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Vigil held for Tacoma toddler who went missing 25 years ago

Teekah Lewis was 2 years old when she vanished from New Frontier Lanes bowling alley in Tacoma on Jan. 23, 1999.

TACOMA, Wash. — Twenty-five years ago, Theresa Czapiewski saw her daughter, Teekah Lewis, for the last time.

On Tuesday night, dozens of friends and family members gathered for a vigil at the Tacoma Police Department headquarters and are still hopeful for answers.

Teekah Lewis was 2 years old when she vanished from New Frontier Lanes bowling alley in Tacoma on Jan. 23, 1999.

Teekah's mother has never given up the search for her daughter. She holds vigils like this one to keep her daughter's name and story in the public eye.

"I'm going to do what I have to do to keep Teekah's picture out there and her case alive," Czapiewski said.

Czapiewski said the Dollar Tree in University Place donated balloons for the vigil. On them, people wrote messages to Teekah, and then the balloons were released.

Right now, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children website has two new age-progressed photos of what she might look like today.

Credit: Tacoma Police Department
Age-progression photo of Teekah Lewis shows what she would look like at age 26.

Tacoma police hope the photos might generate more tips.

Credit: NCMEC
New age-progression photo shows what Teekah Lewis might look like now.

In 2020, detectives said they were looking for a person of interest who was seen near Lewis that night.

The witness described the person as a white male, about 5 feet, 11 inches, with a “husky” build, with brown, curly or wavy hair, a mustache and pockmarks on his face.

The witness said the man wore blue jeans and a blue checkered, flannel shirt.

Detectives had not previously released information about the man’s clothing.

In December, Tacoma police revealed a description of a car seen leaving the bowling alley that night, a maroon or dark-colored Pontiac Grand Am, perhaps a late 1980s or early 1990s model, leaving the parking lot at a high rate of speed.

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