http://www.forsythnews.com/news.php
Missing woman's search goes national
From Staff Reports
Wednesday, September 22, 2004
Since her disappearance in April, friends and family of Patrice Tamber Endres have used many methods to search for the Forsyth County woman.
The newest effort involves a voluntary program of over-the-road truckers.
A national missing person's locator program, 18 Wheel Angels, is spearheaded by a nonprofit organization, Project Jason. The program enlists the aid of truck drivers and business travelers to place posters of missing persons along their routes as they travel across the country. Participants are asked to go to the 18 Wheel Angels link on the Project Jason Web site at
www.projectjason.org, and download and print as many posters as they can place. Anyone can participate.
Patrice Endres' campaign began on Sept. 16 and will run through Sept. 30.
In addition to the 18 Wheel Angels campaign, Project Jason had added Endres to its Adopt a Missing Person program. Endres' family sent buttons to the organization to have available for people across the country to mail in and request. The person who adopts Patrice also will be mailed an information card, which contains a bio and personal information about Patrice.
Project Jason was founded by Kelly Jolkowski, mother of missing Omaha, Neb., youth Jason Jolkowski.
Jolkowski said that she devotes full-time hours to the project, in addition to working a full-time job.
"I'm always on the Internet looking for new candidates," she said. "Then, I attempt contact with their family and offer our services to them."
The program began in mid-January and features two missing persons per month. More than 7,000 posters have been printed and distributed since the start.
Jolkowski said that while the posters have yet to generate a lead, it continues to keep the missing person's face in the public.
"The success is getting their face out there as many times as you can. The program also gives the family hope by letting them know that people care."
In addition to placing the posters in truck stops and businesses, some owner-operators have posted the photos on their vehicles.
The all volunteer group's mission is to create and increase public awareness of missing people through a variety of outreach and educational activities. Project Jason seeks to bring hope and assistance to families of the missing by providing resources and support.
Endres, 38, has been missing since April 15. She operated Tamber's Trim-N-Tan hair salon on Hwy. 369 in north Forsyth, where she was last seen helping a customer at about 11:35 a.m. She was reported missing 10 minutes later. Endres' car, purse and wallet were left behind, but the salon's cash was missing, according to Forsyth County authorities.
