She Mysteriously Vanished After Going Out To A Party One Night With Her Friend
Born on December 27, 1979, Toni Lee Sharpless grew up in Downingtown, Pennsylvania. But, at the young age of 6, she tragically lost her father in an accident.
Then, during young adulthood, Toni encountered more challenges in her personal life.
She was first diagnosed with bipolar disorder, which ultimately led Toni to struggle with alcohol and drug abuse. And at 17 years old, she welcomed her first child– a baby girl– into the world and raised her daughter as a single mom.
During the early 2000s, Toni then began working as a nursing assistant on the weekends at a nearby rehabilitation center. She used her income to pay for her tuition after enrolling at the Brandywine School of Nursing.
And by 2007, Toni had graduated from Immaculata University with her nursing degree and began working at Lancaster General Hospital in the infectious disease ward.
In 2008, however, things took a tragic turn again. That year, Toni was arrested and convicted of driving while under the influence. So, she spent the month of April 2009 in rehab.
Still, following years of challenges, Toni appeared to be under control afterward. She found a treatment regime that worked for her, and her life was back on track.
Yet, while living with her 12-year-old daughter at her mom and stepdad’s home in August 2009, Toni strangely vanished.
It all began on the morning of Sunday, August 22, when Toni worked a 12-hour shift at Lancaster General Hospital. Then, that night, Toni left her home at about 9:30 p.m. with plans to spend the night with her longtime friend, Crystal, in Center City, Philadelphia.
Facebook – pictured above is Toni
First, Toni drove to Crystal’s home– located in West Fallowfield township. Then, the pair went out to a few clubs located in the city.
At approximately 2:57 a.m., Toni then sent a text message to her daughter, who was having trouble sleeping that evening. She reportedly told her daughter to get some rest and that she would be arriving home soon.
But, just after 3:00 a.m., Toni and Crystal were invited to a house party at the home of a man named Willie in Penn Valley, Gladwyne.
Then, around 5:00 a.m., Toni apparently began acting erratic after believing that other guests were mistreating her. This resulted in a disturbance at the party, in which Toni started kicking things and pouring a bottle of champing onto the kitchen floor.
At that point, both Toni and Crystal were asked to leave the party. And since Toni was too intoxicated to drive– and was also running on low sleep– Crystal tried to take Toni’s car keys away.
Nonetheless, Toni reportedly took her keys back, and she left Green’s house party with Crystal.
After driving just about 500 feet away, however, the pair of women got into an argument. And Toni ultimately demanded that Crystal gets out of the car before driving away by herself.
Following this argument, Toni never returned home, and she was never seen or heard from again.
Crystal was left stranded not far away from the house party and reportedly attempted to call Toni following the fight. However, all of the calls just went straight to voicemail.
This pushed Crystal to wait a short while longer before she eventually called her nephew for a ride home.
And after Toni failed to show up at home that morning, her family filed a missing person report on August 23, 2009.
Authorities immediately launched an investigation, and it was found that Toni’s cell phone had been turned off at approximately 4:00 a.m. that evening. Since then, her bank accounts and phone records have also shown no activity.
Toni’s loved ones believed her erratic behavior that night was likely a result of mixing alcohol with her bipolar medication and sleep deprivation. Additionally, the impaired condition she was in might have made her more vulnerable to foul play.
Investigators did follow up with Crystal and Willie – both of whom cooperated with the investigation. They also passed polygraph examinations, leading authorities to believe that they were not involved in Toni’s disappearance.
After Toni vanished, there were also several possible sightings of her reported in Philadelphia and Lancaster. However, none of these sightings were confirmed.
In September 2009, there was also another possible tip from Camden, New Jersey. There, an automatic license plate reader got a hit on Toni’s license plate number, DND-7772.
Although, the photo captured by the license plate reader did not capture who was driving the vehicle. So, authorities tried to locate Toni’s car, which was a black 2002 Pontiac Grand Prix sedan, but their efforts were not successful.
Then, on November 30, 2012, another mysterious clue popped up in the investigation.
That day, Eileen Law– a private detective who had been hired by Toni’s mother– received a letter postmarked from Trenton.
The letter claimed that Toni had gotten into an argument with an unidentified man in Camden the evening she disappeared. The letter also alleged that Toni died as a result of the altercation.
The person who penned the letter claimed that a friend of theirs asked them transport to Toni’s car from Brookwlawn to Boston, Massachusetts, for $5,000. The letter’s author also included the last five digits of Toni’s car’s VIN number, her license plate number, and her cell phone number.
Nonetheless, there was no link discovered. So, the letter was turned over to authorities, and they ultimately dismissed the letter– believing it was a hoax.
Still, the private detective Eileen Law disagreed, believed the letter was genuine, and has continued to investigate.
Toni has since been declared legally dead by her loved ones, and foul play is suspected in her disappearance. But what exactly occurred the night she vanished remains unclear, and her case is still unsolved.
At the time of her disappearance, Toni was five foot five, weighed 135 pounds, and had dyed red hair and blue eyes. She was last seen wearing black tights, a turquoise shirt, turquoise earrings, and black sandals.
If you have any information regarding Toni’s disappearance, you are urged to contact the West Brandywine Police Department at (601) 380-8201.
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