Angela Meeker missing: Reward now $20,000 to help solve mystery of Tacoma teen who vanished on way to mall

TACOMA -- The FBI is hoping a new $20,000 reward will encourage someone to come forward with information to solve a mystery in Tacoma.

Angela Meeker would be 51 years old now. She was just two days shy of her 14th birthday when she went missing in 1979.

Tacoma Police Det. Lindsey Wade says Meeker was walking to the Tacoma Mall to buy a birthday card for a friend when she disappeared on July 7th. "We believe that there are people out there who have information on what happened to Angie. There's quite a few people we know that she associated with and so at this point they are just going and trying to contact as many of those people as possible."



The last confirmed sighting came from an acquaintance who said he gave her a ride and dropped her off by the Payless store.

"We really rely on people coming forward who may have even spoken to investigators originally," said FBI Special Agent Terry Postma

The FBI’s South Sound Cold Case Working Group in Pierce County is helping to put the pieces together of what happened 37 years ago. “I think anytime that you bring in additional investigators and have a fresh look at a case file, that's always helpful," said FBI Supervisory Special Agent Kelly Smith

So far, everyone they've talked to remembers Angie because of her spunky personality. "

“She had a little bit of history of maybe running away for a couple of days or being away from home for a couple of days at a time but she would always come back," added Special Agent Postma.

Investigators think the $20,000 reward may help solve the mystery or lead them to her recovery. "We're just hoping that that may motivate somebody who was otherwise reluctant to come forward to actually call us," adds Det. Wade.

If you know anything that can help investigators find out what happened to Angela Meeker in Tacoma, please call an anonymous tip into:

CRIME STOPPERS: 1-800-222-TIPS

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ORIGINAL WMW CASE December 11, 2015 --
It was almost four decades ago that a teenage girl went missing in Tacoma after heading to the mall.

Detectives continue to search for answers in her disappearance and they're hoping you can help find her.

“The fact that she was 13 and literally just disappeared off the face of the earth is unusual,” says Tacoma Police  Det. Lindsey Wade. She's talking about Angela Meeker, who vanished two days before her 14th birthday on July 7, 1979. Wade says, “She was headed to the Tacoma Mall to purchase a birthday card for a friend and that was the last time she was seen by any of her family members.” But, a friend says he saw her on the road. “An acquaintance of hers was interviewed and he actually reported that he ran into Angie on her way to the mall and gave her a ride and said that he dropped her off in the area of the Payless store.”

No one ever heard from her again.

“There was a party scheduled for later in the evening, a birthday party for Angela and another friend and Angela didn’t show up to the party and none of the party-goers reported seeing her at the party or any time after that,” detective Wade explains.

And because Angela was known to run away and stay gone for a couple of days at a time she wasn’t reported missing until three days later.

But police don’t believe that Angela just took off. Wade says, “We had another case that occurred about six months later, not too far from here and it was another 13 year old girl who went missing and was found murdered 12 days later and that case is also unsolved.”

Police have persons of interest, but have been unable to link them to any crime. They also haven’t been able to claim any remains discovered in the area. “We have her dental records, we have DNA and we have had no matches,” Wade adds.

For Angela’s family, that signals hope that she could still be alive. “I know the family always wants to hold out hope that their loved one is still out there. It’s been 36 years since she went missing and she was just a young girl. It’s hard to imagine a scenario where would she be and what would she be doing all this time, but you just never know,” Wade says.

She has taken over this missing person's mystery and has a special request for those who knew this teenage girl, saying “If there are people who knew Angie that might have any information about what was going on in her life at the time, relationships she was in, if they have any information or even speculation about what happened to her, I’d be interested in hearing about it.”

Angela would be 50 years old now.

She was 5'1" and 100 pounds at the time of her disappearance with hazel eyes and blonde hair.

If you know anything that can help detectives find out what happened to her, call an anonymous tip into:
CRIME STOPPERS: 1-800-222-TIPS