WEBVTT 1 00:00:30.920 --> 00:00:34.560 Welcome back to the path Win, Chile. I'm Robin, I'm Jules, 2 00:00:35.079 --> 00:00:40.880 and I'm Ashley. Let's dive right into this week's case. August twenty third, 3 00:00:40.920 --> 00:00:45.679 two thousand and nine, Gladwin, Pennsylvania, Twenty nine year old Tony 4 00:00:45.759 --> 00:00:50.079 Lee sharp List attends a party with her friend Crystal John's, but when Tony 5 00:00:50.159 --> 00:00:54.719 becomes intoxicated and starts making a scene, she and Crystel are asked to leave. 6 00:00:55.759 --> 00:00:59.880 While driving away, the two friends get into an argument which leads to 7 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:03.920 Crystal being kicked out of the car, but Tony does not return home and 8 00:01:03.079 --> 00:01:07.640 is never seen again. Over the next few years, there are some intriguing 9 00:01:07.719 --> 00:01:12.480 leads, including a license plate reading from Tony's car in New Jersey and an 10 00:01:12.480 --> 00:01:17.799 anonymous letter claiming that she was killed during an altercation with the police officer, 11 00:01:18.400 --> 00:01:23.079 but no trace of Tony or her vehicle is ever found. After that, 12 00:01:23.319 --> 00:01:26.840 the path went chilly. So we've got an odd missing person's case to cover 13 00:01:26.879 --> 00:01:32.920 today, the two thousand and nine disappearance of Tony Lee Sharpless. This is 14 00:01:32.959 --> 00:01:36.200 a story which is featured on the true crime show Disappeared, and it is 15 00:01:36.239 --> 00:01:41.120 both a tragic and baffling mystery. Tony was a single mother who struggled with 16 00:01:41.159 --> 00:01:45.519 bipolar disorder but seemed to be getting her life together. However, she decided 17 00:01:45.560 --> 00:01:48.519 to cut loose one night and go up partying, even though she was not 18 00:01:48.560 --> 00:01:52.480 supposed to be drinking alcohol because of her medication. By the end of the 19 00:01:52.519 --> 00:01:57.560 evening, Tony was highly intoxicated and displaying erratic behavior, and after taking her 20 00:01:57.599 --> 00:02:00.359 best friend out of her vehicle, Tony drove off and manage without a trace. 21 00:02:01.280 --> 00:02:06.400 A missing persons cases where a person and their vehicle disappeared together. The 22 00:02:06.439 --> 00:02:09.479 most logical explanation is that they drove into a body of water, which would 23 00:02:09.479 --> 00:02:14.599 make sense here given the ineviriated state that Tony was in at the time. 24 00:02:15.199 --> 00:02:19.199 However, multiple searches of the nearest river failed to find Tony or her car, 25 00:02:19.520 --> 00:02:22.840 and there were a pair of strange leads to suggest that Tony traveled from 26 00:02:22.840 --> 00:02:27.400 Pennsylvania's New Jersey at some point. Needless to say, there might be a 27 00:02:27.400 --> 00:02:30.199 lot more to this story, as allegations of surface that a police cover up 28 00:02:30.199 --> 00:02:34.639 played a role in Tony's disappearance. So we're definitely going to have a lot 29 00:02:34.719 --> 00:02:38.199 to discuss, you know, Robin. The first thing I thought when Jewels 30 00:02:38.240 --> 00:02:42.639 said that Tony and the vehicle were never found, is where's the vehicle? 31 00:02:42.800 --> 00:02:47.080 Because we've discussed countless missing persons cases, but somehow we always locate the vehicle 32 00:02:47.120 --> 00:02:51.199 they were in. Were able to kind of pinpoint some details right before they 33 00:02:51.240 --> 00:02:54.599 disappear, and with Tony her vehicles gone. You mentioned a body of water, 34 00:02:54.800 --> 00:03:00.400 but there's also a potential of a successful burnout of the car or even 35 00:03:00.439 --> 00:03:02.879 like a chop shop or something like that, isn't there. Yeah, pretty 36 00:03:02.919 --> 00:03:06.360 much like we're going to talk about this later, that there is an anonymous 37 00:03:06.400 --> 00:03:09.840 tipster who talks about being involved in the destruction of the vehicle to cover up 38 00:03:09.840 --> 00:03:15.000 a crime, and that would be an alternate explanation for her rather than just 39 00:03:15.080 --> 00:03:20.840 driving into like a body of water. Our story begins in Pennsylvania in two 40 00:03:20.879 --> 00:03:24.919 thousand nine, and our central figure is twenty nine year old Tony Lee Sharpless, 41 00:03:25.159 --> 00:03:30.639 who lives in West Brandywine Township. Tony is a single mother of a 42 00:03:30.680 --> 00:03:34.960 twelve year old daughter, but even though she became pregnant at age seventeen, 43 00:03:35.560 --> 00:03:39.039 Tony decided to keep her child and still managed to graduate with honors from high 44 00:03:39.080 --> 00:03:45.159 school. She later became a certified nursing assistant in order to pay her way 45 00:03:45.199 --> 00:03:49.319 through the Brandywine School of Nursing, and moved in with her mother and stepfather, 46 00:03:49.719 --> 00:03:53.879 Donna and Peter Nebel, so they could help erase her daughter. She 47 00:03:53.000 --> 00:03:58.680 eventually graduated with a Bachelor of Science and nursing and this led to her getting 48 00:03:58.719 --> 00:04:03.879 a job as a registered nurse who specialized in infectious diseases at Lancaster General Hospital. 49 00:04:04.639 --> 00:04:09.840 But unfortunately, throughout the course of her life, Tony suffered from a 50 00:04:09.879 --> 00:04:16.720 series of breakdowns which involved manic and depressive episodes, and she underwent numerous hospitalizations. 51 00:04:16.800 --> 00:04:20.839 It was not until two thousand and four when she was officially diagnosed with 52 00:04:20.879 --> 00:04:27.319 bipolar disorder and went on medication to treat it. In April of two thousand 53 00:04:27.399 --> 00:04:30.959 nine, Tony went through a manic episode and checked yourself into rehab for three 54 00:04:30.959 --> 00:04:36.360 weeks. She also used this opportunity to undergo alcohol treatment, as she had 55 00:04:36.399 --> 00:04:42.839 been arrested for driving under the influence the previous year. When Tony left rehab, 56 00:04:42.959 --> 00:04:46.959 she received a prescription for some new medication which she would take daily in 57 00:04:46.040 --> 00:04:51.079 order to control her bipolar disorder. I have to just make sure that I 58 00:04:51.279 --> 00:04:55.680 say I'm so proud of her. I mean, we're talking about struggles that 59 00:04:55.720 --> 00:04:59.199 she had, but if you rethink about what you just told me, Jewels, 60 00:04:59.600 --> 00:05:03.720 she's really doing an amazing job. She gets pregnant as a teenager and 61 00:05:03.839 --> 00:05:08.040 instead of saying okay, either this is going to set me on a path 62 00:05:08.120 --> 00:05:12.240 where I'm not able to really be successful on my own because I have to 63 00:05:12.279 --> 00:05:15.839 sacrifice everything for this baby or neglecting the child, she does it all. 64 00:05:16.279 --> 00:05:19.480 It sounds like she's doing a lot of big decisions, like going back to 65 00:05:19.600 --> 00:05:26.160 school, being an honorable student, getting through her bachelor's degree. That's massive, 66 00:05:26.639 --> 00:05:30.079 and she has support from her mom and stepdad, which shows that she 67 00:05:30.120 --> 00:05:33.399 really does have this kind of unit helping her raise this child. And you've 68 00:05:33.399 --> 00:05:38.319 got to remember she's not diagnosed with being bipolar till she's aged twenty four. 69 00:05:38.800 --> 00:05:42.639 If I did the math correct, and so pretty normal, right, she 70 00:05:42.759 --> 00:05:46.079 probably had to fight really hard to get through high school and college, because 71 00:05:46.120 --> 00:05:50.920 that's when the signs start to emerge that you might have kind of bipolarism. 72 00:05:50.920 --> 00:05:56.920 It doesn't really officially get diagnosed till you're in your mid twenties, and so 73 00:05:57.319 --> 00:06:00.240 that's when she's diagnosed. But you know, she dealt with those simo through 74 00:06:00.240 --> 00:06:04.199 a forehand. That can lead to things like being highly sexual or putting yourself 75 00:06:04.199 --> 00:06:10.240 in riskier situations. It can lead to manic drinking or drug use or things 76 00:06:10.279 --> 00:06:15.199 like that. And so even when she's struggling, it's pretty classic signs of 77 00:06:15.680 --> 00:06:18.560 bipolarism. And she sought help, she took help when it was offered. 