OH OH - Brian Shaffer, 27, Columbus, 1 April 2006 - #2

[Deleted member 155000]

@HelpingHeart, according to Clint they were regulars at the bars on that strip, not just Ugly Tuna Saloona I guess. The idea about running away with a girl there is interesting, yet personally I don't find it very plausible- she would have likely been reported missing as well. All the staff was questioned and it was never brought up about any girl that worked there disappearing. As for the two girls on the tape, both were questioned by police but couldn't provide any useful information. The security tape was CCTV I think, and it maybe was owned by the plaza? I don't know if the bar owner would have access to security tapes. As for living on a tropical island, Brian had no records of buying plane tickets to anywhere except Florida so I don't know about that. Unless he left for Florida that Saturday without Alexis (he already had the ticket), laid low there for a bit and headed to an island from Florida after awhile. His Facebook shows that he's been to Puerto Rico and loved it, so maybe he went back there? If he were to go somewhere else, it might be somewhere he'd be familiar with

Seems like the airline would be able to confirm or deny to police whether he was on the plane? When I flew back then, tickets were scanned at the gate.

 

[MatthewTyler]

I see where you're coming from, neesaki. Like I said, the more I talk about this the more I doubt everything. I would take the fact that Clint and his attorney believe that Brian is alive somewhere with a grain of salt. Of course they would say that if they're trying to maintain Clint's innocence. The only thing I doubt with the running away theory is how he did it without money, phone or car. Unless he had another bank account/credit card and phone that his father didn't know about that wasn't being monitored. Also, why choose that night to disappear when he could have literally slipped out of his house any time completely unnoticed? If he did willingly leave I'm sure he didn't anticipate the media circus this would cause, mainly due to his not being on camera. That's the main reason that this case blew up like it did

 

[HelpingHeart]

I keep wondering about the escape thing as well, but then I think - why would he have gone out that night? Why not just disappear from his apartment and use his car or something? So, if we do think he was indeed murdered by someone, how did no one see anything - leaving the bar? I still wonder why Clint did not want to take a polygraph.

 

[MatthewTyler]

I don't think Clint refusing a poly is that strange. He was just emerging in the medical field and if he should fail a poly due to any glitch (those tests are not reliable and not even considered real science) then it would have doomed his life forever. His lawyer probably advised him not to take it, even if he is innocent. Clint probably wanted to just get his name disassociated from the entire case in general, which is maybe why he stopped talking to detectives after awhile. Though of course, if he is guilty then shame on him and I hope it eats away at him. I wish he could at least tell officers if Brian was committing infidelity or doing drugs, just so there is SOME kind of lead to go off on what he might have been doing that night.

 

[HelpingHeart]

Yeah, but I still think that is fishy. If my friend (good friend or not) went missing, I would cooperate fully to help in any way I can, and I would not even need a lawyer?? I would never even think, "this may interfere with me being a doctor..."

I am not saying Clint did anything, I just think it sounds strange.

 

[MatthewTyler]

As for Brian choosing that night to disappear if it was voluntary, then the ONLY possible thing I can think of, and it's a stretch, is that maybe he wanted to make it look like a night out gone wrong. Perhaps if everyone thought he was killed and disposed of maybe they would stop looking for him and his disappearance would look like an accident and thus his family wouldn't blame him for it. If he disappeared from his home and took his car then it would look much more intentional, and therefore maybe cause more shame for his family if they KNEW it was his choice to leave. Plus then they'd send out fliers in every state to look for him (which pretty much happened anyway because of the unintentional mystery of the cameras) if they knew he was driving and leaving on his own.

 

[Deleted member 155000]

Okay, I reviewed Brian's first thread on Websleuths. I was surprised that no one had made a timeline at the time, as that seems to be standard on this forum these days when someone goes missing. It's trickier trying to make a timeline 10 years later, but I've scraped up what I found so far and welcome all of you to copy and paste this "draft" of a timeline to your posts to add more events or details.

Please note, some of the original articles from 8-10 years ago are no longer on the web, so secondary sources that referenced those or, in some cases, web archives had to be used.

Bio: Brian was born February 25, 1979. He graduated in 1997 from Pickerington High, went to Ohio State for his undergrad in microbiology, and then to OSU's med school. His mother, Renee--who he admired deeply, by all accounts--passed away from cancer in March of 2006.

