Brian Shaffer /// 20 Years Missing /// Theories /// Part 5 | Forensic Files

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Welcome to Off The Record. I'm your [music] host, Nick. Off The Record It's good to be seen, and it's
good to see you. Off The Record. Thanks for listening. Thanks for telling a friend. True crime
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beer. Let's talk some true crime. And the mystery continues. Man walks into a bar,
is never seen again. In 2006, Brian Shaffer, 27-year-old medical student at The Ohio State University,
goes to The Ugly Tuna Saloona with his friends Clint and Meredith to meet another set of friends.
There he talks to many people and there's many theories, thoughts, and speculations.
So, we kind of want to conclude the conversation with what are the theories out there? What are the questions that
we would love to have answered? And where do we go from here? So, Kelly from Brian Shaffer Dead or
Alive, let's start going through the theories. >> Okay, well, let's start with suicide.
You know, this theory isn't mentioned [clears throat] as often as others are, but it's definitely something that I
consider. After all, Brian had a lot of stress in his life. His mom had just passed away and he was a medical school
student, which we know is I mean, that's difficult to be in the medical school and the testing alone is
crazy. >> Yeah, there's pressure. >> So, what are your thoughts on suicide? >> And anytime you have a missing person
case, this this is one of the options. I think the difficulty here is well, we have no evidence that he gets back to
his apartment. We have But, we don't have any evidence that he doesn't. But, what we definitely do have evidence
of is that he didn't kill himself within side the apartment. I think the tough thing about this theory is if there's no
body, how can you lean towards suicide? Yeah, the suicide one is a very difficult one for me to
put a high likelihood on. I would keep the percentage pretty low. We've talked about this on the show often. We attempt
to understand mental health concerns here on the show the best that we can and we recognize,
the captain and I recognize and have talked about this that suicide is a difficult one in any scenario to decide
how much weight to put into that idea. And because it can be and I think often times,
far too often, it can be very impulsive. And so, just by that nature, impulsivity, that it doesn't require a
whole lot of evidence or suspicion of that being a potential prior to someone committing that act. So, it gets very
difficult to how much weight do we put into it? But, to analyze Brian's scenario, one thing that I found very
interesting from talking with you guys and one of the things I learned was the thought that he
had expressed to at least one person, probably several people, you know, and he may have been joking. I
don't know the tone of this statement, say, "Hey, this medical school thing is just something, you know, I thought was
going to be a good idea, but it but really it's about my band, you know, my band if my guitar playing days takes
off, then that's what I would really like to be doing." So, that to me like almost gives him a buffer from the
pressures of those testing and reaching that goal. It almost seems like while his head might have been in it,
his heart may not have been in it. So, I think that gives him a little bit of a buffer there. I'm with the captain, too.
I think there would have been evidence as such. I think we would have found Brian. I think that So, I I don't
put a whole lot of I don't think that's the foundation of that theory, I think is awfully weak.
>> I think the only strong part of that theory is that Brian did suffer from depression and he was on Prozac at one
point in time and no one can tell me actually when he went off of it or if went off of it with a doctor's help, or
if he struggled going off the medication, but you know, going off of a medication cold turkey can cause you to
have some issues. >> Well, I think his mental state, I think this is more of a examination of his mental
state, and I think this is really important. Because some people say, "Well, you know, Brian drank, but he
wouldn't have done drugs." Well, maybe Brian that's not super depressed wouldn't do drugs, but maybe
Brian in a grieving state losing his mother maybe would. So, that can lead to speculation of what
would happen. My other curiosity here would be his mental state on was there a motivation? Okay,
let's just say hypothetically he was in a depressed state, and the idea was I'm going to go somewhere,
an island, to Florida, somewhere where there's a beach or whatever, and I'm going to go
there maybe with the motivation that I'm going to end things, but once he gets there decides not to. You have these
items like his car. If you were going to go to an airport knowing that you're going to fly somewhere
and take your life, you probably really wouldn't care if somebody found your car
later. Mhm. Unless again and there's no evidence of this that he wanted to go missing and to make
him going missing a spectacle. There's other missing person cases that I've looked into where people have talked
about the idea of going missing, but wanting it to be this like romanticized notion of I'm going to go missing and
then people going to wonder what happened to me. I don't think we have any evidence of that, but what we do
have evidence of is Brian asking people, "Hey, would you run away with me?" So, to me that goes, "Okay, well,
I would lean more towards him wanting to start a new life or to get rid of an old
life." And then the comments about medical school, I kind of wonder, and I had several
friends that were going to school for something. Now, obviously in the medical field it'd
be more difficult, but there's a possibility that Brian got to a certain point in his
school career where he's just like, "I'm going to finish what I started." That doesn't mean he's going to continue that
as a career later. But I think examining this as a as where he he was at mentally, and I think that
raises a lot of questions. So, the next theory that I want to go into is that Brian walked away from his life.
