February 17, 2026 • 51 mins
This week, we’d like to introduce you to The First Degree, a true crime podcast from Jac Vanek and Alexis Linkletter. In episode 361, Jac and Lex unravel one night in 2006 when medical student Brian Shaffer disappeared, the theories that won’t die, and the question that haunts everyone: how does someone vanish into thin air?
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Listen
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This story contains adult content and language. Listener discretion is advised.
The claims and opinions in this podcast are those of
the speaker and do not necessarily represent The Knife or
Exactly Right Media. Welcome to the Knife. I'm Hannah Smith,
(00:32):
I'm Patia Eaton. Today we're dropping one of our favorite
episodes of The First Degree, a true crime podcast from
Jack Vanick and Alexis link Letter. If you're a true
crime listener, this show is for you. They cover everything
from murders to cults to conspiracies. They dive into the
lives of people connected to the most infamous crimes, and
today we're going to play one of our favorite episodes
(00:54):
from their show. It is about the mysterious disappearance of
Brian Schaeffer back in two thousand and six. You can
listen to The First Degree anywhere you listen to your
favorite podcast, So go check them out and we hope
you enjoy the episode.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
The first Degree.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
First Degree, First Degree, First Degree, First Degree, First Degree,
The first.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Degree on the news on Facebook. These things are supposed
to happen in movies, not in real life.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Welcome to the First Degree, the true crime podcast that
you might end up on. My name is Jack Fanick.
I'm sitting here with Alexis link letter. Happy Wednesday, Happy hump.
Speaker 4 (01:44):
Day, Happy Wednesday everyone.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
Happy Wednesday everyone. I think that we have the best
announcement that we could ever have, and that is that
our premium episodes, our First Degree Underground, is now available
on Apple podcast subscriptions. Now. This is the same content
that we have over on our Patreon that we have
been giving you for the past like four years now,
(02:07):
like something crazy, many many years. There's over one hundred
and fifty episodes, but they're now all available on Apple
podcast subscription. It's so easy. All you do go on
your Apple podcasts, go to the First Degree, click a
little button and you're subscribed.
Speaker 4 (02:22):
And honestly, people have been rejoicing. We didn't even we
didn't even promote it. It just sort of went live
quietly and people have been going nuts with joy, being
like this makes it so much easier. I don't want
to use another app. I only like Apple subscriptions. So
we sense this. We knew it was a desire and
we just brought it. We brought it to the God,
(02:43):
we brought it to the people. If you didn't know,
it's called the Underground. It's where we take your recommendations
on cases. We take cases that we have been fascinated with,
and we do a full length episode about all of
the cases, exclusive content, Baby, and they're really good. They're
as good as our regular episodes.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
They're so good. So please join us in the Underground.
We have a seven day free trial for you if
you just want to check it out a little bit,
but youah lots to listen to. That's right, endless. And
then the last little tidbit I want to say is
if you want to read with us. This month we
are reading Misery by Stephen King. It's so good. And
every month we have a book club meet up at
(03:25):
the end of the month to discuss the book and
it's our favorite place to be. That's right, all right, Well,
that is enough of that, So let's turn down the.
Speaker 4 (03:32):
Lights and turn up your anxiety because this could be you.
(03:54):
It was the start of spring break in Columbus, Ohio,
a college town. Winding down the streets, still slick with rain,
bars were buzzing, students were celebrating. Music was spilling onto
the sidewalks, and at one of them, a second story
bar tucked above a retail strip near campus, a twenty
(04:14):
seven year old med student bought a drink. He laughed
with friends, he made small talk with strangers. He was smart,
he was charming, sober enough to know his limits, and
looking forward to a trip in the coming days with
the woman he loved. He steps inside, and from that
moment on no one can say for certain where he
went next. This is the story of Brian Schaeffer.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
Today's case is taking us back to April first of
two thousand and six. The top song on the charts
was So Sick by Neo, followed by Me Without You
by Mary J. Blige, Talk by Coldplay, Living and Fast
Forward by Kenny Chesney, and Worldwide Suicide by Pearl Jam
And this one kind of feels a little bit ironic,
and you're going to understand a little bit later. The
(05:01):
top movies included Failure to Launch V for Vendetta, The
Shaggy Dog, and The Inside Man. Oh and of course
The Hills Have Eyes.
Speaker 4 (05:09):
In the setting for today's case, Columbus, Ohio, one of
the largest universities in the US. OSU is deeply embedded
in this city's identity, and the Wexner Medical Center and
College of medicine remained prestigious and central to campus. The
surrounding area was a bustling, high traffic area with nightlife
and student housing, and the Olentangy River flows just west
(05:33):
of the OSU campus. The river is lined with parks, trails,
and wooded areas, and in two thousand and six, when
today's story took place, Columbus had a vibrant, evolving nightlife scene,
especially for the students. And the man at the center
of today's story lived in Columbus and attended Ohio State
University's medical school.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
Brian Schaeffer was a second year medical student. He was
well loved, close to his family, and he kind of
had it all. He was described was charismatic, intelligent, and
well liked by those who knew him. He had a
girlfriend named Alexis. He was ambitious and obviously you have
to be kind of ambitious if you want to become
a doctor. And these dreams were inspired in part by
(06:15):
the fact that his mother was battling cancer, So that
kind of describes the kind of guy that Brian was.
Speaker 4 (06:20):
Brian was also known for his love of music, and
he had always wanted to start a band, and everyone
who knew Brian knew this about him, including our first degree.
For today's story, Nicki, who grew up with Brian in
the same small town and they went to school together.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
We grew up in Pickerington, which is like a small
suburb outside of Columbus. We graduated in ninety seven. I
met him, I mean like kindergarten, first grade, so I
would have met him in like eighty four, which seems
like it was just like yesterday, but it wasn't. We
went to pickeringson Elementary behind our elementary school of there
was his fields and there was this old barnhouse and
(06:58):
we used to scare each other. Man was like more
of my other friends. And I just remember Brian, I
just like screaming but laughing, and just it's so ironic
to think about, like that was like, you know, when
we were five six years old.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
Brian and Nicki also went to middle and high school
together and they remained friends.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
He was in the band. He was really big into music.
He played and he did played the drums and he
played guitar, but he did the bands. And I remember
he was in the band. Friday night football games, like
the town shuts down, like that's where you're at and
he would just be on the drum line and they
would always do the beginning of this one bec voice
song where everybody's doing that, and he just he loved music,
and like all through high school, he was just a
(07:36):
really nice guy. This was a really chill nice guy.
And he was also like an quote unquote alternative kid,
which was like before there was like gos or Emo,
there was the grund.
Speaker 4 (07:49):
Brian loved pearl Jam and this was also something that
everyone knew about him.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
And he was really big into pearl jam. He had
he has a pearl Jam tattoo.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
Nick you saw Brian after they graduated high school as well,
and she remembers one encounter early in two thousand and six.
This running seemed kind of trivial at the time, but
she doesn't feel that way about it now.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
I actually had seen him about three months before this,
his parents at a restaurant, Italian oven restaurant outside of
our little town, and we just he was there with
his parents, I was there with my mom, and we
just got ran in each other and talked about student debt.
Speaker 4 (08:25):
They talked about mundane things like student loan debt, their
respective relationships. They just sort of caught up about life.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
I had never met his girlfriend, but he had mentioned
to her and that, you know, they were still together,
but I never met her, you know, so that was
the last time I saw him. So I just got
married in December, and I just feld on to that.
I just breezed in my mind.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
Brian was there with his parents, who Nikki had met
in Passing over the years, and.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
I did know his family yet, you know, I'd met
his parents in Passing, you know, at graduation parties like this.
So I said, ah, eye to him. But we just
got up and was like, hey, how are you.
Speaker 4 (09:04):
Brian talked about med school and shared the sad news
that his mom's cancer was back.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
His mom was sick again and that was something that
was a big concern of his, that she had the
Bono marage cancer again. But he was just talking about
med school. Yeah, he was kind of stressed about that
and his mom being sick.
Speaker 4 (09:21):
They talked about how much time had passed and as
far as NICKI could tell, Brian still had everything going
for him. He was twenty seven years old, with his
whole life ahead, handsome, and he was going to be
a doctor one day. And it was good to see him.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
But then three months later, Niki got a phone call,
a phone call that stunned her. And now when she
thinks back, she sees that final encounter a little bit differently.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
My mom actually called me she had ran into another
classmate's parent at a Kroger, which at a grocery store,
and they had mentioned did you hear Brian? And this
was like, so he went the scene, And so my
mom ran into a parent on Monday at the grocery
store and that parent has said it with my mom.
So that my mom called me and was like, you
know Brian Shaffer, you graduated with him. I'm like, yeah,
(10:08):
Then that's when she said that a parent had said
he's missing or something. So this would before like I
think Facebook maybe was it in its infancy. But I
ended up calling a friend of mine, Alyssa, who knew
one of his best friends, and come to find out like, yeah,
that's he was missing.
Speaker 4 (10:24):
Missing A word that doesn't make sense, not in the
context of Brian Schaeffer. People like Brian don't just go missing.
Brian was responsible, dedicated to his education, to becoming a doctor,
to his family. Nicki wasn't worried at first, I mean,
why would she be he'd turn up. But at that
early stage, NICKI never could have guessed that Brian's disappearance
(10:47):
would land among the most mysterious, perplexing, and debated in
US history. But that's exactly what happened. There are so
many questions to answer and so much ground to cover,
so you know that we're going back.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
On the night of March thirty first, two thousand and six,
Brian was reportedly doing well all things considered. His mother
had lost her fight with cancer a few weeks back,
and the loss had been a profound emotional blow to him.
Her illness is why he wanted to be a doctor.
But he was taking his grief on the chin, and
he decided to go out with some friends to blow
(11:38):
off some steam. You know, maybe his grief was why
he was growing out, a distraction, seeing some friends a
reminder of what life is really all about.
Speaker 4 (11:47):
So we met up with Clint Florence. Brian and Clint
were friends and med school classmates at Ohio State. Both
were in their second year. Brian considered Clint a close
friend and they hung out often. And I met at
Brian's apartment at nine pm that night and their first
stop was at the Ugly Tuna Saluna, and the Ugly
(12:08):
Tuna was a distinctive college bar and live music venue.
It was located on High Street, on the second floor
of the South Campus Gateway complex.
Speaker 3 (12:17):
And will paint a little picture for you. So the
Ugly Tuna was on the second level of a multi
use building. Bargoers accessed it via a long escalator from
the sidewalk, and the building was kind of like a
modern building. There was a glass storefront that had these
big windows that overlooked the plaza below, and it had
signage with a distinctive Ugly Tuna Saluna lettering lit up
(12:39):
in bright neon. Security cameras were mounted at the top
of the escalator, and the bar was positioned above a
large area that was under construction at the time.
Speaker 4 (12:48):
And the vibe of this place was laid back and
decor was ocean themed, kitch beach signs, fishing nets and
kind of ugly fish art in line with the playful
corky name. It was dimly lit, colorful, loud, and lively,
especially on weekends and during college events. Thank like Jimmy
Buffett meets Dive Bar with an Ohio State twist. Honestly,
(13:12):
the Ugly Tuna sounds like a great place to commence
a bop, and that's exactly what they did. Oh and
Nicki had been to the Ugly Tuna Saluna as well.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
So Clint and Brian left the Ugly Tuna Saluna and
went bar hopping in the area known as the Arena District.