78 00:06:18.920 --> 00:06:25.839 I'm just I'm incredibly impressed by Tony. I see so many similarities to the 79 00:06:25.839 --> 00:06:30.360 things that Tony struggled with and things I myself have struggled with. Because the 80 00:06:30.399 --> 00:06:38.199 cool morbidity with alcohol or with addiction in general and bipolar disorder is extremely high. 81 00:06:38.240 --> 00:06:42.240 It's probably three times higher than you know it would be in the general 82 00:06:42.279 --> 00:06:46.399 population. I'm just pulling that number out of thin air, but it's something 83 00:06:46.560 --> 00:06:50.240 like that. So you see people with bipolar disorder who often are I guess 84 00:06:50.240 --> 00:06:57.160 at this point like Tony was before she was formally diagnosed and medicated and everything, 85 00:06:57.519 --> 00:07:01.120 that maybe somebody who isn't dealing with something like this would be able to 86 00:07:01.160 --> 00:07:05.000 do on a daily basis and feel balanced. You don't have that luxury, 87 00:07:05.079 --> 00:07:10.800 so you're constantly reaching for something that is going to help balance you. So 88 00:07:10.920 --> 00:07:15.759 it is very typical for those people who haven't been formally diagnosed to reach for 89 00:07:15.800 --> 00:07:20.639 alcohol or you prescription drugs or elicit drugs to give them that kind of sense 90 00:07:20.639 --> 00:07:28.519 of balance that just is missing when you have bipolar disorder. It's not something 91 00:07:28.560 --> 00:07:34.360 that balance or that like feeling of youthmia is not something that personally I feel 92 00:07:34.399 --> 00:07:39.879 a great deal of. I often feel out of whack even when I'm not 93 00:07:39.959 --> 00:07:46.560 having a particularly depressive or manic episode. So I commend her because it is 94 00:07:46.639 --> 00:07:48.800 really difficult to deal with all of the things that she's dealing with, to 95 00:07:48.879 --> 00:07:55.040 be a bi performance student academically, to be working this job, to be 96 00:07:55.120 --> 00:08:00.959 dealing with having a child and all of this responsibility while dealing with such an 97 00:08:01.040 --> 00:08:07.279 encumbering mental illness. I just have the utmost amount of admiration for what Tony 98 00:08:07.399 --> 00:08:11.639 is doing here, because I mean, I myself don't have a child, 99 00:08:11.680 --> 00:08:15.720 so when you factor that into the mix, it is just really amazing what 100 00:08:15.879 --> 00:08:18.120 she was able to accomplish. Oh, definitely, Like by all accounts, 101 00:08:18.160 --> 00:08:22.680 Tony was a really good attentive mother, and she became pregnant at age seventeen, 102 00:08:22.800 --> 00:08:26.240 and there's zero information out there about the child's father, so I have 103 00:08:26.360 --> 00:08:31.120 to assume that he had no interest being a part of his child's life, 104 00:08:31.240 --> 00:08:33.759 and Tony had to handle the whole thing single handedly. And thankfully she had 105 00:08:33.840 --> 00:08:37.519 very supportive mother and a very supportive stepfather, so she was able to be 106 00:08:37.600 --> 00:08:41.600 a good mother and be a very good at a nurse, be good academically 107 00:08:41.639 --> 00:08:46.559 while also balancing all these terrible issues. During the four months after she left 108 00:08:46.639 --> 00:08:50.679 rehab, Tony's life seemed to be in a good place as she alternated between 109 00:08:50.720 --> 00:08:54.320 working long shifts at her nursing job, spending time with her daughter, and 110 00:08:54.440 --> 00:08:58.639 making plans to work on her master's degree. On Saturday, August to twenty 111 00:08:58.639 --> 00:09:03.759 second, after completing an overnight shifted at the hospital, Tony spent part of 112 00:09:03.799 --> 00:09:07.799 the day with her longtime friend, Crystal John's, whom she hadn't seen since 113 00:09:07.799 --> 00:09:11.080 her stay at rehab. Krystell invited Tony to go clubbing with her that evening, 114 00:09:11.360 --> 00:09:15.679 and since Tony hadn't spent a night out partying in a while, she 115 00:09:15.720 --> 00:09:18.639 asked her mother and stepfather or if they would look after her daughter. Her 116 00:09:18.639 --> 00:09:24.440 plan was to stay overnight with Crystal before returning home the following day. Donna 117 00:09:24.480 --> 00:09:26.919 and being her run easy with this idea since Tony was not supposed to consume 118 00:09:26.960 --> 00:09:31.240 alcohol because of the medication she was taking, But they reluctantly agreed to her 119 00:09:31.279 --> 00:09:35.000 request to watch her daughter and last saw Tony when she left their house at 120 00:09:35.080 --> 00:09:41.440 nine thirty pm. This is so sad because here you have Tony where she's 121 00:09:41.159 --> 00:09:46.200 she gets out of rehab and she goes straight back into this discipline. Okay, 122 00:09:46.240 --> 00:09:48.080 I'm gonna go to work. I'm going to try to get this master's 123 00:09:48.080 --> 00:09:52.080 degree accomplished. Like wow, that is so impressive. And she's spending time 124 00:09:52.120 --> 00:09:54.919 with her daughter and then she says, I get a chance to see my 125 00:09:56.080 --> 00:10:01.200 longtime friend Krystal. And Crystal is from a period of Tony's life where Tony 126 00:10:01.279 --> 00:10:05.519 was struggling right, where she wasn't doing well, where she needed help and 127 00:10:05.639 --> 00:10:09.320 rehab, and then she goes back into this environment where she got herself into 128 00:10:09.360 --> 00:10:13.240 trouble right, and it wasn't a healthy environment for her. Donna and Peter 129 00:10:13.519 --> 00:10:18.240 are asked will you keep my daughter by their twenty nine year old kiddo. 130 00:10:18.799 --> 00:10:22.480 It's how you don't really have a luxury of saying no, you can't. 131 00:10:22.720 --> 00:10:28.120 She's twenty nine. She does incredible in life. She's a professional, she's 132 00:10:28.159 --> 00:10:31.360 an amazing student, she's a great mom, and she wants a break for 133 00:10:31.399 --> 00:10:33.399 the night. And so I feel like Donna and Peter did what any other 134 00:10:33.480 --> 00:10:37.360 parent would do with their adult child. They would say, hey, remember, 135 00:10:37.399 --> 00:10:41.120 like, be careful. You're not supposed to really have alcohol with your 136 00:10:41.159 --> 00:10:45.879 medication. But I will tell you ninety percent of the people I know the 137 00:10:45.919 --> 00:10:48.080 take mental health drugs don't pay attention to those warnings. Right, It's like, 138 00:10:48.080 --> 00:10:52.279 oh, I'm fine, I feel good, no problem. And unfortunately, 139 00:10:52.840 --> 00:10:58.440 there can be severe interactions when you do have alcohol with that mental health 140 00:10:58.879 --> 00:11:01.279 medication. But I feel like Donna and Peter did what any other parent would 141 00:11:01.320 --> 00:11:03.879 do. I would tell my child, please be safe, I'll love you 142 00:11:03.919 --> 00:11:07.639 so much, please keep in touch. Of course, I'll watch your baby 143 00:11:07.120 --> 00:11:11.799 and pray that they got home safely. It just sounds like a bad idea, 144 00:11:13.000 --> 00:11:16.960 Like Crystal is your rehab friend, and so the two of you meeting 145 00:11:16.039 --> 00:11:22.039 up together to go drink alcohol together. It just seems like a bad idea 146 00:11:22.159 --> 00:11:26.240 on all fronts. And obviously we don't know, you know, the subtleties 147 00:11:26.279 --> 00:11:30.720 of like what Crystal's story are and how she ended up there. But it 148 00:11:30.919 --> 00:11:35.000 just sounds like they're heading down a bad path because, like Ashley said, 149 00:11:35.440 --> 00:11:39.679 Tony shouldn't be drinking. It's really not a good idea with a lot of 150 00:11:39.679 --> 00:11:46.480 the serious drugs that people are prescribed for a bipolar disorder. Tony and Crystal 151 00:11:46.639 --> 00:11:50.960 both eventually wound up at a Philadelphia nightclub called the G Lounge and cross paths 152 00:11:52.039 --> 00:11:56.279 with Willie Green, a player with the National Basketball Association's Philadelphia seventy six ers. 153 00:11:58.360 --> 00:12:01.360 Since Crystal was friends with green brother, both she and Tony were asked 154 00:12:01.399 --> 00:12:07.240 to join him in the VIP Lounge. After the nightclub closed at two am 155 00:12:07.320 --> 00:12:09.960 on August twenty third, he invited the two women to join him for a 156 00:12:11.039 --> 00:12:16.200 party at his house, which was located on Boburn Drive in the affluent suburb 157 00:12:16.240 --> 00:12:20.000 of Gladwin. Tony and Cristel traveled to the party, but while they were 158 00:12:20.039 --> 00:12:24.559 there, Tony's behavior began to change. Throughout the course of the night, 159 00:12:26.000 --> 00:12:28.840 Tony consumed a lot of alcohol, and she had also not gone to sleep 160 00:12:30.039 --> 00:12:33.840 after completing her overnight shift the previous morning, so by this point she had 161 00:12:33.840 --> 00:12:39.440 been awake for thirty six consecutive hours. According to Cristel, she was hanging 162 00:12:39.440 --> 00:12:43.840 out in the swimming pool shortly before five am when she was approached by Willie 163 00:12:43.840 --> 00:12:48.639 Greene, who said, quote, your friend is freaking out and you both 164 00:12:48.679 --> 00:12:52.799 need to leave. Tony had started to behave radically as she became angry with 165 00:12:52.840 --> 00:12:58.120 another guest and poured an entire bottle of champagne on the kitchen floor. When 166 00:12:58.120 --> 00:13:03.000 she was asked to leave the party, Tony grew belligerent and started yelling and 167 00:13:03.080 --> 00:13:07.240 kicking things before she began crying. Crystal grew concerned because she had not seen 168 00:13:07.320 --> 00:13:13.960 Tony behave like this since right before she checked into rehab months earlier. After 169 00:13:13.000 --> 00:13:16.200 they left the house, Tony got behind the wheel of her two thousand and 170 00:13:16.240 --> 00:13:22.840 two Ponti at Grand PRIXGT before she drove away with Crystal. However, Crystal 171 00:13:22.919 --> 00:13:26.559 expressed concern that Tony was too intoxicated to drive, which caused them to break 172 00:13:26.600 --> 00:13:31.039 out into a heated argument. They only made it about five hundred feet before 173 00:13:31.080 --> 00:13:35.679 Tony stopped the car and demanded the Crystal get out. Crystal exited the vehicle 174 00:13:35.799 --> 00:13:39.399 before Tony drove away, but this would turn out to be the last time 175 00:13:39.519 --> 00:13:46.480 she was seen alive. Oh goodness, there's a lot to unpack in that 176 00:13:46.000 --> 00:13:50.600 scenario of what happened that evening. You have these girls who were hanging out 177 00:13:50.639 --> 00:13:56.200 with at least a celebrity, if not multiple people who have some clout to 178 00:13:56.279 --> 00:14:00.279 them. And so there's a lot of alcohol there at this VIP lounge owned 179 00:14:00.320 --> 00:14:05.799 they're at this private pool and here's Crystal and Tony. They're both enjoying themselves. 