True Crime Rumors /// Off The Record | Forensic Files

[music] [music] [music] All right. Cheers. >> Killer beans, man. >> Killer beans.
>> Nice beans. had a little hate mail. It wasn't like hate hate mail. I don't know. I don't
want to talk about it too much, but it was u I said something and then and then I got a comment basically
saying I was an idiot and my sources were wrong and all this stuff. It was um um Brian Schaefer's brother's wife.
So, she was trying to correct me. I think it wasn't that I misspoke. I think I wasn't
as clear. But basically, what this source was saying was you have a situation like in the Brian Schaefer
case that they have all these leads, right? He went off and started a new life. Uh, you know, there was, you know,
some speculation on his uh sexuality, right? Uh, but there was this and so when I was talking to the source, they
were saying how they really had to follow this lead for a while on that he might have went and started a new life
as a woman. And I thought, well, that's a pretty seems like a far-fetched theory.
>> Mhm. >> But what he was saying was, you know, you get these leads, you have to follow
them. if the breadcrumb trail starts showing you that a percentage of this rumor or
theory possibly could be true. >> Mhm. But at the end of the day, the source reminded me that just because
maybe parts of the rumor seem true or you can connect some dots, at the end of the day, they have no evidence to prove
the theory correct because obviously they would have found him and and that also
they have no proof that he left the bar that night, >> right? But it was it was connected to a
comment that I was hearing um multiple times about the Tyler Davis case and that possibly
there was these rumors that Tyler was bisexual and and again this source was saying that they followed these leads.
There's a percentage of truth to this. But does this have anything to do with his disappearance?
Probably not. Mhm. >> But it's just the idea that that police officers, private detectives, a lot of
people get these crazy rumors that they have to follow and there might be percentages of what
the rumor mill is going around about that that are true. >> Right. Right. And sometimes it's just
bad leads or bad tips that come in. >> Yeah. and she was a little upset just saying that,
you know, you're putting out this information that doesn't help. And what I was saying is that this is a lead that
they followed that they got stopped with. They can't prove it to be true or false. And and I but I didn't want to
make it seem like I was putting out this theory that I believe in. You know, this
is a theory that the source, like I said, they they followed they had to go down that rabbit hole and followed as
far as they could. >> Mhm. So, I I understood and and she was, like I said, very respectful and um I'm
her I'm sure that she heard some outlandish claim and and figured that she would give me her two cents, you
know. >> Well, and that's the that's the weight of each situation that law enforcement has to sit down and
really strategize and come up with a with a real game plan on in a lot of these cases. I mean, when we talk so much
about Deli and Amy Mahalavik, these are two examples where releasing something of evidentiary value that you have,
releasing that to the public, you have to go into that going, "Okay, well, we're probably going to receive an
overwhelming number of bad tips of things that really don't have anything to do with the case." It's people with
good intentions for the most part, I I would guess. Um, you do get some crazies that come out and and come up with some
weird things or even false confessions, false statements, things like that. But >> that's that's the meetings that take
place behind closed doors when they go, "Okay, we have this composite sketch. We
have this composite drawing. Do we release it to the public?" When what we're seeking is one really good tip,
one really good piece of information that leads us to the killer, right? What we're going to get on top of that, and
that's even if we do get that one good tip that we want, >> piles of [ __ ] >> we're going to get all kinds of stuff
that is again for the most part people with good intentions, people trying to help, but now you're involving the
masses and now you're involving a situation where if you, you know, they talk so much about the the trail going
cold in and the first 48, the first 72, all that jazz and It's the further you get away from the actual crime, the the
harder it gets to to solve the crime. And so you run the risk of really bogging down your investigators and your
whole task force and the whole team involved in in something where they're chasing ghost, they're chasing bad
leads, they're chasing terrible tips. And it's it's it's a weird situation because
you have to weigh the risk because without releasing that information, you go, well, maybe if we don't we