This area is still known for its sports bars, dance clubs,
and music venues. Eventually, they met up with one of
Clint's friends, a girl named Meredith Reid, and Meredith drove
Clinton Brian back to the Ugly Tuna Saluna at around
one fifteen in the morning. We know the exact time
(13:45):
because security footage captured Brian returning to the bar, and
this security footage would add a layer of confusion to
this mystery that still lingers around today.
Speaker 4 (13:55):
And according to Nicki, based on her knowledge of the
Ugly Tuna Saluna, once Brian arrived and entered and basically
ascended this escalator, there are only two places that he
could have gone because this area was well contained.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
I remember an Ugly Tuna Salouona was like a two
story It was in a building and it was on
the second floor. You had to go up these escalators
and you can either go into the bar or you
can go to the bathroom, and then there's cameras covering
all of the exits to that building.
Speaker 4 (14:27):
The Ugly tun Of reportedly only had one main entrance,
which was covered by the surveillance. There was an emergency
exit in the back, but it led to a construction
zone with no easy access or surveillance, and the cameras
captured Brian last. You're an exit leading into a hallway
that accessed this construction area with an exterior door. It's
(14:47):
a little confusing if you're not looking at it, but
you can look at this footage, which will encourage you
to do so. This exit that we're talking about was
not for public use. Cameras there were limited, one panning
continuously in another manually controlled. When Brian was lasting on camera,
he was wearing an olive green Polo shirt, boot cut jeans,
(15:11):
white Adidas sneakers with blue stripes, a silver wristwatch, and
a yellow Liftstrong bracelet. He is again briefly seen on
the surveillance footage at one fifty five am speaking to
two women at the top of the escalator outside the bar.
Then he walked back into the bar. But here's where
it gets really crazy. After he walks back inside, the
(15:32):
security cameras never capture Brian leaving the bar ever. In fact,
after this moment, Brian is never seen again.
Speaker 3 (15:41):
The next morning, a red flags were raised almost immediately.
It was April first, and his girlfriend Alexis tried calling
Brian multiple times starting that morning, and she heard nothing back.
At first, she thought maybe he was just hungover or
laying low after a late night, so she kept trying
to reach him over and over again. Eventually, people started
(16:02):
asking Brian's friend Clint if he knew where Brian was.
Clint said he had no idea. He said he had
lost track of Brian the previous night and assumed that
he had left to go home or just meet up
with somebody else.
Speaker 4 (16:14):
And the whole day passed and Alexis never heard back
from Brian, so she started obviously getting probably weirded out, annoyed, pissed.
That's where I would start anyway. So by this point,
Brian's dad, Randy, also began trying to reach his son.
That evening, which was a Sunday night, Brian missed a
family dinner, which was really out of character, especially considering
(16:37):
they had just lost his mom. Like the rest of
the family was really close at this time, and his
girlfriend Alexis became increasingly worried and began calling around, including
to friends and to the police.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
But things felt really serious when Brian missed a flight
to Miami for a vacation that he had planned with Alexis.
Alexis was at the airport waiting for him, calling and
texting him, and he just never showed up. She already
knew that something was deeply wrong, but now there was
no lingering doubt about it. After that, Alexis and Brian's dad, Randy,
filed a missing persons report the same day, and Alexis
(17:11):
told the media outlets the following she had this gut
feeling something was terribly wrong, and described calling his phone repeatedly,
sometimes hearing it ring and other times going straight to voicemail.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
He was supposed to meet his girlfriend at the airport
to side to Miami that Sunday, and that was when
they noticed. That's when they first were like, he's missing
because he was not at the airport, and they're pretty
sure he was a proposed to her on the strips
to Miami, horrible, horrible, And then you're at the airport
waiting for me. He doesn't show up, and then first
(17:46):
or privates sorry first, or prite.
Speaker 4 (17:47):
Mad, and like we talked about if I was in
this position, and maybe if you were in this position.
First you start thinking like he's breaking up with me,
he's ghosting me, Like he's straight up bailing on this relationlationship. Yeah,
it starts with anger, irritation, fear, and that pivots to hurt,
maybe even feelings of betrayal. But then soon the realization
(18:09):
creeps in that you know Brian and he wouldn't do
this to you. And it's at this point that Alexis
and Brian's dad began to really mobilize, alerting people actively
looking for Brian and handing out missing persons flyers near campus.
And this is when NICKI heard about what happened and
was compelled to help them.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
I don't remember how it happened. I remember us being
down on campus like with with flyers, like looking for
him and passing out flyers, and so his dad was
the one that was like and his brother were down there.
Speaker 3 (18:41):
At first, NICKI was convinced that there had to be
a reasonable explanation for all.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
Of this, and I remember thinking, like, he's just he's
obviously just passed out somewhere on campus, Like there were
parts of campus that were pretty dodgy like that we
all still went to them, but like where the bars were,
it wasn't. So I just think her like, maybe he's
passed out somewhere, or maybe the word tithnario he has
gotten an accident or he's in the hospital.
Speaker 3 (19:04):
Soon the police were involved. They pulled the surveillance footage
from the Ugly Tuna Saluna and the other bars nearby.
They interviewed Clint Florence and Meredith Read. They searched the bar,
the building, and the surrounding construction sites. They checked Brian's apartment.
His car was still there where he had left it,
and they checked his phone records, his bank accounts, and
(19:25):
there was absolutely no activity.
Speaker 4 (19:28):
And the police determined that Brian's last known communication before
he vanished was a call to his girlfriend Alexis, that
he'd made earlier that evening. Alexis was asked about this
call and she said when she talked to Brian, he
was his normal self, he was affectionate, and that they
were both looking forward to their Miami trip, nothing was amiss.
Speaker 3 (19:48):
When the video clip of Brian's final moments at the
Ugly Tuna Saluna were released, is really when the public
started paying attention. How is it that Brian walked in
but he never walked out? No? What he could make
sense of it?
Speaker 2 (20:01):
Yeah, because your options are like where they're showing him.
You can go into the bar, you can go into
the bathrooms where he supposedly went, and or you can
go into a corner. Lets you like a corner. That's
about it. It was just so bad, Like, how does
someone just vanish? When I saw the footage and the
detective said, he has been Everyone on that film is
(20:22):
an account of for It's like he just vanished. That's
when I was like, I have I have no idea
what happened to him.
Speaker 4 (20:36):
The search for Brian continued for days, for weeks, and
obviously the hope that Brian would return unscathed, unharmed remained,
despite the fact that his med school classes resumed following
spring break and he was nowhere to be seen, And
the investigation and the search for him continued as well,
and soon three months had passed, and suddenly a new
(20:59):
wave of confusion and speculation arrived.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
About three months after his disappearances, apartment was broken into,
and so people thought, okay, here it is. This is something.
Speaker 3 (21:13):
The hope was that Brian had surfaced and broken into
his own apartment, but that wasn't the case.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
But no, it was just a random idiot that broke
into his apartment and sold some CDs or something. But
they taught him and it was some It was just
some random person. He had broken in like a few
apartments that night, and just so everyone of course, everyone's like, okay,
this is it.
Speaker 4 (21:34):
The longer that Brian remained missing, the deeper the mystery
of what happened to him became. Everyone in Brian's life
was interviewed, and so were as many people who were
at the Ugly Tuna on the night he vanished that
police could find. And no one reported seeing him leave
or being involved in any sort of altercation with anyone
that night, and also Brian didn't have any enemies.
Speaker 3 (21:56):
The police searched the area around the Ugly Tuna Suluna
with cadaver dogs. They searched every nook and cranny within
the construction area, and they found nothing. No Brian and
no physical evidence in the media.
Speaker 4 (22:09):
Coverage started small, with local Columbus outlets covering the case first,
but as the surveillance footage emerged and started circulating the
fact that he was seen entering but not leaving, well,
that's when national media outlets picked up the story. This
footage was poured over, dissected, watched on repeat. No one
(22:30):
could get over how just normal Brian looked in these
final moments. The story took hold. Maybe it was because
Brian was the boy next door, young, good looking, intelligent,
with no obvious reason to disappear. Maybe people watched and
followed the story, hoping for a happy ending, an answer
to the looming questions. His case had that locked room
(22:51):
mystery quality. How can someone vanish from a bar with
cameras at every exit.
Speaker 3 (22:57):
People have criticized the friend that Brian was with that night, Clint,
for how he has behaved following Brian's disappearance. He was
reportedly cooperative at first, but later refused to take a
polygraph test. He refused to comment publicly about the case,
and his behavior raised public suspicion. The police have never
named him as an official suspect. He retained a lawyer
(23:20):
early on and has declined interviews in the recent years.
So is that suspicious or is it just smart? Clint
was a medical school student and he had a future
to protect, especially if he knew for sure that he
had nothing to do with why his friend was missing.
Speaker 2 (23:38):
Meredith and Clint were the two people he was with.
Clint got an attorney right away, which in twenty sixteen
odd in twenty twenty five to meet does nasimod like,
Now that I'm older, I go, yeah, get an attorney's coming,
you know, like, is there good question?
Speaker 3 (23:50):
You know?
Speaker 2 (23:50):
But back then that seemed weird. But now they were
older and we know more about law enforcement. Yeah, he probed,
should get attorney.
Speaker 4 (23:58):
Eventually Nikky realized that this was real. Brian wasn't missing
in a type of situation where he was going to
emerge suddenly with an innocent explanation. And once everyone else
realized this was for real, no one believed he was
voluntarily missing, which was a really sad thing to reconcile,
because that meant that something horrible had happened to him,
(24:19):
and also that Brian was probably no longer alive.
Speaker 3 (24:23):
There were several vigils held to raise awareness for Brian's disappearance.
One was organized by Ohio State University classmates and friends.
It was held close to wherever he was last seen,
and there have been annual vigils ever since his disappearance
as well, often held on or near the anniversary. They
were designated to keep public pressure on the police investigation
(24:45):
and to offer emotional support for Brian's loved ones. Brian's friends, family,
and anonymous donors have offered reward money at various times.
Early reward offers range from twenty five to one hundred
thousand dollars.
Speaker 4 (24:59):
Obviously, Brian's girlfriend struggled with a sudden disappearance of her
serious boyfriend. There were rumors that they were going to
get engaged on that Miami trip, so this would have
been devastating. At this point, they had already decided to
spend their lives together, and they had a plan to
go and finish med school together to become doctors together.
(25:19):
Who wouldn't be devastated by this?
Speaker 2 (25:21):
You know?
Speaker 4 (25:22):
She was vocal in the weeks and months following Brian's disappearance,
and she said that she continued calling his phone every
night at ten pm, hoping that he'd answer, and one night,
she said that the phone rang three times, which was
enough to give her just a spark of hope, though
it may have been a glitch or momentary signal from
(25:42):
a dead phone. She also kept visiting his apartment, She
stayed in touch with Brian's dad, and she kept pushing
for media attention. And it's sad, but Alexis later became
a doctor, which was the very path that she and
Brian had planned together.
