On April 1, 2006, 27-year-old Brian Shaffer was ready for Spring Break. Life for a medical student is never easy and most students will tell you that finals weeks can be particularly brutal with students cramming for important exams and pulling all-night study sessions. Brian wasn’t one to complain, but when he met his father, Randy, for dinner that evening, he appeared to be exhausted.
As if his schoolwork wasn’t taxing enough, Brian was going through something else, as well. Just three weeks prior, his mother had passed after a lengthy battle with myelodysplasia, a type of blood cancer. Brian tried to hide the mental pain he was in, but those who knew him well have said that his mother’s death affected him deeply.
After dinner, Brian had planned to meet his friend Clint at a bar called The Ugly Tuna Salona. He arrives shortly before 9:00 PM. An hour later, he has a brief phone call with his girlfriend, Alexis, who had already left school for her home in Akron. For the rest of the evening, Clint and Brian hop around from bar to bar, having a drink or two at each location.
This was something they (and, let’s face it, a lot of other college students, too) did from time to time and there was nothing out of the ordinary about any of it.
Later in the evening, they met up with their friend Meredith, who offered to drive them back to the Ugly Tuna.
According to security camera video, the two men arrived back at the Ugly Tuna at 1:15. Video spots them again at 2:00 speaking with a couple of guys. Those guys then head toward the exit while Brian walks the other way.
As far as we know, that’s the last time anyone saw Brian Shaffer.
The Investigations Begins
There were two main investigations into Brian’s Disappearance. The first was started by Sgt. John Hurst of the Columbus Police Department. He and his team of detectives (and other police officers) began searching for Brian, going over countless hours of security video (not just from the Ugly Tuna, but other nearby bars as well) and talking with anyone and everyone they could, searching for any clue to Brian’s whereabouts.
Nobody was more determined to learn the truth than Brian’s father Randy Shaffer, who investigated on his own, putting up fliers all around town, speaking with reporters, even calling a few psychics – anything he could think of that could produce a single lead.
Brian Shaffer’s disappearance has everything one looks for in a good mystery: part whodunit, part what the heck happened, with a sympathetic victim and lots of unanswered questions, this story quickly became an above-the-fold story for all the local newspapers. And then the online detectives got involved – a seemingly endless list of forum posts, podcast episodes, videos, all hoping to solve the mystery of what happened to Brian.
And yet, today, we seem to have all the same questions that we had at the start of April, 2006.
The Problem With Clues
When trying to get to the bottom of Brian’s disappearance, there really aren’t that many direct clues, other than some CCTV footage that honestly doesn’t show much. We have video of Brian and his friend arriving at the bar, then we have some footage of Brian speaking with a couple of guys a bit later – but what we don’t have is any actual video or photos of Brian leaving The Ugly Tuna Salona.
The bar was located on the second floor, only accessible from a set of elevators, as well as a service entrance which normally wasn’t accessible to patrons. If none of the cameras located near the entrance or escalators didn’t see him leave, the only other possibility was the service entrance, which has no cameras. However, there was construction outside the club that had been going on which blocked that exit making it all but impossible for Brian to have left that way. And besides, what reason would he have had for leaving that way, if he was able to access it anyway?
The Ugly Tuna, as well as all the other bars Brian and Clint went to that night were filled with people, it was the weekend between finals week and spring break. This means a few things: such as how there would be a lot of potential witnesses, but most (if not all) of them had been drinking alcohol (and possibly doing God-Knows-What else) so their reliability as witnesses goes down. There was also the distraction caused by both finals’ week, as well as getting ready for spring break, with some getting ready to go “home” while others are off to more “exotic” destinations.
Other than Brian Shaffer’s disappearance, there weren’t any other major incidents in or around The Ugly Tuna.
One of the things that makes Brian’s disappearance so fascinating is the absence of clues. There are no bloody footprints walking away from the crime scene (if there even is a crime scene), there are no fingerprints belonging to a strange figure hovering just outside the picture, there grainy images of a getaway car driving off into the night – there’s nothing. One moment Brian is there … the next, he’s … not.
One of the problems in cases like this is that when there are so few clues to go on, either nothing is a clue, or everything is a clue. People have latched onto the smallest details no matter how insignificant, and make it seem like that’s the clue that will solve this mystery for good. When this happens, it’s very easy for us to allow our personal biases to cloud or judgement – such as those who want to claim that Brian was trafficked and sold into white (or sexual) slavery. Why do they think that? Well, Brian was a handsome young man, emotionally unstable following finals as well as the death of his mother, and I think that’s it. (There is absolutely no evidence to suggest that Brian was sold into slavery, but there are multiple reasons why this idea isn’t even remotely likely. However, to be fair, there’s no proof that Brian wasn’t trafficked, so until we know for sure what happened…)
Numerous Theories
Above all else, there are two big questions:
- Is Brian Shaffer alive or dead?