understand all the bad that could come of this, but if we don't release it, what if we never ever get that that that
bit that we need that the information that we need? Well, but this source was also saying like one, they they don't
put out some of these claims, but sometimes they're they're handed uh a rumor or a lead that they can confirm A,
B, C, and D. >> So, everything that they were able to get to the end of that lead,
>> they've been able to confirm. But that doesn't again mean uh that is correct. That might just be
where the lead stops. Does that make any sense? Um, >> yes. >> So, like, you know, [laughter] so
somebody goes, >> "Sorry, I was I was reading and thinking of I got like three things in my head
right now and I'm trying to decide if it makes sense." >> Sounded like it made sense in my head,
but it's, you know, the idea that you go, "Okay, somebody goes, "Well, possibly Brian ran away." Okay, that's a
possibility. Okay, do we have any evidence to back this up? Oh, we have some sightings. Okay, we
have some sightings. Okay, we have some rumors that he wanted to possibly live a
life as as a female. Can we back up those rumors? Can we get anybody else to say that might be a possibility? Right.
>> Mhm. Um, but he was, you know, basically what they're saying is like, but sometimes when you're
when you get these leads or these rumors, you kind of think that they're very um outlandous and and so you have
to go back and and you have to you have to do your work. You can't just dismiss something before you actually do
the work. Uh but but they were also saying that some of these people get caught up on a lead that kind of just
stops >> and they can't confirm it anymore or any less. And he said there there's a lot of
times that private investigators, other investigators will get hung up on that. Well, look, I followed this lead and I
got A, B, C, D, and E, and F to line up, >> right? >> So therefore, it's correct. Well, you
haven't found Brian. you haven't confirmed any of this stuff. So, uh, but but I understand her concern that it's,
uh, irresponsible to put that stuff out there and and I do agree with her 100% on that. I, like I said, I'm being very
clear that there's sometimes leads that they're able to connect the dots, they're just not able to confirm. Um,
I personally think in a lot of these cases as the years go on that you have to put out more of
these theories and keep people talking. Uh, I don't know. I have no evidence that it helps the
case because you have cases like, you know, look at Mara Murray. There's tons of stuff that has come out about her,
about her family, about the that case that doesn't seem like it's helping the case at all.
>> Right. >> But now, if you get a case solved, again, even if you find out where she
was, I don't know if that proves that all the speculation and all the rumor mills actually were effective.
Yeah, it's I mean it's tough because if if people quit talking, if people quit discussing it and quit reviewing these
cases, they go away. They disappear, you know. >> Yeah. And I think it was I don't know if
she was trying to jab at me or not, but she was kind of saying I think she thought I was implying that I didn't
think her brother cared too much. Um I I don't believe that at all there. You know, this is an experience I would have
no clue. Um, I can't relate to him on, so I'm not going to pretend to. Um, I think maybe I would be more vocal, but I
also just more talkative. U, but when people say to me, well, he's willing to talk to
people and he's answered questions, but answering the same questions that he answered 10 years ago doesn't help
anything. And it's like, well, you don't know what's going to help anything. And
also I don't like the idea that well he talks to people who matter like law enforcement and and whoever.
That's I don't agree with that because I do think there I'm not saying that you have to do an
interview every year. I don't think you have to go on every podcast. I don't think you have to go on every TV show. I
don't think that. But I do think from time to time when there is little to no movement on the case, maybe that's a
time to reach out to the people that have an audience to get more people talking about it.
>> Um, yeah. I mean, I don't I don't know. I I I don't I I agree actually with with
uh Brian's brother a little bit. I I mean I see what he's saying about I I'll talk to law enforcement anytime. I have
heard statements released to the public from him and his family that say that he
will talk to people. Um but it but it will be off mic off camera. So um no I'm not saying that he has to but I I think
the statement of we'll talk to people that matter quote unquote. It's like getting getting hundreds of uh thousands
of people to listen and and talk about a case, I think, is very important to keep
it um not only to keep people talking about it and possibly generating new leads, but
