So looks like we are down another rabbit hole or are we? It seems as if Brian’s phone was was pretty busy pinging after he went missing. I’m not 100% sure if his phone was pinging a tower or CPD was having a signal sent to his phone or both? At some point it seems his phone was turned off but is this an assumption because of Meredith saying it went straight to voice mail? As I have said before I think it possible that Brian may have shut his phone off for a short time to avoid Clint. I also had a feeling that his phone was receiving calls after he went missing. I’ll admit that I was thinking this would have been right after Clint and Meredith left as I figured they where calling him on their way to Clintonville. If Brian was temporarily in an area were he was not getting a signal it would also go to VM. According to the phone company I called there would be no way of knowing which one.
When I first started looking into Brian’s disappearance I was trying to find clues that would lead me to believe he was alive. Then I thought maybe if I did the opposite and try to find clues that he was dead that would be a better route. There doesn’t seem to be any solid proof either way. His phone pinging is it’s not really proof he’s dead or alive but it does in my opinion prove that someone had his phone. I never thought that Brian‘s phone died because of the battery. Supposedly his phone charger was still plugged in at his apartment. A lot of people keep your phone plugged in when they are home. Brian had a flip phone and they are known to keep a charge a long time. There is really not much going on those type of phones that drain the battery. If his phone was fully charged when he left that night this phone would stay charged for days maybe weeks.
Brian’s phone pinged near Kenny and Lane so he was either hanging out near the campus or someone dumped his body along or near the railroad tracks imo. If Brian took off on his own I doubt he was hanging out in town with someone. I’m sure it’s possible but this would mean someone else was involved and possibly helping him. If foul play was involved then maybe his phone was on him and if the ringer was off the people involved never bothered to take his phone. I’d guess they would check his wallet for money but would probably ditch his wallet with the body. The phone would be the last thing I would take although I don’t think it out of the realm of possibilities. If Brian was killed I don’t think the people who did it would have been the smartest but I do think they knew the area well enough to get rid of a body.
I’ve said already that I think Brian was going home and I think he walked down Pearl St to avoid being seen by Clint. A piece of info I have leads me to believe I was right about Brian taking Pearl St. While researching some of Brian’s friends I found out about a guy who lived on King St. not too far from Brian. I do not know if Brian knew this guy but I do know that he was friends with at least one guy who Brian was out with that night. I’ve often wondered if Brian did make it to King St maybe he stopped at this guys house on his way home. This guy moved shortly after Brian went missing and he moved pretty far away. I personally know someone who knows him and this person told me that he was into some weird stuff. When I spoke to this person I never mentioned Brian at first because I didn’t want to lead this person in any way. I just asked what type of person he was. There is one other piece of info that imo could also tie this guy to Brian but this info came to me second hand so that person can fill in the rest if they choose to. All this added up imo makes it hard to believe that this is all coincidental but when it comes to Brian’s case I’m not surprised anymore.
If I understand correctly, Brian used Cingular as his cellular provider, and his phone in Sept. '06 (5 months after Brian disappeared) 'pinged' a tower in the Hilliard area (or only seemed to ping a tower if some sort of glitch), which is around 6 miles from where Brian was last seen. A phone can 'ping' a tower whether phone is turned on or off - right?. I'd presume that a phone can't 'ping' a tower if the phone battery is completely dead. Det. Hurst in recent interview stated that circa 2006 a ping would indicate a phone was within 20 miles of the tower pinged.
Also, in addition to the Hilliard ping and seeming ringing of the phone, at some point Brian's phone is said to have pinged 'on the west side' of Columbus (so, perhaps 5-10 miles from where Brian was last seen) and also a tower in the vicinity of Kenny/Lane, which is like 2 miles from where Brian was last seen.
Has Det. Hurst identified the date of those pings? How were those locations narrowed down if a phone can ping from 20 miles away? Via triangulation?
Thus, there is no evidence to indicate that Brian's phone was ever out of the Columbus area after Brian disappeared. And the three pings (if not simply glitches) would seem to be evidence that Brian's phone was in the general Columbus area at time of pings after Brian disappeared, and his phone retained some charge at the time of those pings.
How long can a phone retain sufficient charge to 'ping' if not charged and not used?
It would seem to me, as Brian's last known location (Gateway Complex where UTS had been located) was well within 20 miles of 1) west side of Columbus, 2) of Hilliard, and 3) of Kenny/Lane, those pings could conceivably have been generated if Brian's phone had the whole time been on his body in the construction area of the Gateway Complex. But only if the phone retained enough charge to ping. But then the question would be,
why didn't it ping more regularly before losing all charge - why so intermittently (only 3 time over 5 months)? Perhaps because of difficulty getting signal from lower level of building, and under dirt/concrete?
I think it'd be quite interesting, perhaps even beneficial to case, if a top-flight phone expert conducted a new analysis of the records of Brian's Cingular account and drew conclusions, if any, as to what the records might suggest as to the whereabouts of the phone at the time of the pings (and whether the pings might have been glitches). Fresh look couldn't hurt.
