Taking Teekah

Dateline: Missing In America

NBC News

True Crime

4.4 • 1.9K Ratings

🗓️ 17 June 2025

⏱️ 35 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Teekah Lewis was last seen on January 23, 1999, at New Frontier Lanes, a bowling alley in Tacoma, Washington. The 2-year-old was with her mother, younger sister Tameeka, and other family and friends. Teekah had been playing a game in the arcade area when her mother stepped away briefly to take her turn bowling. When she turned around, Teekah was gone. Dateline’s Josh Mankiewicz speaks with Teekah’s mother Theresa Czapiewski, Teekah’s sister Katarina Johnson, and Sergeant Julie Dier of the Tacoma Police Department. Teekah was last seen wearing white sweats, a green Tweety Bird shirt, and red, black and white Air Jordans. She would be 29 years old this year. Anyone with information about Teekah’s disappearance is asked to call the Tacoma Police Department at 253-591-5950. Get more information and see pictures, including an age-progression, of Teekah Lewis here: https://www.nbcnews.com/datelinemissing

Transcript

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0:00.0	You could feel the energy the moment you walked in.
0:09.0	Laughter echoed off the walls.
0:12.0	The smell of burgers and fries hung in the air.
0:16.0	Bowling balls rumbled down lanes, followed by the clatter of pins.
0:24.4	This was a Saturday night in Tacoma, Washington.
0:26.6	There were a lot of people there that night.
0:27.7	Oh, yeah.
0:30.1	At least 350.
0:42.6	January 23, 1999, the neon sign read, New Frontier L. That glowed drew people in on a damp chilly evening.
0:51.1	Teresa Chepesky was one of them. So we get there and we get our shoes and we go to our lanes.
0:57.0	Teresa was there with two of her daughters, her boyfriend, some family, and some friends. And Tika sees the video games.
1:01.0	Tika was Teresa's two-year-old.
1:03.0	She picked out a game over in the bowling alley's arcade.
1:07.0	It was my turn to bowl, and I told my brother and my boyfriend, make sure you watch Tika, so nobody, you know, nothing happens to her.
1:16.8	Teresa bowled her frame and something did happen.
1:21.5	She was gone.
1:23.8	That was more than two decades ago.
1:27.3	The search for Tika began that night, and it's... That was more than two decades ago.
1:30.0	The search for Tika began that night.
1:32.9	And it still is not over.
1:39.6	My kids have suffered for 26 years, not knowing where their sister's been.
1:45.2	I'm Josh Mancowitz, and this is Missing in America, a podcast from Dateline.
	...

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