA - "It's been four long years," Theresa English said on the anniversary of her daughter's disappearance. "And there's no trace of Teekah, whatsoever."

No trace of then 2-year-old Teekah Lewis who vanished at the Frontier Lanes Bowling Alley in Tacoma January 23, 1999. If she is still alive she'd be 6-years old.

"There is a lot of angles to this case that is very hot for me to pursue," private investigator Edward Lewis told KOMO 4 News. Lewis is the private investigator who has been working for Teekah's family for the last two years.

While Tacoma Police detectives have not given up on the case they have stated they believe the girl is probably dead. Lewis says he is following leads that he says police didn't follow: a Western State Hospital patient and a suspicious taxi driver. He's also enlisted the help of two psychics.

"And they have come up with similar type impressions of where they feel the body may be."

Lewis says that doesn't mean that he believes the girl is dead. He says he's working on the assumption that Teekah is alive and that he will find her. Lewis says he hopes people perhaps afraid to talk to police about the case will be willing to talk to him.

"One of those people could come forward that did not want to talk to law enforcement, I'd be willing to talk to them, I would check out all leads."

"I won't give up. I know she's out there," said Teekah's mom. "For a mother of six I've never felt that she was gone. Because I know she's alive. She's out there somewhere."

[Admin]

'I Think There's Always A Chance'

By Tracy Vedder
KOMO TV
3/13/2003

TACOMA - Elizabeth Smart's rescue brings new hope to the parents of other missing children. In Tacoma, where Teekah Lewis has been missing for four years, there is both hope and some new leads.

"She always had a smile on her face," Theresa Lewis describes her daughter. Teekah was just 2 1/2-years-old, the light of her mother's life, when someone snatched her away. "I believe the person who took my daughter wanted a child of their own," she said.

It was four years ago at a Tacoma bowling alley when Teekah was kidnapped during a family party. Missing for that long, the odds are not in Teekah's favor.

But her mother ignores the odds and believes, someday, her little girl will come home, just like Elizabeth Smart. "Maybe there's hope for my daughter to come home," says Lewis. "I know Elizabeth Smart's been gone only nine months, mine's been gone four years but I think my daughter has a big chance of coming back."

"I think there's always a chance," says private investigator Edward Lewis. Lewis, no relation to Teekah, is working the case for free. Today Teekah would be about 6 1/2 years old.

A computer-generated image predicts how she might look today. Lewis believes she's alive, and that her name has been changed. He's found several promising new leads: One will take him to Wenatchee, another to the East Coast. "There could be somebody that has some knowledge in their head that they don't know that they have, and it's my job to try to find that."

Edward Lewis knows the first 24 hours of a missing child case are critical. But he adds the Smart case should prove that even years later, a child can be found alive and well. "My job is to look over every stone, every rock," Edward Lewis said.

While Edward Lewis follows leads, Teekah's mother waits and worries, and today has just a bit more hope for a happy ending.

"I hope and pray that mine will be next," she said. "That's what I need right now is for mine to come home."

Every year, Teekah's mother holds a vigil for her daughter. This year, news stories about the vigil generated new tips for investigators to pursue.

[Admin]

Family hopeful Dallas girl is Teekah Lewis

By Christine Clarridge
Seattle Times
4/26/2006

In the seven years since the disappearance of her 2-year-old daughter, Teekah Lewis, from a Tacoma bowling alley, Theresa Lewis has known hope and fear and gnawing disappointment.

Now, she is bracing herself again as she awaits the results of DNA testing that will show conclusively whether a little girl in Dallas is her child.

Theresa Lewis said Wednesday that a private investigator notified her two weeks ago that had found a girl he believed to be Teekah living with a woman in Dallas. The private investigator, who was hired by the Lewis family more than a year ago, sent her photos of the girl, she said.

"We compared her picture to my twins and other children and we think it's her," said Lewis. "We feel in our hearts that it's her."

But FBI investigators who said they interviewed and examined the Dallas girl said the child is more likely a lookalike.

"The agents in Dallas are fairly certain that it's not her," said Melissa Schuler, a spokeswoman for the FBI in Seattle. "She is a lookalike, but they examined her and compared birthmarks and they don't think it's her."

DNA samples were taken from the girl in Dallas for comparison with Teekah's DNA.

Teekah disappeared from a bowling alley in Tacoma around 10:30 p.m. on Jan. 23 in 1999.

The girl was last seen playing in an arcade when her family noticed she was gone. Within 15 minutes police had the area cordoned off and were searching cars as they left the parking lot. More than 200 searchers and 10 tracking dogs spent that first night and the next morning combing through the area around the bowling alley.

Family members were immediately polygraphed and eliminated as potential suspects, police said.

