On Aug. 22, Peter and Donna Knebel watched TV in the dark of their living room in the tidy colonial home they share with their daughter and granddaughter in West Brandywine Township, Chester County.

Their daughter, Toni Lee Sharpless, ducked in to say goodbye at 9:30 p.m. The 29-year-old Lancaster General Hospital registered nurse was leaving the house with a friend, Crystal Johns, for a night on the town in Philadelphia and its suburbs.

"You guys be careful," her stepfather said. When the door shut, he turned to his wife and said, "I don't like this."

They haven't seen or heard from their daughter since.

Police are puzzled and continue to search for leads. The Knebels have hired a private investigator. Sharpless had bipolar disorder but her family and friends believe she was taking her medication. It is known that she and a friend were asked to leave the home of a Philadelphia pro athlete when they became intoxicated. She drove away from that party and disappeared.

Her parents know the 29-year-old single mother would never leave her 12-year-old daughter behind.

Friends reunited
The Knebels were concerned about their daughter's rekindled friendship with Johns because of a falling out the women had 10 years ago, they said.

Especially Mr. Knebel, who kept a fatherly eye on Sharpless since marrying her mother 21 years ago. Sharpless' father was killed in an accident when she was 6 years old.

It was unusual for Sharpless to go to clubs, or even to travel to the Philadelphia area, her parents said. "I think it was a case where Crystal had no one to go with and talked Toni into going along," Mrs. Knebel said.

Sharpless, who worked 12-hour shifts as an infectious disease nurse at LGH, spent nearly all of her free time with her 12-year-old daughter, the Knebels said.

The child's name is withheld at the family's request.

The two swam at French Creek State Park, played miniature golf and went to movies. Often they included Sharpless' sister, Candy Sharpless, 32. They shared "girls' days out" with Mrs. Knebel.

Sharpless had plans the Monday after her disappearance to take her daughter to the state park along with friend Kelly Bradford, their children, and Mrs. Knebel.

Bradford, 29, of West Caln Township, Chester County, was born one day before Sharpless. Because their mothers were close, the girls' friendship blossomed from infancy. They call themselves cousins and their mothers, aunts.

Sharpless, who never married, was not dating anyone at the time of her disappearance, the Knebels said.

At home, Sharpless was often "in sweats with no makeup and a hankie on her head," propped on her elbows on the bed reading a book, her mother said. Sometimes she read a Stephen King or Dean Koontz novel. More often, it was a nursing textbook.

Sharpless was particular about her appearance when leaving the house, her parents said. She even ironed and hung her scrubs.

Sharpless put herself through Brandywine School of Nursing by working weekends as a nursing assistant at St. Martha's Manor in Downingtown. She graduated from the nursing school with a Bachelor of Science in nursing in 2007 and went to work for LGH. According to Mrs. Knebel, LGH appealed to Sharpless because it is a magnet hospital and she was fond of Lancaster.

Gigi Hayes, 48, of Caln Township in Chester County, graduated from nursing school with Sharpless. "She was quick-witted," Hayes said. "She just made learning at school fun and entertaining. She had an easy personality that wasn't intimidated by what's involved in nursing.

"We studied at my house a lot. We were competitive with each other and she always tried to get people to beat her [test] scores."

Relapse?
According to family and friends, Sharpless' success as a mother and a nurse was impressive because she was managing bipolar disorder — a biological mood disorder characterized by alternating manic and depressive episodes.

"She was brilliant, you know. Even though she had problems, she had so many great qualities about her," Hayes said. "She became friends with me, I think because I'm older and kept her grounded."

Their friendship continued after graduation, Hayes said, but she did not see Sharpless for several months before her disappearance.

Hayes said Sharpless had no flare-ups of the illness for the past several years because she remained on medication.

"There's no problems at work or anywhere and you just kind of forget to look for the signs," Hayes said.

"She had been very stable, all through school and everything like that, she did excellent," Bradford said. "She got a little worn out not that long ago … she did take some time off for a little while."