This is actually one that I read on the internet a whole lot when I first started looking into Brian's
case, but it was one that I actually didn't think was possible, but I can find some possibilities in it now.
For every reason that I gave that, you know, Brian would have committed suicide, it also works for Brian walking
away from his life. He was dealing with the stress of his mom passing away, he was dealing
with the stress of medical school, there was tension between him and his dad. I mean, there were a lot of reasons that
Brian could have wanted to walk away from his life. Yeah, and some of the questions I have here is like with this
lead of the homeless guy out in San Diego, because you don't know, again, mental state. If I just go and I'm just
trying to get away for a while, at some point you probably will hear that people
are looking for you back home. And maybe even checking in from time to time. And then again, what what it was
his mental state, is it possible is it possible and it's extremely possible that he would then self- medicate to try
to get away from these feelings and would that self-medication lead to him being homeless out in San Diego. I also
think this picture of Brian at this party, if it's Brian, now I kind of lean towards it's not.
I think the colonel agrees with me, but it's really hard to see when somebody's wearing giant Elton John Jackie Onassis
glasses. But is this a picture before he went missing or is this a picture that he
went after he went missing. And then the rocker picture, the guy rocking out with
the guitar, is this evidence of Brian starting a new life? I'd have to say no because we have no proof that is
Brian. But I think the comments or the question that he asked his girlfriend, "Would you run away with me?"
I think that is probably the best evidence that it's possible that he would have wanted to start a new
life. And then by his car and everything being there and not taking anything, "Hey, I'm just going to pack a light
book bag and go." And then we have also eyewitnesses that knew him, neighbors, they claimed that they saw Brian Shafer
after the night at Ugly Tuna Saloona. So, then we also have other tips and eyewitnesses that claim to see
somebody that looked like Brian Shafer in other parts of the world. So, I think this is a this is a possibility. A lot
of people have speculated because Brian Shafer was into the band Pearl Jam, so much into the band that he gets a Pearl
Jam tattoo. That is commitment, people. But a lot of people have put the Alexander
Supertramp story from the movie Into the Wild, adapted from the book. That's some wild speculation.
I think if you found on his coffee table the book Into the Wild, well, then maybe
you can convince me that Brian Shaffer was like, "Hey, I'm going to start a new life. I'm going to
start calling myself Alexander Supertramp." But I But I think there's pieces of leads, and I don't want to say
evidence, but there's pieces of leads or pieces of tips that would make that a real possibility. And out of all the
missing person cases, again, when you're looking at these missing person cases, there's Oh,
did they commit suicide? Did they run away? Was there foul play? These are things that you have to look
into. I think out of all the cases I've looked into, somebody starting a new life, there's a lot of weight
to that idea. Lack of proof, but a lot of weight there. Let me address my opinion on the
photographs of persons who people have said, "Maybe this is Brian Shaffer." I think, to put them in order, the one
that looks the most like Brian to me is the homeless guy picture, then maybe the Well, I
think I referred to it as the Superfly Jimmy Snuka rocker photo is probably second, uh but a distant second. And
then the four guys at the the hanging out or gathering, I I mean, I think it I have a very difficult time saying that
that looks like Brian to me, but that's just how it hits my eyes. That's just how I see that picture. I know a lot of
people have a different opinion on that photograph. But to me, I look at it, stare at it, and I I even looking at
it now, I don't think it looks like Brian really at all. So, I agree with you on the pictures.
But, the one thing that's interesting about the party picture where there's four individuals
is I think at least two of the guys that are in that picture are two individuals that were at the
Ugly Tuna that night Brian went missing. So, where the homeless guy it's just a homeless guy, there's nothing in the
picture that tips us off to this could be Brian. And then same way with the Jimmy
Flysnuka rocker picture. Nothing tips us off to something in the background that tells us it's Brian
Shaffer. But, I think the party picture where me and you both agree out of all the
pictures, that's the one that looks least like Brian. But, the other individuals in the
picture Am Am I getting that right, Kelly, that two it's only two of the guys? Three. Three of the guys in the
picture were out with Brian that night and on his cell phone records. Yeah, so to me
you go, well at least there's background evidence that that could be Brian Shaffer. But But, continue on on
your thoughts on on Brian starting a new life. >> Yeah, that makes that makes that picture
incredibly interesting. But, again, to me it looks so little like Brian that I think unless without somebody saying,
"Hey, people think this is Brian in this picture." I don't think my my mind would
have ever went there just seeing it on my own. But, yeah, I think with the the statement of "Hey, will you run away
with me?" That's like a one again, he could have just been joking, just could have been having fun.
We don't know how serious he was about that statement, but I would put the him walking away
at a at a much greater probability than than suicide. And Brian had done a couple things, you know, leading up to
his disappearance that could add to the walking away theory. I mean, how many times do we hear, "It's
not illegal for an adult to go missing?" Well, if Brian would have had all that debt, it would have been illegal for him
to go missing, but paying it off like a month and a half before he went missing is you know, that made it so if he did
choose to walk away, it was completely legal. And he didn't turn in that tuition check