March 28, 2016: Alexis reported Brian jokingly suggested they should skip class the next day and runaway together. She also, however, acknowledged that he had also once suggested recently that Alexis should move on from him due to his grief.

April 1 : Brian goes out to dinner with his dad, Randy. His dad says Brian was tired and it seemed like poor timing for Brian to engage a night out with friends. But Brian wanted to celebrate the beginning of Spring Break with the guys. Brian invited his brother, Derek--whom by all accounts, he had gotten closer to during the last days of their mother's life--to come along with him. However, his brother had plans to see a comedy show with his girlfriend.

6:21 p.m.: Brian left a message on Alexis' MySpace page saying he was looking forward to their trip to Miami.

9:30 p.m.: Brian and some male friends headed to Ugly Toona Saloona, a bar located near the OSU campus.

9:56: Brian and Alexis talked on the phone, he told her he was out with "the guys" and this was his chance to talk about her. He also told her he loved her. The person he seemed to be hanging out with throughout the night was his former roommate, Clint.

After the call to Alexis, Brian and his friends walked to the Arena District in Columbus and visited two bars called North Shore Tavern and Brother's. They were said to meet up with other friends at Brother's. They met up with another known girl, Meredith, there and she gave them a ride back to Ugly Tuna.

1:15 a.m.:Security footage shows Brian, Clint, and Meredith riding the escalator up the Ugly Tuna building.

1:55 a.m.: Brian was seen on security footage talking to two women, outside the bar but still in the building. He does not appear excessively drunk in any of the footage. I.e. He is not faltering, wobbling etc. He then walks off camera, seemingly toward the entrance of the Ugly Tuna.

2:00 a.m.: Clint and Meredith said Brian walked away from them at some point, to talk to other people--which was not unusual for him, but they could not locate him at 2:00 a.m. when the bar closed. Some said he went to talk to the band. Since he was a big Pearl Jam fan, and had a Pearl Jam album cover inspired tattoo, this seems plausible. They called Brian, but could not locate him and eventually assumed he left for home on his own. By 2:00 a.m. Brian's phone was said to be going straight to voicemail.

Randy, Alexis, and police all pored over surveillance footage. The police said they were able to determine that every person that came in also left, EXCEPT for Brian.

The following theories have been offered for why Brian's exit didn't appear on camera:

1. He may have gone into a movie theater that used the same building and sometimes showed midnight movies. It has not been confirmed there was a movie showing that night that I am aware of.If this was the case, he would've still used the same escalator/exit that was monitored by cameras.

2. Apparently the movie theater had an emergency exit which triggered a camera when used.

3. Ugly Tuna had a staff exit in the back that, at the time, went out to a construction area. The detective on the case didn't think using this exit was likely. The door was chained. It would've been hard to squeeze through and hard to maneuver. Cadaver dogs were later brought to this area and they did not find any scent of Brian. No articles at the time suggested there were areas where Brian could've fallen undetected or which were later sealed by cement, although this has been speculated.

4. Brian was said to have gone and talked to the band. Some have speculated he left with the band or a worker out the back entrance.

5. It has also been said that at least one of the security cameras was the type that panned the room and could be adjusted by security guards watching. It is, then, possible that the panning camera simply missed Brian's exit.

6. The police did find footage on Saturday morning of a tall white man leaving Ugly Tuna, followed by two black men. When they froze the frame and blew up the photo, however, Brian's friends and family did not think the image was of Brian.

7. He purposefully changed his appearance and escaped detection. However, police have said they examined the video for this and couldn't find any other person who exited who could've been Brian.

8. The girls Brian was last seen talking to on camera and a man seen repeatedly riding on the escalator (apparently trying to re-connect with his own ride) were both questioned and cleared.

Note: Brian lived on King Ave. less than a mile from the bar. But Brian's car was at his apartment and all his belongings were undisturbed. He didn't use his phone or credit cards after disappearing and his phone, wallet, and keys were never found.

At one point, it was rumored that a homeless person reported seeing Brian 4 days later. I couldn't confirm this source as the original article was no longer there.

