The Enduring Mystery of Patrice Endres: Who Killed This Mother, Wife, and Professional Beautician?

In writing this blog post, I realize that it has been 22 years since Patrice Endres was taken from her shop on Matt Highway in Forsyth County, near the Dawson and Cherokee County lines. This highway runs through the small community of Matt—one that most visitors or residents at the time would not have considered the setting for a horrific kidnapping and murder. But on April 15, 2004, that perception was shattered when this beautiful 38-year-old mother to her son, Pistol Black, and friend to many, went missing from her salon.

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/

What Happened to Brian Wehrle?

(Photo of Jeff Rolsten and Brian Wehrle from wjbf.com)

The day should have started as a normal day for Brian Wehrle on September 24, 2009 in Carrollton, Georgia. He was supposed to be headed to a probate court hearing, in the midst of flooding conditions, for his mother, who suffered from Alzheimers. He never showed up in the courtroom. Brian was 39 years old, and he had power of attorney for his mother and managed her affairs. Before the day of this court session for which he was supposed to appear, he spent part of the previous night with his sister Anita and her family so that he could use their computer, and that was the last that was seen of Brian, as he went back to his mother's home on Crescent Drive. While he was with his sister's family, he expressed some concern about getting home amidst the flooding and bad shape that the flooding had left the roadways and highways. He even mentioned going to the local WalMart in town to buy a topographical map. To the best of his sister's knowledge, he went back to their mother's home and that is where his family thought he remained for the night. A neighbor mentioned seeing a light on in the garage of that home around 2:00 AM; however, that neighbor did not specifically know if Brian was the one in the garage. They only assumed it was him, as Brian had been there earlier in the day.
His partner Jeff and his family were left dumbfounded by his disappearance. The last they had heard from him was a voicemail he had left for Amanda, his niece, and a phone call made to Jeff around 9:00 PM the evening before his disappearance. Brian drove a 1992 Buick LeSabre, one belonging to his mother, but it, too, was missing. He left behind all his medication, some of which was for his heart condition. This was particularly alarming, as Brian was not remiss in taking his medication nor taking care of his health. He also suffered from narcolepsy and insomnia. Those medications were also left behind. Among so many other things, this greatly perplexed his family and partner. Brian and Jeff had been together for about 13 years, and the two were close. Brian would never just abandon Jeff, nor would he have abandoned his family. All of them felt there must be something wrong.
In the days before his disappearance, Brian had gone to the home of his mother to mow grass and check on the property at Crescent Drive in Carrollton. Brian, as his mother's conservator and guardian, took the lead in helping take care of the property, but often tasks were performed along with help from his siblings and various members of the family. Brian took his role as his mother's guardian quite seriously, and did so up to the day he disappeared. Brian appeared to be a very stable and productive citizen and family member. He graduated from Carrollton High School and then went to what is now The University of West Georgia, a regional university in Georgia also located in Carrollton. Before long, he had become close to the family of his sister, Anita Gay, particularly her husband, Spencer, who owned a surveying company called Due West Surveying. Spencer offered him an opportunity to work with him as a surveyer, so Brian left college and went to work with his brother-in-law. He remained there until his father passed and he was charged with taking care of his mother. Soon enough, the family decided to place their mother in a personal care home. By that time, Brian had met Jeff and begun a life with him. Jeff worked with Bellsouth, which eventually became AT&T. Jeff was well-received by Brian's family, and the two lived in a cottage on Morningside Drive in Virginia Highlands, a middle-class neighborhood considered to be a safe and family-friendly one in Atlanta. Brian, having left Spencer's company, spent most of his time taking care of his mother and her property, all the while commuting between his home in Virginia Highlands and his hometown in Carrollton.
One of the first thoughts about Brian's sudden disappearance was that he had possibly had been a victim of the weather and flooding that had gone on in the last few days around Carrollton. In fact, the dam at Lake Carroll, which was near the home of Brian's mother where he had been, was breeched. Although his family contended that weather had nothing to do with his disappearance, some in the community were not so sure. Three months later, the family's assertion was pretty much justified when Brian's car was found in Chattanooga, Tennessee with a stolen Tennessee tag. The Georgia tags that belonged to the car were nowhere to be found.
Authorities stated that nothing seemed disturbed inside the car. Brian had a bowl full of change in the car; it was still there when they found it, as was the receipt from Taco Bell where he ate in Carrollton the night before his disappearance. Although finding the car was a breakthrough, there were no usable fingerprints found in or on the car that could help investigators learn who had been in or around the car other than Brian. Investigators said that the car find, while good, did not lead to much more than they already knew other than what happened to the car and that it could have been stolen from Brian due to the stolen Tennessee car tag on it. Brian did not live in Tennessee, and there was no reason for Tennessee tags to be on the car.
