Written by Sarah Garner
Over a year has gone by and she has yet to reappear.
In a case that is still being investigated, Toni Lee Sharpless, a 29-year-old nurse at Lancaster General, vanished.
A television drama recounting the disappearance of this local resident is planned for February.
The last time anyone saw her was last August in Lower Marion when her and a friend went to a club and then to a party at Willie Green’s home, a former Philadelphia 76ers basketball player.
Sharpless left the party after making an unpleasant remark to Green and drove away with her friend who she later kicked out of the car for being upset about what had happened.
Green was later cleared by police of any involvement.
“I search for her on a daily basis,” said Eileen Law, in a recent interview in Lancaster newspapers.
Law is the private detective that took her case. “I do absolutely believe she’s alive,” said Law.
About a month after she disappeared, a camera on a parked police car in Camden, New Jersey spotted a car with Sharpless’ license plate. Investigators on her case was not notified until days later.
They then sent Camden police and New Jersey State Police to the area where her plate was spotted and did a scope out of the entire area.
“They did a lot of work, going through neighborhoods, in hopes of finding it (the car) or finding it abandoned,” said Lt. Frank Higgins of Lower Marion Police Department. “Cars don’t usually disappear entirely. At some point in the future they turn up, whether it’s a junkyard or somewhere else.”
Not too long after their search, a non-profit organization for search and recoveries used sonar to scan the Schuylkill River to see if she accidentally drove into it, but were disappointed when nothing showed.
“We fear the worst because of the amount of time that has gone by, and, as a mom devoted to her daughter, it wouldn’t make sense for her to abandon her family,” said Higgins.
Law seems to think that Sharpless was spotted somewhere since she disappeared. She claims to have received 50 reports of people who say they saw her, and they all say they either saw her in Camden, Philadelphia or Lancaster.
Those who say they saw her say that she was with two men, one of which was a thin Hispanic man with a goatee and a large African-American with a build like a football player.
Law stated that she believes Sharpless is still alive but somewhere in another state and that drugs may play a part in her disappearance.
“I think Toni is a phenomenal person who has overcome a lot of things,” said Law. “She loves her daughter more than life itself.”
“But I sense that Toni thinks her daughter is better off now. I believe Toni feels she’s broken,” Law said.
“I don’t think she broken at all,” said Law. “I can’t wait for the day I meet her.”
Law has visited the areas where people think they have spotted her to hang posters and talk to the people.
She has also looked into all reports coming in about bodies that are found to see is they could be Sharpless.
“People want to know and we can’t give then any kind of closure,” said Higgins.
Law is determined to eventually give her family the news that they want, finding her.
“I will never give up,” said Law.