Disclaimer: This blog post is for informational and entertainment purposes only, and it is not meant to cause harm to anyone connected with the case. Please do not contact, threaten, harm, malign, or otherwise intimidate those mentioned in the post. Please do not release any personal information of the people mentioned in this post, and do not join in attacks conducted by others. Per U.S. law, every person directly or indirectly connected with this case is innocent until proven guilty.

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About Brian

Brian Shaffer was born on February 25, 1979, in Pickerington, Ohio to his parents, Randy and Renee Shaffer. He would later become a big brother when his younger brother Derek was born a few years later. Many described him as handsome, smart, ambitious, and popular. He graduated from Pickerington High School in 1997 with plans to become a doctor. He graduated from Ohio State University (OSU) with a bachelor’s degree in microbiology, and he enrolled in medical school at OSU in 2004. By the time of his disappearance, he was a second-year med student and was reportedly making good grades.

Although Brian was working towards becoming a doctor, his real dream was to start a band and perform, as well as own and operate a bar. He also loved the idea of living on an island and often fantasized about it. He only told the people closest to him about this dream, though, and he still worked diligently towards becoming a doctor.

Image Courtesy of The Charley Project

For Brian, 2006 was a monumental year. He had a steady relationship with his girlfriend, Alexis Waggoner. Like Brian, Alexis was a second-year medical student. By the time of his disappearance, their relationship was getting serious, and many believed he would propose to her during their spring break trip to Miami. The two of them were going to fly out on April 3, 2006, but Brian would disappear before then.

Overall, things seemed to be going well for Brian until his mother was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer. Despite treatment, she passed away three weeks before his disappearance.

Brian reportedly took his mother’s death hard. By many accounts, he looked fine on the outside. However, he had shared a close relationship with her, and he reportedly told Alexis and other loved ones that her death was greatly affecting him. He even allegedly told Alexis that she would be better off without him, but at the time, she believed his depression about his mother’s death was distorting his view of their relationship. Eventually, Brian seemed to have pulled himself out of the dark hole, and he returned to normal.

Disappearance

On March 31, the university held its last day of classes before Spring Break, and Brian was in the mood to celebrate. He had a couple of days before he and Alexis were going to fly to Miami, and he wanted to hang out with his loved ones.

To start the evening, he went to dinner with his dad, Randy, at an Outback Steakhouse. Randy was still struggling with Renee’s death, and Brian was reportedly supportive and empathetic. He later described his son as happy and upbeat, but he also seemed tired. He had spent long hours studying, and he was concerned that his son wasn’t getting enough sleep. He wanted to hang out with his friends and have a good time, but Randy thought he might’ve benefitted more from having a night in and getting some rest.

Image Courtesy of The Charley Project

Later that evening, Brian went to the Ugly Tuna Saloona with his roommate, William “Clint” Florence, to blow off steam. He also invited his brother, Derek, and his girlfriend, but they couldn’t attend, as they were going to a comedy club that night. At the time, Alexis was out of town, visiting her parents, so he thought this would be a good opportunity to have a “guy’s night.”

The Ugly Tuna Saloona was located close to OSU, and it was a popular spot among college students. On the night Brian went, the bar was particularly crowded, as it was the beginning of Spring Break. Amongst the crowds of people, he and Clint arrived at the bar around 9:00 PM.

Around 10 PM, he called Alexis to confirm the trip to Miami and tell her that he loved her. He reportedly told her that he was going to go bar-hopping with Clint, and she told him to call her the next day. It’s unknown how much he drank before the phone call, but he drank several shots of hard liquor and some beers during his time at the bar.

After they drank for a while, they bar-hopped around the Arena District and Short North area, where they ran into Meredith Reed, a friend of Clint’s, who offered to drive them back to the Ugly Tuna. They accepted the offer, and she told them she would join them for a drink.

Image Courtesy of The Charley Project

Once the trio arrived at the bar, security camera footage recorded them riding the escalator to the bar’s second-floor entrance, which occurred around 1:15 AM. Approximately 45 minutes later, security camera footage recorded him reemerging from the bar and talking with two college-aged women at the top of the escalator. Clint would later identify them as classmates from OSU. This was his last confirmed sighting.

At that point, Brian returned to the bar, where he, Clint, and Meredith discussed their plans to wrap up the evening and go home. Sometime later, he got separated from the group, and he’s never been seen since.

As the bar closed, Clint and Meredith searched for him and tried to call him several times, but he never answered. Due to the large number of people exiting the bar, it was difficult to search for him. When they couldn’t find him, they assumed he had found other friends and got a ride with someone else. Eventually, they decided to go home, figuring they would hear from him the next morning.