Other things done by investigators included analyzing cell phone data and home phone records, providing Brian's information to the FBI, and sending information to the Georgia missing persons system. A thorough search of the home at Crescent Drive further perplexed investigators and family, as the bed Brian slept in while he was there was turned down but not slept in. The house did not show any signs of forced entry, but investigators know that someone was there the night before he disappeared, as neighbors reported seeing a light on in the garage and someone there at the house, but again, they could not be sure it was Brian. Wherever they looked, investigators hit dead ends. Although unsure if this was significant, investigators did find out that Brian's brother Terry had been to the house cleaning up the yard. Although it is unclear as to when he was there exactly, it was reported that he had consumed a few beers while there. Brian did not drink, so the consumption of any alcohol on the premises was assumed not to have been at the hand of Brian Wehrle. Because Terry was the only other person at the home near that time, it was concluded that Terry was indeed the one who drank the beer while there.
The case seemed to reach a dead-end every time it got moving. Jeff, Brian's partner, visited police in Carrollton to provide information, inquire about the status of the case, and to be as helpful as he could. So, too, did Anita and Spencer Gay, Brian's sister and brother-in-law. Other family members did all they could in cooperation with the police and on their own to try and figure out where Brian was or what had happened to him. In 2015, at the request of The Carrollton Police Department, Trace Sargent brought her dogs to the home of the Wehrle's parents to see if there were any clues that could possibly provide additional direction. Specifically trained to pick up on the scent of human remains, the dogs not only made a tour of the home and yards, but they also checked out the boat house. Officials from the Georgia Bureau of Investigations had already been there with cadaver dogs, but Trace Sargent's dogs were definitely worth a try. This time, something new emerged. The dogs picked up on a scent at the same spot right outside the boat house as well as one inside the boat house. After securing an additional search warrant, police were able to dig up the flooring inside the boat house. Unfortunately, they found nothing. The location of the spot right outside the boat house that drew the attention of the dogs was in the back near the spigot. However, authorities found no human remains nor anything that would give them another lead, but Sargent did state that the fact that the dogs did alert near the same spot was "intriguing." So far, no other major clues or leads have been released by the GBI or the Carrollton Police Department. Sadly,Jeff Rolsten, Brian's partner, passed away on August 9, 2017. He was 62 years old and died without ever knowing what happened to Brian. In addition, Brian's mother, Rhoda Florence Krouth Wehrle, died on November 18, 2014, just five years after Brian disappeared. She was 84 years old. Brian is listed as a surviving child in her obituary. At that time, the family had not given up hope of finding Brian alive. Brian's father died in 2007. The home on Crescent Drive in Carrollton has been sold, and another family lives there.
So what happened to Brian Wehrle? Did he decide to leave his life behind and start anew somewhere else? It is so difficult to do that in the modern age. The fact that Brian suffered from several possibly deadly issues including narcolepsy and heart issues, would have made it more difficult to just walk away and start over. His health issues would have caught up with him soon enough, particularly since those conditions would have to be treated by physicians and prescription medication. While it is possible to buy drugs on the black market, over time, Brian would have to seek the help of a medical professional. It might be difficult to hide his true identity at that point. So, perhaps Brian underwent a cardiac event or fell asleep as a result of his narcolepsy and drowned. This is plausible, but more than likely, a body or some remains would have turned up. The explanation that many put forward is that Brian was murdered by whomever stole his car and replaced the Georgia tag with a stolen Tennessee tag. If this were the case, then it would not be hard to explain why the car turned up in Tennessee, as this is not far from the Atlanta area where Brian lived and where his parent's home was in Carrollton. If Brian were murdered then where are his remains and who murdered him? Unfortunately, the fingerprints found on the car were insufficient to add to fingerprint databases that might have led to the identification of people who were in his car. Of course, simply because someone was in his car with him during the time he went missing does not mean that those people to which the prints belong murdered him nor know who did if indeed he were murdered, but they know something about his whereabouts or could provide extra information about the car, who was driving it, and where it was when they were in it or near it. Because those prints are unusable, perhaps we may never know. No update has been given if there was usable DNA found in the car besides Brian's. That too could help generate a lead and possibly provide more information on what happened to him and why his car was in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Perhaps weather did play a part in his disappearace, but surely a body would have been found had he fallen into Lake Carroll or was whisked away by flood waters. Brian would be 54 now. He was 39 at the time of his disappearance in 2009. He was 5'7, had blonde hair and blue eyes, and weighed about 140 pounds. He is a narcoleptic, suffers from insomnia, and has a heart condition. His family continues to seek answers to what happened. If anyone has any information that might help investigators solve this case and possibly find Brian, please contact the Carrollton Police Department at 770-834-4451.

