TEEKAH LEWIS - 2 yo (1999) - Tacoma WA

A stranger's "vision" about a Tacoma girl who was snatched from a
bowling alley 11 years ago prompted police to search a section of Point
Defiance Park on Wednesday.

But it was a fruitless search that got Tacoma detectives no closer
to unraveling the mystery of what happened to little Teekah Lewis, a
2-year-old who vanished during a family outing on Jan. 23, 1999.


On Saturday, at the annual vigil held for the missing toddler, a man
approached Teekah's mother, Theresa English, and told her he'd had a
vision of her daughter, said Tacoma police spokesman Mark Fulghum.
English forwarded the tip to police Monday night, and after
interviewing the man, a detective and a supervisor decided to check out
the Native Garden at Point Defiance Park on Wednesday.

The search "didn't turn up anything that would help us," Fulghum
said Thursday. "They left last night just before dark, and we're not
going back out today."

At this point, the tip is a dead end, though detectives will likely
re-interview the man who had the vision, Fulghum said. He couldn't say
if the man is a psychic, but Fulghum said he doesn't appear to have any
connection with the case.

Teekah would now be 13.

"We get tips in occasionally, and we look at them all," Fulghum
said. "Some can be eliminated pretty quick, while others need more
follow-up, like this one."

Teekah was with her family at New Frontier Lanes, 4702 S. Center
St., when she disappeared around 10:30 p.m. English said she had turned
her head away for just a moment and then discovered her daughter was
gone.

Despite an extensive search, no clues to the girl's whereabouts were ever uncovered.

In 2006, a private investigator in Dallas contacted Teekah's family
saying he had located a little girl he thought could be Teekah. FBI
investigators examined the child and concluded that while she looked
like Teekah, she was not the girl. DNA testing was done to eliminate
doubt.

"We're not giving up," Fulghum said Thursday. "We'll keep looking."

A stranger's "vision" about a Tacoma girl who was snatched from a
bowling alley 11 years ago prompted police to search a section of Point
Defiance Park on Wednesday.

But it was a fruitless search that got Tacoma detectives no closer
to unraveling the mystery of what happened to little Teekah Lewis, a
2-year-old who vanished during a family outing in 1999.

50 people in 50 days: Tot disappears from bowling alley

Teekah Lewis would have turned 13 on July 4, 2010. Forensic experts created this age-enhanced photo of the missing girl.
Editor's note: Nancy Grace's new show on HLN, "Nancy Grace: America's Missing," is dedicated to finding 50 people in 50 days. As part of the effort, which relies heavily on audience participation, CNN.com's news blog This Just In will feature the stories of the missing.
This is the 20th case, and it airs Friday at 9 p.m. ET on HLN.
What began as a family night at the bowling alley turned into an evening that the relatives of Teekah Lewis will never forget.
The family took up two lanes in New Frontier Bowling Lanes in Tacoma, Washington, on a busy Saturday night in January 1999. Relatives of 2-year-old Teekah took turns watching her while she played arcade games. An uncle turned away to watch another relative bowl, and when he turned his attention back to where Teekah was sitting, she was gone.
The bowling alley made an announcement over the loudspeaker but it was too late. Police have only one clue – a witness said they saw a 1980s Pontiac Grand Am pull out of the parking lot around the time that Teekah disappeared. The vehicle was maroon with dark windows and a large spoiler.
When she disappeared, Teekah was wearing a green Tweety Bird T-shirt, white sweatpants and Air Jordan sneakers. She was carrying a clear fish-printed purse stuffed with Starburst candy. She would be 13 years old today.



Watch Nancy Grace Monday through Sunday starting at 8 p.m. ET on HLN. For the latest from Nancy Grace click here.

As she combed through more than 700 tips called in to Tacoma police after little Teekah Lewis vanished from a bowling alley 13 years ago, detective Lindsey Wade came across three that made her stop.

The sheets detailed three incidents involving children approached by a stranger in and around New Frontier Lanes.
One incident occurred just hours before Teekah, a brown-eyed 21/2-year-old, disappeared Jan. 23, 1999, from the bowling alley as her family bowled nearby. In another incident, a 4-year-old boy was sexually assaulted inside a bathroom stall in the bowling alley.

Last seen wearing a green Tweety Bird sweatshirt, white sweatpants and no coat. She was carrying a clear plastic purse. At the time of her disappearance, she was 2 1/2 years old, 3 feet tall and about 35 pounds. Tacoma-Pierce County Crime Stoppers is offering up to $27,000 for information leading to an arrest and charges filed in Teekah’s Jan. 23, 1999, disappearance.