Image Courtesy of The Charley Project

No one knew that Brian had disappeared at first. His father, girlfriend, and brother called him several times, but to no avail. Alexis ended up going to his apartment to look for him, but there was no sign that he had made it home after the bar closed. She stayed there the whole weekend in the hopes that he would walk through the door at any moment.

Their concern grew steadily until Monday when he missed his flight to Miami with Alexis. He still hadn’t gotten in touch with anyone. Realizing the severity of the situation, Randy reported his son as missing to the local authorities.

Investigation

The police began their investigation by going to the Ugly Tuna Saloona and interviewing his family members and friends. Within the first few days of his disappearance, they searched for him extensively, having as many as 50 cops searching for him at any given time. Their efforts included tracking dogs, and thorough searches of the area surrounding the bar. They also searched dumpsters, sewers, and other hiding spots. Despite the thoroughness of investigators, they couldn’t find Brian or any evidence that he was in the area.

A total of $7,000 was offered as a reward through Crime Stoppers and the Ohio State University College of Medicine. His loved ones also hung missing person posters to get the word out about his disappearance. Although these efforts made the public aware of Brian’s disappearance, neither drew solid leads.

Image Courtesy of The Charley Project

As they searched the Ugly Tuna, the police obtained security footage. While they were able to use it to build a loose timeline, the security cameras inside and outside the bar failed to capture Brian leaving that night. The final known footage of him showed him walking towards the bar entrance before disappearing offscreen. Whether or not he actually left the bar has been the subject of debate for over 18 years.

During the investigation, the authorities questioned Meredith and Clint about their accounts on the night of Brian’s disappearance. They suspected that the two of them knew more than they were saying, so they issued polygraph tests to the two of them, as well as Brian’s other loved ones. Among others, Randy and Meredith took tests and passed. However, Clint refused to take a test. Up until that point, he was described as being cooperative, but after that point, he hired a lawyer and refused to speak directly to the authorities. In addition, the two women he was last seen with never took the tests.

Image Courtesy of The Charley Project

About a month after Brian was last seen, Alexis received a phone call from police, saying that his apartment had been broken into. She was asked to come in and identify any missing items. At first, the authorities believed that the break-in might’ve been connected to Brian’s disappearance. However, upon further investigation, they determined that that was not the case.

As the months wore on, Alexis called his cell phone every night, in the hopes that Brian would pick it up. Almost every time, it went straight to voicemail. However, one night in September (about five months after Brian’s disappearance), his phone rang three times before it sent her to voicemail. At first, that gave his loved ones hope that he was still out there somewhere.

The authorities quickly investigated the lead, and his phone company proposed a couple of theories. His phone might’ve rang because of a computer glitch, or it might’ve been on at that point. The phone did not have GPS enabled, so they couldn’t locate it. However, they determined that it pinged off of a cell tower 14 miles northwest of Columbus. The police were unable to find any further information, and his cell phone was never recovered.

Despite an influx of psychic premonitions, publicity pushes, and tips, no one could find Brian or any evidence of what happened to him. Curiously, his wallet, cell phone, and keys were never recovered.

In 2008, Randy was tragically killed during a freak accident. He was working in his yard when a storm blew through, and a tree fell on him, killing him instantly. An obituary for him appeared online with a comment claiming to be Brian. It read:

Dad, I love you. Love, Brian, U.S. Virgin Islands

Upon discovering this comment, the authorities tracked down the IP address, thinking that it was the missing man. Unfortunately, it was found to be a hoax.

The case stalled for several years until 2020, when an image of what looked like an American man in Tijuana, Mexico went viral. In the photo, the man appeared to be homeless and bore a striking resemblance to Brian. However, the FBI underwent a thorough facial analysis, and they determined the man in the photo was not the missing man.

The following year, the authorities released an age-progressed image of what Brian might look like today. Despite high hopes, there have been no new leads in the case.

After Randy’s death, his younger brother Derek became Brian’s only surviving relative. He has picked up where his father left off, and he still advocates for his older brother. His loved ones still maintain hope that he will be found, brought home, and receive justice. As of this writing, his case remains unsolved.

My Thoughts

The disappearance of Brian Shaffer is one of the strangest, most unsettling missing persons cases in the history of the United States. It’s usually included in many lists of well-known True Crime cases, mainly because to this day, it still baffles his friends, family, investigators, and the public. How does a young man in the prime of his life vanish in a room full of people? How did no one see anything? Why wasn’t he ever picked up on surveillance cameras? There are so many questions in this case and very few answers.

In a case with countless theories and little evidence, it’s difficult to determine what happened. Despite this, there are some possibilities to explore using what little knowledge we have about Brian.

For many who investigate this case, there are three main theories:

• Brian ran away
• Brian died by suicide
• Brian was the victim of foul play, whether by a stranger or someone he knew.