also reminding the the detectives and the investigators that that people still care and people still want to know. I
think it's important. >> Yeah. I again though, we we've not walked in his shoes. We don't know his
experiences. And I mean, I'm guessing he's probably been burned a hundred times over by people that don't matter.
And that's probably where that that kind of vague blanketed statement comes from,
>> right? And he's got time to figure out who matters. Well, not only that, he's
he's probably been asked by a bazillion people to talk about it. And I mean, that's just a weird situation.
It It really is. It's a weird situation to be in and then to There's no handbook
on how to conduct yourself and what is the right way and or what is going to be best for your brother's case.
>> Yeah. Um, and and keep in mind too when when Brian first went missing in the the
first few years of this case, it was Brian's father that that took on the role of the the point person for any of
this type of stuff, right? >> And was the public face and was the the public voice for his son. And
not everybody is able to do that. Not everybody wants to do that. And I mean to each is their own. It's it's
uh >> the only reason why I think it would be important for him to talk with somebody and obviously he
would have to establish a certain kind of relationship with the the individual is we've talked about this case a lot
before. It's it's the narrative of things. uh you know, the narrative of of what the cops were putting out
initially, what the narrative was of his of you, Brian's father putting out there
initially. Uh, and as time has gone by and as we've found certain things to be false in those narratives, um, I'd be
very curious what the brother knows now, you know, and and after hearing I mean,
I'm sure they hear a lot of these shows cover this case, but but by listening to any of these
cases, are they screaming at at their phones saying this information is not correct.
Um, and so that that that becomes a bad thing if you have a hundred thousand, you know, hundreds of
thousands of people listening to a case and speculating on information that's not correct.
So, if there's a bunch of information that's not correct out there or information
that you could clear up, um, you know, I maybe that's important to do. I I know that
the lead investigator for a while, uh, Hurst, tried to do some of that, tried to I mean, obviously, it's ongoing
investigation, so there's certain things that they can't, um, reveal to the public, but maybe you can clean some of
it up for us. >> Mhm. And I just think that possibly could help because then if the if the
narrative is actually correct, then maybe that generates, you know, a lead that they didn't have back in the day
because the narrative was wrong. >> Well, I I mean, again, I I think he has, you know, I shouldn't say I think. I
know he has answered questions in the past, and I don't I don't know what more we could ask of of him.
>> Well, right. And that's what I'm saying is I I don't know what's what information they've heard and what
information they know to be facts that that would contradict them. But I also get the idea too that you want to you
got he has a life, he has a family, he has to, you know, continue living and and moving past some of this stuff. Um
>> well, and he has a heart too. And and that's that is the the statement he has
stated regarding not wanting to do an interview on camera or on mic is that he he can't emotionally he does not
believe that he emotionally can get through that in person. >> Yeah. Yeah. And he's done some.
>> So if if you want to like send send questions to him, he will he'll he'll, >> you know, reply and entertain that the
idea of answering those questions, but it may be in the form of an email or >> or some some other, you know, thing. So
it's >> Yeah, but I didn't want to get that twisted to to say what I think I would
do is not what I'm saying that I I I'm saying all I can say is that's what I think I would do or what I would think I
would like him to do. That is in no way, shape or form trying to say that that he
doesn't care. >> Oh yeah. No, no, I get that. I get that. And sometimes it, you know, it just
comes off. Sometimes I can say something that comes off a certain way and it's just like these leads, these leads are,
you know, they're coming from a credible source, but these leads didn't go anywhere. And let's just be clear about
that. And that happens with a lot of cases. with the Tyler Davis case. Um, you know,
perfect example with the Tyler Davis case, he's come he comes from a very small town and there was these rumors that
there would have parties and that sometimes there would be drugs at the parties. So then it became Did Tyler
know any of these like local kind of drug dealers? Yes, he did. He had a couple of them
their connections in his phone. But there's a lot of people around Tyler's age, you know, uh, you know,
