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.

August 1, 2007. Powder Springs, Georgia. After not being heard from for over 30 hours, 46-year old Jane Kuria and her two daughters - 19-year old Isabella and 16-year old Annabelle - are found bludgeoned to death inside their home. Jane’s eight-year old son, Jeremy, and her eleven-year old nephew, P.K. Thande, are also severely beaten and left comatose, but while they wind up surviving their injuries, they are unable to provide much information about who attacked them. Since the Kurias originally hailed from Kenya and had been seeking asylum in the United States, investigators explore a number of different scenarios, including the possibility of some family friends being responsible for the murders, but the case is never solved. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore a horrific and baffling crime known as the Kuria family murders.

Additional Reading:

https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Kuria_Family

https://unsolved.com/podcasts/the-kuria-family-murders/

https://unsolved.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/108-The-Kuria-Family-Murders-Web-Final.pdf

https://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/archive/police-question-survivor-of-attack-that-killed-3-in-georgia-home/article_aa17ad8f-fd8d-5827-b222-886708c23c60.html

https://www.wave3.com/story/6875529/police-searching-for-suspect-in-attack-that-killed-3-in-georgia-home/

https://mshale.com/2007/09/06/detectives-progress-on-murders-of-kenyan-mother-daughters/

https://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/02/us/02attack.html

https://www.11alive.com/article/news/investigations/gone-cold/gone-cold-a-family-massacred-a-case-left-cold/85-511736512

https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/powder-springs-community-rallies-around-teen

"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 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.