December 19, 2024 • 37 mins
Brian Shaffer was a 27-year-old medical student at Ohio State University when he vanished without a trace after a night out at the Ugly Tuna Saloona bar. The circumstances of his disappearance are baffling as no one can determine how Brian went missing from the bar. To this day what happened to Brian remains a mystery.
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Episode Transcript
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Elena (00:01):
Hey guys, welcome to the Eerie Side Podcast with your
host, Elena.
Sophia and D.
We appreciate you guys listeningand I hope you're ready to get
on the Eerie Side.
(00:45):
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Alright guys, are we ready toget into today's episode?
D (01:24):
Yes.
Elena (01:25):
Okay, so today we're going to be talking about Brian
Schaefer.
Now, I'm assuming you guys knowabout this case?
Sophia (01:32):
Ugly Tuna Saloonaa?
Elena (01:34):
The one and only.
Sophia (01:36):
I'm familiar with it.
Elena (01:38):
As I like to call it, the Ugly Tuna Saloonaa
Disappearance.
Brian Schaefer was a vibrant 27year old medical student at Ohio
State University.
On the morning of April 1st,2006, he went out to celebrate
the beginning of spring breakwith friends at a popular bar in
Columbus, Ohio.
By the next morning, Brian wasgone without a trace.
(01:59):
To this day, his disappearanceremains one of the most
chilling, unsolved mysteries inthe United States.
So, who was Brian?
Brian Randall Schaefer was acharismatic and ambitious man.
Born on February 25th, 1979, hegrew up in Pickerington, Ohio.
Friends and family describeBrian as intelligent and full of
(02:21):
life.
And very outgoing.
He graduated from high school in'97 and went to Ohio State for
his undergraduate degree.
After graduating with a degreein microbiology, he went to Ohio
State College of Medicine.
While attending in his secondyear, his mother unfortunately
died of cancer.
Brian tried to pretend that hewas handling it well, but it was
(02:42):
really hard on him because himand his mother were very close.
He met his girlfriend when hewas in medical school, Alexis
Wagoner, who is another medicalschool student, and despite him
being a medical student hisdreams were actually to be in a
band playing music similar toJimmy Buffett and to have his
own island where he can drinkand play music So what changed?
(03:05):
Well, on March 31st, 2006, Brianmade plans to go bar hopping
with his friend, William ClintFlorence.
They started at The Ugly TunaSaloonaa which was a bar in the
South Campus Gateway Complexlocated on High Street in
Columbus.
Security footage captured Brianentering the bar around 9 p.m.
(03:28):
About an hour later, Brian madea call to his girlfriend, who
was back home in Toledo.
Apparently, he sounded fine andwas excited to go on his trip.
Because they were supposed to goon a trip in a few days to Miami
where people speculated Brianwas going to propose to Alexis.
However, some don't believe thisbecause they weren't together
for a long time and there was noproof that he had a ring or that
(03:51):
he was planning on proposing.
Also, it's worth pointing outthat I've heard from some
sources that he asked Alexis torun away with him a few weeks
before his disappearance.
And then a few days before theyleft for their trip, he told
Alexis that she should leave himand find someone better because
he doesn't know how long he'llbe suffering for with the whole
(04:11):
death of his mother.
Sophia (04:12):
Wait, who thought that he was going to propose to his
girlfriend?
Elena (04:16):
Alexis did, so his girlfriend, I think family and
some friends did as well.
Sophia (04:21):
And what made them suspect that?
Elena (04:24):
I don't really know, I just think maybe because this
was like a big trip and maybe hehad talked about wanting to
propose on a trip, I don't know.
But I think it was just becauseof like the trip It was this
whole thing planned.
Sophia (04:37):
How long had he been dating her at this point?
Elena (04:40):
I honestly don't know.
I've heard reports that it waslike five months.
Sophia (04:43):
Okay So that's still
Elena (04:45):
In his late 20s, but it's still pretty early on.
Okay.
So, throughout the night, Brianand Clint visited several bars
in the area, drinking at eachone.
They were basically just likebar crawling throughout the
night.
At some point in the night, thepair met up with Clint's friend,
Meredith Reed.
Meredith offered them a rideback to the Ugly Tuna Saloonaa,
(05:07):
and got back there around 1:15a.m..
Once inside the bar, accordingto Clint, the two had three to
four shots of alcohol andaccording to Meredith, she saw
Clint and Brian get into anargument but couldn't hear what
it was about because of the bar.
She also said that around 1:30a.m.
she and Clint saw Brian walktowards the corner that was
(05:28):
opposite of the entrance andsome speculate that Brian was
going over to talk to the bandbecause the band was in that
direction.
I also read some reports thatClint said that Brian told him
he was going to talk to theband.
However, when investigators,did, track down the band.
The band confirmed that Briandid not approach them at all,
and that they had norecollection of talking to him.
(05:51):
Then, at 1:55 a.m., surveillancefootage shows Brian walking
outside of the bar to speak withtwo young women, then walking
away, seeming to enter the bar.
However, at 2 a.m.
when the bar closed, Clint andMeredith left after spending
time looking for Brian.
They waited for him for a bitand tried calling him, but they
(06:12):
couldn't find him.
They also searched like the.
I mean, it was like, it was asquare, so it wasn't a lot to
search, and they did look in thebathrooms, but they couldn't
find him, so they just assumedthat he had gone home or left,
just left.
What is so chilling about thiscase, is after Brian is seen
walking away from the girls, heis never seen again.
He wasn't captured on the exitin the bar, which had cameras
(06:35):
and there was also a camerafacing the escalator that led to
the street.
So basically, there was one exitin the bar.
So if he would have gone backinto the bar and left, there was
a camera facing that exit.
And there was also a camerafacing the escalator that led
(06:56):
down to the street.
So this bar isn't your typicalbar.
It's actually like inside ofanother building.
Think of kind of like a mallkind of idea.
We'd go in, there was anescalator up.
And then to the right was theUgly Tuna Saloonaa.
So there was a camera facing theescalators.
(07:18):
Basically he is seen entering,but he's never seen exiting.
Sophia (07:21):
Is it confirmed that he actually went back into the Ugly
Tuna Saloonaa?
Elena (07:25):
No, and that's what's so I think chilling and so eerie
about this case is that fromwhat I read, it looks like he
should be going into the barbased on the camera.
He's leaning towards the right,but he's never seen again.
It's so interesting because inother true crime podcasts,
people always say it as ifthough it's a confirmation that
(07:47):
he went into the bar and wedon't know how he got out.
No.
That's why I wanted to do thiscase is because I also was
shocked by that too when I wasresearching because I thought
the same thing is that it lookedlike from what I read that he
walked like directly into thebar.
But from what I've seen, itseems like he walked in, but I
(08:10):
don't think it's like 100percent proven.
Like it looked like he waswalking in that area and maybe
he did walk in but he could havejust quickly like left and gone
and I'll explain like where hecould have gone but most likely
it looked like he was heading inthat direction but it's not
confirmed.
Sophia (08:28):
So there's no camera showing who comes into the Ugly
Tuna Saloonaa?
Elena (08:32):
No, I've also saw reports that there was one camera by the
entrance of the Ugly TunaSaloonaa that moved, that like
panned, and I'll get into thatlater, but that also did not
show any footage of him.
But it was, one that moved, itrotated.
Okay, so now we're going to getinto the investigation.
(08:54):
When did people start to realizethat he was missing?
Because his girlfriend was outof town and Clint and Meredith
had left and spent the night atClint's place.
Well, it actually happenedpretty soon when girlfriend
Alexis became concerned when hefailed to answer her calls.
Now, remember he went out onMarch 31st, and that was on a
(09:16):
Friday, and his flight to Miamiis on Monday.
So when he missed his flight,that's when Alexis and Brian's
father, Randy, knew somethingwas wrong and reported him
missing.
Police began their investigationby reviewing the Ugly Tuna
Saloonaa's security footage.
The absence of any footageshowing Brian leaving the bar
led to a perplexing question.
(09:38):
How did Brian Schaefer leave theUgly Tuna Saloonaa?
In the direction Brian went,there's two ways he could have
gone.
