[Unsolved] Brian Shaffer: The Man Who Vanished from a Bar

A Night Out Turns Into a Mystery

Brian Shaffer was a 27-year-old second-year medical student at Ohio State University. He was bright, well-liked, and had his whole life ahead of him. On the night of April 1, 2006, Brian went out with his friend William "Clint" Florence to celebrate the start of spring break. They bar-hopped around Columbus's Arena District before ending up at the Ugly Tuna Saloona, a popular bar near campus.

Security cameras captured Brian entering the bar around 1:15 AM. He was seen talking to two women near the bar's entrance around 1:55 AM. That was the last time Brian Shaffer was ever seen.

The Disappearance

When the bar closed at 2:00 AM, Clint couldn't find Brian. He assumed Brian had left with one of the women he'd been talking to or had gone home. But Brian never came home. His girlfriend Alexis tried calling him the next day—no answer. His father Randy tried reaching him—nothing.

Brian Shaffer had vanished.

The Investigation

Columbus Police immediately launched an investigation. They reviewed security footage from the Ugly Tuna Saloona and surrounding businesses. The footage showed Brian entering the bar—but never leaving. There were only two exits from the bar: the main entrance (covered by cameras) and a service exit that led to a construction area (also monitored). Brian was not seen using either exit.

How does someone disappear from a bar without being captured on camera?

Investigators searched the bar, the construction site, nearby buildings, and the Olentangy River. Cadaver dogs were brought in. Divers searched the river. Nothing was found.

Hundreds of tips poured in. Brian was reportedly spotted in Michigan, Texas, and even Sweden. None of the sightings were confirmed. A woman in Michigan claimed to have seen a man wearing a name tag that said "Brian S." at a diner. Police investigated—no one by that name worked there.

The Theories

Over the years, several theories have emerged:

1.Foul Play - Brian was killed inside or near the bar, possibly over a misunderstanding or altercation

2.Voluntary Disappearance - Brian left on his own to start a new life (though his family and friends strongly dispute this)

3.Accident - Brian fell or was injured in the construction area and his body was never found

4.Abduction - Brian was taken against his will

The Search Continues

Brian's father Randy and his girlfriend Alexis (now his widow—she never stopped waiting for him) have never given up hope. They continue to search for answers, hold vigils, and keep Brian's story alive.

In 2020, Brian's mother passed away without ever knowing what happened to her son. His father Randy continues the search.

Brian Shaffer's case remains one of the most baffling unsolved disappearances in Ohio history. Nearly 20 years later, his family is still waiting for answers.

If you have any information about Brian Shaffer's disappearance, please contact:

•Columbus Police Department

•Central Ohio Crime Stoppers

TRANSCRIPT:

brian

[00:00:00] On April 1st, 2006, one of the most perplexing missing persons cases in modern history began to unfold. When 27-year-old Ohio State medical student Brian Schafer vanished without a trace surveillance footage showed Brian entering the ugly tuna sauna bar, but there is no footage or evidence of him ever leaving, and he was never seen again.

Despite numerous theories about his disappearance, no evidence has ever surfaced and Brian remains missing to this day. His disappearance remains one of the most baffling mysteries of the two thousands.

Hey guys, and welcome to the Moms and Mysteries podcast. A True Crime Podcast featuring myself, Mandy, and my dear friend Melissa. Hi, Melissa. Hi, Mandy. How are you? I am doing great. Enjoying all the April showers and hoping for May flowers. I [00:01:00] saw Caterpillars yesterday. There's so many. There's so many. It's, it's been on, they're the fuzzy ones.

Yes, they're poisonous. Well, they're. Are they poisonous or they just, I don't know. I remember we both told our kids that they were poisonous at one time and they're, I just kept going with it. Mm-hmm. I think they are, and they're a nuisance. And I've seen lots of people posting in like, gardening groups.

I'm such an old lady now. Gardening groups about these caterpillars that are, that are everywhere, but it is springtime, so I guess you, you, you gotta just deal with it. Okay, well that wasn't how I wanted to do this. There are Facebook groups for everything. My mom told me, she was like, I learned on my plantar fasciitis group.

I was like, maam, there's a group for that multiple. She said she just found the one that seemed to have the most old people in it. And was that one, that one's good for her. Mandy, we have a lot going on this month. We just had a debrief that almost sent us both into a spiral, but there are lots of exciting things going on.

Good things. Pay attention to this space. [00:02:00] There's, we're doing it. We're really doing it. Pay attention to what space? I don't know. I feel like people say, watch this space, and, oh, okay. Oh yeah, that's what it is. Watch this space subscribed. Yeah. Stay subscribed. Listen, every once in a while, if you would, we'd love it.

Also, if you wanna leave a review, Spotify now has reviews and comments. We like to, you can actually comment. On Spotify and we can chat back. Yes, it's kind of cool, which I love. That's something we don't have the opportunity to do on Apple is comment back and sometimes I wish we could comment back. There are a number of comments I would like to comment back to.

I feel like in this case there's a good reason that we cannot do that on Apple and I'm very glad you don't. Um, but Spotify's been actually a lot of fun, so wherever you're listening, we would love to hear from you and obviously reviews help a show grow and help it. Get out there. So we appreciate anyone that's doing that.

Awesome. Yeah. And of course we always love any opportunity we can to actually interact with you guys. So I act I do appreciate that about Spotify. I am always late to the party and late to the [00:03:00] game, Melissa. Probably will roll her eyes and not laugh at this. But I have not been logged into some of our moms and mysteries accounts for quite some time.

Spotify was one of them. So I have just recently discovered all of the wonderful comments that have been left on Spotify. I now love, love Spotify. I. Melissa, why don't, why don't you make me do things sooner? There is no way we're turning this into a Melissa. Why don't you make me do things as Melissa's over here on Spotify comments.

Like every time I would open it, I'm like, please be nice. Please be nice. Please be nice. And then everyone would be nice. We randomly will get not a nice one, but that's okay. This is not a Spotify app, by the way, but I love that it's divided up by episode. So you can comment specifically on that episode.