References:
Alcorn, C. "An Atlanta man left his home to drive to Carrollton to secure his parent's estate in 2009. He has never been seen since." 11ALIVE. available online:https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/missing-in-georgia/atlanta-man-brian-wehrle-still-missing-14-years-mysterious-disappearance-carrollton-parents-estate/85-550d4143-a208-441d-a068-953a8259d8c5, Retrieved: 21 February 2025.
DuBose, R. "Cold Case Project/What happened to Brian Wehrle?" WJBF. available online:https://www.wjbf.com/coldcase/cold-case-project-what-happened-to-brian-wehrle/. Retrieved: 22 February 2025
"John Louis Wehrle Obituary," Hightower Family Funeral Homes. available online: https://www.hightowersmemorial.com/obituaries/John-Louis-Wehrle?obId=935352. Retrieved: 22 February 2025.
"Rhoda Florence Krouth Wehrle," Find a Grave. available online: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/138931742/rhoda-florence-wehrle. Retrieved: 23 February 2025.

Who Bombed the Georgia Guidestones and Why?

 Back in 2008, almost 14 years ago, I blogged about one of the most notable mysteries in Georgia history, namely who was behind the construction and planning for the Georgia Guidestones and why? You can see that post here for all the backstory on them.
https://georgiamysteries.blogspot.com/2008/11/georgia-guidestones.html

I had never gotten the chance to visit the Guidestones; in fact, I have never even been to the city of Elberton, Georgia close to where they were located. It is a shame that I was not able to visit, as they are no more. On July 6, 2022, someone planted a bomb at the site of the Guidestones and partially destroyed them. Because the damage, which did not knock down all of the monument, was considered to be crippling, the remaining parts of the monument were demolished by local authorities. As much as it pains me to say this, I feel that this was the right call. The remaining part of the monument was not the same without the part which was destroyed. It was a danger, and visitors would not only have been in harms way near the monument as it was left after the explosion, but the entire story would have been about the bombing at that point and not the message the monument conveyed before that.

So this begs a few questions. First, who did this? Right now, the Georgia Bureau of Investigations is in charge of the search for the perpetrator(s). There are a lot of unanswered questions about who did this. Currently, all that is known is that sometime in the pre-dawn hours on Wednesday, July 6th, an explosive device detonated and took out one of the four granite panels, essentially turning it into rubble. Video does exist of the explosion and can be seen at the CBS News link below. The video shows someone at the monument and then quickly running away right before the explosion around 4:00 AM that morning. There is also video of a silver sedan leaving the scene quickly afterwards. What many people did not know is that the monument has video surveillance filming around the clock. While the figure caught on camera is unrecognizable, the GBI says that they are working to enhance the image and using it to help jumpstart the investigation. At this time, the GBI and local police have not released any descriptions of the suspect or suspects. They do not know how many perpetrators may have been involved. The good news is the GBI has said it has many leads, so agents will be busy in the coming days investigating and following up on those leads.  
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/georgia-guidestones-blown-up-explosion/