180 00:14:05.879 --> 00:14:07.399 Crystal seems to kind of get away from Tony for a little bit in 181 00:14:07.399 --> 00:14:11.559 the pool and then is told that Tony's causing a scene. I don't know 182 00:14:11.559 --> 00:14:16.080 about you, guys, but I've had many people that I adore who have 183 00:14:16.159 --> 00:14:20.240 their head on straight, who are amazing humans, and they've gotten too intoxicated 184 00:14:20.759 --> 00:14:26.679 and they become someone radically different and unhealthy, like a very dangerous version of 185 00:14:26.960 --> 00:14:31.919 who they are, somebody that you don't know. And it's like suppressed trauma 186 00:14:31.960 --> 00:14:37.639 and it's suppressed kind of anger, and their control mechanisms are down because they're 187 00:14:37.679 --> 00:14:41.519 drinking when they normally don't, and you just start to see this kind of 188 00:14:41.879 --> 00:14:46.120 movie unfold in front of you that goes like what is happening? Like there's 189 00:14:46.120 --> 00:14:48.879 actually when you're talking about the champagne being poured on the floor. There's a 190 00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:52.840 scene and The Bachelor, the show The Bachelor where this girl, like everyone 191 00:14:52.879 --> 00:14:56.759 made her this laughing stock, where she has this freak out fest about champagne 192 00:14:56.840 --> 00:15:01.120 and all this mess, and later she says, I take mental health drugs. 193 00:15:01.120 --> 00:15:03.960 I shouldn't have been drinking. I went a little loopy that night, 194 00:15:05.000 --> 00:15:07.720 and I don't even remember that interaction. And that's what I feel like happened 195 00:15:07.759 --> 00:15:11.080 to Tony here. She almost seems like she blacked out, and it's just 196 00:15:11.279 --> 00:15:18.519 enraged and kind of expressing trauma, and everyone just kind of wants her to 197 00:15:18.559 --> 00:15:20.639 get away instead of helping her. Right it's too much to man and she 198 00:15:20.720 --> 00:15:26.360 probably is not easy to rationalize with right now, So get her out of 199 00:15:26.360 --> 00:15:28.879 here before she causes a scene. And then she gets in her car. 200 00:15:30.639 --> 00:15:33.600 Lord have mercy, because we all know from her behavior she's not okay to 201 00:15:33.720 --> 00:15:37.159 drive, and Crystal gets out. Honestly, I wish she had never been 202 00:15:37.159 --> 00:15:39.759 hanging out with Crystal that night, but I'm grateful Crystal got out of the 203 00:15:39.759 --> 00:15:46.759 car because there definitely could have been repercussions for being in the passenger's seat while 204 00:15:46.799 --> 00:15:50.559 Tony's driving. In that state. I wish, I wish. I wish 205 00:15:50.679 --> 00:15:54.200 someone had taken Tony's keys away from her. I wish someone had sent her 206 00:15:54.200 --> 00:15:56.440 home in a cab, and we would be having a very different conversation about 207 00:15:56.480 --> 00:16:03.360 someone else and not Tony Sharpless. I really want to point out the thirty 208 00:16:03.399 --> 00:16:10.919 six hour sleep deficit because those of us with bipolar disorder know how important it 209 00:16:11.000 --> 00:16:15.039 is to get adequate sleep. It can trigger a manic episode. And I 210 00:16:15.080 --> 00:16:21.240 do question this party. It's five am, everybody's still awake. Is there 211 00:16:21.279 --> 00:16:26.000 some kind of illicit substance being used as well, because typically if you're up 212 00:16:26.039 --> 00:16:30.440 till that hour, and there's especially with people like that, there's a strong 213 00:16:30.559 --> 00:16:34.799 likelihood that there's something like cocaine or MDMA. And I'm not saying that Tony 214 00:16:36.039 --> 00:16:40.480 did those substances, but there is a potential or a possibility that she did. 215 00:16:40.960 --> 00:16:45.799 And drugs such as cocaine can also trigger a manic episode, so it 216 00:16:45.840 --> 00:16:48.600 could cause her to get to a point where she's almost in a state of 217 00:16:48.639 --> 00:16:55.120 psychosism, doesn't really know what she's doing. So there's a lot of things 218 00:16:55.159 --> 00:17:00.879 that are kind of this dynamic interplay of factors that are at an up to 219 00:17:00.240 --> 00:17:06.440 a really problematic situation where Crystal's watching it unfold. So are these other people. 220 00:17:06.440 --> 00:17:11.480 They're not really understanding because they don't know Tony and they don't know her 221 00:17:11.559 --> 00:17:15.079 mental health history. But it is just so terrified to me that she just 222 00:17:15.200 --> 00:17:21.759 drives off and nobody ever sees her again. So, Jill's from your own 223 00:17:21.759 --> 00:17:25.480 personal experience, did you ever go through phases where you stayed up for thirty 224 00:17:25.480 --> 00:17:29.039 six consecutive hours? Because I know Tony had worked the overnight shift, and 225 00:17:29.079 --> 00:17:32.400 I always wondered, why didn't she try to get some sleep after she went 226 00:17:32.440 --> 00:17:34.640 home, she got home before she went out later that night. But is 227 00:17:34.680 --> 00:17:38.440 that just something you struggle with where if the bipolar disorder is kicking in, 228 00:17:38.519 --> 00:17:44.519 you just don't want sleep or you can't sleep. Yes, to a degree, 229 00:17:44.680 --> 00:17:48.720 Like I've gone through periods of time where I would have be having like 230 00:17:48.759 --> 00:17:52.799 a really long episode. It would be lasting like a couple of months, 231 00:17:52.920 --> 00:17:56.000 and at night I wouldn't stay up for that long. But it's sort of 232 00:17:56.039 --> 00:17:59.240 like I would only sleep three hours a night, and those hours wouldn't be 233 00:17:59.279 --> 00:18:02.839 RESTful. I would be constantly waking up, and then it would be like 234 00:18:02.920 --> 00:18:06.960 being I'm awake at like three am. I've gone to bed at midnight and 235 00:18:06.960 --> 00:18:10.599 I can't go back to sleep. And I've also stayed up for long periods 236 00:18:10.640 --> 00:18:14.559 of time too, but that was back in my addiction, when you know, 237 00:18:14.640 --> 00:18:18.359 I would be doing like cocaine for I remember one time I stayed up 238 00:18:18.400 --> 00:18:21.400 for seventy two hours, but I was also in the middle of a bipolar 239 00:18:21.440 --> 00:18:26.880 episode. So it's a very like nuanced situation when you're dealing with the comorbidity 240 00:18:26.039 --> 00:18:32.519 of addiction and a mental health condition such as bipolar, such as what Tony's 241 00:18:32.599 --> 00:18:37.880 dealing with. So there's just so many variables here that could have contributed to 242 00:18:37.920 --> 00:18:41.440 her state. But I'm really worried about that thirty six hours that she hasn't 243 00:18:41.440 --> 00:18:45.519 slept, and the fact that she wants to go and party. That she 244 00:18:45.599 --> 00:18:51.400 doesn't want to go and sleep is also worrisome for me. So Crystal figured 245 00:18:51.440 --> 00:18:53.160 that Tony would come to her senses and come back to get her, but 246 00:18:53.279 --> 00:18:57.440 she never did. She attempted to call Tony but could not reach her because 247 00:18:57.440 --> 00:19:00.920 her cell phone was turned off. As a result, Crystal was forced to 248 00:19:00.960 --> 00:19:06.039 phone her nephew to come pick her up. Tony never returned home that morning, 249 00:19:06.119 --> 00:19:08.599 and after not hearing from her the entire day, her family reported her 250 00:19:08.640 --> 00:19:14.119 missing to the West Brandywine Police Department. By this time, Tony had not 251 00:19:14.240 --> 00:19:18.440 been seen for nearly eighteen hours. The police failed to turn up any trace 252 00:19:18.480 --> 00:19:21.839 of Tony, and they could not locate or Pawny at Grand Prix either. 