After two years, more pain, few clues

A young Chester County mother disappeared without a trace two years ago, and her distraught family is hoping someone has information that will lead to her return.

Investigators from Montgomery and Chester Counties have remained mystified about the fate of Toni Lee Sharpless, 31, of West Brandywine Township.

Sharpless vanished on Aug. 23, 2009. She was last seen by a friend who had accompanied her to a small party at the home of former 76er Willie Green. There, Sharpless, who had mixed alcohol with her bipolar medication, got into an altercation with Green and was asked to leave his Gladwyne-area home. Outside the residence, she then quarreled with the friend, Crystal Johns, about whether she was fit to drive. Sharpless ended up pulling away in her car, leaving her friend stranded.

Possible sightings have been reported in an area ranging  from Lancaster to Camden. The latest calls have come from New Castle, De.

Eileen Auch Law, a private investigator who has been assisting the family, said she received a call last month from a former police officer. He had just viewed a rerun of an episode of Investigation Discovery's "Disappeared" that had featured Sharpless.   "My God, I just saw that woman not two weeks ago," he told Law. He said she was pushing a shopping cart with a lot of junk in it -- as if she were homeless. Law said she canvassed the area, and several people confirmed seeing the picture Law showed them.  One man told Law that Sharpless had asked for money and that he told her to go away and get a job.

For more information, visit http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/20110823_2_years_later__Chesco_woman_is_still_missing.html.