The second question involves asking why. Why did someone want to see this monument destroyed? Was it offensive to a large number of people? Did the stones contain cryptic messages that would upend humanity and the current world order? Well, those are more difficult questions to answer, for if they apprehend a suspect, more than likely, the suspect(s) won't talk much, as most of them never do. They just deny involvement despite mounting evidence to the contrary. For the most part, the monument was a HUGE tourist attraction and somewhat of a boom for Elberton and Elbert County. People from all over would travel to the area to visit the Guidestones, and while they were there, they would eat, tour, buy gas, and sometimes stay over in local hotels. This is no more unless the Guidestones will be rebuilt, and given the fact that the original financier/mastermind behind the original erection of the monument is unknown but to a few, and the fact that he may be a person who has already passed on, the likelihood of another build is somewhat in doubt. However, some local groups have talked about spearheading a fundraising effort to replace them. If so, I am sure they will try to replicate what was already there. The stones contained messaging that some took offense to for various reasons. The first message-" Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature"-seemed to alarm some, especially given that there are over eight billion humans on Earth as of 2022. This would mean that we are about 7.5 billion out of balance.  Others may have been afraid of the messages about uniting humanity with one language and possibly the one about nations settling external disputes with a world court. Some felt the Guidestones called for a "New World Order" and a "One World Government." The message about maintaining humanity under half a billion people was somewhat frightening to many in light of the Covid-19 pandemic with groups thinking that the mastermind behind the Guidestones could somehow be involved an international cabal that was promoting the spread of Covid-19 to wipe out large numbers of humans to align with the half a billion message. Who knows?

Whoever is to blame for the explosion and eventual demolition of the Georgia Guidestones has reasons for his or her actions, I am sure. However, it is truly an example of someone or some group taking violent action to stamp out a message with which they did not agree. I cannot think of anything less American than that. Were the Guidestones strange and mysterious? Yes. Was the shroud of mystery that surrounded the origins of the monument such that inspired conspiracy theories? Yes. Nonetheless, the monument presented no threat to anyone as it stood. If anything, the messages were thought-provoking and inspired debate and discussion about how or if they could be accomplished. Discussion and debate are never bad things, but silencing the things that inspire debate and discussion usually is. As Chris Kubas, the Executive Vice President of the Elbert Granite Association told CBS News, "If you didn't like it, you didn't have to come see it and read it."

Is the Old Governor's Mansion in Milledgeville Haunted by Old Molly?

 Often called the First Lady of Milledgeville, or the Gem of Milledgeville, the Old Governor's Mansion is the centerpiece of the historic district in Millledgeville and one of the highlights of the Georgia College & State University Campus. Designed by noted architect Charles Cluskey, an Irish immigrant, and built by Connecticut builder Timothy Porter, the mansion was finished in about 1839 (Georgia College & State University, 2021). While Milledgeville was founded in 1803 and named for Georgia Governor John Milledge, the state legislature did not designate the city the permanent capital of Georgia until 1805, and the state legislature opened its first official meeting in the city in the newly constructed statehouse in 1807. The Old Capital Building is now the main administrative building and a classroom facility at Georgia Military College's main site in Milledgeville. The Old Governor's Mansion did not begin housing governors until 1839, well after the seat of power was moved there 32 years prior. The first governor to occupy the mansion was Governor George Rockingham Gilmer, who moved in in 1839 during the end of his term (Turner, 2013). Other governors who lived there were Charles McDonald, George Crawford, George Towns, Howell Cobb, Herschel Johnson, Joseph Brown, Provisional Governor James Johnson, Charles Jenkins, and Provisional Governor General Thomas Ruger (Turner, 2013). Howell Cobb also served as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and President Buchannan's Secretary of the Treasury, and Herschel Johnson was Stephen Douglas' running mate in 1860 against eventual winner Abraham Lincoln. Governor Ruger was appointed as military governor during Reconstruction (Turner, 2013).

While the mansion was the center of power for a few chaotic periods of Georgia history, perhaps the most memorable of those epochs was the arrival of Union General William Tecumseh Sherman as he entered the city of Milledgeville during his famous March to the Sea in November 1864. While in Milledgeville, Sherman stayed at the mansion. Other events that occurred in the state while the mansion served as the home of the chief executives were the Cherokee Removal and Trail of Tears and the Civil War itself. 

One can imagine that a home to so many influential politicians and so many chaotic and perilous events discussed, managed, and even played out in or near the mansion, that there would be stories of the supernatural and strange. I have gone on many tours of the mansion in the last 15 years, one of them recently as part of their Death: After Dark Tour Series where I learned about the way our ancestors in the 19th century dealt with death. Of particular interest was the death of the brother of Governor Joseph Emerson Brown-Joseph Mackey Brown. He died as the result of a wound while serving as an officer in the Confederate service. Joseph M. Brown died in the mansion in July of 1864. In fact, the mansion used to do a murder mystery tour where guests try to solve the murder of Mr. Brown, albeit he was not murdered and was killed as a result of military action, a fact the mansion staff makes very clear (Pound, 2017).  