253 00:19:22.559 --> 00:19:26.039 Tony's family even went so far as to perform their own search of the Gladwin 254 00:19:26.160 --> 00:19:29.480 area to see if they could find any evidence that she may have been involved 255 00:19:29.480 --> 00:19:33.960 in an accident, but they found nothing. What made the situation even stranger 256 00:19:33.279 --> 00:19:37.720 is that Krystel claimed that there was less than a quarter tank up gas left 257 00:19:37.759 --> 00:19:41.880 in the Grand Prix at the time they left the party. Since West Brandywine 258 00:19:41.920 --> 00:19:45.559 Township was about thirty five miles from Gladwin, it seemed unlikely that Tony could 259 00:19:45.559 --> 00:19:48.960 have made at home without stopping for fuel, but there was no record of 260 00:19:48.960 --> 00:19:52.440 her having done so, and there would be no more activity on Tony's bank 261 00:19:52.480 --> 00:19:56.599 account or credit cards. That is incredibly odd. I mean, it wouldn't 262 00:19:56.640 --> 00:20:00.920 be. I don't know the thirty five miles. I've definitely done the thing 263 00:20:00.960 --> 00:20:03.480 where I'm like how much does my tank hold? Like I've asked my husband. 264 00:20:03.519 --> 00:20:07.039 I'm like, I want empty. How many miles can I get out 265 00:20:07.039 --> 00:20:11.880 of this? You think? But you have here where? Crystal says, 266 00:20:11.880 --> 00:20:14.039 Hey, listen, I remember looking over and there's a quarter less than a 267 00:20:14.119 --> 00:20:18.920 quarter of a tank of gas. There's no sign of her car. That's 268 00:20:18.960 --> 00:20:22.440 what really, really really bothers me. Where is her car? Someone had 269 00:20:22.480 --> 00:20:26.400 to have seen her. It had to have driven somewhere, and like you 270 00:20:26.480 --> 00:20:29.119 said, she's not going to get very far on the tank of gas she 271 00:20:29.160 --> 00:20:32.559 has, whether she was heading home or not. But there would have to 272 00:20:32.599 --> 00:20:34.319 be some movement on her bank account, There'd have to be some kind of 273 00:20:34.359 --> 00:20:37.519 movement on her credit cards, or someone would have to know that recently she 274 00:20:37.559 --> 00:20:41.440 had acquired a lot of cash that could have gotten her through this period of 275 00:20:41.480 --> 00:20:45.039 time. It's just like she disappeared, which is really odd. Again, 276 00:20:45.160 --> 00:20:49.079 we talk a lot about missing people, but something of theirs was found and 277 00:20:49.160 --> 00:20:52.440 left behind, and so far y'all haven't told me about anything that we found 278 00:20:52.480 --> 00:20:56.200 of hers. Yeah, that's the thing is that in her state of mind 279 00:20:56.200 --> 00:21:00.440 at that time, if she had been driving home and then she just ran 280 00:21:00.480 --> 00:21:03.079 out of gas, it got stranded. I could see her having some sort 281 00:21:03.119 --> 00:21:06.920 of episode and freaking out and then wandering away. But at the very least 282 00:21:06.920 --> 00:21:11.559 you would find the abandoned car. So that's what has always baffled everyone is 283 00:21:11.599 --> 00:21:14.799 that the car just vanished without a trace as well, which means that she 284 00:21:14.880 --> 00:21:18.039 either drove into a body of water or if she could have had a bad 285 00:21:18.119 --> 00:21:22.119 encounter with someone who disposed of the car along with her. And in that 286 00:21:22.160 --> 00:21:26.519 state, I don't find her necessarily escaping and running away and disappearing on her 287 00:21:26.559 --> 00:21:32.079 own volition because she's not really in a healthy mindset and that takes planning, 288 00:21:32.160 --> 00:21:36.359 that takes careful movements so people don't see you. So I don't see that 289 00:21:36.440 --> 00:21:38.920 being like, oh I need to disappear. She loved being a mom, 290 00:21:40.359 --> 00:21:44.000 she was making plans to get her master's degree, and she was working. 291 00:21:44.119 --> 00:21:47.559 She was doing well. I don't see her having any reason to not want 292 00:21:47.599 --> 00:21:52.079 to go home that night. So scary because she would be so easy in 293 00:21:52.119 --> 00:21:56.559 this state to predate upon, because her connection with reality seems to be tenuous 294 00:21:56.599 --> 00:22:00.839 at best, and the fact that her car missing and that that isn't found, 295 00:22:02.400 --> 00:22:04.720 it just like, what is the probability of that? Because if she 296 00:22:04.799 --> 00:22:08.559 only had a quarter tank of gas. How far could she have gone if 297 00:22:08.559 --> 00:22:14.000 somebody had taken her, how would they also make her car disappear? It's 298 00:22:14.039 --> 00:22:18.559 so confounding. The last time Tony's cell phone was used was at two fifty 299 00:22:18.640 --> 00:22:25.240 seven am on August twenty three, two hours before she went missing. Tony's 300 00:22:25.279 --> 00:22:27.640 daughter had texted her mother to let her know she was having trouble sleeping, 301 00:22:29.200 --> 00:22:33.480 so Tony texted her back to say that she'd be home soon. The phone 302 00:22:33.519 --> 00:22:37.559 was turned off around the time Tony went missing, and was last picked up 303 00:22:37.559 --> 00:22:41.200 by a cell phone tower at four fifty three am. Crystal, Willie Greed, 304 00:22:41.319 --> 00:22:45.759 and everyone else who attended the party were interviewed by police, but fully 305 00:22:45.799 --> 00:22:51.680 cooperated, and none of them were considered suspects. Since there was a lot 306 00:22:51.720 --> 00:22:56.279 of rumors circulating the Crystal was not being truthful and knew more about Tony's disappearance 307 00:22:56.319 --> 00:23:02.319 than she let on, she personally volunteered to take a polygraph test and wound 308 00:23:02.359 --> 00:23:06.960 up passing. The morning before she went missing, Tony phoned her mother from 309 00:23:06.960 --> 00:23:10.400 work to ask her to check if she was running low on her medication and 310 00:23:10.480 --> 00:23:14.759 called a pharmacy if her pill bottles needed a refill. For this reason, 311 00:23:14.920 --> 00:23:18.720 Her family did not believe she'd willingly stopped taking her medication before she disappeared, 312 00:23:19.200 --> 00:23:25.359 but they suspected that an unstable combination of the medication and alcohol caused her to 313 00:23:25.359 --> 00:23:29.960 have a manic episode. It's gotta be that and the lack of sleep. 314 00:23:30.039 --> 00:23:33.920 I mean, you have a history of having your manica episodes. You have 315 00:23:33.960 --> 00:23:38.960 a history of consuming alcohol and having issues where she voluntarily said, pleas, 316 00:23:38.960 --> 00:23:41.599 send me to rehabbing, get me some help. But you also, like 317 00:23:41.680 --> 00:23:45.119 I mean, any of us who struggle with insomnia, anxiety, mental health, 318 00:23:45.480 --> 00:23:48.440 I've definitely had months and months, like you said, jewels were all 319 00:23:48.440 --> 00:23:52.119 sleep for two or three hours a night, and it is just not going 320 00:23:52.200 --> 00:23:56.759 to happen more than that. But you feel sicker and sicker and sicker every 321 00:23:56.839 --> 00:24:00.799 day, Like everything's more sensitive, everything's heightened. You feel like physically ill 322 00:24:00.839 --> 00:24:07.880 because you're not getting enough sleep. And so if Tony is having this manic 323 00:24:07.039 --> 00:24:11.880 episode, her medicine maybe out of whack a little bit. She also is 324 00:24:11.920 --> 00:24:15.079 consuming alcohol. She might actually feel just really strong at the moment, which 325 00:24:15.119 --> 00:24:18.359 is another problem that you have with mental health, right, like, oh, 326 00:24:18.400 --> 00:24:19.559 I'm doing great, now, let me do some of these behaviors that 327 00:24:19.599 --> 00:24:22.720 are a little bit riskier, and then you realize, oh my god, 328 00:24:22.759 --> 00:24:27.440 there's a reason I don't consume alcohol or drugs, you know anymore. It's 329 00:24:27.519 --> 00:24:32.640 because it doesn't work well with my body. And so you watch her poor 330 00:24:32.680 --> 00:24:36.440 family saying, listen, we know that she was having issues or she was 331 00:24:36.559 --> 00:24:40.680 very aware of her bipolarism. She was doing well, we were trying to 332 00:24:40.680 --> 00:24:42.400 help her with it. And then you have Crystal. I feel bad for 333 00:24:42.440 --> 00:24:45.960 Crystal. I don't think she was a good choice to hang out with that 334 00:24:45.039 --> 00:24:48.720 night. But that's not Crystal's fault, right, she has her own problems. 