Yeah. But it's, it's wonderful. Any way you wanna interact with us. We love it. We're not lonely. We are lonely. We are do it, but we're not. Let's just get into this episode. We'll get into this episode. So the story that we have for you guys this week is a story that a lot of people may have heard before.

This story did make national headlines and for very, very good reason, because it truly [00:04:00] is one of the most confusing and just mind boggling cases that yeah, possibly could think of. Brian Schaefer was a man that seemed to really have a bright future ahead of him. He was born in Baltimore, Ohio in 1979, and he grew up with a younger brother named Derrick.

The boys had a typical sibling dynamic where they spent their early years roughhousing and giving each other heck, but as they got older, they grew closer. A trip to Myrtle Beach in 2004 really strengthened their bond, and Derrick would later describe his brother as his best friend. Brian's parents, Randy and Renee worked hard to support the family.

Renee was a nurse and Randy was an electrician. Brian was extremely smart and he did very well in school. He graduated from Pickerington High School and then he went on to earn a bachelor's degree in microbiology from Ohio State, and finally he enrolled in med school. [00:05:00] By the end of his first year in med school, he was ranked 10th in his class.

Brian was destined for success, but deep down he would have daydreams about leaving medicine behind and playing guitar in a band instead. Music was Brian's true passion, and he had childlike dreams of one day owning an island, listening to Jimmy Buffet all day and drinking margaritas with his senior Rita.

And that special senior Rita was his girlfriend of about a year. Alexis Wagoner. She was a fellow second year med student, and Brian's family believed that he was planning to ask her to marry him during an upcoming trip to Miami. In December of 2005, Brian wrote about Alexis on social media and talked about his excitement for their future together.

He said, in part, I know in my heart I wanna be with her forever. I'm so excited about everything and planning for that big important day. In early 2006, Brian talked to his mom about [00:06:00] engagement rings for Alexis. Then on March 6th, 2006. Brian's mom, Renee tragically passed away after a battle with a rare form of cancer.

Brian took the loss of his mom really hard. They were very close, and her profession as a nurse was part of what inspired Brian to even become a doctor. After she died, Brian wrote a post on MySpace that said, quote, my mom was the greatest, most wonderful person in the world. After her passing, Brian became even closer to his brother Derek and his dad, who was too distraught to even sort through Renee's things, so he just left them untouched.

At one point, Brian told his girlfriend, Alexis, to just move on and find someone else because he felt like he just wasn't able to be a good partner to her due to his grief. But Alexis was someone who really understood and she had patience for Brian and what he was going through. In an interview with Dateline, she said [00:07:00] that Brian was loyal, handsome, sweet, and caring, and that she had always believed he was the love of her life.

Ever since the beginning of their relationship, Brian loved the band Pearl Jam, and he even had a tattoo of the band symbol. He had tickets to see them live in Detroit on May 22nd, but Brian would never make it to that concert. On March 31st, Brian was celebrating the start of spring break by having dinner with his dad, Randy at Outback Steakhouse.

It was bittersweet as it was the first birthday dinner Brian had without his mom there. Randy was visibly sad at dinner, but Brian reassured him that he was there for him and he would be with him as much as possible. Randy later recalled that Brian looked exhausted. He had been doing his midterms and preparing for his board exams, but he was super excited about his upcoming trip to Miami with Alexis.

Before they parted ways. That night, Brian made plans to visit his dad the next day to help clean up around the house. [00:08:00] Later that evening, Brian's friend and former roommate, William Florence, who went by Clint, wanted to go out. Even though the friends had recently argued, they still decided to smooth things over and go bar hopping.

Brian called his brother Derek and invited him and his girlfriend to tag along, but they said they were too tired and they wouldn't be able to make it. Clint picked Brian up at his apartment at around nine 30 and they headed to the ugly tuna sauna, which was a popular college bar near the Ohio State campus.

At this time, the bar was actually still under construction and there was only one main entrance with an escalator leading up to it. Brian and Clint started a tab at the bar and they ordered some shots. Clint later said they each had about three to five shots of liquor just before 10:00 PM Brian called Alexis, who was actually in Toledo visiting her parents.

They had a brief conversation, but everything was normal. Brian told Alexis he loved her before they hung up. [00:09:00] After talking to Alexis, Brian and Clint left the ugly tuna and they went to another bar called the Short North Tavern, which was about a mile away. They got there around 10 30 and they continued to drink and have a good time, not just at this bar but at other bars in the area as well.

At 1140, they walked half a mile south to Brothers Bar and Grill, where they met up with Clint's friend Meredith. By that point, Brian and Clint were pretty intoxicated, so Meredith offered to give them a ride back to the ugly tuna sauna, which they accepted when they got there, they parked in the South campus gateway parking garage, and the three of them could be seen on CCTV going up the escalator to the ugly tuna at 1:15 AM And this is really where things started to get really weird.

After being at the ugly tuna for about 45 minutes, Brian was seen on CCTV outside the bar talking to two women at 1:55 AM The women were later identified as being friends of Clint's, and they were named [00:10:00] Amber and Brighton. In this video, it looks as though Brian is motioned back into the bar and he can be seen saying goodbye to these two women before walking back towards the direction of the entrance.

But this was the last time Brian was ever seen on camera. Keep in mind, there is only one way to get in and out of this place, and it is by going up and down this escalator, which as we said, Brian was seen going up, but he was never seen at any point going down according to Clint, Brian came up to him shortly before 2:00 AM This is presumably right after he left these women outside and went back into the bar and he allegedly told Clint that he was going to the stage area to talk to the band.

Clint and Meredith tried calling and texting Brian a few minutes later, but he didn't respond to these calls or messages. Clint and Meredith could be seen on surveillance footage looking down at their phones around this time, attempting to reach Brian, but his phone kept going straight to voicemail.[00:11:00] 

Clint and Meredith searched the bar and the bathroom, but there was no sign of Brian anywhere. Meanwhile, the ugly tuna was getting ready to close for the night and they started ushering people out. When Clinton Meredith didn't see Brian outside, they just assumed that he had left and maybe walked home on his own Surveillance footage showed that Clinton Meredith left together and they took the escalator down at 2:00 AM There are claims that Clint went to Brian's apartment the next day and waited for six hours for him to show up, but it's unclear whether that actually happened.