Speaker 3 (25:58):
And it's important to know that those close to Brian
said that he never spoke of suicidal ideation. He was
still grieving the recent loss of his mother, who had
passed away just three weeks earlier from cancer, but his grief,
according to his friends, was one that they would just
consider normal. He had good days and bad days, but
that night he appeared to be celebrating, not withdrawn.
Speaker 4 (26:20):
One thing that does remain murky about this night and
could play a key role in what happened, was how
much alcohol Brian had consumed. And we lack the clarity
here because they visited multiple bars three or four, but
Meredith Reid, who gave the guys a ride back to
the Ugly Tuna, did not report that Brian was intoxicated
(26:40):
when she gave him a ride. She said that he
was in good spirits and relaxed. And this assumption of
how much alcohol he did drink. People have said it's
between four and six drinks over several hours, possibly more,
possibly less, But we know for sure that if you
watch this surveillance footage of Brian, he doesn't look belligerent
(27:01):
or incoherent.
Speaker 3 (27:03):
The police determined that Brian spoke to two women outside
the bar shortly after one fifty five am. These women
were tracked down and interviewed. They said that their chat
with Brian was brief, friendly and unremarkable. No red flags,
no odd behavior, no signs of distress.
Speaker 4 (27:20):
It is one of the craziest cases where you're just like, so,
what happened? What happened? Right?
Speaker 3 (27:26):
No clues.
Speaker 4 (27:28):
When we were talking to Niki, the interviewee the first
degree for this episode, it's just like you can talk
through all these little like the minutia of any scenario
because something did happen, something that doesn't make any sense,
and it's like, what is it? Did he get locked
in the freezer of the bar and then the bar
didn't want liability so they covered up, like it has
(27:50):
to be something that no one saw, no one heard,
and no one in a busy bar witnessed, So what
is it?
Speaker 3 (27:56):
And there was no evidence at all. Right, it's like
he literally poofed.
Speaker 4 (28:01):
Yeah, it's crazy, devastating, right, And because as someone who
knew Brian, I'm sure none of this is good enough,
Like you need an answer, and to not know if
this was your son or close friend would be would
haunt you. Right. So, obviously a lot of the theories
surrounding the case are tied to the rivers in the area.
(28:24):
So it's the closest major body of water to the
Ugly Tuna. It's the Old and Tangy River, and it
runs about a mile west of where Brian disappeared. And
here's what we know about it. So it's accessible by foot,
but not directly adjacent to the bar. Some suggest that
he could have wandered in that direction if intoxicated. Several
unrelated deaths in Ohio have involved intoxicated men found in rivers,
(28:49):
but in those cases, the remains were discovered pretty quickly,
so that doesn't really align with what happened here.
Speaker 3 (28:56):
People also wonder whether Brian could have left the Ugly
Tuna via the back and walked alone along the Arena
district and fell into the river, possibly disoriented or intoxicated.
This has happened many times in other college towns with
rivers running through them, but the river was searched and they.
Speaker 4 (29:14):
Use sonar and dogs to search the river. And Nikki
doesn't buy the river theory for several reasons.
Speaker 2 (29:20):
There was a two rivers that converge into Columbus that
are not right by the bar but are in downtown Columbus.
So then they're like, maybe he's in the river. I
think he would have honestly, Like, I think it's because
the river it's not like it's a kayaking, fast flowing river.
I mean, it's it's flowing in this river like you
(29:42):
could jump in one. Like we have festivals downtown and
Columbus like the Jazz Best and It's and we have
a couple of bridges that go over you could swim
over this river. She would have found if he was
in that river at some point, if not right when
you fell in where it flows the way that it
was pretty slow flowing, like he would have been his
body would have surfaced Like by now, I just think
(30:03):
you would have been found if you went in the river, and.
Speaker 3 (30:05):
While more signs point away from the river than towards it,
there's been a talk of other ways the river could
have played a part in this mystery. Perhaps Brian was
killed somewhere and his body was put into the river
much later, possibly even outside the city itself, particularly because
Columbus has multiple rivers, multiple lakes, and reservoirs in surrounding counties, and.
Speaker 4 (30:26):
Some people suggest that the river is just a total
red herring used to explain away disappearances that otherwise have
more sinister explanations. And when it comes to Brian in
the Night in question, every single angle has been explored.
The theories really are boundless, and we're going to take
you through the most prevailing ones to the best of
(30:47):
our ability. So let's start right next to the ugly
to Nea Saluna. So we talked about the surrounding area
and how there was a lot of construction in the
area back then. This includes the back of the Ugly
Tuna Sluna, which faced a dark, unlit, fenced off construction
site with limited foot traffic. In these construction areas had
(31:10):
multiple potential hazards including open trenches, tools, rebar and debris.
And while the main entrance of the bar was visible
and well trafficked and covered by surveillance. The rear exit
area was dim, largely unsupervised, and not covered by comprehensive surveillance.
Speaker 3 (31:28):
Some speculate that perhaps Brian left the bar intoxicated and
maybe he fell, or he was injured in the construction
zone and his body was somehow missed. Investigators flagged that
the construction area was difficult to navigate, especially while drunk,
but the construction areas were searched thoroughly with no signs
of him. That didn't stop many from theorizing that he
(31:49):
may have tried and either got lost or fell. This
is a theory that Nikki has poured over a.
Speaker 2 (31:54):
Lot for a long time. I thought maybe he had
fallen and they were doing instruction there. I thought maybe
he fell in anstruction and then like they poured said,
they may have bordement him. Okay, so then maybe he's
in the building. But wait, they remodeled the building. Like
how wouldn't that smell? I mean, that'd be disrespcestful. But
(32:15):
you know, if there's if he was in the in
the building somewhere, you'd think at some point like and
then they remodeled it. Now it's an office and apartment building,
and you think you would have a smell, and how
would nobody say anything.
Speaker 4 (32:29):
So people wonder whether Brian fell in the construction area
and somehow his body was maybe sealed into the foundation,
maybe concrete was poured on top of him. But police
say that's just not possible. That they searched this area
thoroughly and presumably prior to any construction like that happening.
And to Nikki's point, wouldn't construction workers have found, smelled,
(32:53):
noted something. And this still doesn't explain why Brian isn't
seen leaving on surveillance camera. So you know, it is
one of these cases where once you can get convinced
of one theory, like Okay, this construction theory makes sense,
there's something, there's a way to poke a hole in it.
Like that still doesn't explain why he wasn't seen leaving,
(33:14):
Like to be in the construction area, he would have
needed to leave. Yeah, so why wasn't he seen leaving?
Speaker 3 (33:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (33:22):
The hypothesis for a while is maybe he was drunk
and went into the construction area and then fell, But
I I think that that interest is covered by the
cameras too. I don't think there's any exit that's not
covered by cameras, I know. And then and like his
brother is like lost his dad. So it's just and
like I said, when you go down one avenue, you're like, okay,
it could be this, and then you're like, then, wait,
(33:42):
how did he get out of the bar?
Speaker 4 (33:44):
Some argue that despite the police searches, that Brian could
have been missed in this construction zone. Some argue that
bodies and trenches can remain hidden. There's also another theory
that Brian might have somehow accessed a freight elevator or
rooftop area, then descended through the construction site, effectively disappearing
down stairways or shafts into some blind spot, which is
(34:05):
why the cameras would have missed him. But like literally
this means that he would have had to shimmy through
the ceiling or something like yeah tie, yeah, like go
through an air conditioning event like really some secret spy shit.
And let's talk like he's had six drinks, he's there
with friends, Why would he That makes no sense not
doing that, right. So Nikki also brings up a good
(34:26):
point that the building in the area, and the bar
of the Ugly Tin of Salouona itself has since been
gutted and completely renovated. Say his body had been stuck
in some shaft, they would have found.
Speaker 2 (34:37):
It now that they've totally gutted that space. I would
think if he was there, they would have found him
because the only two options for him at the top
of the escalator was the bathroom or the bar and
there and then there is the part where they were
doing construction was like off a little bit right by
(34:58):
the bathroom.
Speaker 3 (35:00):
Then there are theories that are tied to both foul
play and the construction side itself. One Reddit user wondered
whether Brian may have exited via a construction door and
been lured or violently taken into unseen areas like stairwells, dumpsters,
or unobserved parts of the site. They said this, I
think Brian Schaeffer left through the construction area, possibly put
(35:20):
in a garbage dumpster, which explains why they never found him.
Speaker 4 (35:24):
Right Because remember we mentioned that the back of the
Ugly Tuna faced this dark construction area limited foot traffic,
So if he somehow ended up back there, this theory
isn't off the table. There could be blind spots in
surveillance footage, and obviously like this treacherous terrain of this
construction area is an ideal for someone intoxicated or walking alone.
Speaker 3 (35:47):
Additional foul play theories include the possibility that Brian could
have been harmed inside or just outside the bar, and
that somebody may have helped cover it up because of
Brian's failure to be seen leaving the bar on surveillance,
some inspect that Brian was assaulted or killed inside the
Ugly Tuna or its back areas like the kitchen, and
that maybe his body was removed covertly or concealed.
Speaker 1 (36:10):
Right.
Speaker 4 (36:10):
So, this is often when the dumpster gets brought up
where it's like, maybe he was killed inside the bar,
hidden somewhere for a day and putting a giant trash can,
and that's why he wasn't seen leaving, Like how else
do you remove a grown man without being seen? Right, So,
there are supporting points to that theory, Right, we talked
(36:33):
about this. He wasn't seen exiting the bar has this
back service exit, which maybe that's how they remove the trash.
Maybe he was ambushed or caught off guard, But there
are challenges to this possibility too. There were reportedly no
known fights that night. You know, the bouncers, the bar
staff were interviewed. Search dogs found no scent or trace
(36:54):
of Brian inside the bar, and this scenario where he
was killed inside the bar would like require cooperation from
multiple people. This involves maybe a sophisticated cover up. So
was this robbery was this a crime of opportunity? We
just don't really know still. And also, even if Brian
was robbed or beaten up, what perpetrators also take the victim?
(37:19):
Like we hear about people getting mugged or shot, you know,
when they're mugged, they don't take the body too, No,
they just take the things they're trying to steal.
Speaker 2 (37:28):
Yeah, but I also feel like it was a random
like like somebody's trying to rob them. They wouldn't have
taken him, you know, And he's like, you don't usually
just you know, you take somebody, take their stuff and
leave them. I don't feel like they would take them.
But there have been a couple of guys that have disappeared,
so that's why people have tried to link that into it.
Speaker 3 (37:45):
Then there's foul play scenario number two, where Brian could
have exited through the back and was followed by someone
and possibly attacked and dumped or buried in or near
the construction zone behind the bar. Others think that he
was intentionally dumped there and later removed or covered, but.
Speaker 4 (38:02):
The challenges for this possibility include the fact that the
construction areas again were searched so many times. No blood,
no clothing, no, nothing was found. Then there's another theory
that Brian got into an altercation with a bar employee
and that something you know, happened, and that bar employee
alone could have kind of done dealt with this. But
(38:24):
that's like, that's crazy, that's like seeing it.
Speaker 3 (38:28):
Yeah, but like and no evidence.
Speaker 4 (38:30):
It would be really hard and again require cooperation from
at least one person, and people conspiracies involving that many people.
