10. After She Vanished From Her Hair Salon, Patrice Endres’s Husband Quickly Locked Her Son Out
Patrice Endres was last seen on April 15, 2004, while working at her hair salon in Cumming, GA. She vanished within a narrow time frame, hence the “13 Minutes” title of the Unsolved Mysteries episode covering the case. Endres had two appointments that morning, with the second client leaving at 11:27 a.m. She spoke to another customer on the phone until 11:37 a.m., but by 11:50 a.m., calls to the salon went unanswered.
Several puzzling aspects of the case emerged. Endres’s car was found in a different location than usual, her keys remained in the salon, and money was missing from the cash register. Her lunch was uneaten, and those who saw her that day noted she seemed distracted.
In December 2005, Endres’s remains were discovered behind a church in Dawson County, GA, shifting the focus to identifying her killer. She left behind a teenage son, Pistol Black, and a husband, Rob Endres, who did not get along with Black and was 20 years her senior. Family friends described the marriage as troubled.
Rob Endres became a focal point after revealing in an interview for Unsolved Mysteries that he carried his wife’s skull around and slept with her ashes. Just 24 hours after Patrice’s disappearance, he changed the locks, effectively evicting Black.
Despite several theories, Rob Endres was thoroughly investigated and never charged. While two serial k!llers were initially considered, investigators have since ruled them unlikely suspects. Authorities hope that Patrice’s wedding ring, missing from her remains, might provide new leads.
9. Tiffany Valiante’s Death Remains a Mystery Between Suicide and Foul Play
Tiffany Valiante, an 18-year-old high school senior in rural New Jersey, vanished on a summer night in 2015. After a family party, she argued with a friend over the use of her credit card. An altercation with her mother ensued, and shortly after, Valiante left the house. Caught on a trail camera, she was last seen walking into the night. Less than two hours later, she was struck by a train four miles away.
New Jersey Transit declared her death a su!cide, but her family disputed this. The train operators provided conflicting statements, and suspiciously, Valiante was missing several clothing items. Her family, frustrated with the investigation, discovered a headband and shoes along the path to the tracks—far from the tracks themselves.
The Valiantes believe she was excited about college and wouldn’t have taken her own life, speculating she might have been m*rdered and placed on the tracks. However, friends reported signs of distress, including a recent breakup and feeling isolated.
The Unsolved Mysteries episode “Mystery at Mile Marker 45” explores conflicting elements suggesting possible su!cide. Valiante’s scent was tracked all the way to the tracks, and reports revealed previous family issues that may have influenced her mental state.
8. Unsolved Double Hom!cide Dubbed ‘Park Bench M*rders’
On June 4, 2019, friends Carnell Sledge and Kate Brown were found shot dead near a park bench at the Rocky River Reservation in Cleveland, OH. Having been friends for a decade, they met at the park around 5 p.m., and within twenty minutes, both were k!lled.
Despite the public location and proximity to others, including a nearby roofer, no witnesses heard anything, suggesting the possible use of a silencer. Neither v!ctim seemed to have any enemies, and the motive remains unclear.
The investigation on Unsolved Mysteries Volume 5 considers various suspects, including Brown’s and Sledge’s acquaintances, but all have alibis. The episode remains unresolved, with more questions than answers about this tragic event.
7. Tammy Williams Vanished After Her Boyfriend Was Discovered Dismembered
The 2018 case “Body in Bags” opens with the grim discovery of a sleeping bag containing half of a human body along I-75 in Ohio. The remains were linked to 39-year-old David Carter from Michigan, missing since September 28. Carter was last seen at his son’s football game with his girlfriend, Tamera “Tammy” Williams, with whom he had a strained relationship.
Carter’s son, DJ, found evidence of something amiss at his father’s apartment, including blood and a bullet hole. Carter was officially reported missing, and the remains were identified as his.
Suspicion fell on Williams, who claimed not to have seen Carter since Sunday and showed little concern regarding his disappearance. She was initially detained but released due to insufficient evidence. Shortly after her release, additional remains were found, and Williams had fled.
The U.S. Department of Justice is actively seeking Williams, last seen leaving a New York hotel in October 2018. Though described as a master of disguise, her notable feature remains a large rose tattoo on her left shoulder.
6. Vegas Celebrity ‘Buffalo Jim’ Barrier’s Death Ruled Accidental Amid Suspicions of a Feud
James Barrier, affectionately known as “Buffalo Jim,” was a vibrant personality in Las Vegas, owning an auto-repair shop frequented by celebrity clients and founding a wrestling school. Located between his shop and school was the Crazy Horse Too strip club, long associated with mob ties and frequent police scrutiny. Barrier and the club’s owner, Rick Rizzolo, had clashed since the ’80s over property expansion disputes.
On April 5, 2008, Barrier’s daughter, Jerica, reported him leaving to dine with a friend but never returning. The next day, he was found dead in a Motel 6 with a white powdery substance on his beard. Though ruled an accidental death due to cocaine and existing heart issues, his daughters challenged this finding, noting his years of sobriety and absence of cocaine in the room.
Interestingly, the motel room was accessed with a guest key card before Barrier’s check-in, and a voicemail from a woman named Lisa revealed she met him to discuss buying a motorcycle. Lisa claimed Barrier had a seizure in the motel, prompting her departure.
Rizzolo’s release from house arrest the day before Barrier’s death raised eyebrows, considering Barrier’s previous cooperation with investigators against him. In an Unsolved Mysteries interview, Barrier’s daughter Jessica recalled her father’s prediction that if he were k!lled, it would resemble an overdose involving women. Lisa’s connection to the Crazy Horse Too and the suspicious dollar bill left in Barrier’s wallet—linked to mob hits—fueled speculation.