Along those lines, during the Death: After Dark Tour I attended was about over, one patron asked the tour guide, who was quite the storyteller and very familiar with the history of the mansion, if there were any ghost stories or episodes of the paranormal that she could relate. She stated very clearly that the mansion was not haunted, and that the staff knew of no ghost stories she could recall. However, some have had quite a different experience in the mansion through the years. The man responsible for establishing the mansion as a historical "must visit" was James Turner, who was the Mansion Director and Adjunct Professor of History at GCSU. Sadly, he passed away in 2017, and in his stead, the mansion was left in the care of Matthew Davis, his protégé. Matthew has turned the mansion into an even greater historical asset to Georgia, and has even managed to get the mansion affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution. During Turner and Davis' tenures at the mansion, thousands of visitors and researchers have visited the mansion, not to mention the many students, employees, docents, and graduate assistants. 

Although I have never sat down and discussed this with Matthew or asked him if he has found anyone by the name of Molly in the historical record at the mansion, stories do abound about a cook who served in the mansion. Apparently Molly was well-known for a few of her specialties, which included black-eyed peas with pork and blueberry muffins. Some visitors and workers at the mansion have reported smelling those things inside the mansion itself, although there is no place in the mansion where those items could be cooked. While the mansion includes the restored kitchen where food was prepared in days of old, the wood-fired stoves and fireplaces are no longer operated and there would be no one cooking those items inside the mansion. While no one is sure of who "Molly" is, nor when she lived in the mansion or if she is even real, it should be noted that there is a cafeteria nearby the mansion across the street at the Maxwell Student Union. Food is served there to students at GCSU. It should also be noted that there are bakeries in downtown Milledgeville, most notably Ryals Bakery, that could be the source of the smell of the blueberry muffins. However, the timeframe of when these stories were told and originated is not known. 

Besides the smells associated with "Molly," the cooking ghost, stories are told of bed-linens being tossed from their beds, and the scent of cigars. It should be noted that there is no smoking allowed inside the mansion, and the policy is strictly enforced. Another story involves the local fire department. Once, the staff of the mansion smelled burned potatoes. The smell became so strong that it alarmed everyone, and for safety sake, the fire department was called. Upon arrival and investigation, the source of the smell was never found (Hargrett, 2014). 

So is the mansion haunted? Or are these stories just the flights of fancy of ghost hunters or the over-active imagination of staff and visitors who are projecting their fears and suspicion and making more of the issues than there really is? Could the smells have originated outside the mansion? Was there ever a cook there named "Molly?" If so, is it possible that she is still hanging around the mansion and its grounds cooking up the victuals for which she was so well-known? I have no clue, but what I do know is that a visit to the mansion is never disappointing, and stepping into the building is like stepping back into the 1850s. 

                                            Photo courtesy of gcsu.edu and the OGM page.

References:
Hargrett, K. (October 29, 2014). "The Ghost of the Old Governor's Mansion," 41WMGT. Retrieved from: https://www.41nbc.com/the-ghost-of-the-old-governors-mansion/.

Pound, G. (October 13, 2017). "First-Ever Murder Mystery at Old Governor's Mansion Sells Out in an Hour," The Union-Recorder. Retrived from: https://www.unionrecorder.com/news/first-ever-murder-mystery-at-old-governor-s-mansion-sells-out-in-an-hour/article_4c5ad78a-afc7-11e7-8cc9-bb4d2fd8c7a7.html.

Turner, J. (2013). Old Governor's Mansion. In New Georgia Encyclopedia. Retrieved November 14, 2021, from http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archeologuy/old-governors-mansion/.

Georgia College & State University. (2021). Georgia's Old Governor's Mansion. GCSU. Retrieved from: https://www.gcsu.edu/mansion.

The Strange Disappearance of Justin Gaines

 One of the highest profile disappearances in Georgia was that of Justin Gaines. Gaines, 18 years old and a freshman at what was then called Gainesville State College, now part of The University of North Georgia, decided to spend the evening with friends at a local nightclub and hangout known as Wild Bill's in Duluth, Georgia in Gwinnett County. That would be the last night anyone would see Justin Gaines. The date was November 2, 2007.

