The second episode of Netflix's Unsolved Mysteries [1] breaks down the haunting case of 38-year-old North Georgia hairdresser Patrice Endres. Endres was last seen alive on April 15, 2004 [2] just before noon at her hair salon Tamber's Trim 'N Tan. The episode is titled "13 Minutes," gesturing at the brief window of time when Endres disappeared. At 11:37 a.m., Endres ended a call with a client. At 11:50 a.m., no one picked up the next call.
After Endres was gone, her food had just been heated up. Money had disappeared from the cash register. Endres's keys were in the store, but unnervingly, her car was moved from its usual spot. There wasn't much remarkable evidence at the crime scene. Six hundred days later, two church volunteers made a startling discovery: they found her skeletal remains behind the Lebanon Baptist Church, where birds picked at an animal carcass nearby. While most of her bones were recovered, no one could find her wedding ring, which was two bands with a marquis diamond centre stone. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation [3] is looking at any leads for information on Endres's death, including the whereabouts of her missing ring.
So what happened to Endres? Cases have been solved before [4] thanks to viewers of Unsolved Mysteries, but her story remains an enigma. Ahead, we break down the potential suspects behind her tragic passing.
Theory 1: Jeremy Jones
Investigators eventually moved on from Jeremy Jones [5] as a suspect, but he was a notable lead early in Endres's case. Jones had been convicted for the rape and murder of Lisa Nichols and has confessed to multiple murders over time. He claimed that he murdered Endres and dumped her body in Sweetwater Creek in Douglas County [6].
But Jones's confession didn't quite add up. Endres's body was discovered 70 miles from where he claimed to have left her. Jones also only repeated information that was on the news at the time. While he remained a suspect, his story just didn't come off as credible, and he eventually recanted his confession.
Theory 2: Rob Endres
Episode three of Unsolved Mysteries does not cast Endres's husband Rob in the best light. Rob paints his relationship with his late wife as being a loving one with occasional issues. Endres's friends and family told a different story, that Rob was possessive and controlling over his wife. Rob's stepson, Pistol, notably had issues with him. Just after his mother went missing, Pistol, then in high school, found himself barred from the house after Rob had changed all the locks.
Rob also confessed to somewhat odd behaviour, granted that everyone grieves differently. He asked for the people who had Endres's remains line her up into a skeleton. As he grieved, he said he had picked up her skull. He also admitted to cuddling with her ashes for a year. But these strange actions besides, Rob presented an airtight alibi. He said that he had been going to work and emphasised that his gas receipt and workplace could prove his innocence — he had just been too far away from her salon. Investigators agreed that his timeline couldn't have matched with that of the killer.
But was his alibi too airtight? Rob revealed early on in the episode that he had a degree in criminology, so perhaps he knew how to work around the police. Endres's friends and family also suggested that she was unhappy and had considered leaving Rob, which could have been a motive for him to kill her. Whether Rob was directly involved in the crime, picked up a murder-for-hire, or had nothing to do with the case, we have no way of knowing for sure.
Theory 3: An Unknown Robber or Killer
According to a Reddit thread [7] (by a now-deleted user), it's possible that an unknown perpetrator had been staking out the salon. Perhaps it was a robber posing as a client. Money had been missing from the cash register, so it's not far-fetched to assume that there was a robbery gone wrong, and the perp needed to get rid of the evidence. But it's very possible that missing money could've just been a red herring to throw investigators off — money was still in her purse and bank account [8]. The kidnapper also left no strong DNA evidence at the scene. Everything in the store looked tidy, so it didn't quite look like a robbery.
But that begs the question, what motive would someone have to abduct and kill her? It seems likely that the person had to know Endres's schedule and that no one would be there around noontime. In the episode, two witnesses driving by recalled seeing two people at the front of the store by a car that didn't belong to Endres. They gave slightly differing accounts — one person saw a man and a woman next to a Ford Taurus, another claimed to see two women next to a Chevy Lumina.
Essentially, they saw the same thing: two people, one with shoulder-length hair, next to a blue car. Tammy Fincher, the witness who saw the Lumina, said that the salon door was open and that the Lumina had the Georgia Quail Wildlife tag. Fincher said that their hands were on each other, but she wasn't sure if one was pushing one down or helping one up — either way, it didn't look normal to her, but she didn't stop.
Besides Jeremy Jones, another suspect was a killer named Gary Michael Hilton [9], who said his favourite place to go was a hair salon. Again, his case didn't pan out because there just wasn't much evidence. Reddit user MrsMisunderst00d [10] also suggested John Wayne Boyer [11], who was a convicted killer who disposed of victims similar to how Endres was buried. He also wasn't far from the area, and it's possible that he could've been in Georgia during this time frame.
For now, Endres's case remains shrouded in mystery.