Just look what happened with Karen Reid, Okay, Like it's
impossible to keep that kind of coordination quiet, especially for
all these years, right, It's just seems unlikely.
Speaker 3 (38:54):
Other foul play theories include the following. Maybe Brian was
hurt and his body was placed in a dump and
removed during trash pickup, possibly after being assaulted near or
inside the construction zone.
Speaker 4 (39:06):
Or maybe Brian was lured from the bar into you know,
ran into the wrong person. Maybe he was assaulted and
killed far far away from the bar, so the searches
of the surrounding area were irrelevant. Maybe he was abducted, assaulted, murdered,
but of course none of these make sense without seeing
him leaving on surveillance.
Speaker 3 (39:29):
It's worth noting that Columbus and the area around where
Brian disappeared was not a particularly safe area back then.
The Ugly Tuna is closed now, and back then it
was situated in a mixed use entertainment district still undergoing
revitalization and construction. At the time, the area was known
for minor crimes, including theft, especially targeting students, fights and
(39:51):
altercations outside bars, and drug related activity. It wasn't considered
a high violent zone like some parts of Columbus at
the time, but it wasn't squeaky clean either, especially in
off hours or around bar closing times. Students from that
area have commented online that the area was gritty, especially
just off the main trag and this aligns with Nicky's
(40:11):
description of the area.
Speaker 2 (40:14):
I remember, back in like two thousand and six, the
bar across the street from ugly Tina had just enforced
the dress code because of people coming in and like
gang affiliated clothes. It was getting to where there were
parts of Columbus downtown and the campus area that I
look back on and I'm like, oh my gosh, why
was I walking around at you know, that age, you
(40:35):
know downtown? It was just on campus and so I know,
like they had just sawed a cover charge in a
dress code across the street because of people coming in
and starting fights and being in gang related colors and
stuff like that. So it wasn't like the best part
of town, but it was still considered o issue campus,
so people had this false sense of it's safe, it's
a campus, you know, and that area is not like
(40:58):
the area around Columbus is not great.
Speaker 4 (41:02):
So some speculate again that there's a small chance that
Brian may have chosen to disappear, overwhelmed by grief from
his mother's death, but that doesn't really make sense to
those who know him, especially the circumstances like he hid
in a dumpster to leave a bar when he was drunk,
like didn't go back for his phone, no money used.
(41:25):
He was also very close with his father and girlfriend
had that vacation planned, showed no concrete signs of wanting
to leave his life behind. And you know, Nikki made
a good point, you know, after Brian's father died, She's like,
if the small chance that if Brian was voluntarily missing,
he would have come back. He loved his dad.
Speaker 2 (41:48):
Two years later, his dad passed away, so his brother
lost everybody like in this and so like this is
another reason. If he was going on his own, he
would have on. I really feel he would have gave
less he had some annania or something. When his dad
passed away, he would have been back here. And his
dad was out back of you know, the debris from
(42:10):
the storm, and it's like a tree limb fell on
him and killed him. It is horrible.
Speaker 3 (42:14):
So the bottom line is if Brian was voluntarily missing,
he wouldn't have stayed gone. Following his dad's tragic death.
In two thousand and eight, Randy Shaeffer died in a
tragic accident when a tree fell on him. It seems
so unfair for this family to suffer yet another loss.
Speaker 4 (42:30):
Then there was yet another brief wave of confusion and
speculation following his dad's death.
Speaker 2 (42:35):
So then as his dad died somebody wrote on his
dad's obituary like miss your dad, I'll see you see
love Brian, and it said Virgin Islands. So of course
everyone's like, Brian, you know, no, that was a hope.
But it was just somebody in Hilliard, which is on
the west side of Columbus. They've got it was a
library on the west side of Columbus. They found the
(42:56):
IP address and may had written it from that library.
Speaker 3 (42:59):
Then and there are theories that involve corruption. Fringe theories
suggest that somebody tampered with surveillance footage or exploited a
blind spot in security. Police never confirmed any tampering. To
this day, people want to know what happened, and it's
among one of the most well known and high profile
disappearances in the country. The case was featured on America's
(43:21):
Most Wanted Dateline NBC, in various true crime podcasts, and
once you talk to Nikki about Brian, it's not hard
to understand why Brian was one of the good ones.
He was just a good guy.
Speaker 2 (43:33):
Well, I remember in high school, like I was at
the school one day for like student council or something,
and Brian was walking in and he had a big
box of clothes, and I'm like, we were like juniors.
I'm like, what are you doing? And he was bringing
in stuff from his house, like a box of like
shoes and jaggets that he just was donating to are
Lost and Bound. And I found out that he'd done
(43:54):
that every year. Nobody knew, like it wasn't even something
that the teachers even said to do, but he just
did it. And that's just like I was thinking about
like this that what he was just a nice guy,
No wonder he went into medicine, like, no wonder he was.
You know, his mom had been sick and that was
one reason, but also because he was just a nice
I think. I know people say that when someone happened
to somebody, but he really was this a nice guy.
Speaker 4 (44:17):
Nicky learned that members of Brian's favorite band, Pearl Jam,
even took an interest in his disappearance, and he.
Speaker 2 (44:24):
Was really big into Pearl Jam. He had he has
a Pearl Jam tattoo, and Eddie Vedder even has mentioned
him in a couple of concerts about him being missing,
which which is just like so sad that he would
love he would love for Eddie better to even know
his name. But the reason why he knows his name
is what's so sad? You know what I mean, It's
just that's what it breaks your heart. He just was
a really nice guy. I was talking to my friend
(44:45):
about this a few years ago, like, we can't remember
one thing like that. He he never broke a girl's heart.
He loves music. He loves music. He loves music. And
I just find it so ironic that Eddi vedder Like
said something about my concert, because that he would have died.
I think that any that we even knew it his existence.
Speaker 3 (45:05):
As recently as twenty twenty one, the FBI released an
age progressed image of Brian at age forty two. Tips
still come in, but none have produced credible leads. Columbus
Police Department and the FBI still list him as a
missing person.
Speaker 4 (45:21):
And what I will say is like I asked chat
GPT what they think it is, and you know, they
just crunch numbers, do algorithms. I call it a they
because I don't know what to call it, this plot
and they are like an Okham's razor thinker, Yeah, you
know processor. And according to chat GPT, it believes that
(45:43):
the most plausible theory is that there was foul play,
likely inside or right near the bar. But again, you
know that means that Brian was killed in this bar
and his body hidden and never found. And like, think
about all the acrobatics and movements in planning and covering
up that would require. It's really hard to understand how
(46:04):
that would have happened. But really you can poke holes
in every single one of these possibilities.
Speaker 2 (46:10):
That's where every time I go down a road where
I'm like, okay, this could be it, I think, well,
how would nobody notice?
Speaker 3 (46:14):
That?
Speaker 2 (46:14):
Would take an entire group of people knowing that he
was hurt or something, and how are you going to
have for twenty years? Almost these just where my brain,
Sorry my moing, So this is where my brain like,
how can you have all these people know if you
got hurt in there and they took them out in
the tracks and I said, a trash can? I don't know?
And then it gets so build up in your head
that you're like, if it is something very simple, why
(46:37):
haven't we figured it out? You know, the more people
that know somebody may say I'm not a detective, but
usually somebody, you know, the more people that know, less
likely it doesn't keep a secret.
Speaker 3 (46:47):
To this day, tips about Brian still get called.
Speaker 2 (46:49):
In a few years ago, they thought they spotted a
guy in Mexico that looks like Brian, but it was
not Brian, so it's just it's just baffling.
Speaker 3 (46:58):
Brian had big plans, but he didn't get the opportunity
to pursue any of them. Brian's former classmates and friends
like Nikki got to live their lives.
Speaker 2 (47:08):
I'm that person in the family, you know, that's just
the way to many of them. But my daughters home
to floridast it does serve for me to give people advice,
Like my daughter is just from eighteen and which is
crazy to me, Like like I remember when I was eighteen,
Like it feels like it was yesterday, like a two
years ago. We had our twenty year union and a
lot of us spoke about Brian and like, how we
(47:30):
have you know, gotten married and we've started careers and
we started new careers and some of us have gotten divorced,
like not me, but other people, and then we had
children and Brian is still stuck at like twenty six.
Like it's heartbreaking.
Speaker 4 (47:42):
For now, we all have to live with the fact
that none of us may ever know what happened.
Speaker 2 (47:47):
Yeah, and then you build it up in your head
that if it's something like that, then you're kind of like,
that's it. Like, I don't want it to be anything horrible,
white brush. I wish he was on island somewhere, like
in a band. But then when it then, when you
hear something like that, you're gonna like you're kind of like, oh, oh, well,
he deserves it a little bit, something a little bit
bigger than that. You feel like, because it's been building
up for so long that you're just like, oh, somebody
it robbed him. Yeah, you feel like at this point,
as image he's filled up, like he deserves to be,
(48:09):
like as he was inducted by aliens and now he's
the king of Mars. I don't know what it would
be that would make it. Nothing would make it right. Obviously,
there is.
Speaker 4 (48:18):
No arguing that Brian Schaeffer's disappearance remains one of the
most baffling in modern American history, and despite not knowing
what happened for sure, his case became a cautionary tale
and discussions about campus safety, surveillance, blind spots, and what
law enforcement can and can't do when someone vanishes, and
while the answer to this mystery remains hotly debated, what
(48:40):
is crystal clear is that Brian was left. His father,
Randy remains an outspoken advocate for missing persons until his
accidental death in two thousand and eight, and Alexis's quiet
but persistent visibility helped keep Brian in the spotlight. It's
been more than eighteen years since Brian Schaeffer walked into
the Ugly Tuna Saluna and never walked out. His face
(49:02):
still appears on missing Persons posters, and Brian's story still
haunts everyone who hears it because if a man can
vanish under cameras in a bar full of people in
the middle of a busy city, what does that say
about the rest of us? We live in a world
of footprints, fingerprints, pings, pixels, and yet Brian left nothing behind,
(49:23):
no goodbyes, no evidence of struggle, and no second chance.
Someone knows what happened that night, and until they speak,
Brian remains exactly where he's been since April first, two
thousand and six, missing.
Speaker 3 (49:52):
A huge thing. You to Nikki for being our first
degree for today's episode. If you are listening out there
and you have a story to tell. Please email u
us hello at the First Greek Podcast dot com. Follow
us on Instagram, Join our Facebook page. We're talking true
crime all the time. Join the Underground. You can do
that on Patreon or buy Apple podcast subscriptions. It's super easy.
(50:13):
Just click the button and you're in over one hundred
and fifty episodes for you for you to listen. To
join our book club if you want to read with us,
we are reading Misery by Stephen King this month. Instagram.
Tomorrow we'll have a brand new episode of The Deep
Dive right in your feed.
Speaker 4 (50:27):
And remember, only you can prevent serial killers and keep
your friends close by, not that close. Shout out to
Jared Monago first scoring your original music for the First
Gree Sources for this episode include The Columbus Dispatch, People Magazine, CNN, ABC,
(50:47):
America's Most Watten, NBC's Dateline, ABC's Primetime, The Charlie Project,
the FBI name is and remember, our first Greek guest
is always our largest source
This story contains adult content and language. Listener discretion is advised.