for his next term of college, so was he anticipating going back to Ohio State? So, the next one we're going to
go into is foul play. And I want to start with dying inside the Ugly Tuna, whether it be in the
construction area or at the hands of someone inside the bar. I've basically eliminated this theory
because as I've mentioned before, the Ugly Tuna was probably the most thoroughly searched in the Brian Shaffer
disappearance. They had a total of three sets of dogs in there. They took electric panels off the wall. They
searched from top to bottom. I just don't see there being any evidence that Brian died inside of the bar. And there
should be video of most of those exits to the building as far as what we've You, Kelly, you know, would know
this better than I. But, CPD if has from what I've reviewed have been a little cagey on making a definitive
statement on exactly where the cameras were and how many there were at the time. Did
Do you have other information on that? No, even when described, it's a little confusing, and I feel like the answer
has changed a couple times of whether that camera would pan or if it was a constant recording or if it was like
basically a burst of photos. So, no, I'm still very confused on the camera myself.
>> Because the for me, and I get it, we don't see him leaving. So, that creates a very big problem in our timeline here
for that night in question. But, I've always kind of thought if he were if he were to have been killed in the bar or
in that building, that it would have had to have been somebody or someone's with the ability
to move him out of there at a later time. Um I I think that gets very difficult, too. I
think that I think that's almost as difficult as us not seeing him leaving the bar.
I don't think he's in the building. I I think too, when I review some of the statements by I believe it was
statements by Hurst, some of his statements I think imply that he doesn't believe that that Brian
that he believes 100% that Brian left the building. Right. And so, when I review those statements, guys, that
I'm always intrigued by the investigation, right? I'd love to figure out and parse through what police is
what they are choosing to say and what they are choosing not to say. And try to read between those lines. So,
with with statements like that, I have to wonder, my mind jumps to, okay, do they have something telling
them that he absolutely did leave and they're holding on to that? Or is it as simple as, well, we searched and
searched and searched and searched and never found him there, just his absence is telling us that he left. Because
those are two very different things, right? To have proof positive that he left or to arrive at that conclusion based
off of we just never found him in there are two different things. So, my I'm really curious, do they actually have
something that is highly suggestive that he left? >> I think they do. I actually think that
Hurst has mentioned a couple exits that they've narrowed it down to based on my communication with him. Yeah, and so to
go over those a little bit, I mean, there's one exit door that had chains on it, but if you
push the door open Hurst, which is a bigger guy, said, "Well, I could have got through the
door." Because the door was able to open far enough even with the chains on it. And [clears throat] And Brian was a a
very slender guy. I think the other problem too here with some accident happening or
some violence happening within inside that bar and him remaining there is this was not like a
a a remote rave location like on a farm that people just never visited. So, a weird smell coming from the barn was
never noticed. Like, this is a place that was occupied day and night. Again, when you we go
back to the surveillance footage what do we see? We see two police officers. Not security guards, police officers. If
they saw something, an accident or foul play you think these guys are just going to
turn the other way? Like, it's some crazy conspiracy? No. It's not going to happen. And then on
top of that the complex has roaming security guards. Security guards that just basically walk
and pace through They walk throughout the bars. Like, every bar I played in that complex
in the middle of your set, you just see maybe a security guard come in and just walk through the place. And then you'd
see him constantly pacing through the courtyard and walking through the alley and walking
uh the side streets. And then on top of that, the security guards had like an office. And what was happening
in that office? These security guards were monitoring all different points of surveillance from the office. Like we
said that there was a con- there was a confrontation outside that night. So, did that distract them? But
can you talk a little bit about how you got the sur- surveillance footage from Columbus PD? Um it was just a public
records request that I had sent in. And actually, I had sent in multiple and the
first time it came back and it was in the wrong format. And the second time it was for a different day. And then I was
finally able to get the actual disc. I think it took about 2 months for me to get it. Right. So, it's
not the easiest step. And when I've talked to other Columbus detectives in the missing person unit,
I've had conversations with them about other cases, in particular the Tyler Davis case, I just thought, "Okay, I'm
We just had an hour and a half conversation. Let me just toss it out there. Hey, can I get the surveillance
footage?" And they're like, "Well, you got to go through the proper channels and there's a lot of it. Lot more than
you would think." And all they give you by going through the proper channels is one angle. And we
believe, and I believe, well, I I I don't want to say we believe. I want to say I believe. I want to say I believe
because I've been to that complex, the Gateway complex, over and over. And going up those escalators, you can
see more than one security camera. So, why haven't those other angles been released?
Like, it wouldn't be that difficult to go, "Here's an hour from another angle." Because I think that angle, if we could
see more of the entranceway of Ugly Tuna, we could see Brian leaving the bar area. That's still You still