five years above, five years below that have contacts with these individuals and
are not considered to be drug users. Isn't that pretty clear? >> Yeah. So he he might have invited these
guys to parties, maybe called them for a friend if they're having a party, but not necessarily
having great contacts or great relationship with with these individuals they think
are selling drugs. >> Mhm. But when you do have that connection, then you got to go,
well, how connected to these individuals are? Are is Tyler? Does he owe anybody money? Is there
anybody out there that could possibly want him dead? Right? So, you find this connection and then
you have to keep, you know, like I said, you got to keep backtracking and then you kind of come to the point that one,
he doesn't owe anybody any money. He doesn't seem like he has any kind of habit. There's no reason, there's no
rumors of uh him having any um conflict between any of these individuals. And on
top of that, there's probably no way of these individuals actually knowing where he
was that night. >> That's the big problem. >> And not just that night, but where he
was at. Maybe they could find out, hey, they went up to uh Hilton East. >> Okay.
But to to know when they're going to come back to the hotel, >> right? We're talking about a small
window of time between when when he is essentially unaccounted for where >> Yeah.
>> where if if we do in fact believe that his intention was to walk back to the hotel as we are told per
>> um shoot her name escapes me at the moment >> Britney. >> Britney sorry. Um, but yeah, as we're
told by Britney, he he she says his intention, he tells her, "I'm returning to the hotel."
If in fact that's what he was doing, then we are talking about a small window of time that something took place that
stopped him from walking back going back to the hotel. And that would be a I mean
that's it's not impossible, but it's it's quite difficult. Well, and the the other um evidence that we have knowing
that he was trying to get back to the hotel is I actually believe that they have um Tyler's voice uh doing um like a
[clears throat] Google command, >> right? >> So, like asking Google, how do I get to
uh you know, like Google directions to the Hilton East? I believe they actually have um
some uh some kind of record of that. I And which is amazing to me that >> Well, Google's recording that,
>> right? >> Um but that I mean you just have these phone commands, but I didn't know the
phone commands were actually recorded or stored somewhere. So, it seems like they
have that and also the evidence um that they get from that is he sounded a little more intoxicated than than some
people were trying to say he because what we have is Tyler leaving and walking away and everybody's saying at
that moment he was a little confused and and a little intoxicated. We later have
this phone call where we have a, you know, his wife saying he didn't sound that intoxicated.
And maybe during that conversation, he didn't. But now we have this evidence of this this Google command or this Google
search or whatever you want to call it that uh you know they're saying he sounded more intoxicated than maybe
people led on to believe in the first initial conversation. Yeah. Yeah. So that that would that would be
almost like a second witness stating that he is his intentions were to return to the hotel which is weird. I mean
that's that's the other thing though too. I mean you talk about people not talking about a case
that's a case that people are still talking about but there there's no movement. There
doesn't seem to be any updates. There's nothing that has really come out. And and that's one that um you know when I'm
out out and about and I bump into people that's the that's right now that's the case that most people ask me about
>> is Tyler Davis. Well >> and part of that is that we're in the greater Columbus area.
>> Well the update um that I that I do have from detectives on that case is that and
I thought this was really interesting was they rotate. So, we were we were told before they
have roughly eight officers or eight missing person unit detectives. >> Yeah. >> Once uh leads start going a little stale
um and there's not as much movement, they can opt to rotate the case. So, you become secondary on a case. You're not
so much the lead. the lead then goes back and starts, you know, checking your tees and, you know, crossing your tees
and dotting your eyes and making sure you looked at every possibility correctly. Um, so what I do know is that
they were going to start doing uh lie detectors. They're going to give Britney a lie detector and they're going to give
Tyler's friend a lie detector. I know that the friend has lawyered up. Um, you know, he he's going through some
tough times. I know he did an interview with somebody recently. Tyler's friend actually did an interview because he's
