TACOMA, Wash. (KOMO) — Authorities in Washington state are reopening the cold case of 2-year-old Teekah Lewis, who vanished during a family outing in 1999.

Tacoma police are shedding more light into the 1999 disappearance of 2-year-old Teekah Lewis - with investigators telling KOMO a person of interest they interviewed is now dead.

Teekah was just 2 years old when she disappeared during a family outing at New Frontier Lanes on Jan. 23, 1999.

Her mother, Theresa Czapiewski, recounted that Teekah was playing near the arcade while family members bowled and kept an eye on her. Theresa said she stepped up to bowl, and when she returned, Teekah was gone.

"I just want to know where she's at," Czapiewski said. "All I have is two years of memories of my baby."

26 years later, investigators are still looking into what happened.

Julie Dier, the lead investigator and sergeant with the Tacoma Police Department, said in either 2020 or 2021 she picked up this cold case.

"At some point, I was made aware that there was a [person of interest] that popped up in some of the investigation. And it wasn't somebody that they looked at initially. Ultimately, we came to the point where we went and interviewed this person," Dier said.

During the search and investigation, police described him as a white man with longer brown hair, age 30-40 in 1999, standing around 5'11" with a "husky" build. He was wearing a blue checkered flannel shirt and jeans.

"The most distinctive thing about him was that he had a pockmarked face, which I know was talked about in the initial investigation. There was somebody who was observed walking with a little girl that matched the description of Teekah," Dier said. "During this conversation, he said nothing that would have convinced us that he was a suspect or involved. But he also didn't say anything that ruled him out completely."

About two months later, when TPD went back to interview him, "he was deceased," Dier said.

Investigators said there is no video surveillance or physical evidence to work with.

"The biggest hope with this case is that somebody ultimately will come forth and say, 'hey, I know something.' And will give us something concrete about this case that will lead us to a suspect or some evidence that we can test and bring closure to this case," Dier said.

There's somebody out there that knows what happened and that person needs to come forth and say something. Her family deserves answers.

Teekah's mom hopes to finally find answers soon.

"I want to get myself that closure. I've had hope all these years that maybe my baby will come back home," Czapiewski said.