then have to prove that he got out of the complex, but at least we could prove by like a visual
evidence that I I There he is. I can see him leaving. Instead of going turning to his left and going down the
escalator or the steps, he's turning to his right. And now that puts him heading
into different directions or different exit directions of that complex. And I think also like
with the scent dogs, I've heard that when they had the scent dogs go in there, that the scent dogs
then led them out of the building. And not like miles and miles away from the building, but it led them far enough
away from the building to go, "Okay, well, and and again, you just you have to put the weight You have to determine
that yourself, right? If you put a bunch of weight into those scent dogs, then you go, well,
they they showed a trail of him leaving the bar." And a lot of folks have referenced things like insurance or they
didn't have proper insurance or people would have been sued, and that's why, you know, he he died on in an accident
in the building, and then somebody covered it up because of fear of a law First of all, you have to
you would have to prove in a court of law, and I know not everybody's thinking clearly when they do everything every
minute of every day. But you would have to prove in a court of law that Brian himself wasn't engaging in any type of
reckless behavior at all to win that lawsuit. And it wouldn't just be one outfit that would be sued. It would be
all kinds of I mean, you sue everybody, right? You you sue you sue the construction company, you sue the
security company, you sue the the building, you sue whoever owns the land, you sue everybody. So, that thought is
just not so easy and not so clean. And then Kelly and Captain, have either of you
ever spoke to either of the CPD officers that were that was working security that
night? No, I haven't even been given their names. And Kelly, you know this from listening to the show, we say this
have said it a million times. Just like with any profession, there are people that are really good at their jobs and
people that really suck at their jobs. And so, we can't speak to how great of officers these two guys are. But to
expand a little bit on something the Captain was saying earlier, and I know this from a security perspective and
from having worked with a lot of Columbus police officers as contracted security personnel, one
thing that I don't think that Joe Public understands when it comes to police and
law enforcement outfits, that job in in many scenarios is the same very similar to like locker room
type mentality, right? Where it's And and maybe other people have experienced this at their
officer at their where they work. But it's very much a locker room type of feel. And what I mean by that is I would
be shocked if these guys haven't heard a joke 100,000 times since that night of Oh,
yeah, glad they hired you for special duty this weekend. Weren't you there that night the guy went missing? You
know, that's that's how these guys kind of talk with each other and joke around.
Like So, these guys even though they didn't do it, you know, they they did nothing wrong,
they have to live with the joke of being poked fun at for the rest of their days
of oh, yeah, you were there you were doing such a good job working security there that night that uh
somebody disappeared and has never been [music] seen again. >> [music] >> This is a test of the Reese's [music]
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mintmobile.com. Switch now at mintmobile.com/tcg. >> [music] >> I think the other thing that's
interesting that I have found [music] with searching for information is [music] when I've talked to security
guards at the Gateway complex whether they were working there or not, they have heard stories have heard
rumors or speculation. So, it's something that has continued to be talked about 20 years later. But,
that goes same goes for any individual I've talked to for CPD, whether they're detectives, whether
they're just street patrolmen. It seems like all of them have at least uh have heard of the case, have heard
have talked to somebody that has worked on the case. So, it's something that in inside of
these groups, it hasn't gone away as far as conversation is concerned. >> Right. And you know, actually the
construction area is talked about so much because it was reported that it was all dug up,
that it was treacherous, and a lot of people envisioned a dangerous construction site when
in all actuality, it was a finished building that just needed some finishing in the on the first floor level. Yeah,
and I would say a a lot of the construction that was happening in that area was cosmetic because you have a bar area
and then somebody comes in, let's say like oh, Jimmy John's. Right? Jimmy John's is
just right around the corner from the Ugly Tuna. And so, when they get their lease
it's basically a shell. And so, if you walked in on the second or third day that they're
installing their Jimmy John's, you'd go, "Oh, this place is under construction."
But, that's the There's a big difference between building a foundation of a building or a foundation for a parking
garage or whatever than just doing the cosmetic work that you need to turn this warehouse space
into an actual retail establishment or a restaurant. So, I think the construction was probably limited.
And we, you know, me and Nick went through this post that was made on Facebook about the these construction workers and
stuff being working that night till like 3:00 in the morning. I Maybe that's Maybe that's true, but I haven't
seen any evidence of it. And we have surveillance footage of those steps. So, if there's people
just working down down the way, why don't we see any of these construction workers on
the surveillance footage? We would. Especially the back hallway footage. >> So, what's another theory that we have
here, Kelly? So, besides Brian being in the walls of the bar, one of the very first theories that I have ever heard
was that Brian was killed by the band and that his body was concealed in an equipment case.
Now, I have pretty much eliminated this theory as well. So, I don't really have a lot to say on this
