OH OH - Brian Shaffer, 27, Columbus, 1 April 2006 - #4

[itsrak]

rsbm
Was there a stench reported in the building months or years later? I hadn’t heard that part. Do you have a link to an article? Or do you recall about when that happened? I’m curious to read more about it.

Around April of 2018 on a whim I checked yelp ratings for other businesses in the Gateway complex, hoping to find a clue. Yelp was new and not widely used at the time, yet I found a yelp comment dating to around 2007 that mentioned a stench. So, if you read April 2018 or so websleuths threads you'll find that discussion. A patron of the Gateway Cinema, the entrance to which was right where Brian was last seen on video (entrance to UTS on one side of escalator, entrance to cinema on the opposite side) had circa 2007 or so provided a yelp rating of the cinema and mentioned the awful stench.

You'll also find discussion of the Sunflower Market, which is what came to occupy what is referred to as 'the construction area', which was on the street level one floor below and to the south of the space UTS then occupied. Sunflower Market was a whole foods type grocery that opened around Sept 7, 2006, around 5 months after Brian went missing. I'm pretty confident that if Brian entered the construction area, as Hurst has surmised he well may have, he was in space that came to be occupied by Sunflower Market. If Brian's remains are ever discovered in the complex in which he was last seen, I believe it likely they would be found in/under the former (it closed a year or two after opening) Sunflower Market space, which has since been converted to office space, or perhaps under the elevator shaft (if I understood Hurst correctly in the recent podcast interview, the elevator shaft (the elevator doors were located nearly directly under the surveillance cam that made the last known images of Brian as he conversed with Amber and Brightan) was under construction at the time, elevator cab not yet installed, just a dirt hole at the base at the time). There was also talk of a stench in UTS, but it was after all a bar.

 

[Looking4Brian]

Hey everyone. I just wanted to let everyone know the next part of my interview with John Hurst will be out within the next couple of weeks. We have been working on several things including two new tips and some older tips that are new to me. We also have our first conference call with a producer from a major network this week. We are hoping to get Brian’s case on a bigger platform to help with our investigation and telling Brian’s story. I decided to add a part in the new episode where John and I will answer questions you have or topics you would like elaborated from our latest interview. So feel free to ask your questions on here, by email, or any of our social media pages. I’m going to go back and catch up with any questions that have already been posted. Thanks in advance for your questions.

 

[Looking4Brian]

I hear you, but I think this is a strange statement because the evidence he is deceased is that he has never been seen again. Sure, there was never a body found nor was there blood or DNA. But to say there is "absolutely no evidence he is deceased" is incorrect to me because the probabilities of him being alive are slim to none. It's possible, but unlikely. The more time that goes on, the more likely it is he's not alive. That's plenty of evidence.

I should’ve explained this better. There is no evidence that Brian is deceased and there is no evidence that he is alive. The only thing we know is he is a missing person. However, being a missing person is not evidence that you are deceased. The only information we have available to us shows no signs of foul play, but of course that doesn’t mean there wasn’t foul play. The information we do have shows a possibility he could still be out there, but again it doesn’t mean he is. My comment was more in reference to why LE won’t classify Brian’s Case a homicide without a body since many people believe he was murdered.

 

[Looking4Brian]

Very interesting about the pings. Didn’t LE also get Brian’s phone records? They should have shown if calls were actually made and the phone numbers he called and received calls from.

Yes LE have Brian’s phone records. There were several people calling Brian’s phone, but there was not any outgoing activity.

 

[itsrak]

Hey everyone. I just wanted to let everyone know the next part of my interview with John Hurst will be out within the next couple of weeks. We have been working on several things including two new tips and some older tips that are new to me. We also have our first conference call with a producer from a major network this week. We are hoping to get Brian’s case on a bigger platform to help with our investigation and telling Brian’s story. I decided to add a part in the new episode where John and I will answer questions you have or topics you would like elaborated from our latest interview. So feel free to ask your questions on here, by email, or any of our social media pages. I’m going to go back and catch up with any questions that have already been posted. Thanks in advance for your questions.