He went back into the bar, orsomehow he exited through the
service exit, but it did lead toa construction site that had
doors that led to the street.
It is possible that Brian wantedto disappear and that this was
(10:01):
his intention.
Maybe he changed his clothes andput on a hat.
However, there are some hosts tothis theories.
One being, why would he want todisappear?
I know his mother died threeweeks before and it was hard on
him, but he just finishedfinals, was about to go on a
nice trip to Miami, and possiblyproposed to his girlfriend.
(10:22):
I also read somewhere that it'spossible that this trip It was
like a gift from his mother,before she passed.
So I have a hard time thinking,if that's true that he would do
that, given how close he waswith his mother.
But however, given what he mighthave said to Alexis and the
death of his mother, it ispossible that he left on his
own.
(10:43):
But Lori Davis, who was anadvocate for people who go
missing and worked with Brian'sfamily to find him, said that a
detective who has studied thatvideo said that he's a hundred
percent sure everyone isaccounted for, meaning everyone
who he saw went into the bar.
He also saw coming out.
So I feel if there was a guy whohad random clothes on that they
(11:05):
didn't see enter before, thatalso kind of resembled Brian,
they would have noticed.
And they did because I read thatthere was like this one guy that
they saw leave with an orangesweatshirt or sweater or
something, and they didn't seehim come in, but they tracked
him down.
And he said, Oh yeah, like Iwalked in, I was wearing a
different clothes and then I gotcold and I put my sweatshirt on
(11:26):
and I left.
And so they were able to confirmthat.
So they looked, they didn't seeanyone that resembled Brian that
they didn't see entering thatcould have been him.
Now if at any point he went backinto the bar, even though that
he had a small window since itdid close at 2 a.m.
and exited from the bar, likethe exit that's in the bar, he
would have been seen on thecamera.
(11:48):
And I also read some reportsthat there was a security guard
that was there that didn't seehim.
So he couldn't have exited thebar and most likely didn't go
down the escalators.
And exit the way he came in.
So he couldn't have exited thebar and most likely didn't go
down the escalators that exitthe way he came in.
So the only real option is thathe left through the service
(12:09):
exit.
There was a camera in the UglyTuna Saloonaa the pan and did
show the service door, butapparently it didn't show Brian,
according to police.
The footage isn't public, so Ican't, confirm, but from what
all the police have said is thatthere is no footage with Brian
anywhere.
So the detective in charge ofthe case, Sergeant Hearst said
(12:31):
in an interview pretty recentlythat the footage looked like the
camera was about to pan, but wasshifted manually by a security
guard.
Now, I don't think he's sayinglike it was intentionally
shifted, but it was basicallylike how he described the
footage was like it was panningand then it like stopped or it
was panning and it stopped andwent over.
So the footage from what I'veheard the camera didn't show the
(12:54):
service exit.
Sophia (12:55):
So was it for sure tampered with?
Elena (12:58):
I don't know.
I have no idea.
I think it's unlikely that asecurity guard would do that.
Sophia (13:05):
If they're trying to do something to Brian and have it
off camera, hypothetically.
Elena (13:10):
Maybe, but I doubt it was like security guards though.
D (13:15):
Why is it they don't believe that he just disappeared?
Because, who asks hisgirlfriend, A few days before he
disappears, let's justdisappear.
Elena (13:24):
I'll get into a little bit why they don't think that,
and also just, that's just whatthe police are saying, that
that's their theory.
I do think it's interesting, butI find it hard that he would
disappear off the face of theearth and like never get any
sort of reports or anything likethat.
(13:44):
I guess it's possible as peoplehave done that, but that's just,
not the direction that thepolice have taken with this
case.
D (13:52):
But it does sound like that is something he may have done
and just wanted to completelydisappear.
Elena (13:58):
True, but I think a drunken night is probably like
the worst time to disappear foryourself.
There's no evidence that hislike credit cards or his
accounts have ever been touched.
We'll get into his phone in abit.
I feel like why, there was nosign that he had packed anything
and he most likely wasintoxicated.
So I feel like if he was goingto disappear, choosing that
(14:21):
night would, it's not.
Sophia (14:23):
Most times, like those sorts of decisions are actually
very impulsive.
Elena (14:27):
That's true.
It could have been an impulsedecision, but from what Alexis
said on the phone, he soundedvery excited to go on the trip
and there was no sign that hewas leaving.
Sophia (14:38):
Right, but a lot of times people don't even notice
right before their loved onescommit suicide or hurt
themselves or whatever.
When we know that suicide a lotof times is very much a very
impulsive decision, Mm hmm.
It could have been a very spurof the moment decision he made
in that bar.
Elena (14:56):
True, but there also wasn't any footage of him
anywhere around the area.
And I'll go into why.
Basically, there is a lot ofcameras in this town.
It's the highest camera likepopulated area in Ohio.
There's so many security camerasand if he had left the
(15:18):
construction site, he would havehad to get most likely in a car
because all the cameras aroundthe area where he could have
left after he left the exitdidn't catch him.
So it's not like he walked away.
Sophia (15:31):
If he was able to escape the Ugly Tuna Saloonaa cameras,
who's to say he couldn't have,not even intentionally, but it
escaped other cameras as well.
Elena (15:39):
I guess it's possible, but I don't know.
It's just the direction that thepolice have taken with this.
It's possible, of course.
When someone disappears andthere's not a body, that's
definitely always a bigpossibility.
But as of right now, the policeare leaning more towards foul
play.
Now if you went into the hallwaythere, which if you go out up
(16:00):
the escalators to the right,it's Ugly Tuna Saloonaa, if you
go straight, there's like alittle hallway where there's two
doors.
Sources just talk about thesurface exit.
But I've also found sources thatthere was another door to the
right.
I don't know where it was onwhat side, but I know that there
was another door.
Now one led to the constructionsite, which wasn't this huge
(16:23):
outdoor construction site that Ithink a lot of people make it
out to seam it.
It was more of a big room slashbasement that was under
construction.
Like I feel like when I listenedto, this case.
And it seems like people talkabout this as like this huge
construction site with all thislike.
lumber and metal and all thesethings like all around.
(16:45):
It really wasn't, it was justlike a room or like a basement
that was under construction andthe other door led to other
buildings.
But if he had gone there, hewould have been seen leaving the
entrance of those buildings onthe security cameras that they
had.
So even if he had gone into thatone and exited through one of
those buildings, he would havebeen seen on those cameras and
(17:07):
he wasn't.
Now, the inside of theconstruction site, it definitely
would have been difficult forhim to walk around, given that,
that he was probably stillintoxicated from the night.
Apparently it was under so muchconstruction that a police
sergeant said it would bedifficult for anyone to walk,
sober, let alone drunk.
There was also this huge hole inthe room, which is like six by
(17:30):
six feet and four feet deep.
It's possible that Brian couldhave fallen in, but it wouldn't
have been, so deep that hewouldn't have been found the
next day had he like hit hishead and couldn't get out if he
was dead.
Police, they would have foundhim.
And they did search the wholeroom and they brought dogs in to
see if they could smell himthere, but there was no luck.
Sophia (17:51):
Was this construction being done outside or inside?
Elena (17:53):
No, it was inside.
Sophia (17:54):
Okay.
That's another thing that Ialways assumed was that it was
outside.
Elena (17:57):
Yeah.
And I did too.
And that's why I was reallyshocked during that research is
that it's described as being.
heavily under constructionbecause it was.
I think some people justinstantly think it was like this
huge construction site and Itwasn't.
It was like a basement that wasunder construction
Sophia (18:13):
And there was a four foot hole in this.
Elena (18:16):
Yeah, it was it was like six by six and it was four feet
deep.
And and they checked there.
Sophia (18:21):
They checked the hole?
Elena (18:22):
Yeah, there's nothing.
Sophia (18:23):
In other podcasts I had listened to I had imagined there
it was just like very deep holesand they never really checked
and I just got in the impressionthat this construction site was
actually a room now that I'mfinding out could have been a
viable option but now I'mthinking maybe it's not.
Elena (18:43):
No.
