OH OH - Brian Shaffer, 27, Columbus, 1 April 2006 - #1

[SisterMadly]

If you enlarge the profile picture, there is a copyright from Ross Halfin (a major rock photographer) in the lower right hand corner. This photo is actually on Ross Halfin's website, as part of a picture set of Eddie Vedder/Pearl Jam that he took:

http://www.rosshalfin.co.uk/pearl-jam/pearl-jam01.php#

The picture is located in the 6th row down on the end.

The resemblence is uncanny in this picture though - I never realized how much Brian looks like Eddie Vedder!

 

[MaryLiz]

I noticed they were deleted from here, why?

Donna, I don't know. I would think it would have been okay with WS to post it on here, but maybe someone from LE or the family saw it and wanted it removed. Or maybe WS thought it was inappropriate. Since it's an ongoing investigation and LE is checking out the entry in the guest book, maybe someone requested for it to be removed. It's OK...like I said, I'm just glad it is being checked out...

The resemblence is uncanny in this picture though - I never realized how much Brian looks like Eddie Vedder!

You're right...I can't believe the resemblance. It's unreal!

 

[arielilane]

If you enlarge the profile picture, there is a copyright from Ross Halfin (a major rock photographer) in the lower right hand corner. This photo is actually on Ross Halfin's website, as part of a picture set of Eddie Vedder/Pearl Jam that he took:

http://www.rosshalfin.co.uk/pearl-jam/pearl-jam01.php#

The picture is located in the 6th row down on the end.

The resemblence is uncanny in this picture though - I never realized how much Brian looks like Eddie Vedder!

Thank you, SisterMadly, for clearing that up. It's is a cool pic of EV. I was able to see the photo on the link you provided. Whew!

 

[lilacwine]

We have been a community concerned with Brians disappearance since April, 2006. But we have to live life too, just like Brians girlfriend Alexis. I bet she is excited about watching OSU football with her fiance. Our football program did not disappear with Brian.:twocents:

You're right, Donna P. Anyone who has seen We Are Marshall... can appreciate the impact tragedies such as Brian's disappearance have on the community.

I'm sure Brian would be glad that Alexis found someone to love as well.

 

[pcoor1970]

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewAlbums&friendID=306021112

Wow, they do look alot alike. Check out the nose width and how the hairline comes to a point in the middle... what a coicidence.

 

[Donna P]

Here is the unobstructed photo-doesn't really look like brian

Those two pictures do look very much like they could be the same person although both faces are partially obscured making it hard to fully assess.

 

[Truthful Lies]

Wow. I'm so saddened by this.....at least he now knows what happened to Brian (if you believe in that sort of thing).

 

[pcoor1970]

Here is the unobstructed photo-doesn't really look like brian

I disagree. If I didn't know who they were and someone told me they were related, I could believe that.

 

[MaryLiz]

Police Downplay Connection Between Missing OSU Student, Web Message

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Investigators on Tuesday said that an Internet message pertaining to a missing Ohio State medical appeared to be a hoax. :furious:

More at link.

http://www.10tv.com/live/content/local/stories/2008/10/08/story_shaffer.html?sid=102

 

[PrayersForMaura]

Police Downplay Connection Between Missing OSU Student, Web Message

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Investigators on Tuesday said that an Internet message pertaining to a missing Ohio State medical appeared to be a hoax. :furious:

More at link.

http://www.10tv.com/live/content/local/stories/2008/10/08/story_shaffer.html?sid=102

But if they don't know who posted the message and it was from Ohio in a public place, how do they know it wasn't him?
I mean, I don't think Brian is a live but I am just wondering how they came to that conclusion.

 

[SeekingJana]

http://www.10tv.com/live/content/local/stories/2008/10/02/story_shaffer_case.html?sid=102

Investigators are looking into a message left on Randy's memorial site. It is signed " Love, Brian".
Apparently, it was sent from the Virgin Islands.

I've been wondering since his case hit the news if he could have been so upset over his mother's death, and possibly realizing that he couldn't face death and dying in his career choice, that he took off.

What if Randy's death is the catalyst to finding Brian? I'm not at all certain that Brian is dead.

 

[CaliKid]

http://www.10tv.com/live/content/local/stories/2008/10/02/story_shaffer_case.html?sid=102

Investigators are looking into a message left on Randy's memorial site. It is signed " Love, Brian".
Apparently, it was sent from the Virgin Islands.

I've been wondering since his case hit the news if he could have been so upset over his mother's death, and possibly realizing that he couldn't face death and dying in his career choice, that he took off.

What if Randy's death is the catalyst to finding Brian? I'm not at all certain that Brian is dead.

That is certainly very odd. I hope it isn't someone's idea of a joke.

 

[PattyCake]

OM goodness. His mom dies a month before he's missing and now his dad is gone too? what are the odds this entire family would be gone all together in such a short time? God bless the family remaining. so so sad.

 

[SeekingJana]

That is certainly very odd. I hope it isn't someone's idea of a joke.

