TACOMA, Wash. — A dig this week in a Tacoma backyard was related to the 26-year-old cold case of missing toddler Teekah Lewis, officials confirmed on Wednesday.
On Monday, Tacoma Police Department detectives were seen searching a home on the 3200 block of South Gunnison Street and excavating the property’s backyard.
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The department said it was investigating a tip related to “an ongoing cold case investigation,” but offered no other information.
The property’s location prompted public speculation that the case was that of Teekah Lewis.
Teekah was just 2 years old when she disappeared during a family outing at New Frontier Lanes bowling alley on Jan. 23, 1999. The home being searched is just over a half-mile away from where the bowling alley Teekah was last seen in 1999 used to be located.
On Monday, KOMO News spoke with Teekah’s mother, Theresa Czapiewski, by phone. She said she learned about the current cold case investigation after being contacted by media. Czapiewski told KOMO News she immediately called the Tacoma police chief concerned the investigation may be about her missing daughter.
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During an interview with KOMO News in March, Czapiewski recounted that Teekah was playing near the arcade while family members bowled and kept an eye on her. Czapiewski said she stepped up to bowl, and when she returned, Teekah was gone.
The TPD said a maroon, late 1980s or 1990s Pontiac Grand Am with tinted windows and a spoiler was seen speeding away from the bowling alley not long after Teekah disappeared.
In March, Tacoma police confirmed to KOMO News that a person of interest who was interviewed by detectives is now dead.
On Thursday, the TPD confirmed the backyard dig was over, and that the tip had been related to Teekah’s case.
Officials stated that nothing related to Teekah had been discovered at the site.
“The Tacoma Police Department remains steadfast in its commitment to seeking answers for Teekah’s family and to resolving all of the city’s cold cases. Every tip and lead we receive is taken seriously and pursued completely,” the agency stated.