They really did a thoroughsearch and they brought dogs and
there was no sign that the dogswere picking up any Sign of, a
dead body, but I know there wasnothing that was signaling a
body.
I also think I read somewherethat they undid some like fresh
concrete just to make sure.
(19:04):
So they did a thorough, searchthere.
And there was no sign that hewas there.
Sophia (19:08):
Well, now I'm thinking he did walk away.
Elena (19:11):
That's what a lot of people are saying.
So it most likely seems likethat.
Sophia (19:17):
The question is, did he walk away and something, an
accident happened, or he foundharm, or did he choose to walk
away and remove himself fromsociety permanently?
Elena (19:28):
I think, that's a million dollar question.
I will provide a quote that wasby the lead detective on the
case, and he said,"The basicindication right now is somehow
he got down into theconstruction area and most
likely got exited out of there.
But again, we don't haveanything that's on video to
(19:50):
support that.
It's just speculation at thistime,".
So it seems like even from thedetectives that most likely, He
went into the construction siteand somehow was able to get out.
Sophia (20:03):
Is there an exit from the construction site then?
Elena (20:05):
Mm hmm, that leads to the outside and from what I read
there wasn't a camera on thatexit but cameras around the area
that would have seen him had hecontinued walking.
D (20:20):
The dogs didn't even pick up his scent, so why do they think
that he walked in there, fell,maybe, or came out?
If they didn't pick up anyscent?
Elena (20:28):
I'm actually not sure if the dogs, picked up his scent in
the Ugly Tuna Saloona, or in theescalator, but didn't pick him
up in the construction site.
I don't even know if the dogsever picked up his scent in that
building.
I just know that there wasnothing that signaled that, he
was there.
Like, his body was there, thathe was passed out somewhere,
(20:49):
anything like that.
They also immediately looked to,Like dumpsters, they were
looking all the dumpsters allaround all alleyways everywhere.
So If his body was in theimmediate area, he would have
been found now, I guess it'spossible maybe his body was
dumped in a dumpster and thentaken but Even the police said
(21:09):
that they like tracked down thelandfill where it would have
gone and they didn't find hisbody there either.
A few years after Brian'sdisappearance, unfortunately,
his father Randy passed awaywhile a branch unexpectedly hit
him.
Sophia (21:25):
Oh my gosh.
Elena (21:26):
Yeah.
And killed him.
So unfortunately, the mother,father, and Brian are all gone
or missing, which only, left theyounger brother.
Because there was a family offour.
Sophia (21:38):
That's so tragic.
Elena (21:40):
Yeah, that is really sad alone now.
So there's also people talkabout his phone pinging
afterwards.
Because I guess his family andhis friends were like just
calling him afterwards.
I know I saw reports that Alexiswas like calling him every day
or at least every night.
In hope that he would pick upand then to hear his phone
Apparently, there was like onetime where the phone I guess
(22:03):
pinged, I guess it rang likethree times or something like
that, and then it went tovoicemail.
But, the phone company,whatever, phone provider, some,
someone was like, actually, it'svery possible that that was just
like a glitch in the system.
And sometimes like with thetowers, the explanation was
complex, but basically likesomehow with the way the pings
(22:26):
work that it can be just aglitch.
And then I think it happenedagain later on, but again,
people were talking about itbeing just like glitch.
D (22:36):
Was his phone turned off?
Elena (22:38):
Yes.
It was like instantly, likeright away.
His phone was turned off.
D (22:43):
That looks more like someone who wants to disappear.
Sophia (22:46):
Or, and of course this happens, not as likely, someone
kidnaps him immediately.
Takes his phone and turns itoff.
Elena (22:53):
I guess it's possible that they just broke it right
away and the pings were just anaccident.
Sophia (22:57):
His phone died I mean he's been out Obviously, I think
a lot of people's phones tend todie later in the day and at this
point he's out late He'sdrinking.
It's pretty believable to thinkthat it could have just died as
well.
Elena (23:11):
I guess it was like, I think five months later when his
girlfriend called that, likerang a few times,
Sophia (23:18):
So sad.
She's still calling.
She definitely missed him for awhile.
Elena (23:22):
And I guess it was pinged to a cell tower in Hillard.
The phone provider was like,these rings just may have been
like a glitch and it wasn'tanything concrete, it's like
evidence that the phone wasturned on or anything like that.
That basically leaves us onlywith theories.
So what are theories?
(23:42):
Obviously, some of the classictheories are that he ran away.
Or, there's foul play inside thebar, outside of the bar.
There is intentional likeplanned foul play, like someone
like plan this.
There's the option that it was,an unplanned opportunistic foul
(24:04):
play.
There is, of course, that hedisappeared intentionally.
Then there's also an option thathe fell and he got injured
somewhere and maybe fell intowater There was like one near
like a body of water that thepolice searched and didn't find
anything.
We'll get into the idea of didhe run away?
(24:24):
Okay.
So the first option is obviouslythe voluntary disappearance, but
there are some things that kindof align with this and other
ones that say maybe that hedidn't do.
There are the signs what he saidto Alexis beforehand if that's
true.
There are other reasons that maynot be true.
(24:46):
There's been not a lot ofsightings of him since then I,
there was one in Mexico, butthat was, proven to not be him.
There's no evidence that he tookout any money from his bank or
any, had any way of being ableto leave.
His phone, for the most part,most likely seems like it hasn't
(25:07):
been turned on since he left.
He has not tried to contact hisfamily, and neither has he
contacted after his father hadpassed.
He just seems like such a familyman that I feel like he
wouldn't.
Maybe go for so long.
I mean it is possible, but hedoes have some pretty
distinctive like tattoos that Iwould think, make it a little
(25:29):
bit easier to identify him.
I guess it's possible he couldhave completely changed his
appearance and gotten into a carand drove it off and maybe he
had some friend or someone thatwas planning on him up.
I don't know.
Sophia (25:47):
Does this theory also include that he hurt himself or
took his life that night?
Elena (25:52):
I guess that would be like a subsection is like there
is like that suicide or accidenttheory as well, where he maybe
fell somewhere and got hurt.
There was pretty thoroughinvestigation though, and they
didn't say any evidence of that.
If he'd committed suicide, likethey searched the nearby area,
if he did it anywhere nearby, Ifeel like they would have found
(26:12):
his body.
Sophia (26:13):
Definitely this is such a strange story for so many
reasons.
Number one is we just lose himon the cameras.
We don't even know where hewent.
We can't even find him on thecameras.
Number two, I mean there's beenno sightings of him, and I think
at this point we'd have somesort of clues if he was still
alive living out there.
Something I mean this is such ahuge case in the true crime
(26:37):
world.
I think he would have beenspotted or we'd at least have
more sightings of him than wecurrently do.
Number three is if he did takehis own life then where the heck
is his body?
It's so weird.
Elena (26:48):
That's what's so weird too, is like, if this was like
an opportunistic kill, right?
So say he was walking out and Idon't know, maybe saw like a
crime go down or a drug,transaction.
So he saw something he shouldn'thave seen.
I doubt the person, if it wasjust opportunistic, would kill
them and take the body so far.
(27:09):
Most likely they would justleave it there, run away.
If that was, if it was like arobbery gone wrong and the
person killed Brian, theyprobably would have just ran
away.
And again, his body wasn'tfound, wasn't found in any
dumpsters.
Sophia (27:20):
I'm now starting to think that it's very possible he
could have been a victim of foulplay.
Elena (27:26):
I would agree with that.
Sophia (27:27):
What bothers me most about the theory that he left of
his own accord is where is hisbody.
At that point.
Because if he did want to hurthimself, why can't we find out
where he is?
Elena (27:39):
I mean unless he left on his own and chose to not commit
suicide and just live analternate life somewhere else.
Sophia (27:47):
But I think because this case is so.
well known.
I think there, there'd have beensome sort of sightings of him.
D (27:55):
I had heard that the construction site was, in such a
way that he could have fallen inand they could have cemented it
cause they came back to work onMonday and they didn't start
looking for him too much later.
Elena (28:08):
What I've heard from the detective, he's 100 percent sure
that he is not in that building.
But I think that would be veryunlikely because a lot of
construction workers commentingon this and they're like, when
there's something out of placein our construction site, we
notice instantly.