335 00:24:48.119 --> 00:24:51.799 But Crystal says, wait a minute, why am I a suspect, 336 00:24:51.920 --> 00:24:55.759 Like why are people talking about me? I'll take a polygraph test and she 337 00:24:55.839 --> 00:24:59.759 passes. So she is in the wrong place at the wrong time, and 338 00:25:00.119 --> 00:25:04.400 fortunately had a friend that she thought was quote healthy and could go have quote 339 00:25:04.440 --> 00:25:11.599 fun, and it ended up really putting changing both their lives forever. Oh 340 00:25:11.680 --> 00:25:15.200 yeah, Like at the time, like Crystal said that if you went to 341 00:25:15.240 --> 00:25:19.400 comment sections on newspaper articles about Tony's disappearance, that there were people like all 342 00:25:19.400 --> 00:25:23.000 over like accusing her of murdering her friends, even though they didn't even know 343 00:25:23.079 --> 00:25:26.039 her, and they just assumed that she's lying about this story she killed or 344 00:25:26.079 --> 00:25:30.480 got rid of her body. So it was Crystal that came forward and willingly 345 00:25:30.519 --> 00:25:33.640 said, I want to take a polygraph to clear my name because I was 346 00:25:33.880 --> 00:25:36.720 checked out by the police and they have said they do not consider me a 347 00:25:36.799 --> 00:25:38.599 suspect. So I want you to believe me when I say that I don't 348 00:25:38.599 --> 00:25:41.799 know what happened to Tony either. I mean, do you wish Crystal had 349 00:25:41.839 --> 00:25:44.880 said, Hey, you just got out of rehab. I'm so proud of 350 00:25:44.880 --> 00:25:47.559 you. Let's go to the movies. Hey, let's go to dinner. 351 00:25:47.920 --> 00:25:51.279 Yeah, I wish that had been what Crystal suggested, but she invited her 352 00:25:51.279 --> 00:25:53.519 to this party. Tony's a grown woman, Tony's twenty nine, and she 353 00:25:53.599 --> 00:25:57.839 went. It's like I said, it's sad for both of them because Crystal 354 00:25:59.440 --> 00:26:02.720 cared about Tony. That was her childhood friend, that was her lifelong friend. 355 00:26:02.759 --> 00:26:04.759 Is the way you described it earlier, Robin, And so it's I 356 00:26:04.799 --> 00:26:11.000 don't know, it's just it's sad. Since the Skycall River was located in 357 00:26:11.039 --> 00:26:14.880 close proximity to Gladwin, there was fear that Tony might have driven into the 358 00:26:14.920 --> 00:26:18.759 water and drowned. There was one particular spot where she could have taken a 359 00:26:18.799 --> 00:26:22.359 wrong turn and wound up a flat rock park, and since it was dark 360 00:26:22.480 --> 00:26:25.960 and Tony was heavily intoxicated, it would have been easy for her to have 361 00:26:26.039 --> 00:26:30.200 accidentally mistaken a boat ramp per a road and driven her vehicle into the river. 362 00:26:30.960 --> 00:26:33.880 An extensive search of the river was performed by Texas Equisearch, but while 363 00:26:33.880 --> 00:26:37.480 they found quite a few submerged vehicles in the water, none of them were 364 00:26:37.519 --> 00:26:42.920 Tony's Pontiac ran pri But there would soon be an interesting development. On September 365 00:26:44.000 --> 00:26:47.960 the eighth, only two weeks after Tony went missing, a neighborhood in Camden, 366 00:26:48.000 --> 00:26:51.839 New Jersey, was being patrolled by license plate Reader, a machine mounted 367 00:26:51.880 --> 00:26:56.119 on top of unmanned police vehicles which automatically read the license plates of all the 368 00:26:56.160 --> 00:26:59.960 parked vehicles it passed, and wound up getting a hit on the license numb 369 00:27:00.079 --> 00:27:03.880 her DN D seven seven seven two, which matched Tony's missing Grand Prix. 370 00:27:04.440 --> 00:27:08.359 This location was only about a twenty minute drive southwest from where Tony was last 371 00:27:08.400 --> 00:27:12.559 seen, but unfortunately it would be six days before the West Brand New Wine 372 00:27:12.559 --> 00:27:18.359 Police Department received an alert about the license number match. They traveled to Camden 373 00:27:18.400 --> 00:27:21.440 to perform a search for Tony's car, but it could not be found. 374 00:27:22.160 --> 00:27:25.880 The location where it was supposedly parked was known for being a high crime area. 375 00:27:26.680 --> 00:27:30.319 Tony had traveled to Camden on one previous occasion to attend a concert, 376 00:27:30.640 --> 00:27:33.920 but apparently said she cannot wait to get out of there and never wanted to 377 00:27:33.920 --> 00:27:37.359 go back. So are you thinking, Robin, that this was somebody who 378 00:27:37.440 --> 00:27:41.640 had discovered her in her kind of compromised state and then took her car and 379 00:27:41.640 --> 00:27:45.720 took it out to Camden? Are you thinking that in her manic episode, 380 00:27:45.720 --> 00:27:48.559 that she actually drove that direction? I think it could be either way, 381 00:27:48.680 --> 00:27:52.200 Like she could have taken a wrong turn and easily wound up in Camden if 382 00:27:52.200 --> 00:27:56.519 you look at her route home and possibly panicked and then parked the car and 383 00:27:56.559 --> 00:28:00.640 then got out and walked away, and something how's happened in the car afterwards 384 00:28:00.720 --> 00:28:04.759 because it was a high crime area, so possibly someone stole it. But 385 00:28:04.839 --> 00:28:07.880 on the other hand, if someone killed her and wanted to get rid of 386 00:28:07.920 --> 00:28:11.960 the car, just leaving it in a high crime area where there's a chance 387 00:28:11.000 --> 00:28:14.839 of it being stolen would be a convenient way to get rid of it. 388 00:28:15.359 --> 00:28:21.799 Tony's family soon turned to a private investigator named Eileen Law, who offered her 389 00:28:21.799 --> 00:28:26.680 services pro bono but for the sake of official record keeping. Law still charged 390 00:28:26.720 --> 00:28:30.200 them a dollar to hire her, and has claimed that she still keeps the 391 00:28:30.240 --> 00:28:33.240 one dollar bill they paid her on a desk as a constant reminder of Tony's 392 00:28:33.279 --> 00:28:38.400 case. Anyway, according to Law, there would be numerous reported sightings of 393 00:28:38.480 --> 00:28:45.119 Tony in Camden in the months following her disappearance, as well as additional sightings 394 00:28:45.160 --> 00:28:48.319 in Philadelphia and Lancaster, which is where the hospital she worked as a nurse 395 00:28:48.400 --> 00:28:53.160 is located. Since Tony's license plate number was flagged in a neighborhood known for 396 00:28:53.240 --> 00:28:59.559 having high amounts of prostitution and drug activity, Law has always pushed forward the 397 00:28:59.599 --> 00:29:03.920 idea that Tony may have become a victim of sex trafficking after she arrived in 398 00:29:03.039 --> 00:29:08.680 Camden. Tony did have passed issues with drug addiction, though Crystal maintained that 399 00:29:08.720 --> 00:29:12.920 she did not witness Tony used drugs on the night she went missing. Law 400 00:29:12.960 --> 00:29:18.960 has also claimed that once she started investigating Tony's case, she received anonymous threatening 401 00:29:19.000 --> 00:29:23.519 phone calls warning her to back off and once she found dead animals in her 402 00:29:23.519 --> 00:29:29.799 mailbox. But in spite of all the reported sightings of Tony, no one 403 00:29:29.880 --> 00:29:33.839 has ever uncovered any concrete evidence that she was still alive for any period of 404 00:29:33.880 --> 00:29:38.880 time after she drove away from the party in Gladwin. Tony had been planning 405 00:29:38.880 --> 00:29:42.240 to take her daughter on an outing to a state park the day after she 406 00:29:42.279 --> 00:29:45.920 went missing. So, in spite of what personal problems she may have been 407 00:29:45.960 --> 00:29:51.880 experiencing, her family did not believe she would have willingly abandoned her child. 408 00:29:52.720 --> 00:29:56.119 Her case would garner national coverage when it was featured on an episode of Disappeared 409 00:29:56.440 --> 00:30:02.920 in February of twenty eleven. The investigation would remain at a standstill until a 410 00:30:03.000 --> 00:30:07.519 surprising development took place nearly two years later. Okay, hold that, because 411 00:30:07.559 --> 00:30:11.279 I need to know what this development is. But I'm there's no way Tony 412 00:30:11.359 --> 00:30:15.720 left on her own. Tony was making too many big plans, and she 413 00:30:15.839 --> 00:30:18.480 loved her baby girl too much. That just was not going to happen. 