OH OH - Brian Shaffer, 27, Columbus, 1 Apr 2006 #5

[neesaki]

I’m curious how there’s a possible Brian Shaffer connection. Could you clarify? TIA

Sorry…. I hadn’t taken the time to read beyond the headline. When I saw Miami I thought Florida. I do see that it’s skeletal remains.

 

[arielilane]

I’m curious how there’s a possible Brian Shaffer connection. Could you clarify? TIA

Nothing substantial to base it on. moo. Thought of Brian since he had connection to OH; however, after researching the location, and AG website OH list of missing people it's possible its someone else, or even someone not from the OH area. Time will tell.

 

[CountSnap]

Hmmmm.
Wondering if it could be this poor soul:
David Fugate

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

 

[CharlesRedding]

I will never rule something entirely out. I just think the timing of everything else shows he was on his way out, somehow or another.
Plus, no body.
It's just so rare for an adult male to be randomly murdered and his body not to be found.
Not saying at all it's not what happened.
Just thinking he was attempting to at least vanish for that night.
After that who knows...
Still think his friend knows more. Well, could almost guarantee it.

So true that if it was a random crime they wouldn't go through the process of hiding his body. Him leaving the area must have been on his own but to where and with who is the question. Hopefully one day we will know.

 

[arielilane]

Posted this in Ray Gricar thread yesterday; however, further research of area determine possibly Brian Shaffer connection? The area is about 150 miles from where BS went missing? MOO

Coroner now has remains kayakers find in Great Miami River in Miami Twp. area

Remains that had undergone “significant decomposition” were found in the Great Miami River on Friday morning.

news.yahoo.com

This would not be Brian. moo

Identified! - OH - Montgomery Co. Miami Twp, Male, Skeletal Remains in Great Miami River, Large Tattoo on Back, June '23 - Vernon Seidler

I haven't found a lot of info on this yet (no age, race, etc., and so far all the different MSM links at the bottom of this post are reporting only the mention as the one I posted = Male), but the Montgomery Co. Coroner has asked for help identifying a male found in the river by kayakers on June...

www.websleuths.com

 

[SerialGal]

It’s been awhile since I’ve been around here. I think of Brian often, as I’m in Columbus quite a bit. Like many, I think he is deceased. Part of me, though, would love to find out that he has a new life somewhere. This case baffles me something fierce, and at inconsistent times. I still hope we someday learn the truth.

 

[GoBuckeyes]

That’s in West Virginia, not Ohio. I had to read it a few times to get it.

Thank you for clarifying. I was so confused.

 

[pittsburghgirl]

The arrest in the Long Island serial killer case gives me hope that someday fresh eyes will look at Brian's disappearance.

 

[Satch]

Hmmmm.
Wondering if it could be this poor soul:
David Fugate

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

I don't think so, cuz it says this ID was last contacted in February 2020. For Brian's case, I think he got out of the bar somehow that was not detected by the security cameras. The dogs tracked a scent of urine/vomit near a Wendys if I recall. I think he had an accident on the way home that was fatal.

I also think that he wanted to avoid Clint and Meredith that night.

Satch

 

[thebigcookie]

'Margaritaville' singer Jimmy Buffett dies at 76

Jimmy Buffett -- famed singer, songwriter, musician and mogul -- has passed away at the age of 76.

abcnews.go.com

Jimmy Buffett has died. Seems like Brian really liked his music and wanted to start a band like his.

 

[MysteryMaven]

I am surprised people are still speculating about dumpsters. MSM articles explain they were thoroughly checked. Also when the contents are dumped into a landfill, bodies have are spotted in the garbage being dumped. I think if he was in a dumpster he would have turned up. I think he wound up in a body of water, Oletangy or Scioto or is somewhere in the construction site. We have definitely seen cases where someone got trapped in a wall in a bar, right?
It was probably some freak thing that happened quickly.
ETA, from anyone local-The Scioto looks to be fairly shallow but it runs for a long way south and empties in to the Ohio River. Is it possible for a body to travel all that way without being seen? It appears plenty of people have drowned in the Scioto even though it’s not some huge raging river.

 

[Chimera]

Am familiar with Brian's case.
Hope his family can have answers someday !

What an odd disappearance since he wasn't seen on cc cams , afaik ?
Omo.