- Where is Brian Shaffer?
Sadly, before we can start to answer those questions, we’re going to need more information than anyone has. Right now, all we have are theories.
Theory 1: Brian Left On His Own
In this theory, Brian is alive and for some reason he chose to walk away from his old life. He is currently living somewhere else, probably with a new identity, and does not wish to go back to his old life.
This theory works for two reasons. First off, it explains why Brian’s body has never surfaced anywhere. Second, in an offhand way, it explains (a little bit of) how he left The Ugly Tuna. Those who push this theory state that he must have altered his appearance in some way at The Ugly Tuna so as not to be recognized by the cameras, and the only reason for him to do this was to run away.
Personally, that’s a bit too much assumption for me, but let’s stick with it a moment.
The reason this doesn’t work is … well, why? Police, while investigating, didn’t find any enemies, or mobster loan sharks trying to track him down, nobody who hated him (let alone disliked him a little) so who would he be running or hiding from?
Brian was also close to his family and wasn’t the type of person to just abandon them, especially so soon after the loss of his mother.
There is another reason this theory doesn’t make sense, at least on a psychological level. Disappearing without leaving a trace takes some degree of preparation. In the weeks before he disappeared, Brian was going through some pretty brutal final exams, which he likely would not have done had he been planning on leaving it all behind.
Theory 2: Brian Left But Not Of His Own Volition
Like the first possibility, this one works if Brian is (or, was) still alive after he disappeared. However, if he didn’t walk away from his life, some have speculated that maybe something else happened to him. Like, for example … (this is Ohio and we do seem to have a history of trying to claim missing people just have amnesia and will return once they remember who they are, which they really never do but I still feel like I have to bring it up) … that he had some sort of psychotic break, and just wondered off.
There are a number of reasons I don’t subscribe to this theory – mostly that had some slightly deranged college student been wandering the streets aimlessly at night, someone would have seen him. Or, at some point, he would have surfaced somewhere at some point.
This is also where the Brian being abducted theory fits. As I noted above, him being sold into sexual slavery is about as crazy as my Aunt Irma at a Bachelorette Party, but we have to ask if there would be another reason for him being kidnapped? Nobody in his family was ever contacted for any sort of ransom, and frankly, if that thing was happening, we’d likely have heard about it happening to someone else, too.
Theory 3: Brian Died At His Own Hands
A third theory is that Brian died, but at his own hands. There are two different ways people are saying this could have happened. With all three, we have the issues of his body not ever being discovered, which may (or may not) cast doubt on this idea.
The first is that Brian killed himself. (And, if that is what happened, how did Brian prevent himself from being found, and why would he do that in the first place?) Another thing that casts doubt on the suicide theory is that Brian’s behavior isn’t consistent with what we usually see with suicides. Then again, suicide is often unpredictable, so that can’t be entirely ruled out. However, in retrospect, there usually are at least some signs.
The second possibility is that Brian died, accidentally. I have heard some theories that Brian accidentally died in the club, but the managers (or staff) somehow managed to cover it up for … reasons (maybe because it would make the bar look bad?).
A similar idea has Brian leaving the bar through the construction area, and maybe died on the construction site, somehow, maybe? One theorist suggested that maybe Brian fell into some freshly poured concrete or fell into a hole that was later filled with concrete, but surely if that happened some construction worker would have noticed something. Much later on, detectives would scan the area with ground penetrating radar, however no human shaped anomalies were ever discovered.
Theory 4: Brian Was Murdered
Finally, we have the theory that Brian was killed by someone else. Again, this is possible, but Brian wasn’t known to have had any enemies, or anybody in particular he was scared of or worried about. Or, maybe we should say that if Brian was murdered, there were no obvious suspects.
Other Facts Not In Evidence
The disappearance of Brian Shaffer has been frequently discussed on various message boards, podcasts, blogs, etc… And there have been a few things that seem to be repetitively brought up in these sources that may, or may not, have any relevance whatsoever.
The Smiley Face Killer
One theory that manages to come up with some regularity is that Brian Shaffer was murdered by The Smiley Face Killer, who may or may not actually exist, and …well, iit’s complicated.
The Smiley Face Killer theory started with two detectives from New York City who observed some similarities between various unsolved murders and wondered if there might be a connection, either a conspiracy between serial killers or maybe one depraved killer was operating under the radar.
When they were looking at unsolved cases, they noticed that in a number of them, there was some sort of “smiley face” graffiti either at the crime scene itself, or somewhere very close by. Another similarity they noticed with these Smiley Face graffiti cases were that many of the victims were drowned, or at least somehow killed in a body of water (such as a lake or stream or river).
Those two detectives did their due diligence and tried to find connections between these cases, searching through evidence, even at one point coming up with a psychological criminal profile of the perpetrator (or perpetrators).