Let’s address these one by one.

For starters, we have the theory that Brian ran away. For many, this is the default theory when an adult goes missing, especially if there is little physical evidence. For years, he had made it clear that his dream was to live on an island, run a bar, and start a band and perform. After his mother’s death, he might’ve had a realization that life was too short, and he needed to pursue his actual dreams. We can’t know for sure if this happened to Brian, but it’s a common reaction from people who have experienced trauma and tragedy.

However, this theory presents its problems. For example, why would he run away without telling anyone? He was close to his family, friends, and girlfriend. He was often there to support his father after his mother died. That doesn’t seem like the type of person who would just get up and leave.

Some might argue that he was an adult and didn’t need to tell his parents anything. But what about his girlfriend, Alexis? The two of them had plans to go to Miami a couple of days after he disappeared, and he was reportedly planning to propose to her. If he was making plans for the future, why would he have run away without saying a word to anyone?

Although this tends to be the default theory when adults go missing, there are too many holes for it to make sense. As a result, I believe we can safely rule it out.

Our next theory is that Brian died by suicide. This theory also seems likely at first glance. He was having a rough time shortly before his disappearance, as he had just lost his mother three weeks prior. Her death hit him hard, and he reportedly confided to close friends and family that he wasn’t doing well. He even commented to Alexis that she would be better off without him. At the time, she assumed the situation was distorting his view of their relationship. However, some view this as a sign that he could’ve been suicidal.

For me, this theory has even more holes than the running away theory. If he wanted to kill himself that night, why would he have gone to a bar with a bunch of people? If you try to hurt yourself in such a public place, someone’s going to try to stop you and call for help. Alternatively, he could’ve gone to the bar as one last “hurrah” before he attempted suicide, but if he had killed himself, why hasn’t his body ever been found? Typically, if you’re in that mindset, you’re probably not going to care about where your body ends up. As far as I could tell, there were no John Does matching Brian’s description found in the area. If he died by suicide, he would’ve had to go somewhere more remote, someplace that’s never been searched. We don’t know how much he had to drink that night, but even if he had been sober, it would’ve been difficult to get to a remote area from a bustling metropolis without anyone seeing him.

I could go on, but the point is that there are too many holes for this theory to make sense. Because of this, we can safely rule it out.

Our last theory is that Brian was the victim of foul play. This is the theory that most people believe, including investigators. Unfortunately, there’s so little evidence that we can’t tell what happened to him, much less who did it. Because of this, people generally believe one of two things: a stranger was responsible for what happened, or someone he knew was.

Some believe that Brian was the victim of a random attack, possibly the victim of the Smiley Face Killer. However, if it was a random attack, this person would’ve had to be the luckiest person on the planet. They weren’t caught on security footage, no witnesses came forward describing them, and they’ve never been identified in the 18+ years since Brian’s disappearance. A stranger was possibly involved, but it just doesn’t seem likely.

By far the most common belief is that someone Brian knew was responsible for his disappearance. Most of the people in his life took polygraphs and passed, and some (like Alexis) were out of town when he disappeared. The only person who didn’t take a polygraph was Clint Florence. Many believe he knows more about Brian’s disappearance, and it makes sense why people would jump to that conclusion. Early on, he refused to take a lie detector test, lawyered up, and stopped cooperating with the authorities, choosing to only communicate through his lawyer. Legally, he has the right to do all of those things, but it doesn’t necessarily paint a good picture in the court of public opinion.

That said, we have to remember that Clint has never been named a person of interest in this case, never mind named a suspect. Unless he’s charged and convicted in a court of law, he’s innocent until proven guilty.

Unfortunately, we don’t have much information to go on. We can’t even determine if a crime was committed here. And unless someone comes forward, I doubt we’re going to resolve this case.

Brian Shaffer was a young man with his entire life ahead of him. Although he was studying to become a doctor, he dreamed of island living. He was a smart, kind, and driven person who was dealt a bad hand by his mother’s death. Since his disappearance, he’s never been located, although his loved ones still hold out hope that he’ll be found, brought home, and receive justice. Unless a witness comes forward, new evidence is presented, or Brian himself is found, the disappearance of Brian Shaffer will remain unsolved.

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If you’re looking for more information about the disappearance of Brian Shaffer, there are plenty of articles, podcasts, and YouTube videos. The following sources helped me as I wrote this post:

• The Charley Project
• FBI
• ABC 6
• All That’s Interesting
• Trace Evidence Podcast
• The Columbus Dispatch

If you have any information about the disappearance of Brian Schaffer, please contact the Columbus Police Department at 877-645-8477.

What do you think happened? Let me know in the comments.