The friends Brian hung out with that night took lie detectors, except for Clint who refused and hired a lawyer. Meredith also hired a lawyer, but later said she had taken and passed a lie detector test. This was difficult to verify. By all accounts, Clint refused to take the lie detector test. It was also said on the WS forum that he asked for immunity if he did so and was denied.

April 3/4: Police with cadaver dogs, as well as Brian's dad and Alexis, searched the area. It was searched multiple times since then.

May 11, 2006: Someone kicked in Brian's apartment door and stole some electronics. The police had Alexis help determine what was missing. A TV and DVD player were reported missing. It is of course possible that other things were missing, but went unnoticed.

September, 2006: Alexis said she paid Brian's cell phone and called it every night. His brother and father also reported calling it regularly. It always went to voicemail. One night in September, 2006, however, it rang out of nowhere, but no one answered. Alexis notified Brian's father and the police. When called again, it rang for several hours. Cingular, the company, said it could be the phone was charged or it was glitching and the actual device never rang. The phone was said to have pinged in Hilliard, which according to one posted, is a small city/community west of Columbus about 15-20 minutes away from Campus where he disappeared from.

March 28, 2007: A vigil was held. Brian's father had 1,000 green balloons released to represent hope for his son.

June 23, 2007: A sick commenter left an offensive message on findbrianshaffer.com's message board, which seemed blatantly like cruelty, suggesting Brian was attacked and harmed/burned. It was so outrageous and purposefully offensive, it was deemed a hoax.

August, 2007: Texase Eqqsearch searched the area and did not find anything. They had intended to come back in December, but canceled due to the illness of a member of their team.

September 15, 2008: Brian's father, Randy, was tragically killed by a falling tree branch during a severe storm. He had gone out to retrieve supplies from the shed. He was discovered by neighbors the next day.

October 2, 2008: Someone claiming to be Brian, and claiming to be in the Virgin Islands, left a message on the obituary/funeral page for Brian's father. It was a short message that said he loved him. It was later determined the message was sent from a public computer in Franklin County, Ohio, but the exact sender was never determined.

April 2009: The Lantern, OSU's student newspaper, quoted Clint's lawyer Rosenberg.

"...'It is Brian, and not Clint who is causing his family pain and hardship," Rosenberg wrote. "Brian should come forward and end this.' Florence, he said, did not have anything to hide, he had merely told everything he knew from the beginning and did not see the value of doing so again...."

2011: Extended family members were still leaving Brian family updates on his MySpace page, but mentioned they didn't know if he was alive to see them, but were leaving them just in case. They asked him to contact family members if he was still alive.

2014: Crime Stoppers said they were receiving around 2 tips a month about Brian's case still.

***

Again, please feel free to copy and paste and add more details to this in your posts here on WS.

Most Probable Scenario?:Also, some of the commenters here have discussed this and suggested the most likely scenario is he somehow left the bar, but met with an accident or attacker...possibly in part due to being under the influence and alone at night in a neighborhood where crimes were commonplace.

Scenario Mentioned By Those Closest To The Case: Brian's father, brother, Alexis, Clint (via his lawyer), and the main detective all--at least at one point--though it plausible that Brian could have fled out of grief/breakdown. People have speculated because of things he wrote on his MySpace or said that he always idealized living on an island and being in a band. He said on his MySpace profile description: "Um...I really love music and this whole doctor thing is really just a job (only temporary) until I get my band together and put out a record. I want to own an island someday, or at least a beach so I can listen to Buffett all day and drink margaritas with my senorita."

Other Possible Rumors/Scenarios Thrown Out on WS in the last 10 years Brian left with the band, an employee, went to reunite with an ex in Texas, left to start a new life, was leading a double life, things went bad with Clint, Clint and/or Meredith had come onto/liked Brian in past. It was also examined whether he could be a victim of theorized serial killers, called the Smiley Face Killers, but the FBI and police both discredited this due to lack of graffiti, lack of a body, and the fact that the existence of such a killer hasn't been proven.There were other similar aged male victims who died around bars or around the river in the surrounding years however.

Note: An email password "AlexisLoveMarry" was found on an index card in Brian's apartment. By all accounts, he loved and intended to marry Alexis.