Two things stand out at me about it being the Virgin Islands: His MySpace says he wants to own his own island someday.. I also read a comment by Alexis that when they first started dating, he had been away to another country for 2 months. As I recall, it was a tropical location. I will double check that. Edited to add- Yes. It was Puerto Rico.

I have always wondered if his mother's horrible illness and early death triggered a panic that he could not be an effective doctor, dealing with life and death on some level for the rest of his life. Alexis wrote 2 years ago about his hands shaking on their first date, so maybe he was a high-strung person internally. I know that we always tend to think of the missing as being dead, but I am not sure that he didn't have a mental break and left. Maybe one of the friends who refuses to talk helped him in exchange for something which they think would be criminal.

I don't have a strong feeling that he is dead. Changed but alive.

 

[arielilane]

Police Downplay Connection Between Missing OSU Student, Web Message

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Investigators on Tuesday said that an Internet message pertaining to a missing Ohio State medical appeared to be a hoax. :furious:

More at link.

http://www.10tv.com/live/content/local/stories/2008/10/08/story_shaffer.html?sid=102

Thank you, MaryBeth for keeping us posted. I had a gut feeling the post came from the Columbus area. Maybe they posted from a library?

 

[MaryLiz]

But if they don't know who posted the message and it was from Ohio in a public place, how do they know it wasn't him?
I mean, I don't think Brian is a live but I am just wondering how they came to that conclusion.

You're right, they don't know for sure if it was him. But my guess would be if he was in Columbus, why post that he was in the Virgin Islands? I think if Brian was still alive (and I hope and pray he is), that he could have left a cryptic message like that and just not put anyplace down in the guest book as to where the message was coming from. The fact that the message originated from a public computer in Columbus saying he was Brian and in the Virgin Islands tells me that it WAS someone playing a joke. At least that's just the way I see it now. I could be wrong but I don't think if Brian was still alive and he signed that guest book, he would have put down where the message was coming from.

On the other hand, my gut is telling me, if Brian is still alive and he found out his father died, I think no matter what he took off to deal with, Randy's death would have brought him back almost immediately, especially knowing his brother Derek was the only one left.

 

[MaryLiz]

This info about the guest book signature is also being discussed on Brian's thread in the Missing Persons thread. Here is what I posted yesterday on there after LE checked out the message.

Police Downplay Connection Between Missing OSU Student, Web Message

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Investigators on Tuesday said that an Internet message pertaining to a missing Ohio State medical appeared to be a hoax. :furious:

More at link.

http://www.10tv.com/live/content/loc...r.html?sid=102
__________________

 

[CaliKid]

I was afraid of that. How cruel people can be.

 

[SeekingJana]

The article says that the police have tracked the IP addresss of the message sender who signed the memorial book " Love, Brian", did NOT originate from the Virgin Islands at all, but was traced to a Franklin County, Ohio public use computer.

I am paraphrasing, not directly quoting. However, what I am noticing in the cases such as Brian's with long- missing and the Websleuth rule against copying and pasting articles pertinent to crimes we are following is that the links expire long before the crime is solved. This happened to me this AM with a murder which has not yet gone to trial but should start this month, 2 years after a suspect was charged in FL.

Understanding why the rule was enacted, but seeing it being detrimental when only links or a few words are posted, and the links later are taken down by the host sites, I think we would benefit from using our own talents as communicators to tell what the gist was of what we are linking. For photos, I guess it's a lost cause. I think most of us would benefit from paraphrasing an article to retain the meaning, perserving what was said for the future, when it might be needed.

 

[SisterMadly]

I had an experience this weekend that brought Brian to my mind really sharply.

At about 2 am this Saturday I was out with friends at a bar on High Street on the same block as the Ugly Tuna, when I witnessed a couple being assaulted by 3 men. The couple was on the ground and was being beaten by this group. My friends and I summoned help and called 911, but once it was all over and we were home, my mind really started swirling...

Assuming that he did leave the Ugly Tuna and security cameras just didn't pick him up for whatever reason...what if something like this happened to Brian and there was no one around, or at least no one willing to summon help or report this to the police. What if people did witness something happening to Brian and are still out there there and still unwilling to report what they saw?

I've always thought there's no way something like this could happen in the area that Brian was last seen because it's a busy area that at 2 am on a weekend is crawling with people, and usually has a lot of police patrolling. But really it only took seconds for this incident that we witnessed to happen, and something similar could have happened to Brian without anyone ever seeing it, hearing it, knowing it happened.

I guess I'm finally accepting that something really could have happened to Brian right there on this crowded street with police only blocks away. I guess part of the reason why I believed that Brian really is out there running away from his problems or in a fugue was because I needed to convince myself that I'm perfectly safe when walking (and occasionally stumbling) around the same area that the Ugly Tuna is located.

I know these are by far not new ideas and this whole post is off-topic-ish and I'm not even quite sure of my own point, but I don't really have anywhere else to share this stuff and I need it out of my head! And at least it gives me a reason to bump the thread!