The claims and opinions in this podcast are those of
the speaker and do not necessarily represent The Knife or
Exactly Right Media. Welcome to the Knife. I'm Hannah Smith,
(00:32):
I'm Patia Eaton. Today we're dropping one of our favorite
episodes of The First Degree, a true crime podcast from
Jack Vanick and Alexis link Letter. If you're a true
crime listener, this show is for you. They cover everything
from murders to cults to conspiracies. They dive into the
lives of people connected to the most infamous crimes, and
today we're going to play one of our favorite episodes
(00:54):
from their show. It is about the mysterious disappearance of
Brian Schaeffer back in two thousand and six. You can
listen to The First Degree anywhere you listen to your
favorite podcast, So go check them out and we hope
you enjoy the episode.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
The first Degree.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
First Degree, First Degree, First Degree, First Degree, First Degree,
The first.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Degree on the news on Facebook. These things are supposed
to happen in movies, not in real life.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Welcome to the First Degree, the true crime podcast that
you might end up on. My name is Jack Fanick.
I'm sitting here with Alexis link letter. Happy Wednesday, Happy hump.
Speaker 4 (01:44):
Day, Happy Wednesday everyone.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
Happy Wednesday everyone. I think that we have the best
announcement that we could ever have, and that is that
our premium episodes, our First Degree Underground, is now available
on Apple podcast subscriptions. Now. This is the same content
that we have over on our Patreon that we have
been giving you for the past like four years now,
(02:07):
like something crazy, many many years. There's over one hundred
and fifty episodes, but they're now all available on Apple
podcast subscription. It's so easy. All you do go on
your Apple podcasts, go to the First Degree, click a
little button and you're subscribed.
Speaker 4 (02:22):
And honestly, people have been rejoicing. We didn't even we
didn't even promote it. It just sort of went live
quietly and people have been going nuts with joy, being
like this makes it so much easier. I don't want
to use another app. I only like Apple subscriptions. So
we sense this. We knew it was a desire and
we just brought it. We brought it to the God,
(02:43):
we brought it to the people. If you didn't know,
it's called the Underground. It's where we take your recommendations
on cases. We take cases that we have been fascinated with,
and we do a full length episode about all of
the cases, exclusive content, Baby, and they're really good. They're
as good as our regular episodes.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
They're so good. So please join us in the Underground.
We have a seven day free trial for you if
you just want to check it out a little bit,
but youah lots to listen to. That's right, endless. And
then the last little tidbit I want to say is
if you want to read with us. This month we
are reading Misery by Stephen King. It's so good. And
every month we have a book club meet up at
(03:25):
the end of the month to discuss the book and
it's our favorite place to be. That's right, all right, Well,
that is enough of that, So let's turn down the.
Speaker 4 (03:32):
Lights and turn up your anxiety because this could be you.
(03:54):
It was the start of spring break in Columbus, Ohio,
a college town. Winding down the streets, still slick with rain,
bars were buzzing, students were celebrating. Music was spilling onto
the sidewalks, and at one of them, a second story
bar tucked above a retail strip near campus, a twenty
(04:14):
seven year old med student bought a drink. He laughed
with friends, he made small talk with strangers. He was smart,
he was charming, sober enough to know his limits, and
looking forward to a trip in the coming days with
the woman he loved. He steps inside, and from that
moment on no one can say for certain where he
went next. This is the story of Brian Schaeffer.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
Today's case is taking us back to April first of
two thousand and six. The top song on the charts
was So Sick by Neo, followed by Me Without You
by Mary J. Blige, Talk by Coldplay, Living and Fast
Forward by Kenny Chesney, and Worldwide Suicide by Pearl Jam
And this one kind of feels a little bit ironic,
and you're going to understand a little bit later. The
(05:01):
top movies included Failure to Launch V for Vendetta, The
Shaggy Dog, and The Inside Man. Oh and of course
The Hills Have Eyes.
Speaker 4 (05:09):
In the setting for today's case, Columbus, Ohio, one of
the largest universities in the US. OSU is deeply embedded
in this city's identity, and the Wexner Medical Center and
College of medicine remained prestigious and central to campus. The
surrounding area was a bustling, high traffic area with nightlife
and student housing, and the Olentangy River flows just west
(05:33):
of the OSU campus. The river is lined with parks, trails,
and wooded areas, and in two thousand and six, when
today's story took place, Columbus had a vibrant, evolving nightlife scene,
especially for the students. And the man at the center
of today's story lived in Columbus and attended Ohio State
University's medical school.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
Brian Schaeffer was a second year medical student. He was
well loved, close to his family, and he kind of
had it all. He was described was charismatic, intelligent, and
well liked by those who knew him. He had a
girlfriend named Alexis. He was ambitious and obviously you have
to be kind of ambitious if you want to become
a doctor. And these dreams were inspired in part by
(06:15):
the fact that his mother was battling cancer, So that
kind of describes the kind of guy that Brian was.
Speaker 4 (06:20):
Brian was also known for his love of music, and
he had always wanted to start a band, and everyone
who knew Brian knew this about him, including our first degree.
For today's story, Nicki, who grew up with Brian in
the same small town and they went to school together.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
We grew up in Pickerington, which is like a small
suburb outside of Columbus. We graduated in ninety seven. I
met him, I mean like kindergarten, first grade, so I
would have met him in like eighty four, which seems
like it was just like yesterday, but it wasn't. We
went to pickeringson Elementary behind our elementary school of there
was his fields and there was this old barnhouse and
(06:58):
we used to scare each other. Man was like more
of my other friends. And I just remember Brian, I
just like screaming but laughing, and just it's so ironic
to think about, like that was like, you know, when
we were five six years old.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
Brian and Nicki also went to middle and high school
together and they remained friends.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
He was in the band. He was really big into music.
He played and he did played the drums and he
played guitar, but he did the bands. And I remember
he was in the band. Friday night football games, like
the town shuts down, like that's where you're at and
he would just be on the drum line and they
would always do the beginning of this one bec voice
song where everybody's doing that, and he just he loved music,
and like all through high school, he was just a
(07:36):
really nice guy. This was a really chill nice guy.
And he was also like an quote unquote alternative kid,
which was like before there was like gos or Emo,
there was the grund.
Speaker 4 (07:49):
Brian loved pearl Jam and this was also something that
everyone knew about him.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
And he was really big into pearl jam. He had
he has a pearl Jam tattoo.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
Nick you saw Brian after they graduated high school as well,
and she remembers one encounter early in two thousand and six.
This running seemed kind of trivial at the time, but
she doesn't feel that way about it now.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
I actually had seen him about three months before this,
his parents at a restaurant, Italian oven restaurant outside of
our little town, and we just he was there with
his parents, I was there with my mom, and we
just got ran in each other and talked about student debt.
Speaker 4 (08:25):
They talked about mundane things like student loan debt, their
respective relationships. They just sort of caught up about life.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
I had never met his girlfriend, but he had mentioned
to her and that, you know, they were still together,
but I never met her, you know, so that was
the last time I saw him. So I just got
married in December, and I just feld on to that.
I just breezed in my mind.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
Brian was there with his parents, who Nikki had met
in Passing over the years, and.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
I did know his family yet, you know, I'd met
his parents in Passing, you know, at graduation parties like this.
So I said, ah, eye to him. But we just
got up and was like, hey, how are you.
Speaker 4 (09:04):
Brian talked about med school and shared the sad news
that his mom's cancer was back.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
His mom was sick again and that was something that
was a big concern of his, that she had the
Bono marage cancer again. But he was just talking about
med school. Yeah, he was kind of stressed about that
and his mom being sick.
Speaker 4 (09:21):
They talked about how much time had passed and as
far as NICKI could tell, Brian still had everything going
for him. He was twenty seven years old, with his
whole life ahead, handsome, and he was going to be
a doctor one day. And it was good to see him.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
But then three months later, Niki got a phone call,
a phone call that stunned her. And now when she
thinks back, she sees that final encounter a little bit differently.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
My mom actually called me she had ran into another
classmate's parent at a Kroger, which at a grocery store,
and they had mentioned did you hear Brian? And this
was like, so he went the scene, And so my
mom ran into a parent on Monday at the grocery
store and that parent has said it with my mom.
So that my mom called me and was like, you
know Brian Shaffer, you graduated with him. I'm like, yeah,
(10:08):
Then that's when she said that a parent had said
he's missing or something. So this would before like I
think Facebook maybe was it in its infancy. But I
ended up calling a friend of mine, Alyssa, who knew
one of his best friends, and come to find out like, yeah,
that's he was missing.
Speaker 4 (10:24):
Missing A word that doesn't make sense, not in the
context of Brian Schaeffer. People like Brian don't just go missing.
Brian was responsible, dedicated to his education, to becoming a doctor,
to his family. Nicki wasn't worried at first, I mean,
why would she be he'd turn up. But at that
early stage, NICKI never could have guessed that Brian's disappearance
(10:47):
would land among the most mysterious, perplexing, and debated in
US history. But that's exactly what happened. There are so
many questions to answer and so much ground to cover,
so you know that we're going back.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
On the night of March thirty first, two thousand and six,
Brian was reportedly doing well all things considered. His mother
had lost her fight with cancer a few weeks back,
and the loss had been a profound emotional blow to him.
Her illness is why he wanted to be a doctor.
But he was taking his grief on the chin, and
he decided to go out with some friends to blow
(11:38):
off some steam. You know, maybe his grief was why
he was growing out, a distraction, seeing some friends a
reminder of what life is really all about.
Speaker 4 (11:47):
So we met up with Clint Florence. Brian and Clint
were friends and med school classmates at Ohio State. Both
were in their second year. Brian considered Clint a close
friend and they hung out often. And I met at
Brian's apartment at nine pm that night and their first
stop was at the Ugly Tuna Saluna, and the Ugly
(12:08):
Tuna was a distinctive college bar and live music venue.
It was located on High Street, on the second floor
of the South Campus Gateway complex.
Speaker 3 (12:17):
And will paint a little picture for you. So the
Ugly Tuna was on the second level of a multi
use building. Bargoers accessed it via a long escalator from
the sidewalk, and the building was kind of like a
modern building. There was a glass storefront that had these
big windows that overlooked the plaza below, and it had
signage with a distinctive Ugly Tuna Saluna lettering lit up
(12:39):
in bright neon. Security cameras were mounted at the top
of the escalator, and the bar was positioned above a
large area that was under construction at the time.
Speaker 4 (12:48):
And the vibe of this place was laid back and
decor was ocean themed, kitch beach signs, fishing nets and
kind of ugly fish art in line with the playful
corky name. It was dimly lit, colorful, loud, and lively,
especially on weekends and during college events. Thank like Jimmy
Buffett meets Dive Bar with an Ohio State twist. Honestly,
(13:12):
the Ugly Tuna sounds like a great place to commence
a bop, and that's exactly what they did. Oh and
Nicki had been to the Ugly Tuna Saluna as well.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
So Clint and Brian left the Ugly Tuna Saluna and
went bar hopping in the area known as the Arena District.
This area is still known for its sports bars, dance clubs,
and music venues. Eventually, they met up with one of
Clint's friends, a girl named Meredith Reid, and Meredith drove
Clinton Brian back to the Ugly Tuna Saluna at around
one fifteen in the morning. We know the exact time
(13:45):
because security footage captured Brian returning to the bar, and
this security footage would add a layer of confusion to
this mystery that still lingers around today.