Questions I still have:
1. Did security cameras run all night? After hours? 24 hours a day? And was it verified that the video's timestamp was accurate?
2. What other friends interacted with Brian that night?
3. Were Clint and Meredith's cars, phone records, and credit card records searched?
4. What band played that night? Was there gear or vehicle searched? What about the vehicles of workers at the bar?
5. What about Brian's credit cards? Did he use cash (his dad said he usually carried it) at the bars earlier that night?

 

[Alleykins]

I will never, ever take a polygraph for any reason. Nor will I ever speak to investigators again, not after what I went through as a defense witness. And, especially not after what I went through when I was falsely accused of stealing money from an employer. I was incessantly harassed and intimidated. Nothing I said would convince them I didn't take it, and after the fourth time I was cornered, I told them if I saw them again, I would be getting a lawyer. It ruined my standing with the company even though I was innocent. Turns out it was the woman I was working with that morning who took the money - but she was "ruled" out - do you know why? Because they said she was too sweet and kind to be a thief, so that left me. Guess what? Little Miss Mary Sunshine was caught red handed doing it again a few months later and I didn't even get an apology.
Never again.

 

[neesaki]

I see where you're coming from, neesaki. Like I said, the more I talk about this the more I doubt everything. I would take the fact that Clint and his attorney believe that Brian is alive somewhere with a grain of salt. Of course they would say that if they're trying to maintain Clint's innocence. The only thing I doubt with the running away theory is how he did it without money, phone or car. Unless he had another bank account/credit card and phone that his father didn't know about that wasn't being monitored. Also, why choose that night to disappear when he could have literally slipped out of his house any time completely unnoticed? If he did willingly leave I'm sure he didn't anticipate the media circus this would cause, mainly due to his not being on camera. That's the main reason that this case blew up like it did

I keep wondering about the escape thing as well, but then I think - why would he have gone out that night? Why not just disappear from his apartment and use his car or something? So, if we do think he was indeed murdered by someone, how did no one see anything - leaving the bar? I still wonder why Clint did not want to take a polygraph.

You makes some good points, Matthew. Which if are correct lead me to one of my other theories which I hate to consider... suicide. It does seem like they'd have found his body though. Or, it goes back to foul play, and his body was removed from the area. Still, seems as though he was saying his goodbyes that night. Darn it, I don't know what to think.

 

[HelpingHeart]

Thanks for the timeline, Bess! Neesaki - I actually was just going to bring up the suicide theory as well. I know someone recently who is going through depression, and they did very uncharacteristic things and said they wanted to just escape. Men tend to take things harder in some ways, and run from problems. He may have committed suicide somewhere that no one has just found him yet. I live near Cincinnati and there was a case a few years ago where a college kid going to UC disappeared one evening. That evening he had been hanging with friends as usual and drinking, and last seen walking down his street near his apartment. They could not find him for days (maybe weeks, cannot recall) and then they finally did. He committed suicide in a nearby building being renovated. It was so heartbreaking to hear about - I did not know him, but took it hard.

Just a theory to add into the mix based off his grief.

 

[MatthewTyler]

You makes some good points, Matthew. Which if are correct lead me to one of my other theories which I hate to consider... suicide. It does seem like they'd have found his body though. Or, it goes back to foul play, and his body was removed from the area. Still, seems as though he was saying his goodbyes that night. Darn it, I don't know what to think.

I actually don't believe that he committed suicide, simply because he would VERY LIKELY be found. I can understand a person running off to kill themselves and not being found for days, maybe even weeks, but over 10 years? Nah. Not trying to be funny in any way here, but unless he dipped himself into a vat of acid and dissolved his whole body then I don't think he'd be able to hide himself that well.

 

[HelpingHeart]

I actually don't believe that he committed suicide, simply because he would VERY LIKELY be found. I can understand a person running off to kill themselves and not being found for days, maybe even weeks, but over 10 years? Nah. Not trying to be funny in any way here, but unless he dipped himself into a vat of acid and dissolved his whole body then I don't think he'd be able to hide himself that well.

I only mean - in the woods or maybe jumped off bridge. But I know it's highly unlikely, but is a theory. There's many cases of suspected suicides alone in San Fran - still not found for years. I doubt he did, but still just another theory.