The Thursday night in question was a popular night at Wild Bill's-Thirsty Thursday, as they called it. Local police investigating the case said there were over 3000 people in attendance that night at the club. While there, surveillance cameras picked up Justin on their footage, but then he simply vanished. The last image where Justin showed up was of him making a cell phone call to a friend to come and pick him up. After that, the cameras had no more images of the missing teenager. From what police understand, Justin phoned several friends, and none of them were able to come and pick him up from the club. So, Justin left the club around 1:30 AM.

There are several important things to note about Justin while he was at the club. Apparently, he took a lot of cash with him to Wild Bill's. Why is unclear. Additionally, he was wearing a diamond earring in his ear, something he routinely wore out and about. Detectives investigating the case theorized that this probably attracted the attention of the wrong kind of person, and that could have had something to do with his disappearance. The theory gained some traction with the emergence of a suspect named Dylan Glass, a convicted felon and gang member. Glass told police that he indeed did assault Justin and took the diamond earring from his ear, but he did not kill Justin. As of 2017, Glass was not charged with anything related to the Gaines case, but Glass was in federal prison at the time of the confession serving a sentence for unrelated charges. One thing to note about Glass, however, is rumors have circulated about him telling a friend he killed Justin Gaines, and according to Justin's mother, Erika Wilson, Glass was saying this prior to her reporting Justin missing. While such a claim is difficult to substantiate and Glass maintains he does not know the whereabouts of Justin nor did he kill the 18-year old boy, in 2011, another suspect, Martin Leonard Wilkie was arrested for concealing a death. The reason: Glass told authorities that he and Wilkie had in fact assaulted Gaines and shot him to death. It gets worse from there. Glass and Wilkie supposedly placed Justin's body in a toolbox and then took it to Walton County. Horribly, Glass' mother, Ruth Ballew, was potentially involved, as it was told that she helped the two men dispose of the body. She even led investigators to the location where they supposedly dumped Justin, but no body or evidence of remains were found there. Ultimately, she was charged with making false statements to police.

Police also strongly believe a blonde-haired lady lured Justin into her car for a ride home form the club. The following is just theory. They think the woman took Justin to a house in nearby Snellville where he was robbed and killed. They further theorize that the killers probably threw his body in Lake Lanier, and when it surfaced, they retrieved it and dumped it down a well, which some say was in nearby Barrow or Walton County. Police investigators have searched nearby wells for human remains, and nothing has been found. To this date, no one has seen him, heard from him, nor found further evidence of his whereabouts. Remains have been found near Lake Lanier, but so far, none of them have been identified as Justin Gaines. 

So the question remains, what happened to the boy? Why did he not have a ride home from the club? Did he tell anyone at the club where he planned to go after the night was over? Who was this mysterious blonde woman who supposedly lured him into her car for a ride home? Did the money he flashed and his diamond ring draw attention from thieves and miscreants who then robbed and killed him? Did Dylan Glass really assault Justin and take his diamond earring but leave him alive, or does he know more than he is telling?  Did he and Wilkie shoot Justin and dump his body off in Walton County with the help of Ruth Ballew, Glass' mother? If not, why did they lie, and why did Ruth Ballew put herself in jeopardy by lying to police and taking them on a wild goose chase looking for a body that wasn't there or ever was? Or was it at one time?  Another pressing question is that Justin's parents told him that he could always call them for a ride home, no matter what time of night or morning it was, but he didn't. Why? Of course, the ultimate and most important questions are, what happened to Justin Gaines, and where are his remains?

The above is a picture of Gaines at 18. Today, he would be 32 years old. He stood at 5'10-5'11 and weighed about 230 pounds at his disappearance. There is a reward for information leading to his remains or for information that could solve the case. His mother and investigators believe that Justin is dead, so this is a recovery rather than a rescue attempt.

Further Reading:
Coyne, A.C. (November 2, 2017). The Atlanta Journal Constitution. Retrieved from: https://www.ajc.com/news/local/now-been-years-since-gwinnett-teen-justin-gaines-disappeared/Vbl3QRbE4hmzJjCpw9ig6L/.

Kellog, B. (September 30, 2019). 11Alive. Retrieved from: https://www.11alive.com/article/news/crime/justin-gaines-human-remains/85-9086be5f-fa30-4885-8c24-554b9b228e1e.

The Charley Project (March 12, 2018). Justin Glen Gaines. Retrieved from:  https://charleyproject.org/case/justin-glen-gaines.

Eerie Georgia: Chilling Tales from the Mountains to the Sea by Jim Miles, A Good Read!