Bradford dismissed speculation that a flare-up of Sharpless' illness caused her to run away. Sharpless would have turned to her trusted support system of family and friends as she always did, Bradford said.

Mrs. Knebel agrees. Sharpless would never leave her daughter, she said.

Before Sharpless left for her night on the town, she and her daughter bought new clothes and a box of hair color during a shopping trip to Exton Square Mall, Mrs. Knebel said.

She doesn't believe her daughter stopped taking medication to control the bipolar disorder. Sharpless called her mother from work the morning before she disappeared and asked her to check her pill bottles and call the pharmacy for refills, Mrs. Knebel said.

Medications used to treat bipolar disorder frequently contain a warning not to consume alcohol while taking the medication.

Sharpless "hadn't been out in forever," Mrs. Knebel said. She probably just wanted to enjoy a night on the town like "normal people" might, her mother said.

"But if you know you have a disorder like that, you can't always do things like a normal person," she said.

In fatherly frustration, Mr. Knebel said, "If you are on that kind of medication you have no business drinking, and that includes Toni."

Sharpless was in "very high spirits" the night before she disappeared, her mother said.

"She wasn't manic though," she said. "I always know when she's getting manic because she talks too much and I have to stop her."

Vanished
At 9:30 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 22, Sharpless and Johns went to Johns' home in West Fallowfield Township, Chester County, to finish getting dressed to go out, Mrs. Knebel said. Then they went to two nightclubs — Ice, in King of Prussia, and G Lounge, in Philadelphia, she said.

At 2:57 a.m. the next day, Sharpless text-messaged her daughter, who couldn't sleep. It read, "I hope you can get to sleep. See you soon. Love ya, babe."

At about that time, the women left the club for a house party in the 1300 block of Bobarn Drive in Gladwyne, according to Lt. Frank Higgins of the Township of Lower Merion Police Department, which is leading the investigation. West Brandywine Township police are also involved in the case.

According to the Knebels, the party was at the home of Philadelphia 76ers' player Willie Green. "We know this because she told us before she left [home]," Mrs. Knebel said of her daughter.

Lower Merion police would not release the name of the homeowner. "We have interviewed the homeowner and found nothing took place there that would lead us to believe that something happened there," Higgins said.

But according to Higgins and the Knebels, Sharpless caused a disturbance at the party.

She and Johns — who were both intoxicated — were asked to leave the party just before 5 a.m., Higgins said.

According to Higgins, they left with Sharpless driving, but Sharpless stopped the car about a block away. Johns got out because the women argued about whether Sharpless — who, according to court records, has a 2008 conviction for driving under the influence — should be driving. Sharpless then drove off, Higgins said.

Johns called a family member who picked her up about an hour later, Higgins said.

According to the Knebels and Bradford, Johns called Sharpless' sister, Candy, later that morning to complain about being left behind and said she would drop off belongings Sharpless left at her home.

That's when Johns learned Sharpless had not returned home and she called police. Candy Sharpless then went to the West Brandywine Police Department to file a missing persons report.

Attempts last week to reach Johns at her home by phone and in person were unsuccessful.

What if?
Speculations about what happened the night Sharpless went missing continue among friends and family.

Bradford doubts Johns' account.

"Toni would never, never, leave another woman on a dark street in Philadelphia," she said. "And what woman in her right mind would get out of the car there and wait an hour? She knows something."

The Knebels doubt Johns' account, too, they said, in part because she has a police record.

According to court documents, Johns pleaded guilty in 2005 to two counts of harassment.

"I think … something went wrong at the house," Mr. Knebel said.

Mrs. Knebel wonders if their daughter just got lost.

Sharpless' route home would include I-76 West, the Schuylkill Expressway.

But the nearest access to the interstate — off Hollow Road, near the Schuylkill River — only has an eastbound ramp.

Mrs. Knebel suspects her daughter got on I-76 East, and ended up in Camden, N.J., where she either met foul play or had an accident.

Some speculated that Sharpless mistook a nearby boat ramp for a road and drove into the Schuylkill River.