414 00:30:18.480 --> 00:30:22.160 Tony also had such support from her family there was no need. She was 415 00:30:22.200 --> 00:30:26.359 fighting for her health. She thought she could go out for an evening and 416 00:30:26.440 --> 00:30:30.559 have fun with a girlfriend. And it all went wrong. I do definitely 417 00:30:30.599 --> 00:30:36.720 think that trafficking as a possibility. I also believe that, like you said, 418 00:30:36.799 --> 00:30:38.759 Robin, dropping a car in that high crime area, if you did 419 00:30:38.839 --> 00:30:42.880 take Tony and then you needed to get rid of her car, many many, 420 00:30:44.799 --> 00:30:47.720 many criminals will drop a car in a high risk area and say, 421 00:30:47.759 --> 00:30:49.519 oh good, it'll get taken to a chop shop, it'll get burned out, 422 00:30:49.519 --> 00:30:52.839 people will take all the parts off of it, It'll get driven somewhere 423 00:30:52.880 --> 00:30:56.599 else, And that very well could have been what happened here. It's just 424 00:30:56.680 --> 00:31:00.200 really sad because what we're to scribe and where people are going, like, 425 00:31:00.240 --> 00:31:06.279 oh man, Tony was really struggling. What she went through that night is 426 00:31:06.400 --> 00:31:10.839 not uncommon for people with mental health issues, and so best friends of ours 427 00:31:10.960 --> 00:31:15.880 could have that same episode happened tomorrow night, and you wouldn't expect that they'd 428 00:31:15.920 --> 00:31:18.400 be part of a disappeared episode, right, I mean, like it's a 429 00:31:18.440 --> 00:31:22.160 mental health distress. She went out thinking she could control her mental health and 430 00:31:22.279 --> 00:31:26.839 alcohol and she couldn't. Still having to sit here and talk about where is 431 00:31:26.920 --> 00:31:33.119 she is so beyond what should be the conversation, because it's not that out 432 00:31:33.119 --> 00:31:37.160 of the ordinary for things like this to happen. I have to wonder what 433 00:31:37.279 --> 00:31:40.359 someone in her state of mind, like if she was having an episode and 434 00:31:40.440 --> 00:31:45.279 she had had a bad combination of medication and alcohol, if she had driven 435 00:31:45.319 --> 00:31:48.920 into Camden and fell into the clutches of say like a pimp or a sex 436 00:31:48.960 --> 00:31:52.680 trafficker, could that person have exerted like enough control to keep her in that 437 00:31:52.799 --> 00:31:56.119 lifestyle for a while, And could that explain why she didn't come home? 438 00:31:56.720 --> 00:32:01.920 Oh yeah, definitely absolutely, Because what happens is you're taking by these people. 439 00:32:02.119 --> 00:32:07.720 Typically they will treat you really good at first, or they will immediately 440 00:32:07.880 --> 00:32:12.079 create a debt for you of like, oh, unfortunately, you can't go 441 00:32:12.119 --> 00:32:15.759 anywhere until you can earn us this much money. But everything you do cost 442 00:32:15.839 --> 00:32:17.599 you money too, So you didn't show up in time, that's another three 443 00:32:17.640 --> 00:32:21.400 thousand you owe me. Ah, you didn't have enough tricks today. That's 444 00:32:21.400 --> 00:32:24.880 more money you owe me. And you create this ledger of bill to your 445 00:32:25.920 --> 00:32:30.200 keepers, and until you can pay that off quote end quote, you can't 446 00:32:30.240 --> 00:32:35.359 go home and it's impossible to pay off. They'll keep you addicted to drugs, 447 00:32:35.400 --> 00:32:39.079 they'll keep you addicted to alcohol, and that whatever they can do to 448 00:32:39.119 --> 00:32:45.160 suppress your power, and so absolutely, I think it's near impossible to get 449 00:32:45.200 --> 00:32:49.119 out of situations like that. And I think when you're in that situation, 450 00:32:49.799 --> 00:32:53.839 the idea that like false beliefs could be kind of implanted into you, you're 451 00:32:53.960 --> 00:32:59.240 so susceptible to that. Like just as an example, when my mom was 452 00:32:59.240 --> 00:33:02.680 having an episode one time, she had convinced me that my stepdad had hired 453 00:33:02.759 --> 00:33:08.559 Hell's Angels to murder her. And she believed this wholeheartedly, and she also 454 00:33:08.680 --> 00:33:15.440 convinced other people of this, and so this idea that like this mistruth could 455 00:33:15.440 --> 00:33:20.880 be spun around in her brain so much so that she was dogmatic about it 456 00:33:21.319 --> 00:33:23.519 and had convinced two of her friends that this was the truth, and like 457 00:33:23.599 --> 00:33:29.279 she was actually in danger and it was a whole situation. But you know, 458 00:33:29.319 --> 00:33:32.720 when I told her rational self after she had she'd been hospitalized and she'd 459 00:33:32.759 --> 00:33:37.279 finished the episode, she couldn't believe that she'd actually believe that. So I 460 00:33:37.640 --> 00:33:43.240 think it is very possible she would be very malleable as opposed to just a 461 00:33:43.279 --> 00:33:46.720 regular person who wasn't going through a mental health episode. And when you also 462 00:33:46.799 --> 00:33:50.960 add, like Ashley said, like so many traffickers do, they add in 463 00:33:51.039 --> 00:33:54.920 drugs and alcohol. It keeps you in this lowered state of awareness, and 464 00:33:54.960 --> 00:34:00.519 the your ability to fight back and even just your ability to solve problems, 465 00:34:00.519 --> 00:34:06.000 and your cognitive awareness is diminished to this incredibly low level that you just don't 466 00:34:06.000 --> 00:34:09.559 have that personal agency over yourself. Yeah, that's why I was thinking, 467 00:34:09.639 --> 00:34:12.920 is that Tony in her state of mind? If she just happened to make 468 00:34:12.920 --> 00:34:15.599 a wrong turn, wind up in Camden in a bad neighborhood and cross passed 469 00:34:15.599 --> 00:34:19.360 with someone who took advantage of her, then she could have wound up in 470 00:34:19.400 --> 00:34:23.119 sex trafficking permanently. And that's why she never made it back home. So 471 00:34:23.159 --> 00:34:28.599 in late November of twenty twelve, Eileen Law received an envelope at her office 472 00:34:28.599 --> 00:34:31.119 postmark from Trent, New Jersey, and was surprised to see that the sender 473 00:34:31.239 --> 00:34:36.760 was listed as Tony Sharpless, though Tony was misspelled with a y instead of 474 00:34:36.800 --> 00:34:39.960 an eye. When Law opened the envelope, she found an anonymous handwritten letter 475 00:34:40.039 --> 00:34:45.159 on a piece of yellow legal pad paper. Here's an exact word for word 476 00:34:45.199 --> 00:34:49.639 transcription of the letter quote. The police in Pennsylvania do not have a tip 477 00:34:49.679 --> 00:34:52.719 line. I tried calling the Philly police where I live, but they said 478 00:34:52.719 --> 00:34:55.360 it was not in their jurisdiction. One of the detectives pulled me aside and 479 00:34:55.440 --> 00:35:00.320 gave me your name and address. In the last few days of September two 480 00:35:00.360 --> 00:35:04.000 thousand and nine, a friend in Camden called me and offered me money to 481 00:35:04.039 --> 00:35:07.280 move a car from Brooklawn, New Jersey to Boston, Massachusetts. He told 482 00:35:07.280 --> 00:35:10.559 me he would pay me five thousand dollars cash, plus I could have the 483 00:35:10.559 --> 00:35:15.880 plates. He asked if I knew anyone twenty seven or twenty nine that wanted 484 00:35:15.920 --> 00:35:19.800 to paper trip, so he gave me a Social Security card. I drove 485 00:35:19.840 --> 00:35:22.679 the car, a black four door Pontiac Grand Prix, and drove to an 486 00:35:22.679 --> 00:35:28.039 auto body shop outside of Boston, Massachusetts. I took off the plates and 487 00:35:28.119 --> 00:35:30.719 with a black magic marker, wrote down the last five digits of the VIN 488 00:35:30.840 --> 00:35:35.719 number and cleared out the glove box. I came back to Candon a day 489 00:35:35.800 --> 00:35:37.960 later and he told me that the car was not stolen, but missing. 490 00:35:38.599 --> 00:35:42.800 He said a friend of his, a cop in Camden, got into a 491 00:35:42.840 --> 00:35:45.679 fight with a girl. She died, and he needed to get the car 492 00:35:45.679 --> 00:35:49.239 out of Jersey. About a month ago, my daughter was playing in the 493 00:35:49.239 --> 00:35:52.360 garage and found the box with the plates an SS card. I had forgotten 494 00:35:52.400 --> 00:35:58.079 all about it. The plates are d N D seven seven seven two end 495 00:35:58.159 --> 00:36:01.360 quote. The writer then proceeded to provide Tony's cell phone number, as well 496 00:36:01.360 --> 00:36:07.000 as the last five digits of her vehicle identification number. They then wrote, 497 00:36:07.119 --> 00:36:10.079 quote, because of Hurricane Sandy, I had to visit Jersey to help friends 498 00:36:10.079 --> 00:36:15.079 clean up. I decided to drop you this letter. What happened to Tony, 499 00:36:15.159 --> 00:36:16.800 I don't really know. All I know is that she had to run 500 00:36:16.840 --> 00:36:20.960 with the police, and I was paid much needed cash to get the car 501 00:36:21.039 --> 00:36:24.960 to a shop in Boston. End quote. For clarification, the phrase paper 502 00:36:25.000 --> 00:36:29.360 trip, which was used earlier in the letter, is jargon for assuming a 503 00:36:29.360 --> 00:36:34.159 new identity. The most interesting detail is that the last five numbers the writer 504 00:36:34.280 --> 00:36:38.440 provided for Tony's vehicle identification number turned out to be the same numbers for her 505 00:36:38.480 --> 00:36:43.719 missing Grand Prix Lost and a copy of the letter to the authorities, who 506 00:36:43.719 --> 00:36:46.679 have ultimately concluded it was probably a prank. But even if the letter was 507 00:36:46.719 --> 00:36:51.559 not entirely truthful, law still believes the writer might have been trying to tell 508 00:36:51.599 --> 00:36:57.000 them something. Since Tony's disappearance, her mother and stepfather Peter and Donna have 509 00:36:57.119 --> 00:37:00.440 taken custody of her daughter and raised her. But fortunately there are still no 510 00:37:00.559 --> 00:37:05.440 answers of all what actually happened to Tony. So I guess you could say 511 00:37:05.840 --> 00:37:12.960 the path when Chili amazingly crazy that the flash five digits of this VN number 512 00:37:13.079 --> 00:37:16.880 actually match her grand Prix. How is this a prank? Yeah? I've 513 00:37:16.880 --> 00:37:20.760 always been baffled by this. Why they think that because I do not believe 514 00:37:20.800 --> 00:37:25.440 the vehicle identification number was ever released publicly and shared in any newspaper articles. 