5. Joshua Guimond Disappears Mysteriously After Leaving a 2002 Party
In 2002, Joshua Guimond, a bright 20-year-old student at St. John’s University in Minnesota, vanished after a brief visit to a party on November 9. Friends initially assumed he was heading to the bathroom, but Joshua was never seen again after leaving.
Friends noticed his absence the next day, prompting a search. Scent-tracking dogs traced his path home from the party, stopping near Stumpf Lake. Despite resemblance to other cases involving young men and water, exhaustive searches yielded no body, contradicting expectations of a spring thaw revelation.
Authorities were intrigued by evidence indicating someone had wiped Guimond’s computer days after his disappearance, the only such instance. Later analysis revealed he had masqueraded as women on Yahoo Personals to chat with men. Investigators suspect his disappearance might be linked to his covert online activities, but leads remain ambiguous.
4. The Mysterious ‘Oslo Plaza Woman’ Found in a Hotel With Few Clues to Her Identity
The Unsolved Mysteries episode “Death in Oslo” delves into the enigmatic case of the “Oslo Plaza Woman,” found dead in Oslo, Norway’s Radisson Blu Plaza hotel on June 3, 1995, from a bullet wound. Though ruled a suicide, the series explores alternate theories.
Checking in under the alias “Jennifer Fairgate,” the woman also listed a guest, “Lois Fairgate,” and was seen with an unidentified man. The lack of personal items in the room, and discovered bullets in a briefcase, suggested a staged scene. The gun’s serial number was obscured, garment tags removed, and the woman’s hand bore no blood—unlike typical suicides.
Key card data revealed a 20-hour absence post-check-in, though her whereabouts remain unknown. The room, with both key cards inside and door bolted, precluded a conventional exit. Former intelligence officer Ola Kaldager speculates the woman was an executed spy, underscored by potential espionage cover-up tactics evident in the scene.
3. Lester Eubanks Disappeared While On Furlough For Christmas Shopping
Mary Ellen Deener was trag!cally k!lled while running an errand, with Lester Eubanks, a man with a criminal past, confessing to the crime and sentenced to death row in 1966. His sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in 1972, leading to his participation in a reclamation-to-society program in 1973.
During a sanctioned Christmas shopping trip, Eubanks escaped, vanishing during his unsupervised time at the mall. The Unsolved Mysteries episode “Death Row Fug!tive” traces his movements post-escape to California, where he lived under an alias before relocating to Alabama. Despite a cold trail by 2003, renewed interest from the series led to tips.
In 2021, US Marshals believed the then-77-year-old Eubanks was in the Los Angeles area, continuing their search for the elusive fug!tive.
2. Alonzo Brooks’s Body Found in Creek After Being Stranded at a Party
In April 2004, Alonzo Brooks attended a La Cygne, KS, party an hour from his home, knowing few guests among the crowd of 100. As the evening progressed, Brooks’s friends gradually departed. The friend expected to drive him home left for cigarettes and became lost, inadvertently resulting in a miscommunication about Brooks’s ride.
His family sensed trouble when he wasn’t home the next day. During their search, they discovered his boots and hat along the roadside, suspecting foul play. Despite initial searches by the FBI and divers yielding no results, Brooks’s remains were discovered a month later by his family near a creek.
Initially listed as “undetermined,” Brooks’s cause of death has since been reclassified as a homicide. Rumors suggest racial motivations, as Brooks was one of the few Black attendees in the predominantly white area. In 2020, authorities exhumed his body for a new autopsy, reflecting ongoing efforts to solve his case.
1. Marie Elizabeth “Marliz” Spannhake’s Body Remains Unfound, But Police Have a Theory
The Season 3 episode “The Ghost in Apartment 14” features Jodi Foster, who moved with her daughter into an apartment in Chico, CA, on January 31, 2000. Foster recounts unsettling experiences, such as lights flickering off, a battery-less doll mysteriously speaking, her daughter’s imaginary friend named “My Liz,” and frequent nightmares about a young woman and a couple.
After residing there for three months, Foster learned the apartment was once home to Marie Elizabeth “Marliz” Spannhake, who vanished on January 31, 1976, last seen walking home from a flea market.
In 1984, a breakthrough in Spannhake’s case occurred when Janice Hooker contacted local police at the Church of the Nazarene. Troubled by her husband’s past actions, she sought to confess. Granted immunity, Janice revealed that in 1976, she and her husband Cameron gave a ride to Spannhake. When Spannhake tried to leave, Cameron placed a sound-proof box over her head and took her home. He attempted to cut her vocal cords to prevent screaming, but she started bleeding heavily. According to Janice, Spannhake died in the basement, and Cameron later buried her in the woods.
Janice also disclosed another victim, Colleen Stan, whom Cameron abducted in 1977 and kept in a coffin-like box for seven years. Janice eventually confided in Stan, leading to their escape while Cameron was at work. Though Stan recounted her ordeal to family, she refrained from alerting police at Janice’s request.
Cameron Hooker was tried and sentenced to 104 years for Stan’s abduction in 1984. Lacking Spannhake’s body, he wasn’t charged with her murder. Kevin Hale, Chief Investigator for the Tehama County District Attorney, mentioned on Unsolved Mysteries that Cameron has been granted parole contingent on mental health evaluations to establish if he remains a “s*xually v!olent predator.”
Cameron is likely to remain in a mental health facility indefinitely. Meanwhile, Janice Hooker has adopted a new identity and is raising two children.