January 23, 1999. Tacoma, Washington. Two-year old Teekah Lewis accompanies her family to the New Frontier Lanes bowling alley, but while playing inside the arcade, she vanishes without a trace. It seems apparent that Teekah was the victim of a stranger abduction and there is speculation that her disappearance might be connected to a recent series of incidents in which other children from the area were preyed upon by an unidentified white male. Twenty-five years later, investigators announce they have been looking into a person of interest who seems like a compelling potential suspect, but there is no conclusive evidence to implicate him and Teekah is never found. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore a heartbreaking missing children’s case which has remained unsolved for over a quarter of a century. Special thanks to listener Rey Hettrick for narrating the opening of this episode.

Additional Reading:

https://www.nbcnews.com/dateline/cold-case-spotlight/teekah-lewis-disappearance-tacoma-washington-1999-rcna190347

https://komonews.com/news/local/tacoma-police-person-of-interest-in1999-disappearance-of-2-year-old-teekah-lewis-is-dead-baby-toddler-missing-abduction-safety-stranger-interview-seattle-washington-children-crime-investigation-update-kidnapping

https://komonews.com/news/local/tacoma-marks-26-years-since-2-year-old-girl-vanished-from-bowling-alley-crime-abduction-missing-girl-toddler-washington

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/law-justice/25-years-after-disappearance-in-tacoma-its-time-to-bring-teekah-home/

https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/06/us/tacoma-washington-teekah-lewis-missing-reaj/index.html

https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/tacoma/missing-girls-mother-hopes-solve-1999-case/281-383caa31-efb6-43cf-8945-8722cbbdf95c

https://www.fox13seattle.com/washingtons-most-wanted/teekah-lewis-21-years-later-witness-account-could-be-key-to-solving-case-of-missing-girl

https://charleyproject.org/case/teekah-latres-lewis

https://apbcoldcase.substack.com/p/taken-in-tacoma-where-is-teekah-lewis

https://www.newspapers.com/image/740752057/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/740752264/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/740769868/

"The Trail Went Cold" will be appearing at the True Crime Podcast Festival, taking place at the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel Boston North Shore in Boston, Massachusetts on July 18-20, 2025. To get a 20 % discount on tickets, please use our specialized promo code, “ROBIN20”, by visiting https://www.truecrimepodcastfestival.com/. 

“The Trail Went Cold” is on Patreon. Visit www.patreon.com/thetrailwentcold to become a patron and gain access to our exclusive bonus content.

The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote.

All music is composed by Vince Nitro.