Everyone: Brian isn't in the building. No way.
Me: Must mean Brian is likely still in the building. There isn't a shred of evidence he ever made it out. The construction area just feet from where Brian was last seen was completely dug up at the time. Then Brian disappears. No trace of him outside the building. Ever. They should have done some digging. Some serious digging. They didn't. They blew it. Brian's dad had the right idea in duplicating LE's use of dogs. I wonder if Randy Shaffer also wanted to do some digging.
IMO one of the biggest disadvantages CPD did for this investigation was to make it initially sound like there was no other way out of the Ugly Tuna other than the main entrance or the construction exit. I’m sure they had their reasons at the time, but people heard this, latched onto it, and just can’t get past it. Investigators have since clarified that there were in fact various other exits, but I feel like this is still not widely known. Many of the YouTube videos and podcasts out there that are not well-researched still focus on this misinformation.
As someone who was familiar with the bar at the time of Brian’s disappearance, I can tell you that patrons and employees regularly exited out of the building other ways. When walking into the bar, there was an emergency exit to the right. That door was often propped open, and although an employee usually sat nearby, people stepped out to smoke or use the phone or even exit down the stairs and out into the courtyard. Hurst has confirmed that the camera on this door had been overridden, so there is no surveillance of this exit on the night Brian disappeared.
In addition to that exit, there were doors in the hallway near the top of the escalator where Brian is last seen on CCTV. Those led to a hallway where there was an elevator as well as a stairwell. Yes, he could have taken either one down to the construction exit. But there were other options as well, including a service exit (which the bands and employees used) and the Mad Mex exit. There was a camera on the service exit, but that’s it.
Add to that the fact that no construction took place over the weekend. So, if Brian was injured or killed in the construction area in the early morning hours of Saturday 4/1, no one would have been working in that area until Monday 4/3. Brian had already been reported missing & CPD was investigating that area by that time.
The construction area was very small, and while there was a dirt floor, I do not believe it was as treacherous as some imagine. Hurst clarifies that a bit in the more recent interview on Kelly’s Dead or Alive podcast, and the True Crime Garage guys address that in their most recent update on this case as well. I know it was initially made to sound like there was no way one could navigate through there, but that is just not the case IMO.
Also, look at the timeline. Brian is seen on CCTV at 1:55 talking to Amber & Brightan at the top of the escalators. We know from Brightan’s interview with Kelly that after moving out of frame, Brian stayed and spoke with Amber while she used the restroom. When she returned several minutes later, she put her number in his phone before saying goodbye. That would be 1:58/1:59 at least. Clint & Meredith exit the bar at 2:00 and don’t see Brian. That only gives him a minute or two to disappear as they headed toward the exit. Clint claims to have seen Brian re-enter the bar before losing sight of him. If that’s true, the emergency exit was just to the right of the entrance, which would be closest to Brian if he saw Clint & Meredith upon re-entering & wanted to quickly dodge them as they proceeded towards him.
The dogs picked up Brian’s scent at Wendy’s, which would’ve been the direction he would’ve walked if heading home. Wendy’s parking lot was behind High St and there was no surveillance in that direction.
Finally, as mentioned earlier, Brian’s phone was off or out of service briefly when Meredith called him at 2:01 AM, but then was actively communicating with towers until 2:11 AM on 4/1. It began communicating again once CPD put a pinging service on it on Monday 4/3 and continued to do so for a period of time, indicating it was powered on.
As investigators have told Kelly, if we are ever going to find Brian, we have to get out of that building, because Brian did.
MOO