one because the bar was so tiny and I mean, this just isn't plausible to me. I think we've already talked about how
how foolish this theory is. Yeah, but again, this is why I think talking about these cases are so important because it
was never released by Columbus PD of who that band was that night. And one of the things that's so fascinating
about this case is like the Ugly Tuna. I don't know if you remember this or not, Kelly, or or what your experience
with this was, but I remember looking into this, and this is before you guys put out your comeback series.
And but I heard from somebody like this is like just like a random conversation. I I
think I was at at a studio talking to somebody about cases, and they said and I asked like, "Hey, do
you know who was playing that night?" And they're like, "Yeah, I have no clue, but uh
if you go to their calendar, their calendar is still up, but if you go back to March, April,
all the information is gone. Now, I know a lot of these event calendars for bars or bands,
after a certain period, they just go blank. But you could find like the calendar like a month before
and a month after. So, it's almost like they scrubbed that. And then I talked to an individual that
worked at the Ugly Tuna around that time period, and their speculation was that they just
deleted it because they were having so many people visit their website like like basically our website gets no
traffic. This guy goes missing, and now we're getting a ton of traffic. So, the reason why this stuff is so
important to talk about is and I'm going to pat ourselves on the back here for a second, Nick, but we
talk about this case, which then gets a truck driver interested in looking into this case
in his spare time, and he uncovers the name of the band. And then again, that leads to okay, so
he uncovers that well, I know those guys. So, like we've talked about in the previous episodes, I
was able to talk to those guys. I was able to talk to talk to other individuals that were with them there
that night. So, there would have to be some crazy Columbus cover band conspiracy.
Columbus cover-up band. Cover-up band, yeah. But, yeah, it just doesn't make a lot of sense. But, I think this is why
it's important to talk about these cases and share the information because not all the answers
are going to come from law enforcement. Sometimes the answers or the leads come from armchair detectives, come from
the sleuthers. You know, that calendar of events is still to this day the only one on Wayback Machine that is not
available for the Ugly Tuna Saloona. Yeah, it's bizarre. And it's like weird when you see
something and you like your gut feeling is that it's wrong, but then your other gut feeling is
yeah, I understand why they did that. I mean, when Brian went missing for maybe a couple weeks, you type in Ohio
State student went missing, articles about Brian Shaffer came up, and eventually it was like buried.
If you search Brian Shaffer, yes, of course a bunch of stuff comes up now, YouTube videos and podcasts and and all
this other stuff. But, back in the day, when you would search Brian Shaffer or Ohio State
student going missing, it was buried by all this stuff from the university. And I talked to somebody that worked at
the university, and they said, "Yeah, well, it's possible that the university does
that, that they pay Google or whatever to scrub the internet because they don't want parents
searching the Ohio State University and the first thing pops up is a student went missing.
Now, medical student goes into a bar and never seen leaving the bar. But so I just
So there's that gut feeling where you go, "Well, that's wrong. They shouldn't do that."
But then there's the other gut feeling where you're like, "Well, I guess if I was the university, I'd probably do the
same thing." And you know, I've never played in a band, but correct me if I'm wrong, would they even have any
equipment big enough to hide a 6-foot-2-inch man? Yeah, it all depends on your drum cases. Yeah.
>> So and it's not the you know, cuz some you could look at a a kick drum. The average
kick drum is 22 inches. And that's like the I believe the diameter, right? So but then you have
the depth of the shell. But if you look at a kick drum, you go, "I probably couldn't crawl up into a ball
and fit into that kick drum." The most annoying thing is when people are searching for answers
to their theory. I think you should search for answers and then build a theory based on what
you find. So I think this rumor of, "Well, the band killed him and they put him into
something to get him out of the bar without people noticing." Okay, do you know how much
blood there would be if you had to dismember somebody? And so you're you're going to tell me
that this band just happens to know the the bar staff so well that they go, "Hey guys, just let us go into the
kitchen and dismember this guy and don't worry, we'll clean up all the blood." Okay, so
that's pretty far-fetched. And I think where people screw up is cuz they don't know bands. If the drummer
had um like a hardware case. Some hardware cases, they're big enough that I could
go into. I could lay down in there. Yeah, I'd have to curl up a little bit, but I could lay down in there
and they can latch me up and you never see me leaving on surveillance camera. So, then the question becomes did the
band have a hardware case? I don't know that answer because drummers change. Sometimes they have a
hardware bag. Sometimes they have a hardware cart. But again, it just goes back to the idea
of are these people capable of doing that? See, now that theory to me makes more sense than oh, well, they
killed the guy and dismembered him. But again, what what conflict then you have all these
people and what I was told is it was over 10 people that were out having drinks and watching the band and
hanging out with the band. So, now you're going to tell me that everybody in the band are sinister
killers and everybody that was watching them are also sinister killers. And so that I I just don't put a lot of
weight to that. I think as far as, you know, when you were talking about making a mess and dismembering someone,