Speaker 4 (13:55):
And according to Nicki, based on her knowledge of the
Ugly Tuna Saluna, once Brian arrived and entered and basically
ascended this escalator, there are only two places that he
could have gone because this area was well contained.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
I remember an Ugly Tuna Salouona was like a two
story It was in a building and it was on
the second floor. You had to go up these escalators
and you can either go into the bar or you
can go to the bathroom, and then there's cameras covering
all of the exits to that building.
Speaker 4 (14:27):
The Ugly tun Of reportedly only had one main entrance,
which was covered by the surveillance. There was an emergency
exit in the back, but it led to a construction
zone with no easy access or surveillance, and the cameras
captured Brian last. You're an exit leading into a hallway
that accessed this construction area with an exterior door. It's
(14:47):
a little confusing if you're not looking at it, but
you can look at this footage, which will encourage you
to do so. This exit that we're talking about was
not for public use. Cameras there were limited, one panning
continuously in another manually controlled. When Brian was lasting on camera,
he was wearing an olive green Polo shirt, boot cut jeans,
(15:11):
white Adidas sneakers with blue stripes, a silver wristwatch, and
a yellow Liftstrong bracelet. He is again briefly seen on
the surveillance footage at one fifty five am speaking to
two women at the top of the escalator outside the bar.
Then he walked back into the bar. But here's where
it gets really crazy. After he walks back inside, the
(15:32):
security cameras never capture Brian leaving the bar ever. In fact,
after this moment, Brian is never seen again.
Speaker 3 (15:41):
The next morning, a red flags were raised almost immediately.
It was April first, and his girlfriend Alexis tried calling
Brian multiple times starting that morning, and she heard nothing back.
At first, she thought maybe he was just hungover or
laying low after a late night, so she kept trying
to reach him over and over again. Eventually, people started
(16:02):
asking Brian's friend Clint if he knew where Brian was.
Clint said he had no idea. He said he had
lost track of Brian the previous night and assumed that
he had left to go home or just meet up
with somebody else.
Speaker 4 (16:14):
And the whole day passed and Alexis never heard back
from Brian, so she started obviously getting probably weirded out, annoyed, pissed.
That's where I would start anyway. So by this point,
Brian's dad, Randy, also began trying to reach his son.
That evening, which was a Sunday night, Brian missed a
family dinner, which was really out of character, especially considering
(16:37):
they had just lost his mom. Like the rest of
the family was really close at this time, and his
girlfriend Alexis became increasingly worried and began calling around, including
to friends and to the police.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
But things felt really serious when Brian missed a flight
to Miami for a vacation that he had planned with Alexis.
Alexis was at the airport waiting for him, calling and
texting him, and he just never showed up. She already
knew that something was deeply wrong, but now there was
no lingering doubt about it. After that, Alexis and Brian's dad, Randy,
filed a missing persons report the same day, and Alexis
(17:11):
told the media outlets the following she had this gut
feeling something was terribly wrong, and described calling his phone repeatedly,
sometimes hearing it ring and other times going straight to voicemail.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
He was supposed to meet his girlfriend at the airport
to side to Miami that Sunday, and that was when
they noticed. That's when they first were like, he's missing
because he was not at the airport, and they're pretty
sure he was a proposed to her on the strips
to Miami, horrible, horrible, And then you're at the airport
waiting for me. He doesn't show up, and then first
(17:46):
or privates sorry first, or prite.
Speaker 4 (17:47):
Mad, and like we talked about if I was in
this position, and maybe if you were in this position.
First you start thinking like he's breaking up with me,
he's ghosting me, Like he's straight up bailing on this relationlationship. Yeah,
it starts with anger, irritation, fear, and that pivots to hurt,
maybe even feelings of betrayal. But then soon the realization
(18:09):
creeps in that you know Brian and he wouldn't do
this to you. And it's at this point that Alexis
and Brian's dad began to really mobilize, alerting people actively
looking for Brian and handing out missing persons flyers near campus.
And this is when NICKI heard about what happened and
was compelled to help them.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
I don't remember how it happened. I remember us being
down on campus like with with flyers, like looking for
him and passing out flyers, and so his dad was
the one that was like and his brother were down there.
Speaker 3 (18:41):
At first, NICKI was convinced that there had to be
a reasonable explanation for all.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
Of this, and I remember thinking, like, he's just he's
obviously just passed out somewhere on campus, Like there were
parts of campus that were pretty dodgy like that we
all still went to them, but like where the bars were,
it wasn't. So I just think her like, maybe he's
passed out somewhere, or maybe the word tithnario he has
gotten an accident or he's in the hospital.
Speaker 3 (19:04):
Soon the police were involved. They pulled the surveillance footage
from the Ugly Tuna Saluna and the other bars nearby.
They interviewed Clint Florence and Meredith Read. They searched the bar,
the building, and the surrounding construction sites. They checked Brian's apartment.
His car was still there where he had left it,
and they checked his phone records, his bank accounts, and
(19:25):
there was absolutely no activity.
Speaker 4 (19:28):
And the police determined that Brian's last known communication before
he vanished was a call to his girlfriend Alexis, that
he'd made earlier that evening. Alexis was asked about this
call and she said when she talked to Brian, he
was his normal self, he was affectionate, and that they
were both looking forward to their Miami trip, nothing was amiss.
Speaker 3 (19:48):
When the video clip of Brian's final moments at the
Ugly Tuna Saluna were released, is really when the public
started paying attention. How is it that Brian walked in
but he never walked out? No? What he could make
sense of it?
Speaker 2 (20:01):
Yeah, because your options are like where they're showing him.
You can go into the bar, you can go into
the bathrooms where he supposedly went, and or you can
go into a corner. Lets you like a corner. That's
about it. It was just so bad, Like, how does
someone just vanish? When I saw the footage and the
detective said, he has been Everyone on that film is
(20:22):
an account of for It's like he just vanished. That's
when I was like, I have I have no idea
what happened to him.
Speaker 4 (20:36):
The search for Brian continued for days, for weeks, and
obviously the hope that Brian would return unscathed, unharmed remained,
despite the fact that his med school classes resumed following
spring break and he was nowhere to be seen, And
the investigation and the search for him continued as well,
and soon three months had passed, and suddenly a new
(20:59):
wave of confusion and speculation arrived.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
About three months after his disappearances, apartment was broken into,
and so people thought, okay, here it is. This is something.
Speaker 3 (21:13):
The hope was that Brian had surfaced and broken into
his own apartment, but that wasn't the case.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
But no, it was just a random idiot that broke
into his apartment and sold some CDs or something. But
they taught him and it was some It was just
some random person. He had broken in like a few
apartments that night, and just so everyone of course, everyone's like, okay,
this is it.
Speaker 4 (21:34):
The longer that Brian remained missing, the deeper the mystery
of what happened to him became. Everyone in Brian's life
was interviewed, and so were as many people who were
at the Ugly Tuna on the night he vanished that
police could find. And no one reported seeing him leave
or being involved in any sort of altercation with anyone
that night, and also Brian didn't have any enemies.
Speaker 3 (21:56):
The police searched the area around the Ugly Tuna Suluna
with cadaver dogs. They searched every nook and cranny within
the construction area, and they found nothing. No Brian and
no physical evidence in the media.
Speaker 4 (22:09):
Coverage started small, with local Columbus outlets covering the case first,
but as the surveillance footage emerged and started circulating the
fact that he was seen entering but not leaving, well,
that's when national media outlets picked up the story. This
footage was poured over, dissected, watched on repeat. No one
(22:30):
could get over how just normal Brian looked in these
final moments. The story took hold. Maybe it was because
Brian was the boy next door, young, good looking, intelligent,
with no obvious reason to disappear. Maybe people watched and
followed the story, hoping for a happy ending, an answer
to the looming questions. His case had that locked room
(22:51):
mystery quality. How can someone vanish from a bar with
cameras at every exit.
Speaker 3 (22:57):
People have criticized the friend that Brian was with that night, Clint,
for how he has behaved following Brian's disappearance. He was
reportedly cooperative at first, but later refused to take a
polygraph test. He refused to comment publicly about the case,
and his behavior raised public suspicion. The police have never
named him as an official suspect. He retained a lawyer
(23:20):
early on and has declined interviews in the recent years.
So is that suspicious or is it just smart? Clint
was a medical school student and he had a future
to protect, especially if he knew for sure that he
had nothing to do with why his friend was missing.
Speaker 2 (23:38):
Meredith and Clint were the two people he was with.
Clint got an attorney right away, which in twenty sixteen
odd in twenty twenty five to meet does nasimod like,
Now that I'm older, I go, yeah, get an attorney's coming,
you know, like, is there good question?
Speaker 3 (23:50):
You know?
Speaker 2 (23:50):
But back then that seemed weird. But now they were
older and we know more about law enforcement. Yeah, he probed,
should get attorney.
Speaker 4 (23:58):
Eventually Nikky realized that this was real. Brian wasn't missing
in a type of situation where he was going to
emerge suddenly with an innocent explanation. And once everyone else
realized this was for real, no one believed he was
voluntarily missing, which was a really sad thing to reconcile,
because that meant that something horrible had happened to him,
(24:19):
and also that Brian was probably no longer alive.
Speaker 3 (24:23):
There were several vigils held to raise awareness for Brian's disappearance.
One was organized by Ohio State University classmates and friends.
It was held close to wherever he was last seen,
and there have been annual vigils ever since his disappearance
as well, often held on or near the anniversary. They
were designated to keep public pressure on the police investigation
(24:45):
and to offer emotional support for Brian's loved ones. Brian's friends, family,
and anonymous donors have offered reward money at various times.
Early reward offers range from twenty five to one hundred
thousand dollars.
Speaker 4 (24:59):
Obviously, Brian's girlfriend struggled with a sudden disappearance of her
serious boyfriend. There were rumors that they were going to
get engaged on that Miami trip, so this would have
been devastating. At this point, they had already decided to
spend their lives together, and they had a plan to
go and finish med school together to become doctors together.
(25:19):
Who wouldn't be devastated by this?
Speaker 2 (25:21):
You know?
Speaker 4 (25:22):
She was vocal in the weeks and months following Brian's disappearance,
and she said that she continued calling his phone every
night at ten pm, hoping that he'd answer, and one night,
she said that the phone rang three times, which was
enough to give her just a spark of hope, though
it may have been a glitch or momentary signal from
(25:42):
a dead phone. She also kept visiting his apartment, She
stayed in touch with Brian's dad, and she kept pushing
for media attention. And it's sad, but Alexis later became
a doctor, which was the very path that she and
Brian had planned together.
Speaker 3 (25:58):
And it's important to know that those close to Brian
said that he never spoke of suicidal ideation. He was
still grieving the recent loss of his mother, who had
passed away just three weeks earlier from cancer, but his grief,
according to his friends, was one that they would just
consider normal. He had good days and bad days, but
that night he appeared to be celebrating, not withdrawn.