However, Brian was supposed to visit his father that day to clean up around the house, and he never showed up there either. At first, Brian's dad. Randy assumed maybe he just forgot, or that he was busy. As we said before, Brian was doing midterms. He had been studying a lot, but as the hours passed, it started to really seem like something might actually be wrong, as this mystery was just beginning to unravel.

Brian's girlfriend, [00:12:00] Alexis was growing more and more worried as her calls to Brian went unanswered. She returned to Columbus that day and went over to Brian's apartment where she found that some of his belongings, including his car, clothes, and glasses were all there, but he wasn't, Brian's bed hadn't been slept in the night before.

And his wallet, the clothes he was wearing at the bar that night and his shoes were missing these clues, suggested that Brian never made it home from his night out. Alexis stayed at Brian's apartment until the evening of April 2nd, and then she finally called his father Randy and said she had no idea where Brian was and that she was trying to find him.

Randy was extremely alarmed to learn that Alexis also hadn't been able to reach Brian. Randy Alexis and Brian's brother, Derek took matters into their own hands, and they recruited the help of a neighbor who happened to be a police detective. They contacted the Columbus Police Department to try and file a missing person's report, but the police were [00:13:00] hesitant to take the report and wanted to wait and see if Brian showed up before his flight to Miami.

That was actually scheduled for Monday, and of course, this is the flight that his dad felt like this was the trip that. Brian and Alexis May be getting engaged on. So he a big deal, right? Had every reason big yeah. To go on this flight. Randy insisted though that something was seriously wrong and that they needed to start searching immediately, but unfortunately, his concerns were dismissed.

That night and into the next morning, Randy, Derek, and Alexis spent hours putting up missing persons flyers and searching for Brian themselves. Clint also helped distribute flyers around the area when April 3rd rolled around the day that Brian and Alexis were supposed to fly to Miami, Brian was still missing.

And as we mentioned before, this was a really big trip. He was even posting about it on MySpace a few days before. There was no reason for him to skip out on this trip. The Miami trip was actually a Christmas gift from his late mother, which of course makes it even more special. [00:14:00] So when Brian misses flight, obviously his family's worst fears were confirmed that something terrible had happened to Brian.

Randy went back to the police then and demanded an investigation into his son's whereabouts. At this time, the police agreed to file a missing person report, and the local media began covering the story of Brian's disappearance. On April 3rd, police met Randy at Brian's apartment and from there they launched a search canvassing a six to 10 block area around the ugly tuna sauna.

But there was no trace of him. And we still have so much more to get into after a quick break to hear word from this week's sponsors. And now back to the episode. Before the break, we were getting into the story of the disappearance of Brian Schaefer, an OSU Med student, who was last seen going into a bar.

But was never seen going out and was never seen again. The investigation began where Brian Schaeffer was last seen, which was the ugly tuna sauna [00:15:00] surveillance cameras in the surrounding area, provided police with crucial evidence, but also left them with a number of baffling questions. One camera captured Brian, Clint and Meredith taking the escalator up to the bar, which as we said before, was the only way to get in.

In this clip, Brian appeared to be in good spirits and was casually leaning against the railing of the escalator while talking with his friends. There were even some Columbus police officers stationed right next to the escalators that night, but they said they didn't notice anything outta the ordinary.

In another piece of footage, Brian is seen chatting with the two women outside the bar at 1:55 AM before going back inside. But after that, Brian was never seen again. No one remembered seeing Brian leave the bar. And what's even more perplexing is that the security cameras didn't capture him leaving either.

And that's very bizarre when you consider that going back down the escalator is literally the only way to leave. So this case, obviously, we've. This [00:16:00] has been a big true crime one. As you were saying in the beginning, this is something that, you know, people talk about have analyzed the video. I did not realize that there was this only way to go in and out, so I was like, that's great that they have this video, but there's gotta be other angles, right?

Not realizing they're. There could be another way, and we'll get into that. Right. But really, this is the only way, right? Yeah. So the investigators were able to account for everybody else who was at the bar that night, I assume. They literally went through and watched as people went up the escalator into the bar, and then accounted for them as they left the bar.

Yeah. To see, you know, if they could account for everyone. And the only person they could not account for that night was Brian Schafer. It really seemed like he had just vanished into thin air. Detective Andre Edwards later said quote. I can say with a hundred percent certainty that Brian Schaeffer did not go back down that escalator despite his friend Clint, admitting that they took several shots that night.

Those who saw Brian, including the two women who talked to him at 1:55 AM said [00:17:00] that he did not appear to be drunk. Since there were no cameras inside the bar itself, authorities had to consider other possible ways that Brian May have left. It was learned that there was actually a back exit that was used only by employees.

The door to that exit led out into a construction site that would've been hazardous for a sober person, let alone someone who had been drinking. But the back exit also had an elevator leading down to a construction zone, and that door was chained and not really fully secure, and people were known to squeeze through the gap from time to time.

But again, this doesn't seem like a likely way that Brian would've taken right to exit the building. Another exit led to an alley behind the building, but that one was an emergency exit, and it actually had a security camera positioned to record anyone going in or out. And the police found no footage of Brian on that camera.

Theoretically, Brian could have left the building by jumping from the balcony or going through the trash chute, but investigators found [00:18:00] these possibilities to be highly unlikely. And of course, if they were true, then where was Brian and why had he not resurfaced by that time? The search was expanded and footage was obtained from other nearby bars and businesses, but despite the fact that Columbus actually had more CCTV coverage than any other major Ohio City, there was not one single camera that captured Brian after he reentered the ugly tuna sauna at 1:15 AM.