There has never been any direct proof that a “Smiley Face Killer” has ever existed in real life (although in movies and television shows he’s been known to show up on rare occasions). Today, most people consider the Smiley Face Killer to be an Urban Legend, although many will also suggest that maybe there is something to it after all.
At some point after Brian’s disappearance, someone noticed some smiley face graffiti on a wall near The Ugly Tuna Salona. Ever since, Brian Shaffer has been listed as one of his (their) possible victims.
Clint Knows Something
Another theory, and this one may actually have some merit, is that Clint, Brian’s friend who was with him the night he disappeared, knows more than what he’s told the police about Brian’s disappearance. They base this theory on a lie detector test, or, more accurately, the lack of one.
While the police were doing their initial investigation, they asked everyone closely connected to Brian to take a polygraph test, which police have been known to do from time to time. Everyone who was asked to take the test agreed, except Clint. And this is why many believe that Clint either had something to do with Brian’s disappearance or knows a lot more than he’s ever said.
On the internet, this seems to be a major sign of Clint’s guilt, but I believe any good detective knows that a person may have any number of legitimate reasons to refuse a polygraph. For example, the results of these tests are most often not admissible in courts as the tests are far from reliable. We like to call them “lie detector” tests but they can be easily fooled, at least in that respect.
I often hear that if Clint had nothing to hide, then why not prove it with the polygraph, but that’s not a good argument as there are numerous reasons one may not want to hook themselves up to such a machine, from a mistrust of police, or perhaps there are unrelated questions he doesn’t want to risk being asked.
Even if Clint does know something, that does not mean that it necessarily have anything to do with Brian’s disappearance (or murder) and there is a good possibility it’s actually something fairly mundane. For example, if Brian had confided personal details about problems he was having in his relationship with Alexis, he may not have wanted those details to become known, since they likely had nothing to do with anything.
Brian Has Been Spotted Alive (Or, Has He)
Brian had a number of dreams, just like we all do, I think. One of his dreams was that he wanted to be in a band, something along the lines of Jimmy Buffet, where he would go on tour and sing before sold out crowds. As far as dreams go, that one is pretty basic … and pretty common.
And then someone saw Brian …. or, someone who kind of resembled Brian … singing in a band. As the band finished their song, he (or she) sat and waited, wondering if she had just spotted Brian Shaffer. The next song the band decided to perform was one made famous by Jimmy Buffet, which managed to convince this person that the person on stage was, iin fact, Brian.
After the show, the person was not allowed to go backstage or meet the band, so they were never able to ask the person if he was, in fact, Brian. If one of the theories is that Brian walked away from his life on his own, maybe he joined (or formed) a band, just like his idol Jimmy Buffet’s … or, maybe it was some other guy in the band. It’s kind of hard to tell.
More recently online, someone posted a photo that they believe could have been Brian. They had been on vacation down in Mexico and saw a homeless bum on the beach that really looked like Brian. The photo then began circulating around the internet, and most people agreed that it sure did look like him. Eventually the photo would be anazlied by teh FBI who determined the man in the photo was not, in fact, Brian. Other than stating that facial recognition software did not make a match, they were a little elusive on their reasons for saying that.
Pearl Jam
According to those who knew him, Pearl Jam was Brian’s favorite group. (There has been no indication if Brian liked Pearl Jam more than Jimmy Buffett, but maybe that’s just me.) A few years after Brian’s disappearance, at a concert in Cincinnati, lead singer Eddie Vedder stopped the show and addressed the audience, telling them about Brian’s disappearance and asking the crowd to come forward if they knew anything. There were a few calls to Crimestoppers because of this, however, according to the police, it generated no leads.
Private Investigations
Until the day he died in 2008, Randy Shaffer never stopped looking for his son. Whenever he ran out of leads to track down himself, he would try something new. He kept fliers posted around campus, talked with anyone and everyone he could, and he even consulted several psychics over the years. Again, no leads came from that at all.
Another man, Donald Corbett, was a private investigator who agreed to volunteer his time and expertise in trying to find Brian. In 2008, he received a letter from Neil Rosenberg, Clint’s attorney. In it, Neil responded to the accusation that Clint had something to hide by not taking the polygraph test by saying, “If Brian is alive, which is what I’m led to believe after speaking with the detective involved, then it is Brian, and not Clint who is causing his family pain and hardship,” and saying that he had already told the police everything he knew and didn’t see the point of doing so again.
Do You Know Something?
In 2021, the Columbus Police Department released a new photograph of Brian Shaffer using aging progression software to guestimate how he would probably look today. If you know anything that may help investigators close this case, please contact the Columbus Police Department at 614-645-2358 or if you wish to remain anonymous, you can do so through the Central Ohio CrimeStoppers.
