The last guy who was last seen at the Brass Rail was found beaten to death last November. He also had an "altercation" at the bar. No charges were ever filed that I heard of. And his body wasn't found at the bar.
That incident involved a guy from New Haven who was in his early 50's. Left the Rail, ended up in a vehicle at some point, later found bleeding and dying on a city street on the east side of Fort Wayne. Died at the hospital. No info since shortly after the incident.
I first hung out at the Rail when I was out here on business late 2010 and into 2011. It's in an old industrial part of downtown, and since then a section of the area has been cleaned up where the baseball stadium is located. It's kinda "gritty" around there, best way I know how to describe it, but you get to W. Jefferson and it's like a different world in a way, such a contrast.
The Rail was owned by a nice old woman back then, really cool happy hour crowd of older regulars, folks who grew up in the neighborhood but who had left some years ago, that type of vibe. The place would change over around 7 or so, younger hip crowd, and just like now they would have live music on some nights. I never had a problem there, back then while on contract here, then ended up moving here 4 years later in late 2015.
The elderly owner of the bar died, and a few young guys bought it, so the story goes. I went in there on an afternoon shortly after moving back to Fort Wayne, and it was totally different, inside, at least the general vibe of the place. It's not my style, really, more of a hipster joint, with a roughness to it some nights, from what I've heard. The restroom area in the back corner is very dark, even during the daytime as there are no windows or lights back there, and the walls are painted black. I went there on an afternoon and drank one beer and left, just didn;t feel welcome, which is rare for me, i like my urban, gritty, old school bars.
If Kevin left and came back, he may very well have gone to Dan's Broadway Grill, which is a few blocks south from the Rail. I know a gal who bartends there, the place has had some trouble in recent years, but most nights it's pretty sane, just lively and an eclectic mix of urban locals. I've never had a problem there, but it's well-lit and people generally look after each other.
Bars here in Fort Wayne generally will not put up with trouble, and they don't want LE coming around. That said, I stay away from the Rail, just not my speed and I think they tend tp put up with some nonsense that other bars here would never put up with.
This Kevin Nguyen deal intrigues me, I drive through that area every day going back and forth to work, and wonder all the time what on earth happened to the poor guy.
My suspicion is Kevin walked north of the Arby's, along and/or through the surface parking lots between there and Main St. That time of morning would have been kinda desolate in spots in that part of downtown, but gosh someone would have seen him on foot in the more well-lit areas around Main and north of there, I'd imagine, if he kept to the sidewalks.
There's a major barrier before you even get to the St. Mary's River, the Norfolk-Southern main line through town. Kevin would have had very few choices walking through that area, that is places to cross over or under the tracks, and on to the 3 or 4 bridges he would have had choose from to cross the St. Mary's River in that part of town.
Which makes me wonder if he got picked up just north of Arby's.
If he didn't get picked up, something could have happened between, say, Main St. and the river. It's a dense mix of commercial, residential, schools, etc.
JMO