One thing that's so surprising to me just because of the day and age we live in now, of course he was on social media. MySpace was big then, but cameras the way we all have a camera in our pocket now. Right. If this happened today, you just think somebody could have caught a clip of something like it would've.

I don't know. Just having to, to look at this one, lonely security VI video is just so sad. And like, yeah, a few years later, things were so different and these are the kinds of cases that like, they, they really do get under your skin, you know? It gets under it because you just want to know like, what happened.

Like, it doesn't make any sense. And it's these cases [00:19:00] where nothing makes any sense. Mm-hmm. Where you, it's the most frustrating because there obviously is an answer. Right. It's just so frustrating that it, like, it doesn't make any sense and we can't figure it out. It's like you have so much information, but then so little, right?

Like having just, you can see the video, but you know, he's still not there. So investigators work to find and question those who had been in contact with Brian that night, including Clint and Meredith, as well as the two women Brian talked to outside just before he went missing. The women told police that they had never met Brian before that night.

He gave one of them his phone number before he walked off, but they had no further connection to him and they had no idea where he went. After their brief encounter for a while, police were focused on a man in an orange sweatshirt that was seen on security footage near Brian throughout the night. He moved in and out of the bar multiple times, and he was even seen walking behind Clinton Meredith as they left, but he was later identified as a taxi driver and then ruled out as a [00:20:00] suspect.

Another potential lead was some footage of a man being followed by two other men wearing black shirts. But after closer examination and input from Brian's family. It was determined that the man being followed was not. Brian Police also interviewed the bar staff as well as the band who was playing there that night, but none of them were able to really give any useful information.

The band confirmed that Brian didn't leave with them, and the staff insisted that nobody had to use the fire escape near the entrance with no clear answers. Authority turned their attention to the ugly tuna sauna itself. An extensive search of the bar was conducted on April 4th, where they brought in cadaver dogs and explored every nook and cranny of the building.

The team also searched the adjacent construction site, and the dogs did show some interest in the area, but ultimately nothing was found. They even checked inside the building's, walls and floors. But being that the floor was made of cement and the walls were plastered in concrete, there was no [00:21:00] realistic way that Brian could have been hidden inside of them.

Dozens of officers searched the area around the bar and combed through the dumpsters, river banks and landfills. They knocked on doors and interviewed friends and family. There was this theory that Brian May have ended up in a dumpster, but by the time police considered this a possibility, all the private dumpsters in the area had been emptied and taken to a landfill in Tennessee.

The police were desperate for answers and they started checking with homeless shelters and hospitals in hopes that maybe Brian had turned up somewhere, possibly with no memory of who he was. They even convinced the city to inspect nearby sewer lines. But despite all these efforts, there was still no sign of Brian anywhere.

As the search intensified Crime Stoppers offered a $2,000 reward for information leading to Brian Schafer's, whereabouts the Ohio State University College of Medicine and Public Health added another $5,000 to that reward. And OSU also sent an email to all [00:22:00] students alerting them of Brian's disappearance and urging anyone with information to come forward.

Brian's girlfriend, Alexis told the lantern that it was very out of character for Brian to go missing, and everyone was very worried and wanted to see him come home, but sadly, things just weren't looking very good. A Columbus police sergeant said that through his experience, it wasn't a good sign that Brian hadn't answered his cell phone or contacted anybody, especially with his reservations to Florida.

He said, quote, it's just a mystery. He was with friends and then one minute he wasn't. One of the early theories that emerged was that Brian was overwhelmed by grief in the wake of his mother's death, which had just been three weeks before his disappearance. Some believe that Brian left town to escape the emotional pain, but investigators couldn't really find any evidence to support that idea.

Brian hadn't used his credit cards or his phone, and it seemed unlikely that he would go missing on purpose [00:23:00] right before a vacation that he was excited about Brian's dad, Randy later recalled the family's final Christmas together. His wife was in the hospital and Brian had written a heartfelt card for her where he said that she inspired him to do great things.

One day, Randy said this sentiment alone made it seem impossible that Brian had just walked away from his entire life. He loved his family and they had grown even closer throughout Renee's battle with cancer. Randy was forced to endure hurtful rumors that he had actually staged his son's disappearance to collect insurance money, and that's obviously deeply upsetting.

Oh my gosh. For Randy. And also ridiculous because Brian didn't even have a life insurance policy, but it just goes to show how nasty like some people can be. When other people are going through the worst thing in their life to even like say something like that. Brian's friend, Clint, who was out with them on the night he was last seen, had his own theory that he shared in an interview shortly after Brian's disappearance.[00:24:00] 

He said he was worried that Brian May have left the bar and gotten into some type of altercation with someone. He said Brian had been known to quote, run his mouth in the past, and that he had a habit of wandering off. But Randy disagreed entirely with that theory and said that that type of behavior was not in line with his son's usual demeanor.

As part of the investigation, authorities looked through Brian's financial records to see if he even had the means to leave voluntarily without a trace. They found that while he wasn't completely broke, he still had not yet received his portion of his mom's life insurance payout, which was expected to be around $20,000.

While the investigation was still going on, Randy took the precaution of canceling Brian's credit and debit cards. During the investigation into the finances, it was also learned that Randy had given Brian a check for his next semester's tuition, but Brian had never turned it into the university's office.

One [00:25:00] possibility that the police considered is that Brian May have been met with foul play on his way home. Brian's apartment, which was located in the 200 block of King Avenue, was only about a 10 minute walk away from the ugly tuna sauna. The streets along the way were well lit with sidewalks leading directly to his building.

If Brian had chosen to walk home, it was entirely possible that he could have made it back safely. However, police told Dateline that if Brian had attempted the walk alone, he would've been an easy target. They said there was a significant amount of crime in the area between the bar and his apartment, which made it possible that he was the victim of a crime.

On April 4th, Randy brought in psychics to help search Brian's apartment and he hoped that they could provide insight into what happened to him or where he might be one psychic named. Bill Mitchell claimed that when he saw Brian's photo, he immediately tuned into him and felt that he'd been drinking too much over the weekend and that he'd been through a recent tragedy.