So they were like, I find ithard to believe that someone
could unintentionally cementover a six foot two guy.
Sophia (28:31):
But if you're not paying attention, if you're just going
to your routine day over day, Idon't know.
There's something about this inparticular that makes me think
maybe they missed something atthe construction site.
Elena (28:41):
From what it seems like the detective was saying.
And again, even if he wascemented over at some point he
would start to rot and the dogswould still be able to smell his
body.
I guess in the end it depends ifthe construction did use cement
on Monday or not.
I don't know.
I don't know what they weredoing the next day and what
their construction schedulelooked like on Monday.
(29:05):
So it's possible, but we don'teven know if cement was used.
And then that leaves us theoption of if it was a robbery
gone wrong or something likethat, I think the body would
have been found had it been leftthere.
It is possible that maybe he sawsomething and they took him out
and then they took his body andremoved him and put him, so far
(29:26):
out that no one's even lookingfor him where he is.
Another option with foul play isthat something happened inside
of the bar.
Which I don't think anythinghappened to him inside.
It seems very unlikely andthere's really no evidence to
suggest that.
If something happened in thebar, then it would need to be
covered up.
(29:46):
You have to have been hiddenfrom the cameras and the
security that was there, thendisposed of the body very far
away.
But because the police, searchedthe surrounding area, and they
looked in the dumpsters, and thenearest body of water, and, in
case he fell in, there's reallynothing that makes me think that
he was inside.
And, the cameras around the areathat might have picked up a body
(30:07):
shaped bag, there was nothingthat suggested that, and nothing
that suggested that he waskilled inside.
So that leaves us with mostlikely foul play.
I hear a lot of people speculatethat he was either going for a
meet up, so he was intentionallygoing to meet up with someone in
(30:28):
a car and then it, things wentbad.
Or he just happened to seesomeone and get a ride from a
stranger and then, things wentbad after that.
Obviously, there's no concreteevidence to support that he was
going to meet up with someone.
I don't think they have theirphone So there's nowhere to
confirm or deny that, but how doyou guys feel about that theory?
D (30:52):
Did they look at his phone to see if he was meeting up with
anyone?
Elena (30:54):
They don't have his phone, so that was one of the
things, that they don't have it.
D (30:57):
You can download phones.
What year is this?
Elena (30:59):
2006, so I think it was a cell phone.
I don't think it was like aniPhone.
D (31:04):
Oh, I see.
Sophia (31:05):
I also think it's interesting that he disappeared
right after talking to those twoladies.
Elena (31:10):
I will say, those two girls were tracked down and
talked to, and even the father,Brian's father, like I saw,
talked to those girls andthey're like, those girls didn't
have anything to do with it.
Sophia (31:22):
What was he flirting with them?
Elena (31:23):
That is the big question, is what was he doing with two
young girls outside of a bar ataround 1:50 a.m.
While he does have a girlfriendat home.
I saw a report that he couldhave been not like a player, but
like, that Clint
Sophia (31:37):
Flirtatious.
Some people have flirtatiouspersonalities.
Elena (31:40):
Maybe he was just talking to them, or, cause a lot of
times when you're drunk,sometimes you'll just socialize
with whoever.
Sophia (31:45):
That's the thing, he's drunk, he's maybe gonna do
something he wouldn't normallydo.
D (31:48):
Is it official that he has drank a lot, like he is tipsy if
not drunk?
Elena (31:54):
I don't know how drunk he was at the time, but he did
drink a lot that night.
They were like multiple shots ateach bar.
They had a good amount ofdrinks.
So he was six, two.
He had been out for a while.
So maybe he'd started to soberup.
But then again, like Clint saidwhen they went back to the Ugly
Tuna Saloona, that they hadthree or four more shots.
Sophia (32:13):
Maybe he wanted to go find a woman that night.
And so he went off in search ofthat.
Or maybe he fell through a holesomewhere.
I don't know.
And.
The city and nobody's found him.
Elena (32:26):
They did check under the sewers though.
Sophia (32:28):
They did?
Elena (32:28):
That's another thing.
They got permission to do thatThey were thorough.
I will say.
D (32:33):
Now if I understand he's near a body of water.
Elena (32:36):
Kind of there's only one body of water that was even like
remotely close and they searchedthat
D (32:41):
Okay, so does that have anything to do with the smiley
face?
Elena (32:45):
People have completely debunked Brian Schaefer being
related to the smiley face.
I guess people always speculateit, but there's no evidence to
suggest that there was no smileyface that was ever found near
there.
There was no otherdisappearances.
Sophia (33:01):
That was a river that he, there was a river, right?
It was like a moving.
Elena (33:05):
I don't know if it was like a river.
I think it might've just beenlike a little pond or lake or
something.
Sophia (33:09):
I'm asking because if it's a river, I would be able to
believe that maybe he fell inthere and they just never found
him.
But if it's a pond that's, or asmall body of water that's not
moving, it's harder for me tobelieve that.
Elena (33:22):
Because it's near College Town, the way I interpreted it,
it didn't seem like it was ahuge body of water, but if it
was a lake, maybe it waspossible he could have gotten,
washed out.
There's nowhere for him to go.
People, tend to lean moretowards the idea that he got out
and was picked up and somehoweither he left on his own or
(33:45):
something happened after he gotpicked up.
I lean more towards that.
D (33:49):
I don't know.
This is a little confusing, but,I always thought maybe he had
fallen in the construction fromthe other times I've heard the
story.
If he decided to disappear onhis own and was prepared, then,
they don't have to findanything, but, I'm not sure he
was prepared.
He was a little drunk, so thatdoesn't make you prepared and
impulsive.
(34:09):
If he does it impulsively, Idon't think he'd be able to do
it.
He'd need money and other stuff.
Elena (34:15):
Right.
He'd have to get money at somepoint.
Sophia (34:18):
It's just that it his phone was turned off'cause it
could have died.
Mm-hmm But it makes me thinkeither he or somebody else
wanted to make sure his locationcould not be tracked.
Elena (34:26):
I don't know if his location could be tracked.
I think what happened is I don'tthink he wanted to talk with
Clint and get bugged by Clint,because there was reports that
they had an argument.
People have pointed fingers atClint I don't necessarily know
if there's any signs that reallysay that Clint had anything to
do with it.
I think there's just two drunkguys who got in an argument.
Sophia (34:47):
It's hard for me to think he's involved when, on the
cameras, Clint's still in thebar and Brian has left.
Elena (34:54):
Meredith, I know for sure is taking a lie detector test
and talked and been open.
Clint is the only one thatlawyered up and did not get a
lie detector test.
However, I don't think that'sany sign of guilt, because
people are already startingpointing fingers at him and then
he got a lawyer which is justsmart at that point.
Sophia (35:13):
I know some people don't like how he's responded to
things but personally I wouldsay you should do what he did.
Which is get a lawyer and nottake the polygraph, because
they're not even reliable.
I can't fault him at all fordoing that
Elena (35:25):
He's the only one that got a lawyer.
Any lawyer will tell you, mostlikely, probably just don't take
the polygraph.
That is it for our case on BrianSchaefer.
How do we feel?
D (35:36):
Interesting.
Sophia (35:37):
Definitely want to know what happened, and there has to
be another development, andjust, it's so bizarre.
It's so mysterious.
It just leaves you wonderingwhat the heck happened.
Elena (35:50):
If we're ever going to solve this case, there will have
to be some sort of new evidence,a new development in order to
move forward.
D (35:57):
If they find his body, then they have an idea, at least they
know what's happened to him.
Sophia (36:03):
The crazy thing is if somebody took him, he could
still be held captive somewhere.
Elena (36:09):
But also, who would willingly take an adult male?
Sophia (36:12):
It's not as common, right?
Most predators seem to preferholding girls or women captive,
but I do think it's definitelypossible.
Elena (36:21):
It's not impossible.
D (36:22):
It's not impossible, but I don't think it's probable.
I want to thank you forlistening to us this week.
We love our listeners and it'sbecause of you guys that we're
able to do this podcast.
Your help and your engagementreally helps us grow and if you
enjoy this episode, please sendit to a friend or family member
to listen.