TEEKAH LEWIS VIGIL MONDAY

A candlelight vigil for Teekah Lewis will begin at 7 p.m. Monday at 4702 S. Center St. in Tacoma.

Teekah’s mom, Theresa Lewis, and her family will be at the location from 5-9 p.m., collecting donations of gently used clothes and toys for the homeless shelters as well as new teddy bears, toys and arts and crafts supplies for Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital and Health Center.

In the third, a 6-year-old boy was approached by a stranger who claimed to be the boy’s father inside the alley.

Wade doesn’t know if the three incidents are related to Teekah’s disappearance or to each other. But she does wonder.
Tacoma detectives have never found a witness to Teekah’s abduction, so they have no description of a suspect. But there is a woman who spotted a dark-colored Pontiac Grand Am speeding from the business’ parking lot moments after Teekah vanished.
In one of the three incidents Wade found, the suspect’s vehicle is listed as a blue 1995 Pontiac Grand Am.
“I can’t say for certain if all these incidents are related or if they are related” to Teekah’s disappearance, Wade said. “There’s a possibility that they are, given the Pontiac Grand Am.”

Tacoma police and Teekah’s mother, Theresa Lewis, are renewing their push for new information from the public in the girl’s case as her family marks the 13th anniversary of her disappearance tonight with a candlelight vigil.
“We really need to get the community’s help, and we need them to look at this,” Lewis said. “We are talking about a missing child.”

SEEKING SIMILARITIES
Teekah had been at New Frontier Lanes the night of Jan. 23 with her mother and other family members. She was last seen playing near the “Cruisin’ World” video game as her family knocked down pins on two nearby lanes.
Teekah vanished about 10:15 p.m. Family members searched for her for 10 to 15 minutes, then notified an off-duty Tacoma police officer who was working at the bowling alley that night.
There’s been no sign of her since.

Wade inherited Teekah’s case in recent years and, over time, has been going back over the case, looking for any nugget of new information. Last year, she re-interviewed the woman who spotted the Pontiac Grand Am speeding out of the parking lot.

She also has been searching through old Tacoma police reports. She looked for kidnappings, child lurings, sexual assaults and other incidents involving children and reviewed 50 cases to see if there are any similarities to Teekah’s or that listed a Pontiac Grand Am. She hasn’t found any.

“In a lot of abduction cases, these guys will make several attempts before they are successful,” Wade said. “They will get involved in incidents like exposing themselves or luring.”

1998 INCIDENT

Wade went through the tip book and re-read the more than 700 tip sheets. She found three incidents that caught her attention.

The first occurred Nov. 29, 1998, at New Frontier Lanes. A 4-year-old boy and his father were at the bowling alley. As the father bowled on a league team, the boy played in the arcade area. At one point, he went to the bathroom.

A short time later, another patron went into the bathroom and found the boy laying on the floor in one of the stalls. Wade said the boy had been sexually assaulted by a stranger.

The suspect was described as a white man with brown, curly hair and a beard. He possibly wore a hat with the word “Husky” across the front.

The bowling alley’s private security guards were notified. The father assumed the security officers called Tacoma police. They didn’t.

The father called Tacoma police the next day, discovered the crime hadn’t been reported and filed a police report.

The security guards reported that they believed they knew who the suspect was but didn’t know his name.

“The guy must have been a regular at the bowling alley,” Wade said.

The incident came up during an interview with one of the employees at the bowling alley after Teekah disappeared but no new information was gleaned, Wade said. No arrest has been made in the case.

NEAR-KIDNAPPING

The second incident occurred a few weeks before Teekah’s disappearance. A tipster called Tacoma police Jan. 26, 1999, to report that a 6-year-old boy was almost kidnapped from the bowling alley.

Wade contacted the boy’s mother, who recalled the incident. The family had been at New Frontier Lanes on a Saturday night to bowl.

The boy was in the arcade by himself, though his mother was able to see him and watch him.

At one point, the mother said, she looked up and saw a stranger bent down, talking to her son. The stranger had a hold of the boy’s hand, Wade said.

As the mother rushed to her son, she heard the stranger say he was the boy’s father. The mother and others confronted the man, Wade said.

Security guards were called and escorted the man outside. The mother assumed Tacoma police were called, but Wade said they were not.

“I’ve checked all the names of those involved, and there was no report of any contact or any arrest,” Wade said.

The stranger was described as a white man with brown hair.

“We have no idea who that person was,” Wade said.