Bill said he thought that Brian was just [00:26:00] a little too drunk to make it home safely. Which still doesn't make sense because where is his body. Another psychic named Mark Moody felt positive that Brian was alive, but that he was injured possibly in the abdomen. A third psychic suggested that Brian was involved in a backroom poker game at the ugly tuna, but this was quickly debunked and dismissed because the ugly tuna doesn't have a back room.

Even with no real leads, the investigation pressed on and the search continued. On April 10th, the reward was increased at $10,000 and the search was expanded with teams combing River Road and other areas of interest. These searches continued for months, but sadly there was no sign of Brian. On April 11th, the police provided an update to the media and said they hadn't ruled out any possibilities and they were still following up on leads.

One tip came in that Brian May have been spotted at a convenience store in Columbus, but after looking at the surveillance footage. Was determined [00:27:00] that it was not Brian. Other false sightings started pouring in from various sources and locations, including Michigan, Texas, and even as far away as Sweden.

One of the more intriguing tips was from a woman in Michigan who claimed to have seen a man in a diner wearing a name tag that read Brian s and that this man strongly resembled Brian Schafer. When the police contacted the diner, the owner said that no employee by that name worked there. And I have such a hard time with these kind of leads.

Me too. Because he's gonna go by Brian s he's starting a new life, right? Working at this diner, and he's gonna go by that same name. No, I know. I mean, on one hand it's like you, you. Like follow up on everything, right? Like, thank you for being aware and like spotting something that you thought was, you know, but at the same time, I agree with you, like clearly he's not gonna have a name tag on that says Brian s if he's intentionally trying to hide, I obviously don't mean, you know, don't follow up on all these leads, right?

If they seem ridiculous. But I sometimes feel [00:28:00] like people want to be involved and put stuff out there, and that's where I get upset. Well, and then also whenever you do it, do that like. It sends the, it takes up police resources, right? Yeah. To go investigate these things. And like, like you said, of course you always wanna investigate everything.

That could be something, right. But there definitely are cases where I think people, it's a stretch, you know? And people just want to feel like they have a part of, they're part of it. Mm-hmm. But Brian's family and loved ones refused to give up hope. Randy, Derek and Alexis stay committed and relentless in their search, and they even found ways to raise the funds for a bigger reward.

Alexis even auctioned off Brian's tickets to the Pearl Jam concert that he was going to attend on May 22nd. At the same time, Randy was growing more and more frustrated with the ugly tuna sauna as he believed they just weren't being entirely cooperative with the search efforts, and he alleged that the employees had even been told not to talk about Brian's disappearance.

Randy said he actually had to fight to get [00:29:00] missing person flyers posted inside the bar, and when he finally did get them up, they were always taken down before too long. Randy thought by his impression that the bar was more concerned with protecting its reputation and avoiding a financial loss than they were with assisting in the search for a missing man.

Randy also had to push for the authorities to allow the cadaver dogs to search the bar because he felt that if there was even a slight chance that Brian was somehow left inside the building or had been met with foul play inside the building, that that needed to be thoroughly investigated. I would agree with him there that.

What? What's the harm in putting the cadaver dogs through the building itself? Yeah. According to the police, the staff at the ugly tuna had been cooperative and they had answered all the questions the police had, but Randy was still skeptical and felt like there were things that just didn't add up. On April 16th, the reward was increased to $25,000, and the next day the police focused their efforts on a landfill in Grove City where [00:30:00] they searched with three dog teams.

This search turned up, nothing connected to Brian. The surveillance footage from the ugly tuna and the surrounding areas was reviewed again, just in case there were any clues that may have been overlooked the first time. And Clinton Meredith were also asked to take polygraphs. Meredith agreed to take the test and passed, but interestingly, Clint refused to take one, and he insisted that he had already told the police everything he knew about Brian's disappearance and just didn't have any more to say.

On May 6th, the desperation for answers was at an all time high, and the reward was again, increased this time to a hundred thousand dollars, but only temporarily only until May 17th. But they hoped that this huge incentive would bring in some new leads. I would say a hundred thousand dollars is one of the heftier rewards I've ever heard of in a case like this where you know they're able to come up with that kind of money and so you can see where they're thinking like if someone [00:31:00] knows something, a hundred thousand dollars will be enough to bring them out of the woodwork.

Absolutely. And I do like that they put the time limit on there for sure. Because otherwise Exactly. It'll just be forever and it's just pending forever. Right. And despite not having a whole lot of luck with psychics the first time around, Randy continued to work with different psychics in the area. One of them told Randy that Brian's body was in a body of water supposedly trapped by the whirlpools, that form at the base of concrete bridge posts.

As a result of hearing this psychics. Prediction. Randy decided to focus his personal search efforts on a local river that ran near Brian's apartment, so on May 7th, Randy and his own brother bought fishing waiters and went out to this river with the head of Crime stoppers, Kevin Miles, to begin searching themselves.

So Randy and his brother waded through the river. They checked every bridge post for any sign of Brian, and they didn't find any trace of him. But this [00:32:00] search nearly turned into a tragedy of its own. This part honestly makes me feel so many things. Um, yeah. So at one point, while Randy and his brother are out there searching based on the, uh.

Thing that the psychic told him, uh, Randy himself was almost pulled underwater by a whirlpool that was swirling around a bridge post. Oh gosh. But his brother managed to grab him in time and pull him to safety. That just makes me so like, I, I don't know. Everybody angry at the psychic? Angry. Yes. Angry. And everybody has their own, you know, beliefs and whether or not you think.

There are people out there who have psychic abilities that can tell you things like this or things that are actually useful. I'm not saying like if you or someone who believes in psychics and uses them, I'm not saying anything negative. I'm just saying that in a crime case, I just think it's morally wrong to say what you think happened to a missing person.

I think the proof is in the pudding and four of them said four different things that were all incorrect. So, and it's because of things like this that make me [00:33:00] very upset about. Giving people advice like this because then you have guys like Randy who are desperate to find their child desperate. Mm-hmm.