Until next time guys, make sureyou stay on the Eerie Side.
Bye! Bye! Bye! And be safe.
Hey guys, welcome to the Eerie Side Podcast with your
host, Elena.
Sophia and D.
We appreciate you guys listeningand I hope you're ready to get
on the Eerie Side.
(00:45):
Now before we get into the show,I'd just like to say that we
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Alright guys, are we ready toget into today's episode?
D (01:24):
Yes.
Elena (01:25):
Okay, so today we're going to be talking about Brian
Schaefer.
Now, I'm assuming you guys knowabout this case?
Sophia (01:32):
Ugly Tuna Saloonaa?
Elena (01:34):
The one and only.
Sophia (01:36):
I'm familiar with it.
Elena (01:38):
As I like to call it, the Ugly Tuna Saloonaa
Disappearance.
Brian Schaefer was a vibrant 27year old medical student at Ohio
State University.
On the morning of April 1st,2006, he went out to celebrate
the beginning of spring breakwith friends at a popular bar in
Columbus, Ohio.
By the next morning, Brian wasgone without a trace.
(01:59):
To this day, his disappearanceremains one of the most
chilling, unsolved mysteries inthe United States.
So, who was Brian?
Brian Randall Schaefer was acharismatic and ambitious man.
Born on February 25th, 1979, hegrew up in Pickerington, Ohio.
Friends and family describeBrian as intelligent and full of
(02:21):
life.
And very outgoing.
He graduated from high school in'97 and went to Ohio State for
his undergraduate degree.
After graduating with a degreein microbiology, he went to Ohio
State College of Medicine.
While attending in his secondyear, his mother unfortunately
died of cancer.
Brian tried to pretend that hewas handling it well, but it was
(02:42):
really hard on him because himand his mother were very close.
He met his girlfriend when hewas in medical school, Alexis
Wagoner, who is another medicalschool student, and despite him
being a medical student hisdreams were actually to be in a
band playing music similar toJimmy Buffett and to have his
own island where he can drinkand play music So what changed?
(03:05):
Well, on March 31st, 2006, Brianmade plans to go bar hopping
with his friend, William ClintFlorence.
They started at The Ugly TunaSaloonaa which was a bar in the
South Campus Gateway Complexlocated on High Street in
Columbus.
Security footage captured Brianentering the bar around 9 p.m.
(03:28):
About an hour later, Brian madea call to his girlfriend, who
was back home in Toledo.
Apparently, he sounded fine andwas excited to go on his trip.
Because they were supposed to goon a trip in a few days to Miami
where people speculated Brianwas going to propose to Alexis.
However, some don't believe thisbecause they weren't together
for a long time and there was noproof that he had a ring or that
(03:51):
he was planning on proposing.
Also, it's worth pointing outthat I've heard from some
sources that he asked Alexis torun away with him a few weeks
before his disappearance.
And then a few days before theyleft for their trip, he told
Alexis that she should leave himand find someone better because
he doesn't know how long he'llbe suffering for with the whole
(04:11):
death of his mother.
Sophia (04:12):
Wait, who thought that he was going to propose to his
girlfriend?
Elena (04:16):
Alexis did, so his girlfriend, I think family and
some friends did as well.
Sophia (04:21):
And what made them suspect that?
Elena (04:24):
I don't really know, I just think maybe because this
was like a big trip and maybe hehad talked about wanting to
propose on a trip, I don't know.
But I think it was just becauseof like the trip It was this
whole thing planned.
Sophia (04:37):
How long had he been dating her at this point?
Elena (04:40):
I honestly don't know.
I've heard reports that it waslike five months.
Sophia (04:43):
Okay So that's still
Elena (04:45):
In his late 20s, but it's still pretty early on.
Okay.
So, throughout the night, Brianand Clint visited several bars
in the area, drinking at eachone.
They were basically just likebar crawling throughout the
night.
At some point in the night, thepair met up with Clint's friend,
Meredith Reed.
Meredith offered them a rideback to the Ugly Tuna Saloonaa,
(05:07):
and got back there around 1:15a.m..
Once inside the bar, accordingto Clint, the two had three to
four shots of alcohol andaccording to Meredith, she saw
Clint and Brian get into anargument but couldn't hear what
it was about because of the bar.
She also said that around 1:30a.m.
she and Clint saw Brian walktowards the corner that was
(05:28):
opposite of the entrance andsome speculate that Brian was
going over to talk to the bandbecause the band was in that
direction.
I also read some reports thatClint said that Brian told him
he was going to talk to theband.
However, when investigators,did, track down the band.
The band confirmed that Briandid not approach them at all,
and that they had norecollection of talking to him.
(05:51):
Then, at 1:55 a.m., surveillancefootage shows Brian walking
outside of the bar to speak withtwo young women, then walking
away, seeming to enter the bar.
However, at 2 a.m.
when the bar closed, Clint andMeredith left after spending
time looking for Brian.
They waited for him for a bitand tried calling him, but they
(06:12):
couldn't find him.
They also searched like the.
I mean, it was like, it was asquare, so it wasn't a lot to
search, and they did look in thebathrooms, but they couldn't
find him, so they just assumedthat he had gone home or left,
just left.
What is so chilling about thiscase, is after Brian is seen
walking away from the girls, heis never seen again.
He wasn't captured on the exitin the bar, which had cameras
(06:35):
and there was also a camerafacing the escalator that led to
the street.
So basically, there was one exitin the bar.
So if he would have gone backinto the bar and left, there was
a camera facing that exit.
And there was also a camerafacing the escalator that led
(06:56):
down to the street.
So this bar isn't your typicalbar.
It's actually like inside ofanother building.
Think of kind of like a mallkind of idea.
We'd go in, there was anescalator up.
And then to the right was theUgly Tuna Saloonaa.
So there was a camera facing theescalators.
(07:18):
Basically he is seen entering,but he's never seen exiting.
Sophia (07:21):
Is it confirmed that he actually went back into the Ugly
Tuna Saloonaa?
Elena (07:25):
No, and that's what's so I think chilling and so eerie
about this case is that fromwhat I read, it looks like he
should be going into the barbased on the camera.
He's leaning towards the right,but he's never seen again.
It's so interesting because inother true crime podcasts,
people always say it as ifthough it's a confirmation that
(07:47):
he went into the bar and wedon't know how he got out.
No.
That's why I wanted to do thiscase is because I also was
shocked by that too when I wasresearching because I thought
the same thing is that it lookedlike from what I read that he
walked like directly into thebar.
But from what I've seen, itseems like he walked in, but I
(08:10):
don't think it's like 100percent proven.
Like it looked like he waswalking in that area and maybe
he did walk in but he could havejust quickly like left and gone
and I'll explain like where hecould have gone but most likely
it looked like he was heading inthat direction but it's not
confirmed.
Sophia (08:28):
So there's no camera showing who comes into the Ugly
Tuna Saloonaa?
Elena (08:32):
No, I've also saw reports that there was one camera by the
entrance of the Ugly TunaSaloonaa that moved, that like
panned, and I'll get into thatlater, but that also did not
show any footage of him.
But it was, one that moved, itrotated.
Okay, so now we're going to getinto the investigation.
(08:54):
When did people start to realizethat he was missing?
Because his girlfriend was outof town and Clint and Meredith
had left and spent the night atClint's place.
Well, it actually happenedpretty soon when girlfriend
Alexis became concerned when hefailed to answer her calls.
Now, remember he went out onMarch 31st, and that was on a
(09:16):
Friday, and his flight to Miamiis on Monday.
So when he missed his flight,that's when Alexis and Brian's
father, Randy, knew somethingwas wrong and reported him
missing.
Police began their investigationby reviewing the Ugly Tuna
Saloonaa's security footage.
The absence of any footageshowing Brian leaving the bar
led to a perplexing question.
(09:38):
How did Brian Schaefer leave theUgly Tuna Saloonaa?
In the direction Brian went,there's two ways he could have
gone.
He went back into the bar, orsomehow he exited through the
service exit, but it did lead toa construction site that had
doors that led to the street.