Using sonar, EquuSearch, a volunteer organization based in Dickinson, Texas, located large masses underwater near that boat ramp, according to Higgins. Police dive teams confirmed that 12 of them were vehicles, according to Higgins.

Nine of the vehicles — all stolen — were pulled out of the river, Higgins said. The other three, which have sunk into the muddy river bottom up to their roofs, had their vehicle identification numbers removed, he said.

None belongs to Sharpless. She was driving a black 2002 four-door Pontiac Grand Prix with Pennsylvania tag DND7772.

The family describes Sharpless as 5 feet 5 inches tall, 140 pounds, with short auburn hair and blue-gray eyes.

It's unlikely Sharpless veered off a nearby road and that her car is hidden from view, Higgins said.

"There are very few areas where you cannot find a guardrail or somebody's front lawn," he explained. "It's a difficult case. We're at the mercy of waiting for new news from another agency or someone else."

The Knebels have hired private detective Eileen Law, of CIA Detectives, in Kennett Square.

After interviewing Johns, Law is convinced the woman's account of what happened the morning Sharpless disappeared is true.

"This young lady could have told me where to get off, but I stopped by unannounced and she invited me in," Law said. "I was grilling her for three hours and trying to trip her up many times ... she was unbelievably distraught and I don't believe she had anything to do with it."

The Knebels, who were advised by law enforcement not to speak to Johns, said Johns has not tried to contact them.

Law follows up on every phone call about Sharpless she receives, she said.

A man told Law he saw Sharpless last month on North Duke Street in Lancaster, she said.

A woman said she saw the tag from Sharpless' car on a vehicle driving between Longwood Gardens and Kennett Square, Law said. The woman noticed the plate because she had played its numbers in the lottery, Law said.

Law said a New Jersey woman who works night shift as a security officer in Conshohocken told Law she may have spotted Sharpless' car.

The woman "was on her way home and when she crossed the Ben Franklin Bridge, she noticed a black vehicle that appeared to be abandoned," Law said.

The vehicle was beneath the underpass, Law said. It was about 1 a.m. and there was no one inside the car and the car had no tag, the woman told her.

The security officer called Camden authorities, but they have no record of the call, Law said.

However, Law expects phone records to confirm the call was made.

New Jersey state police received two "hits" on Sharpless' tag, in Camden, N.J., Law said.

A "hit" is when a vehicle tag reported to be stolen or belonging to a missing or wanted person, is seen by police or recorded electronically.

Though she doesn't know how the "hits" came in, they could have been through traffic cameras, Law said.

Higgins said New Jersey State Police are involved in the investigation but declined to say why.

New Jersey state police would not confirm their involvement, citing their policy of not talking to the press about any case in which they are not lead investigators.

Going forward
A fund has been set up to help pay for search-related expenses. Donations may be made to the Toni Sharpless Search Fund and sent to DNB First, 4 Brandywine Ave., Downingtown, Pa., 19335.

Neighbors have showered the family with cards, and took up a collection for the Knebels.

"The Lancaster and Chester County communities have been the best," Mr. Knebel said.

The Knebels, who both work for Chester County government, said their co-workers are supportive.

Frieda Schmidt, spokeswoman for Lancaster General Health, said the nursing staff does not want to talk to the press out of respect for the family. The hospital is supporting their decision, she said.

However, co-workers have sent care packages to Sharpless' daughter and even offered to take her on outings, the Knebels said.

In spite of starting the school year missing her mom, Sharpless' daughter made the distinguished honor roll. She is also a cheerleader and, until recently, was in the school color guard. "Nothing else in her routine has changed," Mrs. Knebel said.

Palm gently on her throat, Mrs. Knebel choked up describing how she recently retrieved a pair of earrings from Sharpless' jewelry box. She gave them to her granddaughter.

"I know your mom wants you to have this," she said.

The girl hugged her and eventually replied, "I'll be OK as long as I have you and Pop-Pop."

The Knebels say they are relying more on their faith in God than ever before. They pray every night that their daughter will be found.

"We never knew what people meant by closure when they would say they need it," Mrs. Knebel said. "Now we know."