been getting so much harassment online and and what I told him on the phone when when I talked to him after the
interview cuz he he listened to it and and was uh very respectful for to us and very um appreciative that we talked
about Tyler's case. Um and he was just like, "I'm getting all this, you know, harassment online and I'm afraid I'm
going to lose my job." And I said, "Look, uh, this is kind of what happens." And
it's and it's, uh, it's kind of a misfortune, you know, that, um, that people looking up this case.
They're always going to know the two people that you got. You got the guy that's missing, but you if if they're
with two individuals, you're going to remember those two individuals name or if they're with one individual. So, it's
it's a difficult situation that he has to go through. I've tried to tell people, look, try to be respectful and
polite to this person because this guy's being cooperative with the police. He is
he's doing everything they asked for and then some. And because of the harassment
online, now he has lawyered up and he is, you know, he he's still willing to cooperate, but he has a lawyer involved.
So that makes it more difficult for the investigation to move forward, >> right? But that's also another example
of where we can see somebody choosing who they are willing to talk to and and not wanting to talk to other people
regarding a case that they are very much tied to. So, >> yeah. And I feel I feel bad for him
because one, this is your buddy that went missing. And um and and when law enforcement comes out and says, "Look,
this guy is not a suspect, the they know how long he was gone with his friend. so to have any time uh
for him to do anything. Plus, they have evidence that Tyler was still alive after
him and his friend stopped hanging out that night. They have evidence of Tyler still being
okay after that. and and no reason, like I said, no reason to believe that Tyler's friend was a suspect being super
cooperative with the police doing like all the stuff, right? And because of this harassment online and people not
even thinking about evidence or facts or what the police are saying, now this guy
shuts down and he could have been again. >> Well, he wasn't I mean, he was only talking to police before.
>> Uh yeah. No, but he was also I think just take like the interview that we did w
with Britney. He was pretty vocal to her on, you know, she was trying to get the
story out because people weren't covering the story. People weren't talking about it. And when she went to
him and said, "Hey, this this podcast would like to interview me. What do you think?" He said, "Podcasts are great and
this will get the story out." And that's what we're trying to do. We're trying to
get people to talk about it, think about it, and hopefully somebody saw something. Um, so I think when you have
a guy advocating to try to get the the case solved and and bec like I said, because of poor speculation and not
listening to the evidence and not listening to the police, you're getting somebody that shuts down. And I think
that's and and he might have shut down talking to Britney, too. You know what I mean? You you get your lawyer up and
then your lawyer says, "Hey, I don't want you talking to anybody in this case unless it's through me." You know, and
so we have a situation where we have this young girl's, you know, husband's missing, the father of her child's
missing, and and you know, those people need support around them and and maybe that gets cut off,
>> right? >> [music] [music]

True Crime Rumors /// Off The Record Episode: 73 Nic and the Captain discuss: True Crime Rumors. www.truecrimegarage.com

Brief Summary

The episode discusses the complexities of missing person cases, focusing on Brian Schaefer and Tyler Davis, and the challenges of following leads and public speculation.

Key points

The Weight of Rumors. Investigators often have to follow leads that may seem far-fetched but could hold truth.
The Challenge of Public Tips. Releasing information can lead to an overwhelming number of tips, many of which are unhelpful.
The Importance of Investigation. Every lead must be investigated thoroughly, no matter how unlikely it seems.
Keeping Cases Alive. Ongoing discussion about missing persons cases is crucial to keep them in the public eye.
Navigating Family Dynamics. Families of missing persons face unique challenges in how to engage with the public and media.
The Impact of Online Harassment. Tyler's friend faces severe online harassment, fearing for his job and well-being.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Sometimes it's just bad leads or bad tips that come in.

Talking about the nature of tips received by investigators.

3:03WatchDec 11, 2025

Tension

50/ 100Some tension

More from True Crime Garage TV

Solve the Crime

Read a real case one clue at a time, then see how your call held up against the investigators.