It is possible that Brian wantedto disappear and that this was
(10:01):
his intention.
Maybe he changed his clothes andput on a hat.
However, there are some hosts tothis theories.
One being, why would he want todisappear?
I know his mother died threeweeks before and it was hard on
him, but he just finishedfinals, was about to go on a
nice trip to Miami, and possiblyproposed to his girlfriend.
(10:22):
I also read somewhere that it'spossible that this trip It was
like a gift from his mother,before she passed.
So I have a hard time thinking,if that's true that he would do
that, given how close he waswith his mother.
But however, given what he mighthave said to Alexis and the
death of his mother, it ispossible that he left on his
own.
(10:43):
But Lori Davis, who was anadvocate for people who go
missing and worked with Brian'sfamily to find him, said that a
detective who has studied thatvideo said that he's a hundred
percent sure everyone isaccounted for, meaning everyone
who he saw went into the bar.
He also saw coming out.
So I feel if there was a guy whohad random clothes on that they
(11:05):
didn't see enter before, thatalso kind of resembled Brian,
they would have noticed.
And they did because I read thatthere was like this one guy that
they saw leave with an orangesweatshirt or sweater or
something, and they didn't seehim come in, but they tracked
him down.
And he said, Oh yeah, like Iwalked in, I was wearing a
different clothes and then I gotcold and I put my sweatshirt on
(11:26):
and I left.
And so they were able to confirmthat.
So they looked, they didn't seeanyone that resembled Brian that
they didn't see entering thatcould have been him.
Now if at any point he went backinto the bar, even though that
he had a small window since itdid close at 2 a.m.
and exited from the bar, likethe exit that's in the bar, he
would have been seen on thecamera.
(11:48):
And I also read some reportsthat there was a security guard
that was there that didn't seehim.
So he couldn't have exited thebar and most likely didn't go
down the escalators.
And exit the way he came in.
So he couldn't have exited thebar and most likely didn't go
down the escalators that exitthe way he came in.
So the only real option is thathe left through the service
(12:09):
exit.
There was a camera in the UglyTuna Saloonaa the pan and did
show the service door, butapparently it didn't show Brian,
according to police.
The footage isn't public, so Ican't, confirm, but from what
all the police have said is thatthere is no footage with Brian
anywhere.
So the detective in charge ofthe case, Sergeant Hearst said
(12:31):
in an interview pretty recentlythat the footage looked like the
camera was about to pan, but wasshifted manually by a security
guard.
Now, I don't think he's sayinglike it was intentionally
shifted, but it was basicallylike how he described the
footage was like it was panningand then it like stopped or it
was panning and it stopped andwent over.
So the footage from what I'veheard the camera didn't show the
(12:54):
service exit.
Sophia (12:55):
So was it for sure tampered with?
Elena (12:58):
I don't know.
I have no idea.
I think it's unlikely that asecurity guard would do that.
Sophia (13:05):
If they're trying to do something to Brian and have it
off camera, hypothetically.
Elena (13:10):
Maybe, but I doubt it was like security guards though.
D (13:15):
Why is it they don't believe that he just disappeared?
Because, who asks hisgirlfriend, A few days before he
disappears, let's justdisappear.
Elena (13:24):
I'll get into a little bit why they don't think that,
and also just, that's just whatthe police are saying, that
that's their theory.
I do think it's interesting, butI find it hard that he would
disappear off the face of theearth and like never get any
sort of reports or anything likethat.
(13:44):
I guess it's possible as peoplehave done that, but that's just,
not the direction that thepolice have taken with this
case.
D (13:52):
But it does sound like that is something he may have done
and just wanted to completelydisappear.
Elena (13:58):
True, but I think a drunken night is probably like
the worst time to disappear foryourself.
There's no evidence that hislike credit cards or his
accounts have ever been touched.
We'll get into his phone in abit.
I feel like why, there was nosign that he had packed anything
and he most likely wasintoxicated.
So I feel like if he was goingto disappear, choosing that
(14:21):
night would, it's not.
Sophia (14:23):
Most times, like those sorts of decisions are actually
very impulsive.
Elena (14:27):
That's true.
It could have been an impulsedecision, but from what Alexis
said on the phone, he soundedvery excited to go on the trip
and there was no sign that hewas leaving.
Sophia (14:38):
Right, but a lot of times people don't even notice
right before their loved onescommit suicide or hurt
themselves or whatever.
When we know that suicide a lotof times is very much a very
impulsive decision, Mm hmm.
It could have been a very spurof the moment decision he made
in that bar.
Elena (14:56):
True, but there also wasn't any footage of him
anywhere around the area.
And I'll go into why.
Basically, there is a lot ofcameras in this town.
It's the highest camera likepopulated area in Ohio.
There's so many security camerasand if he had left the
(15:18):
construction site, he would havehad to get most likely in a car
because all the cameras aroundthe area where he could have
left after he left the exitdidn't catch him.
So it's not like he walked away.
Sophia (15:31):
If he was able to escape the Ugly Tuna Saloonaa cameras,
who's to say he couldn't have,not even intentionally, but it
escaped other cameras as well.
Elena (15:39):
I guess it's possible, but I don't know.
It's just the direction that thepolice have taken with this.
It's possible, of course.
When someone disappears andthere's not a body, that's
definitely always a bigpossibility.
But as of right now, the policeare leaning more towards foul
play.
Now if you went into the hallwaythere, which if you go out up
(16:00):
the escalators to the right,it's Ugly Tuna Saloonaa, if you
go straight, there's like alittle hallway where there's two
doors.
Sources just talk about thesurface exit.
But I've also found sources thatthere was another door to the
right.
I don't know where it was onwhat side, but I know that there
was another door.
Now one led to the constructionsite, which wasn't this huge
(16:23):
outdoor construction site that Ithink a lot of people make it
out to seam it.
It was more of a big room slashbasement that was under
construction.
Like I feel like when I listenedto, this case.
And it seems like people talkabout this as like this huge
construction site with all thislike.
lumber and metal and all thesethings like all around.
(16:45):
It really wasn't, it was justlike a room or like a basement
that was under construction andthe other door led to other
buildings.
But if he had gone there, hewould have been seen leaving the
entrance of those buildings onthe security cameras that they
had.
So even if he had gone into thatone and exited through one of
those buildings, he would havebeen seen on those cameras and
(17:07):
he wasn't.
Now, the inside of theconstruction site, it definitely
would have been difficult forhim to walk around, given that,
that he was probably stillintoxicated from the night.
Apparently it was under so muchconstruction that a police
sergeant said it would bedifficult for anyone to walk,
sober, let alone drunk.
There was also this huge hole inthe room, which is like six by
(17:30):
six feet and four feet deep.
It's possible that Brian couldhave fallen in, but it wouldn't
have been, so deep that hewouldn't have been found the
next day had he like hit hishead and couldn't get out if he
was dead.
Police, they would have foundhim.
And they did search the wholeroom and they brought dogs in to
see if they could smell himthere, but there was no luck.
Sophia (17:51):
Was this construction being done outside or inside?
Elena (17:53):
No, it was inside.
Sophia (17:54):
Okay.
That's another thing that Ialways assumed was that it was
outside.
Elena (17:57):
Yeah.
And I did too.
And that's why I was reallyshocked during that research is
that it's described as being.
heavily under constructionbecause it was.
I think some people justinstantly think it was like this
huge construction site and Itwasn't.
It was like a basement that wasunder construction
Sophia (18:13):
And there was a four foot hole in this.
Elena (18:16):
Yeah, it was it was like six by six and it was four feet
deep.
And and they checked there.
Sophia (18:21):
They checked the hole?
Elena (18:22):
Yeah, there's nothing.
Sophia (18:23):
In other podcasts I had listened to I had imagined there
it was just like very deep holesand they never really checked
and I just got in the impressionthat this construction site was
actually a room now that I'mfinding out could have been a
viable option but now I'mthinking maybe it's not.
Elena (18:43):
No.
They really did a thoroughsearch and they brought dogs and
there was no sign that the dogswere picking up any Sign of, a
dead body, but I know there wasnothing that was signaling a
body.
I also think I read somewherethat they undid some like fresh
concrete just to make sure.