515 00:37:25.559 --> 00:37:30.320 So that really indicates to me that the writer at the very least saw that 516 00:37:30.480 --> 00:37:34.800 VIN somewhere and has inside knowledge. So I just do not understand the police's 517 00:37:34.840 --> 00:37:38.440 logic here. What do you guys think when you combine those letters and numbers, 518 00:37:38.480 --> 00:37:42.679 like what the probability of being able to pull out at a thin air 519 00:37:42.800 --> 00:37:45.440 like one in a billion? Like zero? Yeah, zero, There's just 520 00:37:45.519 --> 00:37:50.639 no chance. There's letters and there's numbers, and there's all kinds of things. 521 00:37:50.679 --> 00:37:53.519 I mean, the combinations have to be just countless. And this is 522 00:37:53.760 --> 00:37:58.599 one shot. They say, Hey, by the way, I was paid 523 00:37:58.639 --> 00:38:02.800 to move this car. The tip about the police officer possibly being involved. 524 00:38:02.840 --> 00:38:06.039 That would make a lot of sense of why the police would say, ah, 525 00:38:06.119 --> 00:38:07.800 this is a prank. There's no way a police officer was involved. 526 00:38:08.320 --> 00:38:13.400 But I just don't see how you could provide those last five digits in anyone 527 00:38:13.480 --> 00:38:17.239 say holy hell, we need to really dig deep. This seems promising. 528 00:38:17.280 --> 00:38:21.079 They're like, nah, it's a prank, and it's not even the same 529 00:38:21.119 --> 00:38:24.920 police department because they're alleging that a cop in Camden was responsible for Tony's death. 530 00:38:24.960 --> 00:38:29.719 But this is the West Gladwin Police Department in Pennsylvania. So I just 531 00:38:29.760 --> 00:38:32.119 don't know why they're not taking it more seriously. I don't see any reason 532 00:38:32.159 --> 00:38:37.039 they would have to cover for a police officer in a different department in a 533 00:38:37.039 --> 00:38:40.880 different state. So this is a really tough story, not only because it's 534 00:38:40.880 --> 00:38:45.280 a very sad and baffling mystery, but also because it's easy for discussions about 535 00:38:45.320 --> 00:38:50.559 this case to degenerate in the victim blaming. I once heard Tony's mother, 536 00:38:50.679 --> 00:38:53.599 Donn and Ebel, do an interview when she discussed the frustration over some of 537 00:38:53.639 --> 00:38:59.920 the remarks which were made in online comment sections. Whenever this case receives coverage, 538 00:39:00.000 --> 00:39:02.880 it's unavoidable to talk about Tony's story without acknowledging that she did make some 539 00:39:04.039 --> 00:39:07.480 unwise choices on the night she went missing. The medication she was taking to 540 00:39:07.559 --> 00:39:12.719 controller bipolar disorder seemed to be working quite well at that time, but the 541 00:39:12.760 --> 00:39:16.760 instruction specifically stated not to consume alcohol. But not only did Tony go up 542 00:39:16.800 --> 00:39:22.440 partying and get pretty intoxicated, she also decided to do so after not having 543 00:39:22.480 --> 00:39:25.679 slept for around thirty six hours. And of course, even when things started 544 00:39:25.679 --> 00:39:30.000 spinning out of control, she still got behind the wheel of her car when 545 00:39:30.000 --> 00:39:32.639 she was in no condition to drive, before kicking Crystal out of the vehicle 546 00:39:32.719 --> 00:39:37.159 and stranding her without a ride. That's a pretty lousy thing to do to 547 00:39:37.199 --> 00:39:40.079 a friend. Though, if Tony's disappearance was in fact an accident brought on 548 00:39:40.159 --> 00:39:44.880 by drunk driving, then the situation may have been a blessing in disguise for 549 00:39:44.960 --> 00:39:49.960 Crystal overall. However, I do think that victim blaming in cold cases can 550 00:39:50.000 --> 00:39:53.679 be very counterproductive, and it's a terrible thing for the victim's family to experience. 551 00:39:54.079 --> 00:39:58.880 So this is the last time we're going to dwell on Tony's personal decisions 552 00:39:58.920 --> 00:40:02.239 that night. While Tony certainly wasn't perfect. I can still feel a lot 553 00:40:02.239 --> 00:40:07.599 of empathy for I've never experienced by polar disorder, so I'm not going to 554 00:40:07.639 --> 00:40:09.559 pretend to know what it's like to live with something like that. But I 555 00:40:09.599 --> 00:40:14.039 know Jules has, so in a few moments, she will share her insights 556 00:40:14.079 --> 00:40:16.760 as best she can. Tony went through a number of struggles, but it 557 00:40:16.800 --> 00:40:21.760 sounds like she was legitimately trying her best to make a good life for herself 558 00:40:21.800 --> 00:40:25.239 and her daughter. Tony was only seventeen when she became pregnant, and well, 559 00:40:25.239 --> 00:40:29.639 there's no information out there about who the father was. I think it's 560 00:40:29.639 --> 00:40:32.840 pretty obvious that he had no part of his child's life. So Tony had 561 00:40:32.840 --> 00:40:37.880 to undergo the challenge of being a single mother and putting herself through nursing school. 562 00:40:37.199 --> 00:40:40.639 But in spite of her personal demons, she seemed to be succeeding very 563 00:40:40.639 --> 00:40:45.000 well. It's heartbreaking how Tony and her daughter text each other in the middle 564 00:40:45.039 --> 00:40:49.559 of the night because she was having trouble sleeping, and this turned out to 565 00:40:49.599 --> 00:40:54.760 be the last time they ever communicated. Tony's decisions coming from a perspective of 566 00:40:55.239 --> 00:41:00.519 she's obviously somebody who dealt with addiction, issues since she'd gone to rehab, 567 00:41:00.000 --> 00:41:05.840 and she had been in kind of a pressure cooker situation, and this can 568 00:41:05.880 --> 00:41:10.840 be really problematic for people with bipolar disorder. She's dealing with having her daughter, 569 00:41:12.239 --> 00:41:16.440 she's dealing with going to school, looking into her master's program, while 570 00:41:16.599 --> 00:41:21.960 working. She is doing all the things right, but this can be a 571 00:41:21.960 --> 00:41:24.840 lot of pressure for somebody who's dealing with mental health issues. And I don't 572 00:41:24.840 --> 00:41:30.400 know how well these meds were working for her, because I know from personal 573 00:41:30.440 --> 00:41:35.960 experience and just objectively, it can be an arduous process trying to find the 574 00:41:36.079 --> 00:41:40.280 right cocktail of medications that works for people without a myriad of side effects, 575 00:41:40.320 --> 00:41:46.119 because a lot of psych meds can have side effects that are extremely detrimental to 576 00:41:46.480 --> 00:41:50.920 other parts of your life. And so I don't know how well they were 577 00:41:50.960 --> 00:41:53.519 working. It sounds like she was finding that balance, but we don't know 578 00:41:53.719 --> 00:41:59.239 from her perspective. And yes, it does sound like she made some decisions 579 00:41:59.280 --> 00:42:04.079 that were poor decisions. But I can tell you that people with bipolar disorder 580 00:42:04.119 --> 00:42:08.119 when they're in a state of not having slept for thirty six hours and they've 581 00:42:08.159 --> 00:42:14.000 potentially consumed alcohol, and I don't know if she'd consumed illicit drugs, but 582 00:42:14.119 --> 00:42:17.320 there is a possibility that you don't make good choices. I myself have made 583 00:42:17.440 --> 00:42:24.000 horrible choices when in situations that have been similar and got out of those situations 584 00:42:24.039 --> 00:42:29.440 and wondered how the hell am I still alive. I remember, this is 585 00:42:29.480 --> 00:42:32.320 like such an embarrassing story, but I'm going to share it just because I 586 00:42:32.559 --> 00:42:37.119 hope that it will provide since everybody who listens knows me and knows that. 587 00:42:37.199 --> 00:42:40.880 You know, I'm a middle class, like educated woman. But in this 588 00:42:40.920 --> 00:42:47.000 situation in my mid twenties, I was going through a manic episode and I'd 589 00:42:47.000 --> 00:42:51.599 been out partying with my boyfriend at the time with a bunch of friends. 