That will do anything, including putting themselves in danger. Like, because you said that you Right. Had this vision, that's where his son was. And that's most likely, totally not where his son is. Right. And yet he put himself in danger to go search those areas based on your suggestion. So like, yeah, that's where it really gets to me.

However, the river was a significant area of interest throughout the actual search, even, even with the authorities. But despite the efforts by the police who brought boats, divers, and sonar equipment to search the river, there was nothing found that suggested that Brian was ever in the river. In the early hours of May 10th, another strange event added to the growing mystery.

At around 2:00 AM someone kicked in the door to Brian's apartment and got inside. When police walked through to determine what had been taken, they were surprised to see that the only missing items were a [00:34:00] TV and a few DVDs. Other apartments in the complex had also been broken into that night, and it was concluded that the break-in had nothing to do with Brian's disappearance.

By the end of May, Randy had connected with other parents of missing children, and with their help, they successfully persuaded the state of Ohio to pass a bill that established a statewide protocol for missing adult cases. Up until this point, each case was handled at the discretion of individual detectives, which was a system that some families felt lacked consistency and urgency.

On June 7th, Randy actually took a polygraph and passed. It's unclear why they even asked him to take one. Although it wouldn't surprise me with Randy that he would've said, give me one and rule me out. Right. You know, he's doing anything it can for his son. Derek was never asked to take one, and neither were the two women who spoke to Brian outside the bar.

At 1:55 AM on June 8th, Randy filmed the TV commercial about Brian's disappearance and he continued to talk to the media [00:35:00] whenever he could. Alexis was often by Randy's side when he would speak to the public. On June 26th, Randy attended a Pearl Jam concert in Cincinnati. As we said before, Brian was a huge fan of Pearl Jam and he even had a Pearl Jam tattoo, and he also credited the group with inspiring his love of music.

That night. During the show, the lead singer Eddie Veter, actually made a public request for information about Brian's disappearance. He urged anyone with knowledge of his whereabouts to come forward. After this concert, Alexis wrote on her MySpace page. Brian would flip out to know that Eddie Vetter talked about him.

I mean, Brian has a Pearl Jam tattoo and attributes a lot of his love of music to Pearl Jam. Years later in 2010, Eddie Vetter would again address Brian's disappearance at a Columbus concert. That night, he dedicated the song, come back to Brian before the show. Fans held a fundraiser in Brian's honor, proving that even years later, his case was far from [00:36:00] forgotten.

And we still have more to get into after one last break to hear a word from this week's sponsors. Before the break, we were still talking about the disappearance of Brian Schaefer and the search for him. On August 22nd, 2006, the Columbus Police Department announced that they had a person of interest in Brian's case and they released a picture of the individual who came forward voluntarily the next day.

They were ultimately ruled out as having any involvement in the case and things were really back to square one. Meanwhile, Alexis was still holding onto hope that Brian would return. She called his phone every single day, but it always just went straight to voicemail, and that was until September 8th. On that day, Alexis called Brian's phone and it actually rang really for the first time since his disappearance.

It rang three times before stopping for the next three days. Alexis tried calling Brian's phone repeatedly, but it always just rang three times and then cut [00:37:00] off. Data from the phone company indicated that the phone was in Hillard, Ohio, approximately 14 miles away from the ugly tuna. Investigators went to that area to search around, but unfortunately they did not find anything.

The cell phone carrier ultimately determined that the rings were likely a glitch in the system rather than an indication that Brian's phone had actually been powered on even as the months ticked on Brian's case remained active. In January of 2007, Ohio passed Jonathan, she's law, which strengthened efforts to locate missing adults.

In August of that year, Randy connected with Texas EquuSearch, who agreed to come to Ohio and conduct a search for Brian and another missing man named Tony Lozo. Unfortunately, their search also did not yield any new leads, but the searches continued throughout the year and into 2008. In [00:38:00] January of 2008, another Ohio woman named Holly Metzker went missing and Randy actually offered $8,000 from Brian's reward to help search for her.

But Randy was still desperate for answers of his own. He reached out to Brian's friends again in hopes that maybe they had information they just hadn't yet shared. He wrote letters to both Clint and Meredith and pleaded with them to come forward if they knew anything that they just weren't saying.

Even if it was just that they had maybe promised Brian that they wouldn't say anything about where he was going. Randy also called Meredith multiple times a day sometimes just to discuss possible scenarios. She said he was desperate to piece together what could have happened that night. Meredith later told Columbus monthly that at that time Randy was a lost soul who just needed peace.

And something about that just broke my heart just to think about Randy's desperation to find out what happened to his son already after [00:39:00] losing his wife. A month earlier. I know, and then this happens to Brian and just not knowing, like I was saying before, like this type of case just gets, it gets to you because I can't imagine the mental, just the way I feel, and I didn't even know Brian, I can't imagine the way his dad feels and felt, you know, back then just not having any answers and there's no logical explanation for where he went after he went into the bar that night.

Right as a way to cope with his grief. And to keep Brian's story in the public eye, Randy started a website, find brian schaefer.com. Derek wrote a letter for the website where he expressed his pain and confusion over the loss of both his mom and his brother. It said quote, I just ask myself why. I just don't understand how after our loving mother passes away, Brian goes missing and is absolutely nowhere to be found.

I love my brother very much and want so badly for him to come home. I sit here and think to myself all the time, [00:40:00] what could have happened to Brian, and I just don't know. I always get these thoughts that something horrible has happened to him and all of a sudden start to feel sick to my stomach. Just the thought of something happening to my brother is unbearable.

He has way too much going for him and is just too good of a person for something like this to happen. Please, please help us find Brian and bring him home safely. In July of 2008, there was a potential breakthrough in the case. Clint's attorney informed Randy that Clint would be willing to speak about the case if he was given immunity.