(19:04):
So they did a thorough, searchthere.
And there was no sign that hewas there.
Sophia (19:08):
Well, now I'm thinking he did walk away.
Elena (19:11):
That's what a lot of people are saying.
So it most likely seems likethat.
Sophia (19:17):
The question is, did he walk away and something, an
accident happened, or he foundharm, or did he choose to walk
away and remove himself fromsociety permanently?
Elena (19:28):
I think, that's a million dollar question.
I will provide a quote that wasby the lead detective on the
case, and he said,"The basicindication right now is somehow
he got down into theconstruction area and most
likely got exited out of there.
But again, we don't haveanything that's on video to
(19:50):
support that.
It's just speculation at thistime,".
So it seems like even from thedetectives that most likely, He
went into the construction siteand somehow was able to get out.
Sophia (20:03):
Is there an exit from the construction site then?
Elena (20:05):
Mm hmm, that leads to the outside and from what I read
there wasn't a camera on thatexit but cameras around the area
that would have seen him had hecontinued walking.
D (20:20):
The dogs didn't even pick up his scent, so why do they think
that he walked in there, fell,maybe, or came out?
If they didn't pick up anyscent?
Elena (20:28):
I'm actually not sure if the dogs, picked up his scent in
the Ugly Tuna Saloona, or in theescalator, but didn't pick him
up in the construction site.
I don't even know if the dogsever picked up his scent in that
building.
I just know that there wasnothing that signaled that, he
was there.
Like, his body was there, thathe was passed out somewhere,
(20:49):
anything like that.
They also immediately looked to,Like dumpsters, they were
looking all the dumpsters allaround all alleyways everywhere.
So If his body was in theimmediate area, he would have
been found now, I guess it'spossible maybe his body was
dumped in a dumpster and thentaken but Even the police said
(21:09):
that they like tracked down thelandfill where it would have
gone and they didn't find hisbody there either.
A few years after Brian'sdisappearance, unfortunately,
his father Randy passed awaywhile a branch unexpectedly hit
him.
Sophia (21:25):
Oh my gosh.
Elena (21:26):
Yeah.
And killed him.
So unfortunately, the mother,father, and Brian are all gone
or missing, which only, left theyounger brother.
Because there was a family offour.
Sophia (21:38):
That's so tragic.
Elena (21:40):
Yeah, that is really sad alone now.
So there's also people talkabout his phone pinging
afterwards.
Because I guess his family andhis friends were like just
calling him afterwards.
I know I saw reports that Alexiswas like calling him every day
or at least every night.
In hope that he would pick upand then to hear his phone
Apparently, there was like onetime where the phone I guess
(22:03):
pinged, I guess it rang likethree times or something like
that, and then it went tovoicemail.
But, the phone company,whatever, phone provider, some,
someone was like, actually, it'svery possible that that was just
like a glitch in the system.
And sometimes like with thetowers, the explanation was
complex, but basically likesomehow with the way the pings
(22:26):
work that it can be just aglitch.
And then I think it happenedagain later on, but again,
people were talking about itbeing just like glitch.
D (22:36):
Was his phone turned off?
Elena (22:38):
Yes.
It was like instantly, likeright away.
His phone was turned off.
D (22:43):
That looks more like someone who wants to disappear.
Sophia (22:46):
Or, and of course this happens, not as likely, someone
kidnaps him immediately.
Takes his phone and turns itoff.
Elena (22:53):
I guess it's possible that they just broke it right
away and the pings were just anaccident.
Sophia (22:57):
His phone died I mean he's been out Obviously, I think
a lot of people's phones tend todie later in the day and at this
point he's out late He'sdrinking.
It's pretty believable to thinkthat it could have just died as
well.
Elena (23:11):
I guess it was like, I think five months later when his
girlfriend called that, likerang a few times,
Sophia (23:18):
So sad.
She's still calling.
She definitely missed him for awhile.
Elena (23:22):
And I guess it was pinged to a cell tower in Hillard.
The phone provider was like,these rings just may have been
like a glitch and it wasn'tanything concrete, it's like
evidence that the phone wasturned on or anything like that.
That basically leaves us onlywith theories.
So what are theories?
(23:42):
Obviously, some of the classictheories are that he ran away.
Or, there's foul play inside thebar, outside of the bar.
There is intentional likeplanned foul play, like someone
like plan this.
There's the option that it was,an unplanned opportunistic foul
(24:04):
play.
There is, of course, that hedisappeared intentionally.
Then there's also an option thathe fell and he got injured
somewhere and maybe fell intowater There was like one near
like a body of water that thepolice searched and didn't find
anything.
We'll get into the idea of didhe run away?
(24:24):
Okay.
So the first option is obviouslythe voluntary disappearance, but
there are some things that kindof align with this and other
ones that say maybe that hedidn't do.
There are the signs what he saidto Alexis beforehand if that's
true.
There are other reasons that maynot be true.
(24:46):
There's been not a lot ofsightings of him since then I,
there was one in Mexico, butthat was, proven to not be him.
There's no evidence that he tookout any money from his bank or
any, had any way of being ableto leave.
His phone, for the most part,most likely seems like it hasn't
(25:07):
been turned on since he left.
He has not tried to contact hisfamily, and neither has he
contacted after his father hadpassed.
He just seems like such a familyman that I feel like he
wouldn't.
Maybe go for so long.
I mean it is possible, but hedoes have some pretty
distinctive like tattoos that Iwould think, make it a little
(25:29):
bit easier to identify him.
I guess it's possible he couldhave completely changed his
appearance and gotten into a carand drove it off and maybe he
had some friend or someone thatwas planning on him up.
I don't know.
Sophia (25:47):
Does this theory also include that he hurt himself or
took his life that night?
Elena (25:52):
I guess that would be like a subsection is like there
is like that suicide or accidenttheory as well, where he maybe
fell somewhere and got hurt.
There was pretty thoroughinvestigation though, and they
didn't say any evidence of that.
If he'd committed suicide, likethey searched the nearby area,
if he did it anywhere nearby, Ifeel like they would have found
(26:12):
his body.
Sophia (26:13):
Definitely this is such a strange story for so many
reasons.
Number one is we just lose himon the cameras.
We don't even know where hewent.
We can't even find him on thecameras.
Number two, I mean there's beenno sightings of him, and I think
at this point we'd have somesort of clues if he was still
alive living out there.
Something I mean this is such ahuge case in the true crime
(26:37):
world.
I think he would have beenspotted or we'd at least have
more sightings of him than wecurrently do.
Number three is if he did takehis own life then where the heck
is his body?
It's so weird.
Elena (26:48):
That's what's so weird too, is like, if this was like
an opportunistic kill, right?
So say he was walking out and Idon't know, maybe saw like a
crime go down or a drug,transaction.
So he saw something he shouldn'thave seen.
I doubt the person, if it wasjust opportunistic, would kill
them and take the body so far.
(27:09):
Most likely they would justleave it there, run away.
If that was, if it was like arobbery gone wrong and the
person killed Brian, theyprobably would have just ran
away.
And again, his body wasn'tfound, wasn't found in any
dumpsters.
Sophia (27:20):
I'm now starting to think that it's very possible he
could have been a victim of foulplay.
Elena (27:26):
I would agree with that.
Sophia (27:27):
What bothers me most about the theory that he left of
his own accord is where is hisbody.
At that point.
Because if he did want to hurthimself, why can't we find out
where he is?
Elena (27:39):
I mean unless he left on his own and chose to not commit
suicide and just live analternate life somewhere else.
Sophia (27:47):
But I think because this case is so.
well known.
I think there, there'd have beensome sort of sightings of him.
D (27:55):
I had heard that the construction site was, in such a
way that he could have fallen inand they could have cemented it
cause they came back to work onMonday and they didn't start
looking for him too much later.
Elena (28:08):
What I've heard from the detective, he's 100 percent sure
that he is not in that building.
But I think that would be veryunlikely because a lot of
construction workers commentingon this and they're like, when
there's something out of placein our construction site, we
notice instantly.
So they were like, I find ithard to believe that someone
could unintentionally cementover a six foot two guy.