ANOTHER PONTIAC

The third incident happened hours before Teekah went missing.

A father and his two kids were hanging out at Oakland/Madrona Park, less than a mile away from the bowling alley. About 2 p.m. Jan. 23, 1999, the father spotted a stranger near the bathrooms. It appeared the man was trying to lure the two children and was motioning for them to come with him, Wade said.

The father chased the man off. The man reportedly hopped into a blue 1995 Pontiac Grand Am and sped off.

The man was described as white, with brown hair. He wore a baseball hat.

The father didn’t call police right away. He called the department’s tip line Jan. 26 after seeing news of Teekah’s disappearance.

WHO’S THAT MAN?

Wade said each of the incidents was listed in the tip sheets but that it doesn’t appear as though detectives, at the time, looked at them as a group or potential pattern.

Wade hopes the incidents jog someone’s memory or remind them about a similar type of incident they never reported to police.

“I still firmly believe somebody at the bowling alley saw someone walk out with Teekah,” Wade said.

Teekah’s mom has been briefed on the incidents. The news brought her to tears. For years, Lewis has held on to a strong hope that her daughter was still alive. That has been shaken.

“Now, I have a little hope,” Lewis said. “It’s hard for me to accept it.”

Lewis said the man described in the incidents needs to be identified, regardless of whether he also took Teekah.

She also needs to know what happened to her daughter.

“Regardless of whether it is good news or bad news, I need closure,” Lewis said. “Me and my family just want her home.”

In addition to the candlelight vigil that they have every year, Teekah’s family is collecting toys and clothing for area homeless shelters and Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital and Health Center.

This is the first year they’ve collected items. Lewis said the family wanted to do something to honor Teekah.

“Teekah was a bright child,” Lewis said. “I need something to honor her.”

Read more here: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2012/01/22/2362809/renewed-push-vigil-in-teekah-lewis.html#storylink=cpy

The mysterious disappearance of Teekah Lewis from a Tacoma
bowling alley 13 years ago will be featured Wednesday in an hourlong
episode on the TV One cable network.

The episode is the season finale for “Find Our Missing,” a series
featuring the stories of black children and adults who have vanished
and never been found.

“Teekah is one of our missing, and we need to find her,” said
S. Epatha Merkerson, the former “Law & Order” actress who hosts the show.

• LEARN MORE
  
  
  What: “Find Our Missing” episode on the Teekah Lewis case.
  
  Airs: 6 p.m., 7 p.m., 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. Wednesday on TV One.
  
  Channel: 328 on Direct TV, 483 on Comcast in Tacoma and Seattle, and 241 on Verizon in Seattle. Click does not carry TV One.
  
  “Find Our Missing” on web: tvone.tv/shows/find-our-missing and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Find-Our-Missing/319124104787269.
  

Teekah, then a brown-eyed 21/2-year-old, vanished the night of
Jan. 23, 1999, from New Frontier Lanes on Center Street. She was playing
near the “Cruisin’ World” arcade game while relatives bowled nearby.

Teekah was last seen about 10:15 p.m. No one heard her cry out
or saw her being abducted. Relatives searched for the little girl for
10 to 15 minutes, then notified an off-duty Tacoma police officer who
was working that night at the bowling alley.

Teekah has not been seen since.

Detectives continue to review the case. Last year, they
released information about a car possibly connected to Teekah’s
abduction. A witness reported seeing a dark Pontiac Grand Am speeding
out of the New Frontier parking lot minutes after Teekah disappeared.

Detectives also have said they are looking into whether the
girl’s disappearance is connected to three other incidents involving
children approached by a stranger in and around the bowling alley before
Teekah vanished.

The “Find Our Missing” episode on Teekah’s case features
interviews with Teekah’s mother, sisters and relatives, as well as
Tacoma police investigators.

The interviews are interlaced with a narrated re-enactment of
Teekah’s disappearance, photos and video of a smiling Teekah and clips
from television news coverage of the case in 1999.

“That little girl was my everything,” said Teekah’s mother, Theresa Lewis, during the episode.

The show ends with a plea for new information in the case.

Tacoma-Pierce County Crime Stoppers is offering up to $27,000
for information that leads to an arrest and charges filed in the case.

Tipsters can remain anonymous and can reach Crime Stoppers at 253-591-5959.

Read more here: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2012/03/20/2445049/show-to-tell-story-of-girl-who.html#storylink=cpy

Tacoma police on Tuesday were investigating an attempted child luring
case involving the teenage sister of Teekah Lewis, a toddler who
vanished from a Tacoma bowling alley 13 years ago.
The girls’
mother, Theresa Lewis, reported the incident, which occurred about 4
p.m. Monday inside a store at East Portland Avenue and East 35th Street.