 

[Valiant]

I am surprised people are still speculating about dumpsters. MSM articles explain they were thoroughly checked. Also when the contents are dumped into a landfill, bodies have are spotted in the garbage being dumped. I think if he was in a dumpster he would have turned up. I think he wound up in a body of water, Oletangy or Scioto or is somewhere in the construction site. We have definitely seen cases where someone got trapped in a wall in a bar, right?
It was probably some freak thing that happened quickly.
ETA, from anyone local-The Scioto looks to be fairly shallow but it runs for a long way south and empties in to the Ohio River. Is it possible for a body to travel all that way without being seen? It appears plenty of people have drowned in the Scioto even though it’s not some huge raging river.

The Scioto and Olentangy rivers are pretty shallow. I doubt he could have ended up there unnoticed.

 

[Functionalist]

The Scioto and Olentangy rivers are pretty shallow. I doubt he could have ended up there unnoticed.

Based on the cellphone pings after his disappearance, I think the most probable explanation is that he was murdered. His body was was buried somewhere or otherwise disposed of in a way that, unfortunately, covered the assailant or assailants’ tracks well. The assailant periodically turned Brian’s cellphone on but turned it off immediately upon noticing it still had service.

A body thrown in a dumpster would likely be noticed either by garbagemen or the employees of the dump who spread around the piles of garbage after they come out of the trucks with construction equipment.

I’m not from Columbus, but you can see that the local rivers are typically shallow on Google Maps satellite imagery. There are walking and cycling trails along the rivers in many areas. His body would have been found by someone if it ended up in the river.

I’ve always wondered, though, about these flooded quarries in the middle of the city. If his body were weighed down, it could be dumped into one of the flooded quarries and never surface. We’ve seen cases in which the assailant put the body in a barrel and filled it with something heavy like concrete, before dumping the barrel in a body of water.

I wonder if the police have ever done dives into the quarries in this case or other cases. Even if Brian’s body isn’t there, there could be evidence of other crimes.

 

[Teche]

I'm knew to this thread. I watched a Missing episode on Discovery+ this morning that covered Brian’s case. Was Brian in med school or obtaining an undergrad degree? We're his grades good?
Brian had a close relationship with his mom but, what about his father? If he walked away, would he have missed his father’s funeral?

 

[dotr]

Refresher, lengthy.

From the Archives: What Happened to Brian Shaffer?

Randy Shaffer died in a freak accident in 2008 before he could unravel the mystery that had consumed his life for nearly three years—the disappearance of his son.

www.columbusmonthly.com

April Johnston 2019
This story originally appeared in the April 2009 issue of Columbus Monthly.

From the Archives: What Happened to Brian Shaffer?

Randy Shaffer died in a freak accident in 2008 before he could unravel the mystery that had consumed his life for nearly three years—the disappearance of his son.

www.columbusmonthly.com

''The case always has been a tragic one, even for the detectives who are accustomed to investigating hardship. Brian's mother, Renee, lost her battle with cancer only three weeks before he disappeared. The double loss sent her husband, Randy, into a tailspin. He spent the next two and a half years on a rabid, relentless search for his oldest son, sloshing along miles of river bank, fielding phone calls from psychics and making pleading, public pitches for help, until a freak accident during a September 2008 windstorm took him, too.


''The details of that Friday night in 2006 have been reported and repeated, sifted and scrutinized, examined and re-examined by the family, the police and the web-based sleuths who love a good mystery.

It goes something like this: Brian, 27, and his former roommate, Clint Florence, arrive at South Campus Gateway's Ugly Tuna Saloona sometime after 9, determined to celebrate the beginning of spring break with a boys' night out. Just before 10, Brian speaks briefly to his girlfriend, Alexis Waggoner, who, like him, is a second-year medical student at Ohio State. He tells her he loves her and hangs up. It is the last time she'll talk to him. While Waggoner visits her parents' home in Toledo, Brian and Florence barhop from Gateway to the Arena District to the Short North, where they meet Florence's friend, Meredith Reed. By this time, Florence will later explain to police, they've had several shots and gladly take Reed up on her offer of a lift back to the Ugly Tuna.


Surveillance cameras hidden in the ceilings and facades at Gateway catch the trio riding the escalator up to the second-floor bar and stepping inside. It’s 1:15. Just before 2, Brian is back in the camera’s view, speaking with two college-age women. He appears to say goodbye and walk away. He’s never seen again.

Calls from Florence and Reed go unanswered that night. Calls from Waggoner and Randy go unanswered all weekend. But it isn't until Monday morning, when Brian misses a long-scheduled flight to Florida, that his family is sure something is wrong. They call Columbus police. ''

 

[Teche]

Refresher, lengthy.

From the Archives: What Happened to Brian Shaffer?