Speaker 4 (26:20):
One thing that does remain murky about this night and
could play a key role in what happened, was how
much alcohol Brian had consumed. And we lack the clarity
here because they visited multiple bars three or four, but
Meredith Reid, who gave the guys a ride back to
the Ugly Tuna, did not report that Brian was intoxicated
(26:40):
when she gave him a ride. She said that he
was in good spirits and relaxed. And this assumption of
how much alcohol he did drink. People have said it's
between four and six drinks over several hours, possibly more,
possibly less, But we know for sure that if you
watch this surveillance footage of Brian, he doesn't look belligerent
(27:01):
or incoherent.
Speaker 3 (27:03):
The police determined that Brian spoke to two women outside
the bar shortly after one fifty five am. These women
were tracked down and interviewed. They said that their chat
with Brian was brief, friendly and unremarkable. No red flags,
no odd behavior, no signs of distress.
Speaker 4 (27:20):
It is one of the craziest cases where you're just like, so,
what happened? What happened? Right?
Speaker 3 (27:26):
No clues.
Speaker 4 (27:28):
When we were talking to Niki, the interviewee the first
degree for this episode, it's just like you can talk
through all these little like the minutia of any scenario
because something did happen, something that doesn't make any sense,
and it's like, what is it? Did he get locked
in the freezer of the bar and then the bar
didn't want liability so they covered up, like it has
(27:50):
to be something that no one saw, no one heard,
and no one in a busy bar witnessed, So what
is it?
Speaker 3 (27:56):
And there was no evidence at all. Right, it's like
he literally poofed.
Speaker 4 (28:01):
Yeah, it's crazy, devastating, right, And because as someone who
knew Brian, I'm sure none of this is good enough,
Like you need an answer, and to not know if
this was your son or close friend would be would
haunt you. Right. So, obviously a lot of the theories
surrounding the case are tied to the rivers in the area.
(28:24):
So it's the closest major body of water to the
Ugly Tuna. It's the Old and Tangy River, and it
runs about a mile west of where Brian disappeared. And
here's what we know about it. So it's accessible by foot,
but not directly adjacent to the bar. Some suggest that
he could have wandered in that direction if intoxicated. Several
unrelated deaths in Ohio have involved intoxicated men found in rivers,
(28:49):
but in those cases, the remains were discovered pretty quickly,
so that doesn't really align with what happened here.
Speaker 3 (28:56):
People also wonder whether Brian could have left the Ugly
Tuna via the back and walked alone along the Arena
district and fell into the river, possibly disoriented or intoxicated.
This has happened many times in other college towns with
rivers running through them, but the river was searched and they.
Speaker 4 (29:14):
Use sonar and dogs to search the river. And Nikki
doesn't buy the river theory for several reasons.
Speaker 2 (29:20):
There was a two rivers that converge into Columbus that
are not right by the bar but are in downtown Columbus.
So then they're like, maybe he's in the river. I
think he would have honestly, Like, I think it's because
the river it's not like it's a kayaking, fast flowing river.
I mean, it's it's flowing in this river like you
(29:42):
could jump in one. Like we have festivals downtown and
Columbus like the Jazz Best and It's and we have
a couple of bridges that go over you could swim
over this river. She would have found if he was
in that river at some point, if not right when
you fell in where it flows the way that it
was pretty slow flowing, like he would have been his
body would have surfaced Like by now, I just think
(30:03):
you would have been found if you went in the river, and.
Speaker 3 (30:05):
While more signs point away from the river than towards it,
there's been a talk of other ways the river could
have played a part in this mystery. Perhaps Brian was
killed somewhere and his body was put into the river
much later, possibly even outside the city itself, particularly because
Columbus has multiple rivers, multiple lakes, and reservoirs in surrounding counties, and.
Speaker 4 (30:26):
Some people suggest that the river is just a total
red herring used to explain away disappearances that otherwise have
more sinister explanations. And when it comes to Brian in
the Night in question, every single angle has been explored.
The theories really are boundless, and we're going to take
you through the most prevailing ones to the best of
(30:47):
our ability. So let's start right next to the ugly
to Nea Saluna. So we talked about the surrounding area
and how there was a lot of construction in the
area back then. This includes the back of the Ugly
Tuna Sluna, which faced a dark, unlit, fenced off construction
site with limited foot traffic. In these construction areas had
(31:10):
multiple potential hazards including open trenches, tools, rebar and debris.
And while the main entrance of the bar was visible
and well trafficked and covered by surveillance. The rear exit
area was dim, largely unsupervised, and not covered by comprehensive surveillance.
Speaker 3 (31:28):
Some speculate that perhaps Brian left the bar intoxicated and
maybe he fell, or he was injured in the construction
zone and his body was somehow missed. Investigators flagged that
the construction area was difficult to navigate, especially while drunk,
but the construction areas were searched thoroughly with no signs
of him. That didn't stop many from theorizing that he
(31:49):
may have tried and either got lost or fell. This
is a theory that Nikki has poured over a.
Speaker 2 (31:54):
Lot for a long time. I thought maybe he had
fallen and they were doing instruction there. I thought maybe
he fell in anstruction and then like they poured said,
they may have bordement him. Okay, so then maybe he's
in the building. But wait, they remodeled the building. Like
how wouldn't that smell? I mean, that'd be disrespcestful. But
(32:15):
you know, if there's if he was in the in
the building somewhere, you'd think at some point like and
then they remodeled it. Now it's an office and apartment building,
and you think you would have a smell, and how
would nobody say anything.
Speaker 4 (32:29):
So people wonder whether Brian fell in the construction area
and somehow his body was maybe sealed into the foundation,
maybe concrete was poured on top of him. But police
say that's just not possible. That they searched this area
thoroughly and presumably prior to any construction like that happening.
And to Nikki's point, wouldn't construction workers have found, smelled,
(32:53):
noted something. And this still doesn't explain why Brian isn't
seen leaving on surveillance camera. So you know, it is
one of these cases where once you can get convinced
of one theory, like Okay, this construction theory makes sense,
there's something, there's a way to poke a hole in it.
Like that still doesn't explain why he wasn't seen leaving,
(33:14):
Like to be in the construction area, he would have
needed to leave. Yeah, so why wasn't he seen leaving?
Speaker 3 (33:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (33:22):
The hypothesis for a while is maybe he was drunk
and went into the construction area and then fell, But
I I think that that interest is covered by the
cameras too. I don't think there's any exit that's not
covered by cameras, I know. And then and like his
brother is like lost his dad. So it's just and
like I said, when you go down one avenue, you're like, okay,
it could be this, and then you're like, then, wait,
(33:42):
how did he get out of the bar?
Speaker 4 (33:44):
Some argue that despite the police searches, that Brian could
have been missed in this construction zone. Some argue that
bodies and trenches can remain hidden. There's also another theory
that Brian might have somehow accessed a freight elevator or
rooftop area, then descended through the construction site, effectively disappearing
down stairways or shafts into some blind spot, which is
(34:05):
why the cameras would have missed him. But like literally
this means that he would have had to shimmy through
the ceiling or something like yeah tie, yeah, like go
through an air conditioning event like really some secret spy shit.
And let's talk like he's had six drinks, he's there
with friends, Why would he That makes no sense not
doing that, right. So Nikki also brings up a good
(34:26):
point that the building in the area, and the bar
of the Ugly Tin of Salouona itself has since been
gutted and completely renovated. Say his body had been stuck
in some shaft, they would have found.
Speaker 2 (34:37):
It now that they've totally gutted that space. I would
think if he was there, they would have found him
because the only two options for him at the top
of the escalator was the bathroom or the bar and
there and then there is the part where they were
doing construction was like off a little bit right by
(34:58):
the bathroom.
Speaker 3 (35:00):
Then there are theories that are tied to both foul
play and the construction side itself. One Reddit user wondered
whether Brian may have exited via a construction door and
been lured or violently taken into unseen areas like stairwells, dumpsters,
or unobserved parts of the site. They said this, I
think Brian Schaeffer left through the construction area, possibly put
(35:20):
in a garbage dumpster, which explains why they never found him.
Speaker 4 (35:24):
Right Because remember we mentioned that the back of the
Ugly Tuna faced this dark construction area limited foot traffic,
So if he somehow ended up back there, this theory
isn't off the table. There could be blind spots in
surveillance footage, and obviously like this treacherous terrain of this
construction area is an ideal for someone intoxicated or walking alone.
Speaker 3 (35:47):
Additional foul play theories include the possibility that Brian could
have been harmed inside or just outside the bar, and
that somebody may have helped cover it up because of
Brian's failure to be seen leaving the bar on surveillance,
some inspect that Brian was assaulted or killed inside the
Ugly Tuna or its back areas like the kitchen, and
that maybe his body was removed covertly or concealed.
Speaker 1 (36:10):
Right.
Speaker 4 (36:10):
So, this is often when the dumpster gets brought up
where it's like, maybe he was killed inside the bar,
hidden somewhere for a day and putting a giant trash can,
and that's why he wasn't seen leaving, Like how else
do you remove a grown man without being seen? Right, So,
there are supporting points to that theory, Right, we talked
(36:33):
about this. He wasn't seen exiting the bar has this
back service exit, which maybe that's how they remove the trash.
Maybe he was ambushed or caught off guard, But there
are challenges to this possibility too. There were reportedly no
known fights that night. You know, the bouncers, the bar
staff were interviewed. Search dogs found no scent or trace
(36:54):
of Brian inside the bar, and this scenario where he
was killed inside the bar would like require cooperation from
multiple people. This involves maybe a sophisticated cover up. So
was this robbery was this a crime of opportunity? We
just don't really know still. And also, even if Brian
was robbed or beaten up, what perpetrators also take the victim?
(37:19):
Like we hear about people getting mugged or shot, you know,
when they're mugged, they don't take the body too, No,
they just take the things they're trying to steal.
Speaker 2 (37:28):
Yeah, but I also feel like it was a random
like like somebody's trying to rob them. They wouldn't have
taken him, you know, And he's like, you don't usually
just you know, you take somebody, take their stuff and
leave them. I don't feel like they would take them.
But there have been a couple of guys that have disappeared,
so that's why people have tried to link that into it.
Speaker 3 (37:45):
Then there's foul play scenario number two, where Brian could
have exited through the back and was followed by someone
and possibly attacked and dumped or buried in or near
the construction zone behind the bar. Others think that he
was intentionally dumped there and later removed or covered, but.
Speaker 4 (38:02):
The challenges for this possibility include the fact that the
construction areas again were searched so many times. No blood,
no clothing, no, nothing was found. Then there's another theory
that Brian got into an altercation with a bar employee
and that something you know, happened, and that bar employee
alone could have kind of done dealt with this. But
(38:24):
that's like, that's crazy, that's like seeing it.
Speaker 3 (38:28):
Yeah, but like and no evidence.
Speaker 4 (38:30):
It would be really hard and again require cooperation from
at least one person, and people conspiracies involving that many people.
Just look what happened with Karen Reid, Okay, Like it's
impossible to keep that kind of coordination quiet, especially for
all these years, right, It's just seems unlikely.
Speaker 3 (38:54):
Other foul play theories include the following. Maybe Brian was
hurt and his body was placed in a dump and
removed during trash pickup, possibly after being assaulted near or
inside the construction zone.