it's the same for the trash compactor and I hear that theory a lot. If if Brian was killed in the trash trash
compactor, there would have definitely been evidence of it and CPD did go through that trash compactor.
Well, and it's not just it's not even just that. Like the whole uh look, it's not a crazy theory to
think this guy gets so drunk that he just passes out somewhere outside. It's also not that crazy of a theory for
some idiot college students to walk by this kid passed out or maybe he's just being a drunk idiot and they decide to
beat him up and throw him into a dumpster. Everybody that I've talked to that works at landfills tell me it's
not he probably wouldn't even end up in the landfill because of the sorting process.
They normally always find the bodies through the sorting process. And again, a lot he's a larger individual as far as
height goes. I mean, 6'2. That's not he's not dinky. But again, I think that's the reason why we need to revisit
these cases. I'm hoping that other podcasters and other YouTube creators that are in the true crime
space listen to these episodes, ponder their own questions and put out those questions or more information that
they find out to the community so we can talk about this stuff cuz I talked to Josh Hallmark one time.
And Josh Hallmark, for people that don't know, he is the host of True Crime [ __ ]
And he does a deep dive basically his show is on Israel Keyes. Well, I was talking to him about the
Brian Shaffer case cuz he was fascinated with it and hey, you you're from Columbus.
And I asked him what his thoughts were and the first thing he said to me was the phone call to his girlfriend, the
first thing I thought was he's gay. Josh is gay himself so I went I I got that vibe too when I heard Brian Shaffer's
call to his girlfriend. I to me it was like something doesn't seem right here. We're not detectives,
but by talking to individuals and finding out that Brian had gay relationships. And then, that was not put out by
Columbus PD, but then they were able to at least confirm those. That to me puts a whole
different spin on this case. Is it possible that Brian was intoxicated? He was flirting with these girls, but is it
possible that he was flirting with a guy? And that could be motivation for violence against him. I think it's very
possible, and the bisexual it rumor is actually one that I have been able to find some
validity to. He Brian was experimenting with his sexuality, and I know of one confirmed partner, and but there are
also two rumored that I have not been able to speak to. So, I actually do think that that is a possibility that it
could have been a hate crime, maybe he hit on a straight man, or a hookup gone wrong. I think
this is why it's important to find out the pieces of the puzzle, right? The story has always been Brian Shaffer
goes into the bar with his friend Clinton Meredith, and eventually he talks to two random girls. Okay.
Him What is the reason that Brian went back to this bar? Everything that we can find from phone
records or whatever is that he's going to hang out with these four guys. Who are these four guys? What was their
relationship to Brian? Was it a friendship? Was there any romantic possibility? Did they have any
business together? I think these are questions I would love to have answered, and then we also have again that
photograph. You're telling me that out of the four guys in the photograph, the party photograph, that three of them
were there the night of the Ugly Tuna. It wouldn't be that hard for any of three of these guys to get on to some
message board or blog post or whatever to say, "Hey, I'm the the the second guy to the left
and I can confirm that the guy on the far right is not Brian Shaffer." Or I can confirm it is Brian Shaffer and
that picture was actually taken a year before he went missing or whatever. But because these guys have never really
came up in conversation, I don't think there's any pressure. And again, they don't have any
responsibility to me or to Brian or to ever. So, if they just don't want to talk, I guess they don't want to talk.
We could get answers to at least one possible lead or one possible curious uh or mysterious picture.
All it takes is one of those guys coming out and saying it is Brian or it isn't Brian.
I know who that is. That guy is actually blah blah blah. But I think these guys not being talked about
is something that has been a disservice to getting answers in this case. I think not talking about the
bisexual aspect is a disservice to the case in general because I don't think we're really hearing who Brian was the
whole time and the story we've heard about Brian isn't accurate. So, you know, him struggling with everything
else he had going on and being bisexual, it could open up a whole lot of different things. Yeah, and it makes you
wonder too, like I think experimenting might not even be the right word. Maybe he's searching
for his sexuality and not maybe fully understanding himself. So, then you have this thing where you
go Well, his girlfriend and other people said, "Well, Brian asked her to run away
with him." Again, that doesn't mean that he's, you know, a 100% straight white male, but
maybe it was just him trying to make a decision. Maybe he was just trying to come to a
resolution in his mind. So, look, there's been other speculation. It's It's I think it's hard when you
grow up in in Columbus because it's such, um, a gay-friendly town. I think it was like
rated like number two for many years in the country as one of the most gay-friendly cities to live in.
So, I think when you grow up in that type of community, and depending again, you know,
what your What are your friendships growing up? Did you have a lot of gay friends? Did
you have a lot of lesbian friends? So, I think it's it's [clears throat] hard for me to wrap
my head around somebody wanting to start a new life because they wanted to live openly gay. Does Does Does that make any
sense? It does. Because just because Columbus was felt like, uh, to me like if if these
magazines are saying that it's one of the best places to live if you're gay, then you go,
"Okay, well, then he was in a safe space." But my argument to that would be, "But did he feel like he is in a