590 00:42:52.239 --> 00:42:55.239 We're at this club and it's kind of like in an industrial area, and 591 00:42:55.440 --> 00:43:00.079 I got really pissed off and I don't really remember anything. I been doing 592 00:43:00.119 --> 00:43:05.159 drugs too. I'd been doing like drinking and doing cocaine, which when you're 593 00:43:05.400 --> 00:43:10.599 bipolar is a bad combination, and in a manic episode made worse and I 594 00:43:10.679 --> 00:43:15.440 walked off for some reason, and I do not know what happened if I 595 00:43:15.559 --> 00:43:21.199 ran into anybody. I somehow woke up on somebody's porch. Like the humiliation 596 00:43:21.400 --> 00:43:24.599 of that and the feeling of like, how the hell did I make it 597 00:43:24.679 --> 00:43:30.559 here? Did I encounter anybody? What happened? I didn't have my purse 598 00:43:30.719 --> 00:43:32.119 with me or no, I did have my purse, I didn't have my 599 00:43:32.199 --> 00:43:37.480 wallet. So I had to at the time get this person like the people 600 00:43:37.480 --> 00:43:39.719 whose porch I was on, they weren't home, don't even know how I 601 00:43:39.760 --> 00:43:43.679 got there, went to the neighbor's house, knocked on their door. It's 602 00:43:43.719 --> 00:43:46.519 like five am. They're so concerned, and then they call a cab. 603 00:43:46.639 --> 00:43:52.000 I had a camera in my bag, and so I gave the taxi driver 604 00:43:52.039 --> 00:43:54.880 in my camera because I went home, woke up my boyfriend. He wouldn't 605 00:43:54.880 --> 00:43:59.199 wake up at the time, and then I had to call the taxi driver 606 00:43:59.320 --> 00:44:01.960 back like a day and be like, here's the money. But that is 607 00:44:01.960 --> 00:44:07.000 a type of situation that you can get into where I just did not know 608 00:44:07.079 --> 00:44:08.679 how I got there, and when I got out of it, I thought 609 00:44:08.760 --> 00:44:13.440 it would have been so easy for someone to predate on me, to murder 610 00:44:13.519 --> 00:44:17.440 me. And so the fact that Tony behaved like this is something that like 611 00:44:17.880 --> 00:44:22.920 really strikes a chord with me because I've certainly myself been in situations like that 612 00:44:23.320 --> 00:44:28.960 when I was in my younger years, and so it just it hit me 613 00:44:29.079 --> 00:44:34.079 like a gut punch. I think, Jewels, you're incredibly brave for sharing 614 00:44:34.119 --> 00:44:36.639 that, and it's like it's it is like what I was saying earlier, 615 00:44:36.719 --> 00:44:40.440 This is not uncommon for someone who struggles with any mental health condition, and 616 00:44:40.519 --> 00:44:46.639 bipolarism has its own unique things, but alcohol, an episode of any kind, 617 00:44:46.920 --> 00:44:51.440 and also having that lack of sleep, Jewels, you nailed it. 618 00:44:51.559 --> 00:44:54.559 Like you're such an incredible woman, You're so smart, you're so loving, 619 00:44:54.639 --> 00:44:59.880 you're so put together, and guess what, mental health, especially when you 620 00:45:00.199 --> 00:45:02.239 mental health with drugs, there's a lot of times you wake up, you 621 00:45:02.280 --> 00:45:06.559 look up, you come to like a safe space, and you say, 622 00:45:06.719 --> 00:45:09.880 wait, I did what right? I love several people in my life that 623 00:45:09.920 --> 00:45:15.519 have done some horrible things and then wake up and feel like they can't live 624 00:45:15.559 --> 00:45:19.960 with themselves, you know where it's like I don't even remember any of that, 625 00:45:20.320 --> 00:45:23.719 and it's a result of a mental health breakdown. And so I find 626 00:45:23.760 --> 00:45:28.880 you so brave and so inspiring to share those kinds of things, because it's 627 00:45:29.000 --> 00:45:35.440 not doesn't make anybody lesser, it doesn't make anybody unworthy or broken or anything 628 00:45:35.440 --> 00:45:38.400 like that. It's just a reality of I struggle, and sometimes those struggles 629 00:45:38.400 --> 00:45:42.760 are bigger than myself, and they're bigger than what I even can comprehend. 630 00:45:43.199 --> 00:45:45.239 But I work every day to try to do better and better and better, 631 00:45:45.400 --> 00:45:49.400 and I think that's what Tony was doing. She just said, I've been 632 00:45:49.400 --> 00:45:52.840 doing so good, why can't I go out with my childhood friend? And 633 00:45:52.880 --> 00:45:54.960 it was just not a good combination then night. But I want to say 634 00:45:54.960 --> 00:46:00.880 you're brave and thank you for being transparent and vulnerable and sharing. Oh thank 635 00:46:00.920 --> 00:46:05.119 you, yes, thanks for sharing that. And if this Tony's case turned 636 00:46:05.119 --> 00:46:07.280 out better, she could have had a similar situation where she just drove somewhere, 637 00:46:07.480 --> 00:46:10.519 ran out of gas, and woke up like sleeping in her car in 638 00:46:10.519 --> 00:46:15.079 the neighborhood she didn't recognize and wondered how did I get here and not remembered. 639 00:46:15.119 --> 00:46:19.679 But unfortunately her story is one of the million where someone with bipolar disordered 640 00:46:20.039 --> 00:46:22.599 acts ratically and then disappears and we never hear from them again. So I'm 641 00:46:22.679 --> 00:46:25.880 very glad that didn't happen to you, Jules, because we're glad to still 642 00:46:25.920 --> 00:46:30.760 have you with us in a much better place. Me too, And I 643 00:46:30.840 --> 00:46:36.000 just want to add that whatever shame people have the desire to put onto these 644 00:46:36.119 --> 00:46:39.519 victims who have mental health issues, those of us who have mental health issues, 645 00:46:39.920 --> 00:46:45.000 we feel enough shame as it is, that any kind of extra shame 646 00:46:45.079 --> 00:46:50.840 that other people are going to pile onto us is completely unnecessary, especially with 647 00:46:50.880 --> 00:46:54.039 regards to victims. Not that I think anyone who's listening to this. All 648 00:46:54.079 --> 00:46:59.159 of our listeners are extremely empathetic, and I don't think that anybody is going 649 00:46:59.199 --> 00:47:00.760 to be going, oh, it's her fault, she made these choices. 650 00:47:01.239 --> 00:47:06.840 But I just think that it's important that we keep reiterating that Tony is not 651 00:47:06.920 --> 00:47:09.239 to blame for whatever happened to her. So I think this would be a 652 00:47:09.239 --> 00:47:13.039 good time to bring it in to part one. But join us next week 653 00:47:13.119 --> 00:47:17.239 as we present part two of our series about the disappearance of Tony Lee Sharpless. 654 00:47:17.679 --> 00:47:20.760 Robin, do you want to tell us a little bit about the Trail 655 00:47:20.760 --> 00:47:23.760 Went Cold Patreon? Yes, the Trail Cold Patreon has been around for three 656 00:47:23.840 --> 00:47:30.199 years now, and we offer these standard bonus features like early ad free episodes, 657 00:47:30.280 --> 00:47:34.440 and I also send out stickers and sign thank you cards to anyone who 658 00:47:34.440 --> 00:47:37.480 signs up with us on Patreon. If you join our five dollar tier Tier 659 00:47:37.519 --> 00:47:43.840 two. We also offer monthly bonus episodes in which I talk about cases which 660 00:47:43.840 --> 00:47:46.639 are not featured on The Trail Went Cold's original feed, so they're exclusive to 661 00:47:46.679 --> 00:47:51.480 Patreon and if you join our highest tier, tier three, the ten dollars 662 00:47:51.559 --> 00:47:55.480 tier. One of the features we offer is a audio commentary track over classic 663 00:47:55.559 --> 00:48:00.519 episodes of Unsaw Mysteries, where you can download an audio file and then brood 664 00:48:00.599 --> 00:48:06.639 up the original Unsaw Mysteries episode on Amazon Prime or YouTube and play it with 665 00:48:06.679 --> 00:48:10.119 my audio commentary playing in the background, where I just provide trivia and factoids 666 00:48:10.119 --> 00:48:15.639 about the cases featured in this episode. And incidentally, the very first episode 667 00:48:15.679 --> 00:48:19.639 that I did a commentary track over was the episode featuring this case. So 668 00:48:19.960 --> 00:48:22.920 if you want to download a commentary track in which I make more smartass remarks 669 00:48:22.920 --> 00:48:27.800 about Juel Kaylor than be sure to join Tier three. So I want to 670 00:48:27.880 --> 00:48:30.159 let you know a little bit about the Jewels and Ashley Patreon, so there's 671 00:48:30.199 --> 00:48:35.119 early ad free episodes of The Path Went Chili. We've got our Path Went 672 00:48:35.159 --> 00:48:37.719 Chili vinis, which are always over an hour, so they're not very many, 673 00:48:37.840 --> 00:48:40.760 but they're just too short to turn into a series. And we're really 674 00:48:40.840 --> 00:48:45.639 enjoying doing those, so we hope you'll check out those patreons will link them 675 00:48:45.679 --> 00:48:47.840 in the show notes. So I want to thank you all for listening, 676 00:48:47.920 --> 00:48:52.440 and any chance you have to share us on social media with a friend or 677 00:48:52.519 --> 00:48:54.599 to rate and review is greatly appreciate it. You can email us at the 678 00:48:54.639 --> 00:48:59.440 Path went Chili at gmail dot com. You can reach us on Twitter at 679 00:48:59.480 --> 00:49:02.320 the Path. So until next time, be sure to bundle up because cold 680 00:49:02.360 --> 00:49:07.519 trails and chili pass call for warm clothing. Music by Paul Rich from the 681 00:49:07.519 --> 00:49:08.159 podcast Cold Callers Comedy