Speaker 4 (39:06):
Or maybe Brian was lured from the bar into you know,
ran into the wrong person. Maybe he was assaulted and
killed far far away from the bar, so the searches
of the surrounding area were irrelevant. Maybe he was abducted, assaulted, murdered,
but of course none of these make sense without seeing
him leaving on surveillance.
Speaker 3 (39:29):
It's worth noting that Columbus and the area around where
Brian disappeared was not a particularly safe area back then.
The Ugly Tuna is closed now, and back then it
was situated in a mixed use entertainment district still undergoing
revitalization and construction. At the time, the area was known
for minor crimes, including theft, especially targeting students, fights and
(39:51):
altercations outside bars, and drug related activity. It wasn't considered
a high violent zone like some parts of Columbus at
the time, but it wasn't squeaky clean either, especially in
off hours or around bar closing times. Students from that
area have commented online that the area was gritty, especially
just off the main trag and this aligns with Nicky's
(40:11):
description of the area.
Speaker 2 (40:14):
I remember, back in like two thousand and six, the
bar across the street from ugly Tina had just enforced
the dress code because of people coming in and like
gang affiliated clothes. It was getting to where there were
parts of Columbus downtown and the campus area that I
look back on and I'm like, oh my gosh, why
was I walking around at you know, that age, you
(40:35):
know downtown? It was just on campus and so I know,
like they had just sawed a cover charge in a
dress code across the street because of people coming in
and starting fights and being in gang related colors and
stuff like that. So it wasn't like the best part
of town, but it was still considered o issue campus,
so people had this false sense of it's safe, it's
a campus, you know, and that area is not like
(40:58):
the area around Columbus is not great.
Speaker 4 (41:02):
So some speculate again that there's a small chance that
Brian may have chosen to disappear, overwhelmed by grief from
his mother's death, but that doesn't really make sense to
those who know him, especially the circumstances like he hid
in a dumpster to leave a bar when he was drunk,
like didn't go back for his phone, no money used.
(41:25):
He was also very close with his father and girlfriend
had that vacation planned, showed no concrete signs of wanting
to leave his life behind. And you know, Nikki made
a good point, you know, after Brian's father died, She's like,
if the small chance that if Brian was voluntarily missing,
he would have come back. He loved his dad.
Speaker 2 (41:48):
Two years later, his dad passed away, so his brother
lost everybody like in this and so like this is
another reason. If he was going on his own, he
would have on. I really feel he would have gave
less he had some annania or something. When his dad
passed away, he would have been back here. And his
dad was out back of you know, the debris from
(42:10):
the storm, and it's like a tree limb fell on
him and killed him. It is horrible.
Speaker 3 (42:14):
So the bottom line is if Brian was voluntarily missing,
he wouldn't have stayed gone. Following his dad's tragic death.
In two thousand and eight, Randy Shaeffer died in a
tragic accident when a tree fell on him. It seems
so unfair for this family to suffer yet another loss.
Speaker 4 (42:30):
Then there was yet another brief wave of confusion and
speculation following his dad's death.
Speaker 2 (42:35):
So then as his dad died somebody wrote on his
dad's obituary like miss your dad, I'll see you see
love Brian, and it said Virgin Islands. So of course
everyone's like, Brian, you know, no, that was a hope.
But it was just somebody in Hilliard, which is on
the west side of Columbus. They've got it was a
library on the west side of Columbus. They found the
(42:56):
IP address and may had written it from that library.
Speaker 3 (42:59):
Then and there are theories that involve corruption. Fringe theories
suggest that somebody tampered with surveillance footage or exploited a
blind spot in security. Police never confirmed any tampering. To
this day, people want to know what happened, and it's
among one of the most well known and high profile
disappearances in the country. The case was featured on America's
(43:21):
Most Wanted Dateline NBC, in various true crime podcasts, and
once you talk to Nikki about Brian, it's not hard
to understand why Brian was one of the good ones.
He was just a good guy.
Speaker 2 (43:33):
Well, I remember in high school, like I was at
the school one day for like student council or something,
and Brian was walking in and he had a big
box of clothes, and I'm like, we were like juniors.
I'm like, what are you doing? And he was bringing
in stuff from his house, like a box of like
shoes and jaggets that he just was donating to are
Lost and Bound. And I found out that he'd done
(43:54):
that every year. Nobody knew, like it wasn't even something
that the teachers even said to do, but he just
did it. And that's just like I was thinking about
like this that what he was just a nice guy,
No wonder he went into medicine, like, no wonder he was.
You know, his mom had been sick and that was
one reason, but also because he was just a nice
I think. I know people say that when someone happened
to somebody, but he really was this a nice guy.
Speaker 4 (44:17):
Nicky learned that members of Brian's favorite band, Pearl Jam,
even took an interest in his disappearance, and he.
Speaker 2 (44:24):
Was really big into Pearl Jam. He had he has
a Pearl Jam tattoo, and Eddie Vedder even has mentioned
him in a couple of concerts about him being missing,
which which is just like so sad that he would
love he would love for Eddie better to even know
his name. But the reason why he knows his name
is what's so sad? You know what I mean, It's
just that's what it breaks your heart. He just was
a really nice guy. I was talking to my friend
(44:45):
about this a few years ago, like, we can't remember
one thing like that. He he never broke a girl's heart.
He loves music. He loves music. He loves music. And
I just find it so ironic that Eddi vedder Like
said something about my concert, because that he would have died.
I think that any that we even knew it his existence.
Speaker 3 (45:05):
As recently as twenty twenty one, the FBI released an
age progressed image of Brian at age forty two. Tips
still come in, but none have produced credible leads. Columbus
Police Department and the FBI still list him as a
missing person.
Speaker 4 (45:21):
And what I will say is like I asked chat
GPT what they think it is, and you know, they
just crunch numbers, do algorithms. I call it a they
because I don't know what to call it, this plot
and they are like an Okham's razor thinker, Yeah, you
know processor. And according to chat GPT, it believes that
(45:43):
the most plausible theory is that there was foul play,
likely inside or right near the bar. But again, you
know that means that Brian was killed in this bar
and his body hidden and never found. And like, think
about all the acrobatics and movements in planning and covering
up that would require. It's really hard to understand how
(46:04):
that would have happened. But really you can poke holes
in every single one of these possibilities.
Speaker 2 (46:10):
That's where every time I go down a road where
I'm like, okay, this could be it, I think, well,
how would nobody notice?
Speaker 3 (46:14):
That?
Speaker 2 (46:14):
Would take an entire group of people knowing that he
was hurt or something, and how are you going to
have for twenty years? Almost these just where my brain,
Sorry my moing, So this is where my brain like,
how can you have all these people know if you
got hurt in there and they took them out in
the tracks and I said, a trash can? I don't know?
And then it gets so build up in your head
that you're like, if it is something very simple, why
(46:37):
haven't we figured it out? You know, the more people
that know somebody may say I'm not a detective, but
usually somebody, you know, the more people that know, less
likely it doesn't keep a secret.
Speaker 3 (46:47):
To this day, tips about Brian still get called.
Speaker 2 (46:49):
In a few years ago, they thought they spotted a
guy in Mexico that looks like Brian, but it was
not Brian, so it's just it's just baffling.
Speaker 3 (46:58):
Brian had big plans, but he didn't get the opportunity
to pursue any of them. Brian's former classmates and friends
like Nikki got to live their lives.
Speaker 2 (47:08):
I'm that person in the family, you know, that's just
the way to many of them. But my daughters home
to floridast it does serve for me to give people advice,
Like my daughter is just from eighteen and which is
crazy to me, Like like I remember when I was eighteen,
Like it feels like it was yesterday, like a two
years ago. We had our twenty year union and a
lot of us spoke about Brian and like, how we
(47:30):
have you know, gotten married and we've started careers and
we started new careers and some of us have gotten divorced,
like not me, but other people, and then we had
children and Brian is still stuck at like twenty six.
Like it's heartbreaking.
Speaker 4 (47:42):
For now, we all have to live with the fact
that none of us may ever know what happened.
Speaker 2 (47:47):
Yeah, and then you build it up in your head
that if it's something like that, then you're kind of like,
that's it. Like, I don't want it to be anything horrible,
white brush. I wish he was on island somewhere, like
in a band. But then when it then, when you
hear something like that, you're gonna like you're kind of like, oh, oh, well,
he deserves it a little bit, something a little bit
bigger than that. You feel like, because it's been building
up for so long that you're just like, oh, somebody
it robbed him. Yeah, you feel like at this point,
as image he's filled up, like he deserves to be,
(48:09):
like as he was inducted by aliens and now he's
the king of Mars. I don't know what it would
be that would make it. Nothing would make it right. Obviously,
there is.
Speaker 4 (48:18):
No arguing that Brian Schaeffer's disappearance remains one of the
most baffling in modern American history, and despite not knowing
what happened for sure, his case became a cautionary tale
and discussions about campus safety, surveillance, blind spots, and what
law enforcement can and can't do when someone vanishes, and
while the answer to this mystery remains hotly debated, what
(48:40):
is crystal clear is that Brian was left. His father,
Randy remains an outspoken advocate for missing persons until his
accidental death in two thousand and eight, and Alexis's quiet
but persistent visibility helped keep Brian in the spotlight. It's
been more than eighteen years since Brian Schaeffer walked into
the Ugly Tuna Saluna and never walked out. His face
(49:02):
still appears on missing Persons posters, and Brian's story still
haunts everyone who hears it because if a man can
vanish under cameras in a bar full of people in
the middle of a busy city, what does that say
about the rest of us? We live in a world
of footprints, fingerprints, pings, pixels, and yet Brian left nothing behind,
(49:23):
no goodbyes, no evidence of struggle, and no second chance.
Someone knows what happened that night, and until they speak,
Brian remains exactly where he's been since April first, two
thousand and six, missing.
Speaker 3 (49:52):
A huge thing. You to Nikki for being our first
degree for today's episode. If you are listening out there
and you have a story to tell. Please email u
us hello at the First Greek Podcast dot com. Follow
us on Instagram, Join our Facebook page. We're talking true
crime all the time. Join the Underground. You can do
that on Patreon or buy Apple podcast subscriptions. It's super easy.
(50:13):
Just click the button and you're in over one hundred
and fifty episodes for you for you to listen. To
join our book club if you want to read with us,
we are reading Misery by Stephen King this month. Instagram.
Tomorrow we'll have a brand new episode of The Deep
Dive right in your feed.
Speaker 4 (50:27):
And remember, only you can prevent serial killers and keep
your friends close by, not that close. Shout out to
Jared Monago first scoring your original music for the First
Gree Sources for this episode include The Columbus Dispatch, People Magazine, CNN, ABC,
(50:47):
America's Most Watten, NBC's Dateline, ABC's Primetime, The Charlie Project,
the FBI name is and remember, our first Greek guest
is always our largest source
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Fudd Around And Find Out
UConn basketball star Azzi Fudd brings her championship swag to iHeart Women’s Sports with Fudd Around and Find Out, a weekly podcast that takes fans along for the ride as Azzi spends her final year of college trying to reclaim the National Championship and prepare to be a first round WNBA draft pick. Ever wonder what it’s like to be a world-class athlete in the public spotlight while still managing schoolwork, friendships and family time? It’s time to Fudd Around and Find Out!