safe space with his brother? Did he feel like he was in a safe space with his father?" And there are some people
that hide their sexuality for so long because they don't want to disappoint somebody
in their family. >> Yeah, I can't speak for Derek or Renee, but I can speak to what I've been told
about Randy and that he would not have been accepting of this and he had said that out of his own mouth.
Yeah, and my my issues are the people that I've got confirmation from do- doesn't seem like any of the gay
relationships that Brian was having was he being like overly protective or secretive
about. So, that makes me wonder I've always wondered the narrative that Brian's dad is telling. Is it a true
narrative or is it just a narrative that he knows or is it a narrative that he's
that he made up in his mind and was trying to present a certain narrative to the world. I don't know. I
didn't get a chance to talk with Randy face-to-face, so I can't tell you how how I would read that individual. I live
in Columbus and I still haven't told my father that I'm gay. So, I I don't know what to put into this uh
thought here, but this one I think as far as all the theories out there, I think that this is one to to keep
warm and and keep examining this one. >> Well, and I think the other one is I was
told by detective that they had a lead that Brian wanted to run away, start a new life.
And that Brian wanted to become a woman. Now the detective told me there was enough
of a lead to try to go down that rabbit hole. And the detective also told me that normally
when you have a a that seems pretty far-fetched that you don't get past step one or two. Like
normally one or two steps and you're going, "Okay, that lead doesn't seem like it's much of anything."
And what he told me was they got through a first the first initial hurdles of is there any weight to this
lead to this theory? But again, I I I don't know if I see any evidence of that. That That's not
something that's been a much a part of my life, so I don't have really anything to go on.
But you go just on on the the face of the lead, you go, "Well, it seems like a possibility if somebody
didn't feel like they were born into the right gender, then well, that would be motivation to leave
and start a new life. I can see that. But I did I don't see the evidence of that cuz
like I said, he was it didn't seem like these gay relationships that he was trying to
be protective of or secretive of. Yeah, I don't think so either because when Columbus Police Department began
interviewing people around the place where him and Clint were roommates together,
they kept saying, you know, they were constantly grabbing each other's asses and that it
was a little too friendly and then I I do want to say for as well that Clint was not the only roommate that
lived there and the confirmed uh sexual relationship that I know of was actually
with the other roommate. So, I I'm not sure that the person they were talking about was Clint when we hear all of
those rumors that CPD has said, but there is some validity to Brian and one of his roommates being
very close. I could also see a world where you go, "Well, there's motivation for him going missing
because sometimes when this type of relationship is happening one individual is okay with being open
to the world about it and the other individual might not be. Then that person is essentially
responsible for keeping a secret for both of them. So if Brian was being more open and not secretive about these
relationships that could be motivation for somebody to want Brian to go missing. And so
the information about these gay relationships not coming out 20 years ago you question why was that again part of
his father's narrative to Cuz the story has always been he's going to go to Miami. He's going to propose to
his girlfriend. And we have no evidence of that other than him talking to his mom.
And I would assume that when your parent is getting to the end of their life and
they know it's happening that these there might be some conversations of what what do you think
your future's going to look like? What do you want to have happen? And then as a son or a daughter that would put you
kind of in a tough place but you'd want to pre- present a positive well once I finish medical medical school
maybe I'll get engaged and then maybe I'll get married and maybe I'll have kids or whatever it is. He might have
had these thoughts of I'm going to get done with medical school and go start a rock band. But hey, I'm not going to
tell my dying mother that cuz I don't want her to worry about me. So, I just I don't think we have a lot of
evidence that he was going to go to Miami and propose. And I think that also is a
argument against possibly him starting a new life. If he was with his girlfriend
for a long period of time and it was like all all of his family members and all of his friends said, "Hey, it's [ __ ]
or get off the pot time." Right? But it wasn't. So, it wasn't like he had all this pressure on him
to do something once he went on vacation. So, I don't know. Right. It was a very new
relationship. [music] I don't I don't even think it had been 9 months. Want to thank everybody for listening.
Thanks for telling your mother. [music] Thanks for telling your brother. If you want to join us April 18th at
BrewDog to discuss the Brian Shaffer case, tickets are available now at truecrimegarage.com.
We'd love to meet you, hang out, and discuss some true crime. Until the next episode,
be good, be kind, and don't litter. >> [music] [music] [music] [music] >> He's Kenny Mayne, the funny guy from
ESPN. Formerly. He's Cooper Manning, the more intelligent and handsome of the Manning brothers. And he's Brian
Baumgartner, but to me, he'll always be Kevin from The Office. Yeah, you and everybody else. Together, we're the
hosts of the new comedy golf podcast, We Need a Fourth, from SmartLess Media and
SiriusXM. It's like a cold beer after a round. You hear the strangest and most bizarre golf stories from our friends,
athletes, celebrities, and comedians. It's all about how much we love golf and how much we hate golf. New episodes are
out every week. Listen now and subscribe wherever you get your podcast. Could just be anywhere. Just out on the couch.
Doesn't matter.

