At around 2 a.m. on April 1st 2006, 27-year-old Brian Shaffer was caught on CCTV entering the Ugly Tuna Saloona, a bar in Columbus University District, Ohio. He was never seen again.
Brain Shaffer was born on February 25th 1979, in Pickerington, Ohio. He attended Ohio State University, where he was studying medicine. He was a second-year medical student at the time of his disappearance.
Brian met his girlfriend, Alexis Waggoner, in 2006. She was also a second-year medical student. Although Brian was a good student, his dream was to start his own band.
To celebrate the start of Spring Break, Brian Shaffer and his roommate, Clint Florance, went to the Ugly Tuna Saloona bar in Columbus’ University District on March 31st, 2006.
At approximately 10 p.m., Brain called his girlfriend to talk about a trip they were planning that Spring.
After spending about 30 minutes in the Ugly Tuna, Brian and Clint walked to the Arena District in Columbus and stopped at the North Short Tavern and Brother’s, where they met up with more friends. One of the friends then drove them back to the Ugly Tuna. They were seen entering the venue on CCTV at 1:15 a.m. on April 1st.
At around 2 a.m., Brian came back out of the bar and started chatting with two women before turning around and heading back in the direction of the bar. Clint and the other friends then got ready to leave the venue but were unable to find Brian. After calling him but getting no answer and checking the bathroom, they ended up leaving without him.
No one heard from Brian that weekend. On Sunday, his girlfriend Alexis called his family to let them know. She was concerned because they were due to go to Florida on Monday. Brain’s family notified the police that he was missing.
When police began investigating, they checked the CCTV at the Ugly Tuna Saloona. The bar’s main entrance was on the second floor, accessible by escalators, and covered by two different CCTV cameras. It would be almost impossible for someone to leave the bar undetected. However, when Brian went back into the bar at 1:55 a.m., he was not caught on CCTV leaving again with everyone else at closing time. Police managed to identify every single person who left the bar that night, but there was no sign of Brian.
Theories:
Police explored the possibility of Brian using a disguise to leave the bar undetected, but this was dismissed as investigators were able to identify everyone who left the bar that night.
The main entrance of the Ugly Tuna was the only official entrance for patrons, but there was a back exit. The back exit was not used by anyone as it led to a construction site. The site had CCTV and there was no sign of Brian ever going that way. It also would have been incredibly difficult for someone who was intoxicated to navigate their way through the site, and as Brian’s friends said he had been drinking excessively, police dismissed this theory.
The possibility of Brian purposefully sneaking out of the bar also seems unlikely. He was due to go on holiday with his girlfriend, and close friends said he was planning on proposing. Brian’s mother had died just 3 weeks earlier, leading to people thinking he may have felt overwhelmed with everything that was going on, but he never used his phone or accessed his bank in the weeks after he disappeared. If he was planning to start a new life, he would have needed funds of some kind.
Speculation began to grow around Brian’s friend Clint. He wasn’t forthcoming when it came to helping police with the investigation. Not only did he hire a lawyer, but he also reportedly refused to take a polygraph test, despite being asked on multiple occasions. Brian’s brother Derek said:
“The way he talked about my brother after he went missing… kind of in a negative way. I wouldn’t expect this from someone whose friend vanished.”
Clint’s lawyer stated that he was convinced Brian Shaffer was still alive.
The ‘Smiley Face Killer’ is a suspected serial killer who drowns victims in bodies of water before leaving graffiti of a smiley face nearby. The suspected victims are all college-educated white men who are out drinking with their friends. Brian fits the victim type, but without a body, this theory seems very unlikely. It’s also important to note that this is just a theory and that the ‘Smiley Face Killer’ is not a recognised serial killer. Police believe all the cases are just tragic accidents.
After Brian’s disappearance, his girlfriend called his mobile every night hoping that he would pick up. It went straight to voicemail for 6 months, until September 2006. Brian’s phone rang three times before going silent. After tracing the call, police discovered it pinged off a cell tower in the Columbus suburb of Hillard, 14 miles from where he was last seen. Unfortunately, police determined that it was just a technical glitch and Brian’s phone never rang again.
In 2020, there was a credible sighting of Brian in Mexico. However, after using facial recognition, the FBI concluded that the man was not Brian Shaffer.
In 2021, the Ohio Bureau of Investigation released a digital mock-up of Brian to reflect age progression. There is a reward of $100,000 for anyone who helps to find Brian alive. He would be 42 years old.
Sources:
https://allthatsinteresting.com/brian-shaffer
https://www.grunge.com/620417/the-biggest-brian-shaffer-theories-what-really-happened/
https://www.ranker.com/list/brian-shaffer-missing-mystery/patrick-thornton
https://www.strangeoutdoors.com/strange-indoors/brian-shaffer
