Act Daily News
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Theresa Czapieski couldn’t maintain again tears when police in Tacoma, Washington, confirmed her what her daughter might appear like as we speak. She has not stopped trying to find the then-2-year-old Teekah Lewis since 1999.
“I’m not giving up until my daughter is found,” Czapieski instructed Act Daily News.
Tacoma police launched an age development photograph of Teekah final week within the hopes of fixing one of many space’s oldest lacking kids’s instances.
Teekah was final seen within the online game space on the New Frontier Lanes bowling alley on the evening of January 23, 1999. Czapieski stated Teekah was a “mama’s girl.” The toddler had been subsequent to her till it was Czapieski’s flip to bowl. She then requested her brother and then-boyfriend to control the toddler. When Czapieski rotated to verify on her daughter, she was gone.
“They said they didn’t see nothing, so whoever took her, took her within seconds.” Czapieski instructed Act Daily News.
Police say nobody remembers seeing the toddler depart the constructing. That evening, Czapieski says, the bowling alley was packed, and tons of of individuals might have been there.
Czapieski beforehand visited the bowling alley with a few of her kids and thought it was a secure place to take Teekah in an outing with different members of the family, she stated.
Tacoma Police Detective Julie Dier stated Teekah’s disappearance has been “a big mystery.”
“At this point, we don’t have any evidence, any physical evidence. We have no body. And while that remains the case, there is always a chance that she is still somewhere out there,” Dier instructed Act Daily News on Monday. “It’s a big mystery.”
When the toddler disappeared in 1999, Dier stated police went to nice lengths to search out her, mowing down a wetland and utilizing search canine. Investigators have obtained quite a few ideas since Teekah went lacking, however none have ever led to a suspect, police stated.
Now, they’re asking the general public for details about a late Nineteen Eighties or early Nineties maroon or purple Pontiac {that a} witness says fishtailed whereas dashing from the bowling alley car parking zone, moments earlier than bulletins of Teekah’s disappearance had been made contained in the constructing.
Dier stated investigators are hoping the discharge of the age development photograph and requires details about Teekah’s disappearance end in somebody who might have seen one thing contacting police.
It remains to be a chance that Teekah is alive and doesn’t know she was a kidnapping sufferer, police stated.
The composite displaying how Teekah would possibly at the moment look was created by the Forensic Anthropology and Computer Enhancement Services (FACES) Laboratory at Louisiana State University, which presents forensic anthropology providers to legislation enforcement and coroner’s workplaces.
Larry Livaudais, an imaging specialist on the lab, instructed Act Daily News it took him about three weeks to create the age development picture. He referenced about 4 dozen pictures of Teekah’s mom, father and siblings, alongside pictures of Teekah herself, to get a potential picture of what she would appear like in 2022.
“It really is an artistic creation, but it is based upon scientific knowledge of facial growth patterns and morphological changes that take place in the face,” Livaudais stated, including that he constructed cognitive triggers into the picture which can be designed to spur recognition and reminiscence in individuals who know would possibly know Teekah.
Czapieski says she hopes her daughter, who could be in her mid-20s, has up to now lived a very good life. She likes to think about that Teekah performed sports activities in highschool, graduated and went on to school, the mom stated.
“If she’s out there and she sees this, know you have five sisters that want to meet you. You have a mom and (an) enormous number of aunts and uncles that are just waiting for you to come home. We know it’s been almost 24 years, and I’m sure you don’t know this but we want to know you. We want to bring you home, because I’ve never given up on you,” Czapieski stated. “I will not stop looking for you until you’re found.”
The Tacoma Police Department is asking anybody with details about the case to contact name the Crime Stoppers of Tacoma-Pierce County at 1-800-222-TIPS. Police are additionally providing a $1,000 reward for data resulting in arrest and prices within the case.