Sophia (28:31):
But if you're not paying attention, if you're just going
to your routine day over day, Idon't know.
There's something about this inparticular that makes me think
maybe they missed something atthe construction site.
Elena (28:41):
From what it seems like the detective was saying.
And again, even if he wascemented over at some point he
would start to rot and the dogswould still be able to smell his
body.
I guess in the end it depends ifthe construction did use cement
on Monday or not.
I don't know.
I don't know what they weredoing the next day and what
their construction schedulelooked like on Monday.
(29:05):
So it's possible, but we don'teven know if cement was used.
And then that leaves us theoption of if it was a robbery
gone wrong or something likethat, I think the body would
have been found had it been leftthere.
It is possible that maybe he sawsomething and they took him out
and then they took his body andremoved him and put him, so far
(29:26):
out that no one's even lookingfor him where he is.
Another option with foul play isthat something happened inside
of the bar.
Which I don't think anythinghappened to him inside.
It seems very unlikely andthere's really no evidence to
suggest that.
If something happened in thebar, then it would need to be
covered up.
(29:46):
You have to have been hiddenfrom the cameras and the
security that was there, thendisposed of the body very far
away.
But because the police, searchedthe surrounding area, and they
looked in the dumpsters, and thenearest body of water, and, in
case he fell in, there's reallynothing that makes me think that
he was inside.
And, the cameras around the areathat might have picked up a body
(30:07):
shaped bag, there was nothingthat suggested that, and nothing
that suggested that he waskilled inside.
So that leaves us with mostlikely foul play.
I hear a lot of people speculatethat he was either going for a
meet up, so he was intentionallygoing to meet up with someone in
(30:28):
a car and then it, things wentbad.
Or he just happened to seesomeone and get a ride from a
stranger and then, things wentbad after that.
Obviously, there's no concreteevidence to support that he was
going to meet up with someone.
I don't think they have theirphone So there's nowhere to
confirm or deny that, but how doyou guys feel about that theory?
D (30:52):
Did they look at his phone to see if he was meeting up with
anyone?
Elena (30:54):
They don't have his phone, so that was one of the
things, that they don't have it.
D (30:57):
You can download phones.
What year is this?
Elena (30:59):
2006, so I think it was a cell phone.
I don't think it was like aniPhone.
D (31:04):
Oh, I see.
Sophia (31:05):
I also think it's interesting that he disappeared
right after talking to those twoladies.
Elena (31:10):
I will say, those two girls were tracked down and
talked to, and even the father,Brian's father, like I saw,
talked to those girls andthey're like, those girls didn't
have anything to do with it.
Sophia (31:22):
What was he flirting with them?
Elena (31:23):
That is the big question, is what was he doing with two
young girls outside of a bar ataround 1:50 a.m.
While he does have a girlfriendat home.
I saw a report that he couldhave been not like a player, but
like, that Clint
Sophia (31:37):
Flirtatious.
Some people have flirtatiouspersonalities.
Elena (31:40):
Maybe he was just talking to them, or, cause a lot of
times when you're drunk,sometimes you'll just socialize
with whoever.
Sophia (31:45):
That's the thing, he's drunk, he's maybe gonna do
something he wouldn't normallydo.
D (31:48):
Is it official that he has drank a lot, like he is tipsy if
not drunk?
Elena (31:54):
I don't know how drunk he was at the time, but he did
drink a lot that night.
They were like multiple shots ateach bar.
They had a good amount ofdrinks.
So he was six, two.
He had been out for a while.
So maybe he'd started to soberup.
But then again, like Clint saidwhen they went back to the Ugly
Tuna Saloona, that they hadthree or four more shots.
Sophia (32:13):
Maybe he wanted to go find a woman that night.
And so he went off in search ofthat.
Or maybe he fell through a holesomewhere.
I don't know.
And.
The city and nobody's found him.
Elena (32:26):
They did check under the sewers though.
Sophia (32:28):
They did?
Elena (32:28):
That's another thing.
They got permission to do thatThey were thorough.
I will say.
D (32:33):
Now if I understand he's near a body of water.
Elena (32:36):
Kind of there's only one body of water that was even like
remotely close and they searchedthat
D (32:41):
Okay, so does that have anything to do with the smiley
face?
Elena (32:45):
People have completely debunked Brian Schaefer being
related to the smiley face.
I guess people always speculateit, but there's no evidence to
suggest that there was no smileyface that was ever found near
there.
There was no otherdisappearances.
Sophia (33:01):
That was a river that he, there was a river, right?
It was like a moving.
Elena (33:05):
I don't know if it was like a river.
I think it might've just beenlike a little pond or lake or
something.
Sophia (33:09):
I'm asking because if it's a river, I would be able to
believe that maybe he fell inthere and they just never found
him.
But if it's a pond that's, or asmall body of water that's not
moving, it's harder for me tobelieve that.
Elena (33:22):
Because it's near College Town, the way I interpreted it,
it didn't seem like it was ahuge body of water, but if it
was a lake, maybe it waspossible he could have gotten,
washed out.
There's nowhere for him to go.
People, tend to lean moretowards the idea that he got out
and was picked up and somehoweither he left on his own or
(33:45):
something happened after he gotpicked up.
I lean more towards that.
D (33:49):
I don't know.
This is a little confusing, but,I always thought maybe he had
fallen in the construction fromthe other times I've heard the
story.
If he decided to disappear onhis own and was prepared, then,
they don't have to findanything, but, I'm not sure he
was prepared.
He was a little drunk, so thatdoesn't make you prepared and
impulsive.
(34:09):
If he does it impulsively, Idon't think he'd be able to do
it.
He'd need money and other stuff.
Elena (34:15):
Right.
He'd have to get money at somepoint.
Sophia (34:18):
It's just that it his phone was turned off'cause it
could have died.
Mm-hmm But it makes me thinkeither he or somebody else
wanted to make sure his locationcould not be tracked.
Elena (34:26):
I don't know if his location could be tracked.
I think what happened is I don'tthink he wanted to talk with
Clint and get bugged by Clint,because there was reports that
they had an argument.
People have pointed fingers atClint I don't necessarily know
if there's any signs that reallysay that Clint had anything to
do with it.
I think there's just two drunkguys who got in an argument.
Sophia (34:47):
It's hard for me to think he's involved when, on the
cameras, Clint's still in thebar and Brian has left.
Elena (34:54):
Meredith, I know for sure is taking a lie detector test
and talked and been open.
Clint is the only one thatlawyered up and did not get a
lie detector test.
However, I don't think that'sany sign of guilt, because
people are already startingpointing fingers at him and then
he got a lawyer which is justsmart at that point.
Sophia (35:13):
I know some people don't like how he's responded to
things but personally I wouldsay you should do what he did.
Which is get a lawyer and nottake the polygraph, because
they're not even reliable.
I can't fault him at all fordoing that
Elena (35:25):
He's the only one that got a lawyer.
Any lawyer will tell you, mostlikely, probably just don't take
the polygraph.
That is it for our case on BrianSchaefer.
How do we feel?
D (35:36):
Interesting.
Sophia (35:37):
Definitely want to know what happened, and there has to
be another development, andjust, it's so bizarre.
It's so mysterious.
It just leaves you wonderingwhat the heck happened.
Elena (35:50):
If we're ever going to solve this case, there will have
to be some sort of new evidence,a new development in order to
move forward.
D (35:57):
If they find his body, then they have an idea, at least they
know what's happened to him.
Sophia (36:03):
The crazy thing is if somebody took him, he could
still be held captive somewhere.
Elena (36:09):
But also, who would willingly take an adult male?
Sophia (36:12):
It's not as common, right?
Most predators seem to preferholding girls or women captive,
but I do think it's definitelypossible.
Elena (36:21):
It's not impossible.
D (36:22):
It's not impossible, but I don't think it's probable.
I want to thank you forlistening to us this week.
We love our listeners and it'sbecause of you guys that we're
able to do this podcast.
Your help and your engagementreally helps us grow and if you
enjoy this episode, please sendit to a friend or family member
to listen.
Until next time guys, make sureyou stay on the Eerie Side.
Bye! Bye! Bye! And be safe.
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