Hmm. At that point it was unclear what, if anything, Clint knew that would require such terms or why this was even his request. On September 13th, 2008, such as two months later, Randy wrote an emotional email to project Jason about his relentless search for his missing son. He talked about the pain of losing a child and the difficulty of keeping Brian's case in the public eye [00:41:00] Tragically.

The most heartbreaking turn of events that maybe I've ever heard in this kind of succession. Randy was killed the very next day in a freak accident when a large tree limb fell on him as he was cleaning up debris from a recent storm, even though I knew that. That was coming in the story. I know. I still have goosebumps even just hearing that because how, how can this possibly happen to this family in such a short span of time?

I just like, I think about Derrick losing Yeah, his parents, his brother, and having like no real answers for any of these things. Why any of these things happen to any of his family members, like Right. It's just so devastating. Yeah. Days after Randy's death, an eerie message was posted to an online guest book attached to Randy's obituary.

This one makes me very mad because, you know, this is exactly the other, the thing I was mad about before the message said quote, I miss you dad. Love Brian. And then it was signed, [00:42:00] Brian Schafer Virgin Islands. Gimme a break. I know if you're running away, none of the stuff would you do. It just, it en, it enrages me to a level I didn't think I could get.

It just is too much. But this immediately caught the attention of those following the case. Brian had often talked about wanting to move to a tropical location, and since the Virgin Islands are a US territory, that meant that Brian would need a passport to go there. All he would need is his id. Since Brian's wallet was never found, some speculated that he may have taken it with him and started a new life.

However, the Columbus Police Department investigated the comment and found that it was sent from a public library in Franklin County, Ohio. The identity of the sender was unknown, but it was confirmed it was not Brian, and the message was just a cruel hoax. Awful. Yeah. Randy Schafer was laid to rest on September 19th, 2008, leaving behind a family that was still desperately searching for answers about Brian.[00:43:00] 

Then a few days later, new information surfaced when Clint's attorney Neil Rosenberg sent an email to a PI named Don Corbett claiming that a detective had informed him that Brian was likely alive somewhere and that he should come forward and end this. Email fueled speculation and led to confusion over whether this attorney had actually been told by authorities that Brian was alive or whether he was simply repeating an unconfirmed theory.

Neil Rosenberg also explained that it was his advice to Clint that he not take that polygraph test that police asked him to take. Not because he was lying about anything or had anything to hide, but just because he had nothing new to share and he had already been honest and upfront from the beginning, which doesn't really make sense to me because especially if like you were his lawyer and you're like, yeah, I know for sure he has nothing to hide.

Why wouldn't you just say like, go ahead and take this and. I mean, I can understand 'cause they could use it against him, but it seems like a weird thing to even bring up, just like Right. You know? I don't [00:44:00] know. It's just a weird, yeah, I'm a big fan of this guy. Yeah, of course. When Neil Rosenberg was asked for comment on the email though, he refused to say a whole lot and said that as far as Clint was concerned and his opinion, the matter was closed.

Columbus Police later said they were not aware of any detectives who had spoken with Neil Rosenberg or given him any new information, and the claim that Brian was alive was not in any way verified. Unfortunately, after Randy's tragic passing, the search for Brian slowed down, and new leads became few and far between.

Columbus police did get a credible tip that Brian's body might be in a field near the Ohio State University campus, but a search turned up nothing there. In 2008, Clint refused to take a polygraph again, which only added to the suspicion that he knew more than he was leading on. Many people close to Brian, including his brother, Derek, and his girlfriend Alexis, started to believe that Clint knew what happened.

[00:45:00] In 2009, Derek told the lantern that he had always been suspicious that Clint knew something, even if it was just that Brian had taken off somewhere on his own. He said he just thought Clint wasn't sharing whatever it was that he knew. By this time, Alexis no longer believed that Brian was even alive.

She couldn't imagine that he would've just walked away from his life and his family like that, leaving them to wonder what happened to him. Alexis's Father Tom also voiced his concerns about Clint's lack of cooperation. He said that all roads to making any progress on the case lead through Clint. But yet, years continued to pass with no answers.

On April 8th, 2013, Brian was legally declared dead. Of course, this was an agonizing decision, but one that was necessary after seven years with no trace of him having him declared dead, freed up assets for Derek to be able to access. In 2014, a police sergeant told the [00:46:00] Columbus dispatch that they had three theories about Brian's disappearance, but they couldn't discuss any of them.

By 2015, Derek had nearly lost all hope so many years had passed that it was hard not to think of the worst. And the more time that passed, the less likely it was that Brian would return. Derek described the painful reality of waiting for answers, feeling dread every time a body or remains are found. He said he wants to know.

But at the same time, he doesn't wanna know. Derek made another plea for anyone with information to please share it with the police. In 2016, the 10 year anniversary of Brian's disappearance came and went, but his case was still as perplexing as ever. Detective John Hurst told the Columbus dispatch that while there was a possibility that Brian was alive, the probability that he wasn't alive was just as great.

Detective Hearst said that they hadn't collected any evidence to suggest that Brian was murdered, so the probability of that isn't as great as [00:47:00] the probability that he just walked away. He also said the possibility that Brian took his own life was pretty low on the list, and he pointed out that most people who take their own lives want to be found.

Alexis also spoke to the Columbus dispatch for the 10 year anniversary and said that she didn't really subscribe to any one particular theory about what happened, but she admitted that she became emotionally numb to the tragedy after so many years. She said that. Now her interest in the case was more rooted in curiosity than in hope.

Derek said that he's replayed the night of March 31st, 2006, over and over in his mind. Brian had invited Derrick and his girlfriend to come along that night, but they had declined and Derrick admitted that he sometimes wondered if things would've been different had they gone, and he said it was a guilt that he carried with him for a decade.

He also reiterated his feelings about Clint and said that if anyone knows whether Brian is alive or dead, it's Clint. The [00:48:00] following year, Derek publicly slammed Clint again and accused him of talking about Brian in a negative way after he went missing. He said he wouldn't expect that from someone whose friend vanished.