Since then, dozens of detectives have worked the case, thousands of dollars in reward money has been raised and Teekah has been featured on the television show "America's Most Wanted" at least four times. Her picture and the story of her disappearance are featured on the Internet site for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

In 2001, Lewis was asked to provide a DNA sample to match against the body of an unidentified dead child found in Kansas City, Mo. The child was not Teekah.

Lewis said she and family members laid photos of the Dallas girl and compared them to pictures of Teekah when she was 2, some that had been age progressed and photos of Teekah's five siblings, who are 4, 8, 12 and two 15-year-old twins. "She has the same ears as one of the twins," said Lewis. Lewis also said that she and her older children believe they recognize the woman with whom the Dallas girl now lives as someone they had seen in the bowling alley and the Tacoma neighborhood they lived in at the time. She said the private investigator told her that the Dallas girl attended school in Tacoma at some point and is now being home-schooled.

Phone calls to the private investigator were not immediately returned Wednesday.

The FBI said they did not know when the results of the DNA testing would be complete, but Lewis said she was told it would be at least several weeks.

[Admin]

Could Dallas girl be missing child?

By Christine Clarridge and Nancy Bartley
Seattle Times
4/27/2006

In the seven years since the disappearance of her 2-year-old daughter, Teekah, from a Tacoma bowling alley, Theresa Lewis has known hope and fear and gnawing disappointment.

Now, she is bracing herself again as she awaits the results of DNA testing that will show conclusively whether a little girl in Dallas is her child.

Lewis said Wednesday a private investigator notified her two weeks ago that he had found a girl he believed to be Teekah living with a woman in Dallas. The investigator, who was hired by the Lewis family more than a year ago, sent her photos of the girl, she said.

"We compared her picture to my twins and other children and we think it's her," Lewis said. "We feel in our hearts that it's her."

But FBI investigators who said they interviewed and examined the Dallas girl said the child is more likely a look-alike and not Teekah.

"The agents in Dallas are fairly certain that it's not her," said Melissa Schuler, a spokeswoman for the FBI in Seattle. "She is a look-alike, but they examined her and compared birthmarks and they don't think it's her."

DNA samples were taken from the girl in Dallas for comparison with DNA from Lewis.

Teekah disappeared from a bowling alley in Tacoma around 10:30 p.m. on Jan. 23, 1999. Despite an intensive search, no sign of the girl was ever found. Family members were immediately polygraphed and eliminated as potential suspects, police said.

Since then, dozens of detectives have worked the case, thousands of dollars in reward money has been raised and Teekah has been featured on the television show "America's Most Wanted" at least four times. Her picture and the story of her disappearance are featured on the Internet site for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

In 2001, Lewis was asked to provide a DNA sample to match against the body of an unidentified dead child found in Kansas City, Mo. The child was not Teekah.

Lewis, who lives in the Tacoma area, said she and family members compared photos of the Dallas girl with pictures of Teekah when she was 2. Some pictures of Teekah had been age progressed. The photos also were compared with Teekah's five siblings, who are 4, 8, 12 and two 15-year-old twins. "She has the same ears as one of the twins," Lewis said. Lewis concedes she wants to believe the girl is Teekah.

Lewis also said that she and her older children believe they recognize the woman with whom the Dallas girl now lives as someone they had seen in the bowling alley and the Tacoma neighborhood they lived in at the time. She said the private investigator told her the Dallas girl attended school in Tacoma at some point and is now being home-schooled.

Phone calls to the private investigator were not immediately returned Wednesday.

The FBI said they did not know when the results of the DNA testing would be complete, but Lewis said she was told it would be at least several weeks.

"It's not knowing that's the worst," she said.

[Admin]

DNA testing shows Dallas girl is not Teekah Lewis

By Christine Clarridge
Seattle Times
6/21/2006

DNA testing has proven that a Dallas girl is not Teekah Lewis, who disappeared from a Tacoma bowling alley seven years ago when she was two-years-old.

The FBI said today that the Dallas girl's DNA did not match that of Teekah's family.

The news was devastating to the missing girl's family.

"It's another blow to the whole family," said Teekah's mother, Theresa English. "We're back to square one. I'll never give up on my baby girl. I don't care it takes me 10, 20 years. I'm not giving up."

Teekah disappeared from a bowling alley during a family outing in 1999 and an intensive search yielded no sign of the girl. Family members were given polygraphs and eliminated as potential suspects, police said.

Since then, dozens of detectives have worked the case, thousands of dollars in reward money has been raised and Teekah has been featured on the television show "America's Most Wanted" at least four times. Her picture and the story of her disappearance are featured on the Internet site for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

In April, Lewis was contacted by her family's private investigator who believed he might have found Teekah living with a woman in Dallas.

FBI investigators examined and interviewed the child and concluded that while she was a near look-alike, she was not Teekah, an FBI spokeswoman said.

The DNA testing was done to remove any doubt about the girl's identity.