 Jim Miles has staked out a position in the Georgia paranormal literary world as "Mr. Weird Georgia," mostly owing the moniker to his many books on ghosts and the supernatural in Georgia. Some of his most popular books are Weird Georgia: Close Encounters, Strange Creatures, and Unexplained Phenomena, Civil War Ghosts of Atlanta, and Haunted North Georgia. He has also released a number of books on the Civil War in Georgia. Recently, I ran across one of his more recent books from the last few years, and I am glad I did. Eerie Georgia: Chilling Tales from the Mountains to the Sea is a great read. It is jam packed with vignettes about the strange, supernatural, weird, and unexplained in the Peach State. Written in narrative style, Miles provides access to some of the weirdest, yet interesting events in Georgia. Some of the more common stories can be found in the book, including sightings of Altamaha-ha, otherwise known as Georgia's Loch Ness monster, and the ghosts of the Windsor Hotel in Americus, but Miles also presents a bevy of other tales that even the most avid reader of strange and macabre tales from Peach State, like me, might never have heard. I have taken the liberty of listing a few of those below, as well as a brief description of the tale. These were some of the more interesting to me.

1. Connie's Sage-This story details memories related to the author by a lady who claimed to have alien encounters throughout her life, and vivid details about at least three encounters, one of which was in her youth, and another that included her husband. The story was definitely weird and has the potential to cause chill bumps, particularly with the extreme circumstances behind the encounters and contact with the beings she described.

2. Ancient Roman Coin-This narrative particularly interested me as an historian and professor of history. The story relates details about a woman who once lived in a small community outside Savannah and her issues with the septic lines outside her home. When a professional came and dug into the yard in an attempt to fix the problem an ancient Roman coin was unearthed. The discovery brought up great points about the historical narrative and assumption that Christopher Columbus and his crews were the first Europeans to successfully explore and infiltrate the interior of North America. Of course, the voyages of Leif Erickson are also relevant to this discussion, but even so, the Roman coin would predate the Leif Erickson voyage by a millennium or more. This story is definitely one that most Georgians know nothing about and has the potential to cause a divergence from the accepted narrative about the Age of Exploration and Discovery.

3. Mad Gassers-Similar to stories from the Midwest and other parts of the country, Columbus and Bainbridge seemed to have an issue with what the writer calls a Mad Gasser. In one account, a family dog was able to wake up the rest of the family before too much damage was done, people were harmed, or property stolen. The gasser escaped, but his fumes, piped into the home via windows, did have an impact on the residents and made some of them ill. In yet another account from Bainbridge, the gasser attacked several times and several families in a neighborhood in the mid-1940s, just as World War II was coming to a close. Filling the homes with a sweet smelling gas that made residents ill, one family was so frightened they left their home and had to stay with neighbors. As is to be expected, no one was ever charged with the crimes, so the Mad Gassers were at large for quite a while. With the large chunk of time that has passed, it would be quite logical to assume they are now dead, that is if death came naturally to whatever or whomever this fiend was.

The book describes a great deal of phenomena in Georgia. From the Mud Volcano at the Temple of Nodoroc to the stories about falling fish from the sky, Eerie Georgia will not disappoint. 

Happy New Year!!!

 Greetings to all my followers and readers!
I want to wish you all a Happy New Year, and although we are already ten days into 2021, I felt compelled to come to the blog and wish you all the best and brightest in this new year. I know that we have been through quite a spell, as my great-grandmother used to say, in 2020, and 2021 has not started off much better, if any better at all. However, there is much to look forward to in 2021. We have vaccines, and we hope and pray they work. We have a new administration coming in, and although I never reveal how I vote, and I have no intention of making this blog a political blog at all, a new administration always brings with it new ideas and optimism about solving old and new issues. Like I did with President Trump, I plan to give President Biden the respect he deserves as the new leader of the free world and hope that he can help grow and heal the country. I wish President Trump all the best-and yes, I refer to him as President Trump, as that is what he is. I do not, nor will I ever engage in name-calling or childish antics. I, like so many others right now, plan to demonstrate the attitude and behavior we expect to see from our elected leaders. In other words, I plan to "Be the change I want to see." I hope and pray that you all will as well, and that our leaders, from BOTH parties, will do so along with us. I do wish you all the best, and another thing to look forward to is more posts from me in the new year. There are some exciting things happening, and I plan to post about recent events so that you may be able to follow them.

Again, Happy New Year, and I wish you all the best in the coming days. God bless.