I kind of picked up on that same thing, um, in the earlier quote that we had in the episode where Clint had said. That he thought maybe Brian walked outside and was running his mouth and got into it with someone. Right. Like I, I agree with Derek that that does not seem like something that you would Yeah.

Say that's not a comment that you would make if your friend was missing the running your mouth part is the part that Right. Yeah. Would be particularly offensive. Yes. Even if you thought that he was somebody who could be argumentative. Right. Whatever that phrasing is just not time and saying it like that as like an official comment like that, that's what you think, you know, like it just doesn't, right.

It doesn't. I agree that it doesn't sound like something you would say about a friend, right? For sure. Brian's case remained active, though progress was very, very slow. On May 1st, 2018, the ugly tuna [00:49:00] sauna permanently closed in 2020. The FBI received a photograph of an unhoused man in Mexico who did bear a resemblance to Brian, and this sparked hope that he may have finally been found.

Like many of the leads before it, this one led nowhere. The man in question was determined to not be Brian. That same year police announced that they were planning to re-interview people connected to the case because they believed that someone was withholding information that could help solve the mystery.

In 2021, authorities released an age progress photograph showing what Brian might look like at age 42. To this day, the case of Brian's disappearance is still a mystery. The search for Brian Schaefer now spanning over 15 years remains one of the most baffling missing person cases in American history.

Over the years, many theories have emerged with some believing he was murdered and others speculating that he vanished intentionally. [00:50:00] The president of Central Ohio Crime Stoppers. Kevin Miles said he was fairly certain Brian was dead and had been killed over a misunderstanding of some kind, and that his body was still somewhere in Columbus.

Kevin doesn't believe that Brian would've abandoned his only living family member, and that would be his brother to navigate the world alone after both of their parents died. Detective John Hurst stated that he did not believe Brian's remains were hidden inside the ugly tuna or the building itself, but he was confident that the case would one day be solved.

While there has been some speculation that Brian was using drugs to cope with the grief of losing his mom, it was reported that there was no evidence that Brian was involved in any illegal activity or drug use, and Derek was also adamant that his brother did not use drugs. Other online theorists linked Brian's case to the Smiley face Killer Conspiracy.

This is one that some of you may have heard. This theory suggests that there is a group of serial killers responsible for the [00:51:00] murders of young men who were found in or near bodies of water, and in several cases there were spray painted smiley faces that were discovered nearby. Authorities in the FBI do not take this theory seriously though, because the smiley face killer theory is largely regarded as being a myth or an urban legend, and there's been no connection made between Brian's case and any verified serial killings.

And of course the search for Brian still continues. Anyone with any information about the case is asked to call the Columbus Division of Police at 6 1 4 6 4 5 2 3 5 8. Brian was last seen wearing an olive green short sleeve polo shirt with a white long sleeve shirt underneath and blue jeans. He also had on Adidas sneakers and a yellow cancer awareness bracelet.

He's six two, a hundred and sixty pounds with brown hair and hazel eyes. He has a dot on the iris of his left eye and a tattoo of the Pearl Jam symbol on his upper right bicep. A couple [00:52:00] things that I guess I will never understand with this story is Clint offering information in exchange for immunity, but that never happening, I guess.

Yeah, I don't know if, because that never seemed like it actually. Went anywhere, right? He offered like he that he would talk, but then there was never any real follow up or any information given after that. So I don't know what to think about this case. I feel like Clint does maybe know more than what he has led on.

Obviously, I'm not gonna accuse him of like doing anything nefarious, but I think that he might know more. I am just like, it could be protecting Brian the way his dad said. He could have told Brian or Brian could have said, don't tell my family I'm doing this. Right. So there is that possibility. That could be what he has information on.

There is, but the thing, even with that though, even the idea of Brian choosing voluntarily to go off and start a new life. Yeah. Or you know, whatever. It just seems very farfetched. But even if [00:53:00] that was the case, what seems weird about that to me is that he would choose to do this. Literally in the middle of the night after a night out drinking.

Like if you were planning on skipping town and leaving your whole family, like, it just doesn't seem like that would be the way you would do it. Right? Like you, yeah. Where you literally would just vanish after a night out, like in the middle at two o'clock in the morning. Like, I, I'm not buying it, you know, I, I could buy that.

He. Did something like that, but I feel like the circumstances would've been a lot different. Not, not that he disappeared during a night out with his friends and under these strange circumstances. Totally. And one thing, Kevin Miles, the central Ohio Crime Stoppers guy. Saying that he feels like he could have been killed over a misunderstanding.

When you think back to the two girls in the parking lot, and maybe some guy is with one of the girls and sees that's true, Brian giving his number, like that could be it very well could be something like that. Like it hap, something happened there right that night and nobody just disappears. Something happened and somebody knows something.

So I [00:54:00] think I'm hopeful. The biggest question obviously, that everyone has. That that wants, you know, an answer to is how did Brian, whether he was killed Yeah. Or whether he was alive, get out of that bar. Like how did he get outta the bar and where did he go after that? Like, that's right. Obviously the big question because it's easy to believe that he got into an altercation or some kind of a fight at the bar, but, but then what?

But then what exactly? And if someone hurt him or incapacitated him in the bar. How did they get him out of the bar? Yeah, like that still is the question. I feel like that I have so, and of, of course the police have reviewed like every bit of surveillance footage that they possibly can to find out and haven't been able to find anything.

But that is the part of the story I feel like is so. That's the part that you just wanna know the answer to. You know, why did you, why did, why was he never seen leaving this bar? Like what happened in between? Absolutely. That short time period that he was last seen on camera, talking to the women, and then the bar closed and what happened in those few minutes.

We're only talking [00:55:00] about like a few minutes here, so that's like right. And like I said before, there is an answer. We just don't know it. Yeah. And that's like such a frustrating part of the story. Yeah, and I feel for Derek and just their entire family, that's so much for someone to go through and then still be hanging on to any hope.

But I can't imagine going through that. That's so much one person to take. Okay guys, well that was our story for this week. Thank you guys so much for listening. We will be back next week, same time, same place. New story. Have a great week. Bye.