Randy Shaffer died in a freak accident in 2008 before he could unravel the mystery that had consumed his life for nearly three years—the disappearance of his son.

www.columbusmonthly.com

April Johnston 2019
This story originally appeared in the April 2009 issue of Columbus Monthly.
View attachment 447686

From the Archives: What Happened to Brian Shaffer?

Randy Shaffer died in a freak accident in 2008 before he could unravel the mystery that had consumed his life for nearly three years—the disappearance of his son.

www.columbusmonthly.com

''The case always has been a tragic one, even for the detectives who are accustomed to investigating hardship. Brian's mother, Renee, lost her battle with cancer only three weeks before he disappeared. The double loss sent her husband, Randy, into a tailspin. He spent the next two and a half years on a rabid, relentless search for his oldest son, sloshing along miles of river bank, fielding phone calls from psychics and making pleading, public pitches for help, until a freak accident during a September 2008 windstorm took him, too.


''The details of that Friday night in 2006 have been reported and repeated, sifted and scrutinized, examined and re-examined by the family, the police and the web-based sleuths who love a good mystery.

It goes something like this: Brian, 27, and his former roommate, Clint Florence, arrive at South Campus Gateway's Ugly Tuna Saloona sometime after 9, determined to celebrate the beginning of spring break with a boys' night out. Just before 10, Brian speaks briefly to his girlfriend, Alexis Waggoner, who, like him, is a second-year medical student at Ohio State. He tells her he loves her and hangs up. It is the last time she'll talk to him. While Waggoner visits her parents' home in Toledo, Brian and Florence barhop from Gateway to the Arena District to the Short North, where they meet Florence's friend, Meredith Reed. By this time, Florence will later explain to police, they've had several shots and gladly take Reed up on her offer of a lift back to the Ugly Tuna.


Surveillance cameras hidden in the ceilings and facades at Gateway catch the trio riding the escalator up to the second-floor bar and stepping inside. It’s 1:15. Just before 2, Brian is back in the camera’s view, speaking with two college-age women. He appears to say goodbye and walk away. He’s never seen again.

Calls from Florence and Reed go unanswered that night. Calls from Waggoner and Randy go unanswered all weekend. But it isn't until Monday morning, when Brian misses a long-scheduled flight to Florida, that his family is sure something is wrong. They call Columbus police. ''

Thank you!

 

[formerpolicestaff]

I am surprised people are still speculating about dumpsters. MSM articles explain they were thoroughly checked. Also when the contents are dumped into a landfill, bodies have are spotted in the garbage being dumped. I think if he was in a dumpster he would have turned up. I think he wound up in a body of water, Oletangy or Scioto or is somewhere in the construction site. We have definitely seen cases where someone got trapped in a wall in a bar, right?
It was probably some freak thing that happened quickly.
ETA, from anyone local-The Scioto looks to be fairly shallow but it runs for a long way south and empties in to the Ohio River. Is it possible for a body to travel all that way without being seen? It appears plenty of people have drowned in the Scioto even though it’s not some huge raging river.

If you look at the Corrie Mckeague case, they believe he was in a bin/dumpster and he was never spotted. I wouldn’t rule out anything in Brian’s case.

Corrie McKeague died after getting into a bin on a night out, inquest finds

Father of the RAF serviceman says he hopes ruling will shine ‘a new light on the truth for everyone’

www.theguardian.com

That being said, I’m looking into this case. I’ve got some information from someone tonight which I’m going to look into soon, relating to other disappearances, which may link to Brian’s. Will post back if I see anything interesting.

 

[dotr]

<modsnip>

Found Deceased - OH - Joey LaBute, 26, Columbus, 4 March 2016 #2

Joey LaBute Family frantic after 26-year-old man goes missing Columbus, Ohio - "The assumption was he'd be right back." That's what Joey LaBute's friends and cousins thought when Joe LaBute left the table to go to the bar. Days later, they've found his car, but they can't find him...

www.websleuths.com

 

[formerpolicestaff]

<modsnip>

Found Deceased - OH - Joey LaBute, 26, Columbus, 4 March 2016 #2

Joey LaBute Family frantic after 26-year-old man goes missing Columbus, Ohio - "The assumption was he'd be right back." That's what Joey LaBute's friends and cousins thought when Joe LaBute left the table to go to the bar. Days later, they've found his car, but they can't find him...

www.websleuths.com

Thanks for the link. From what I'm seeing and reading, there's more than a few similarities between Brian and Joey's cases. I need to read the previous 48 pages so it may take a while. It's 10 years apart, but it's eerily similar circumstances and events.