A man at the store asked the girl how old she was and she told
him she was 14, police spokesman Mark Fulghum said. He then made a
comment about her being cute and wanting to take her with him, Fulghum
said. The man drove away and reportedly had two children in the back
seat.
Detectives are looking into the matter.

Teekah Lewis was 21/2 when she disappeared the night of Jan. 23,
1999, from New Frontier Lanes on Center Street. She has not been found.

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2012/06/13/2178949/tacoma-teekah-lewis-mother-reports.html


Read more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2012/06/13/2178949/tacoma-teekah-lewis-mother-reports.html#storylink=cpy

Tacoma home searched in Teekah Lewis case, nothing significant found, but police are still evaluating

A search for evidence at a Tacoma home this weekend was part of the investigation into the abduction of Teekah Lewis, a 2½-year-old girl who went missing from a Tacoma bowling alley in 1999, police said Sunday.

ALEXIS KRELL; Staff writer
Published: July 22, 2012 at 10:22 p.m. PDT
Updated: July 23, 2012 at 11:19 a.m. PDT

A search for evidence at a Tacoma home this weekend was part of the investigation into the abduction of Teekah Lewis, a 2½-year-old girl who went missing from a Tacoma bowling alley in 1999, police said Sunday.

“Detectives are still evaluating this part of the investigation, but have not discovered anything significant at this point,” police spokesman Naveed Benjamin said.

Teekah was last seen at the now-defunct New Frontier Lanes on Center Street about 10:15 p.m. on Jan. 23, 1999, playing near a video game as her family bowled nearby.

The search of the house in the 800 block of South Hawthorne Street came after detectives contacted a man who pleaded guilty to a child-luring at a different bowling alley in Tacoma, Benjamin said. He declined to say what led police to the man.

Interviewed Sunday by The News Tribune, the man confirmed he was John William Black and said police had spoken with him Friday. He said he did not want to comment on the investigation.

“I’m not going to say anything that’s going to hinder an investigation,” he said.

Black said he has never seen Teekah Lewis.

“I don’t know anything about that case,” he said. “I don’t even know that child.”

Theresa Lewis, Teekah Lewis’ mother, said police had told her the man had said he’d seen Teekah the night she went missing.

“The gentleman said he was at the bowling alley at the time that Teekah disappeared and that he spoke to Teekah that night,” Theresa Lewis said she was told Sunday.

Benjamin said police are not releasing information about the interview.

Neighbors said searchers in gloves and masks dug in the backyard of the house Friday night. Police returned the next morning and left midday Saturday, according to the neighbors who said a police forensic van and several dogs were used.

Theresa Lewis said Sunday that police told her three cadaver dogs had led officers to the same spot when investigators searched the residence, but that officers didn’t find anything when they dug at the location.

“My thing is if anybody at the bowling alley has seen the man that night, come forward,” Theresa Lewis said. “And if this man had anything to do with my daughter’s abduction, come out with it. Tell us what happened to her.”

Court documents show Black pleaded guilty in a child-luring case that occurred on Oct. 13, 2010, at the Tower Lanes Bowling Alley in Tacoma.

“I’m still paying the fine on that and I did my time,” Black said Sunday. He declined to elaborate further.

According to court papers, the father of a 3-year-old girl told police Black squatted down and motioned to the child, saying her mother was in the car. The father ran to protect his daughter, pushing Black away and possibly punching him, according to the documents. Black later was arrested and sentenced to 12 months in jail, according to the documents.

Over the years, police have followed several leads in Teekah’s case. None panned out. DNA showed a girl found dead in 2001 in Kansas City was not the missing child, nor was a girl found in 2006 living by Dallas.

Read more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2012/07/22/2223788/tacoma-home-searched-in-teekah.html#storylink=cpy

Latest lead in Teekah Lewis case turns cold

Posted: 8:08 a.m. Tuesday, July 24, 2012

TACOMA, Wash. — The trail in the search for Teekah Lewis has turned cold again, 13 years after the 2-year-old's disappearance from a Tacoma bowling alley.

Police searched a house and a yard in connection with the case over the weekend, and interviewed a man.

But on Monday, Tacoma police said nothing was found and there is no indication the man will be pursued again.

http://www.kirotv.com/news/news/crime-law/latest-lead-teekah-lewis-case-turns-cold/nP224/