Brian Shaffer /// 20 Years Missing /// Theories /// Part 5

Part 5 of 6

Episode:907

www.TrueCrimeGarage.com (http://www.truecrimegarage.com/)

Ohio State Medical Student, Brian Randall Shaffer disappeared without an apparent reason on April 1, 2006. His last known whereabouts was a second-floor campus area bar where he was having drinks with friends. Near the entrance of the Ugly Tuna Saloona just before 2 a.m. Brian is seen on security footage talking briefly with two women. Brian later became separated from his friends who have stated that they assumed that Brian had left and gone home. At the time of his disappearance Brian Shaffer was 6’2” tall and approximately 160 to 165 lbs. He’s a caucasian male with brown hair and hazel eyes. Brian had a Pearl Jam tattoo on his upper right arm and he plays guitar. If you have any information regarding Brian’s disappearance or his whereabouts please contact Columbus Police Missing Person Unit at 614-645-2358

Brian Shaffer - National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) - MP#1709

ViCAP Alert# 2006-06-01 - vicap@leo.gov

Please join us at BrewDog in Canal Winchester Saturday, April 18th, 2026 for a fundraising event for Ohio cases like Brian’s. Tickets are available on our website www.TrueCrimeGarage.com (http://www.truecrimegarage.com/)

Proceeds go to The Porchlight Project, supporting Law Enforcement and Families of Cold Cases here in Ohio.

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Brief Summary

The episode examines the theories behind Brian Shaffer's 2006 disappearance, including suicide, walking away, and foul play.

Key points

Dark Winds Returns. A new season of Dark Winds promises big cases and high stakes.
Chronic Hives Treatment. Learn about a new treatment option for chronic spontaneous urticaria.
The Disappearance of Brian Shaffer. Exploring the mysterious case of Brian Shaffer, a medical student who vanished.
Theories on Brian's Disappearance. Discussing various theories surrounding Brian Shaffer's mysterious disappearance.
Walking Away Theory. Could Brian Shaffer have walked away from his life?
The Missing Footage Mystery. Why is the surveillance footage from multiple angles not released?

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Man walks into a bar, is never seen again.

Intriguing introduction to a mystery.

1:39WatchFeb 18, 2026

Tension

65/ 100Some tension

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