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[MatthewTyler]

BessDrew, awesome timeline. Thank you! I didn't realize that Brian joking about running away with Alexis came that close to his actual disappearance date. Suspicious indeed. Some of the theories are a little out there- I definitely don't think he changed clothes or disguised himself to get out the exit because he wasn't seen carrying anything on his way in. I also don't think he met with a random attacker that killed him on his way home because they definitely would have taken his wallet, spent some money on his card and then dumped it somewhere. Plus, a random attacker would likely have left him dying in the street and probably wouldn't bother hiding the body. That's a big risk to take for some small cash. As for the band, I know that they were questioned but they don't recall seeing Brian at all. Of course it is possible that Brian just said he was going to see the band as an excuse to get away from Clint and Meredith and instead used that time to slip out the back.

 

[MatthewTyler]

I only mean - in the woods or maybe jumped off bridge. But I know it's highly unlikely, but is a theory. There's many cases of suspected suicides alone in San Fran - still not found for years. I doubt he did, but still just another theory.


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Maybe but the Olentangy river was checked and more victims have been found in there in the years that Brian has been gone, so surely his body would have floated up and appeared somewhere by now. Even here in NY when a person jumps off the George Washington or Brooklyn Bridge their bodies are found pretty quickly. They usually float up after a couple of days

 

[HelpingHeart]

Either way we look at it, whether he was killed, left on his own, suicide, whatever theory there is - this is so, so strange. Even all of the other strange disappearances caught on video, such as Lars Mittank.

I wonder if other nearby businesses cameras were checked (those businesses for blocks, not just surrounding the bar)?


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[MatthewTyler]

Either way we look at it, whether he was killed, left on his own, suicide, whatever theory there is - this is so, so strange. Even all of the other strange disappearances caught on video, such as Lars Mittank.

I wonder if other nearby businesses cameras were checked (those businesses for blocks, not just surrounding the bar)?


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I believe they were and it was said that no other cameras picked up Brian leaving the complex. This is why a lot of people think he may have never even left the bar alive.

 

[HelpingHeart]

Did anyone ever post a map or details of the entire building complex? I find the phone pinging 15-20 minutes away strange too.


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[MatthewTyler]

Not sure about a map, but I did find the cell phone ping interesting as well. I don't know if it was because that tower just happened to be the closest in the area, or if it was just the closest to where his phone was. Even if it was a glitch it had to have been feeding off some signal. If Brian's phone is still in his pocket and buried with him (assuming he's buried) then is his body maybe located in Hilliard? It's only a 10-15 minute drive from the Ugly Tuna. Theory: maybe Brian went out a service exit that night, got into a car with someone he knew, went up to a party in Hilliard where something bad could have happened (drug overdose? Fight that turned deadly?) and his body was buried somewhere in that area. I assume that area is quieter than downtown Columbus so it would be easier for someone to bury a body there undetected. Just an idea

 

[Deleted member 155000]

Did anyone ever post a map or details of the entire building complex? I find the phone pinging 15-20 minutes away strange too.


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I haven't found a map of the complex anywhere on any of the sites, including this one, but it has been described in prior Websleuth postings by locals. They say it's much smaller than you think, that the bar shared an escalator with a movie theater in the same building, and that when you walked into the bar, the bathrooms were on the left and the bar was in the middle-ish, I believe.

The address, if you want to look at the Google Maps streetview, is 1546 N. High St. There are also some pics of the establishment on the Yelp page here: https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/ugly-tuna-saloona-columbus

I was also able to find some pics by searching "Ugly Tuna" at flickr.com

Hope that helps!

 

[HelpingHeart]

Not sure about a map, but I did find the cell phone ping interesting as well. I don't know if it was because that tower just happened to be the closest in the area, or if it was just the closest to where his phone was. Even if it was a glitch it had to have been feeding off some signal. If Brian's phone is still in his pocket and buried with him (assuming he's buried) then is his body maybe located in Hilliard? It's only a 10-15 minute drive from the Ugly Tuna. Theory: maybe Brian went out a service exit that night, got into a car with someone he knew, went up to a party in Hilliard where something bad could have happened (drug overdose? Fight that turned deadly?) and his body was buried somewhere in that area. I assume that area is quieter than downtown Columbus so it would be easier for someone to bury a body there undetected. Just an idea

Very possible!! I was thinking similar. Maybe he somehow got to that town. And someone somehow his phone if it was turned on suddenly?


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