The morning of April 15, 2004, began fairly ordinarily for Patrice and her son. According to the episode of Unsolved Mysteries on Netflix featuring this case, Patrice woke him for school in her usual way—by starting the treadmill and walking on it. The rhythmic thuds of her footsteps did the trick, and he got up to get ready. While Pistol recalled that they were slightly argumentative that morning, it was nothing more than a teenager rushing to school to see his new girlfriend before the bell. Patrice dropped him off at North Forsyth High School, told him she loved him, and said she would see him after school. That would be the last time he saw her.
Later that day, a school resource officer pulled Pistol from class and asked if he had heard from his mother. Confused, he attempted to call her, but received no answer (Goldblum, 2020).
Investigators later found Patrice’s appointment book at the salon. Her first client, Pam Sheppard, had an 8:50 a.m. appointment. Pam reported that Patrice seemed distracted and unusually inattentive. She left around 11:05 a.m., and Paul Cantor arrived less than five minutes later. He departed around 11:27 a.m., confirmed by phone records indicating he received a call as he left. This left Patrice alone for a short time.
At approximately 11:35 a.m., another client called to reschedule. That customer noted that Patrice seemed somewhat short on the phone—again, unusual behavior for her. The call lasted about two minutes. At this point, a pattern begins to emerge: multiple clients observed that Patrice was acting slightly out of character that morning.
Then, at 11:50 a.m., another call came into the salon, but Patrice did not answer—something investigators described as highly unusual. The last confirmed sighting of Patrice was at 11:27 a.m., and the final evidence of her being alive was the 11:35 a.m. phone call, which ended around 11:37 a.m.
This creates what investigators refer to as a critical 13-minute window.
The Unsolved Mysteries episode covering this case is titled 13 Minutes—a reference to the gap between the end of that call and the unanswered call at 11:50 a.m. GBI Special Agent in Charge Mitchell Posey stated that if investigators could determine what happened during those 13 minutes, they could likely solve the case. Unfortunately, that window has remained a mystery (Goldblum, 2020).
Later, Forsyth County 911 received a call from a client who had arrived for an appointment and found the salon empty. When investigators arrived, they discovered Patrice’s purse—with money still inside—left behind. However, the cash register was open and empty (Nicolau, 2020). Even more puzzling, the salon door was unlocked, and her vehicle was still parked outside (Arrington, 2010).
Investigators noted nothing in the salon suggested a struggle, but there were odd details. Her vehicle appeared to be parked differently than usual—facing west rather than backed into its typical position (Goldblum, 2020). This raised an important question: had the vehicle been moved, and if so, by whom?
Search efforts in the surrounding wooded areas yielded nothing. Those who knew Patrice were adamant—she would never have voluntarily left her son. However, Pistol recalled that weeks earlier, Patrice had asked him where he would go if he ever left home, a comment he found strange at the time.
One significant clue emerged from two eyewitnesses who did not know each other. Around 11:45 a.m., Tammy Fincher reported seeing a blue sedan—possibly a Chevrolet Lumina—with a Georgia wildlife license plate parked directly in front of the salon. She observed two women standing near the vehicle: one taller with dark hair, and another older woman closer to the side.
A second witness, a man driving by around the same time, described the vehicle as a Ford Taurus or Chevrolet Malibu. He believed he saw a man with shoulder-length hair near the car.
Investigators believe these witnesses may have seen the same individuals. The discrepancy—man versus woman—could be explained by the shoulder-length hair described by both (Goldblum, 2020).
It is important to note that in the early 2000s, vehicles such as the Chevrolet Lumina, Chevrolet Malibu, and Ford Taurus shared very similar designs. Their rounded, mid-size sedan profiles made them easily mistaken for one another, especially by passing drivers.
Despite this lead, searches produced no results.
Meanwhile, tension grew between Pistol and Patrice’s husband, Rob Endres. Rob admitted he did not get along with Pistol and changed the locks on their home the day after Patrice disappeared. Pistol was not allowed to retrieve his belongings (Ellis, 2020), and he ultimately went to live with his father.
Investigators explored multiple suspects. One was Gary Hilton, a known serial killer who had murdered Meredith Emerson in nearby Dawson County. Hilton was known to approach salons asking for money—an unsettling parallel.
Another suspect was Jeremy Jones, arrested in Alabama. He confessed to several murders, including that of a hairdresser in Georgia. When asked if it was Patrice Endres, he confirmed it. He provided details about abducting her and even drew a diagram consistent with eyewitness reports.
However, he claimed he disposed of her body in Sweetwater Creek—an area that was thoroughly searched with no results. He later recanted his confession, and investigators found no evidence linking him to the crime (Goldblum, 2020).
In 2005, a major breakthrough occurred. Volunteers at Lebanon Baptist Church in Dawson County discovered human remains while investigating buzzards circling nearby. The remains were identified as Patrice Endres. Her wedding ring, however, was never recovered (Arrington, 2020).
This discovery cast further doubt on Jones’s confession, as the location did not match his account.
Rob Endres later had her remains cremated and kept them in his home until his death in 2023.
Despite these developments, many questions remain:
Who killed Patrice Endres?
What happened to her wedding ring?
Who was in the blue car?
Was this a robbery, or something more targeted?
How did she leave the salon without her vehicle?
Theories continue to center around Gary Hilton, Jeremy Jones, and Rob Endres. However, no definitive evidence has linked any of them to the crime.
Investigators have emphasized the absence of “guilty knowledge”—details only the perpetrator would know. While Jones’s confession included some accurate elements, much of that information was already public.
Some believe Hilton’s known behavior aligns with the crime. Others speculate that Jones may have been hired, though no evidence supports that claim. Still others question Rob Endres due to circumstantial concerns—but again, no evidence has ever tied him to the crime, and he was never named a suspect.
So what happened to Patrice Endres?
Was she the victim of a robbery gone wrong? Targeted by a serial killer? Or is there a piece of the story that remains hidden?
After 22 years, her son is still without his mother. A community still seeks answers. And somewhere, the truth remains unresolved.
References
Arrington, J. (2010, April 24). Husband seeks closure in cold case. Forsyth County News. https://www.forsythnews.com/local/crime-courts/husband-seeks-closure-in-cold-case/.
Ellis, P. (2020, July 7). This is what happened to Pistol Black from Unsolved Mysteries. Men’s Health. https://www.menshealth.com/entertainment/a33235141/pistol-black-now-patrice-endres-unsolved-mysteries/.
Goldblum, J. (Director). (2020, July 1). 13 minutes (Season 1, Episode 2) [TV series episode]. In J. Cosgrove, T. D. Meurer, J. S. Barry, & S. Levy (Executive Producers), Unsolved Mysteries. 21 Laps Entertainment. Netflix.
Nicolaou, E. (2020, July 6). Unsolved Mysteries fans think they solved Patrice Endres’s murder. Oprah Daily. https://www.oprahdaily.com/entertainment/a33221170/patrice-endres-unsolved-mysteries-theories/
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