A few ?s for PI Hurst:
* You are doubtless aware that multiple people reported a 'stench' in the Gateway complex in the years after Brian went missing. Odd for a new building. Quite odd. Any follow-up on that?
* As to 'the construction area', did CPD interview the building contractor who was building out the Sunflower Market space? When? Did CPD interview construction workers? When? Were they asked if they saw anything out of place on Monday, April 3, 2006 or when they first returned to the site following Brian's disappearance? Did they work at the site on Saturday, April 1 2006?
* On what dates was the 'construction area' searched? By CPD? By third parties? I understand that dogs were used. Of course, dogs are not reliable. Was any dirt moved as part of the search? If not, why not?
* Brian was last seen near an elevator shaft under construction. Were the elevator doors in place at the time of the disappearance? If not, what was in their place - plywood?
* Given Brian's permanent disappearance, has CPD contemplated a new search of the building using current tech such as radar or floor borings? If so, has it been discussed with the owner of the building, listed in tax records as an OSU entity? Is OSU amenable to a new search?
* Based on your comments concerning Cingular's pinging of Brian's phone in 4/2006, it seems reasonable to conclude - given the proximity of the two towers from which successful pings were transmitted - that Brian's phone when receiving the pings could conceivably have been located in the Gateway complex and could conceivably still be there to this day. Would you concur?
* Is it true that Clint refused to answer grand jury questions?
* CPD inspected Clint's and Meredith's vehicles, correct? Did CPD obtain and review their phone records for calls and phone locations in the wake of Brian's disappearance? If not, why not?

 

[Looking4Brian]

I actually heard the exact same actions taken by an individual in last year's podcast..Maybe it's a coincidence.

I been trying to forward the idea that the phone could have ended up in the Hilliard phone re-cycling co. Being turned on on some tech's desk. Having pinged in that area it would indicate it didn't end directly in their mobile "landfill". The phone itself could have ended up there by any means, as most phones did/do. If CPD would have checked the premise and tried to verify with staff if Brian's phone was there , some information could have been collected. At least there would have been a chance of finding something if it had been checked.

I am checking into your theory about the phone recycle store.

 

[Looking4Brian]

You know what's sometimes interesting about phone records when a person goes missing? Who wasn't calling them. If there's someone close enough to the missing person that you'd expect them to be trying to get though to their phone, but instead they never even attempted it. Of course, that's information that we don't have. No doubt investigators would have thought about it from that angle.

We actually have thought about this. The only problem with it is Brian seemed to talk to several people off and on including Clint. Brian and Clint only seemed to talk on the phone around drinking holidays or before a party/celebration.

 

[itsrak]

I should’ve explained this better. There is no evidence that Brian is deceased and there is no evidence that he is alive. The only thing we know is he is a missing person. However, being a missing person is not evidence that you are deceased. The only information we have available to us shows no signs of foul play, but of course that doesn’t mean there wasn’t foul play. The information we do have shows a possibility he could still be out there, but again it doesn’t mean he is. My comment was more in reference to why LE won’t classify Brian’s Case a homicide without a body since many people believe he was murdered.

There is no direct evidence that Brian is deceased. There is circumstantial evidence strongly suggesting that Brian is deceased. In my opinion, in any rational analysis it is vastly unlikely that Brian lives on. I think he almost certainly died the early morn of 4/1/06. That is why there has been zero sign of life from him since. Its not that he's been hiding, its that he's been deceased.

 

[Looking4Brian]

I would love if they released the construction photos. Although they have no reason to. I personally can’t picture them doing some crazy underground digging under a building that has people going in and out all day.

I will see if I can get pictures of the construction area.

 

[Looking4Brian]

I have a quick question, sorry if i've missed it somewhere but i saw a post on here that said both Clint and Meredith said Brian came back into the bar and spoke to them after speaking to the 2 girls at the top of the elevator so i'm confused why there is speculation he could have left the 2 girls and went to the construction entrance if it was confirmed he went back into the bar?

Is this the case, was it confirmed who were the last people to see/speak to him, was it the 2 girls or was it C and M?

Clint and Meredith are the only 2 people that said Brian came back into the bar after speaking to Amber and Brightan. No one else remembers him coming back into the bar. So I would say Amber and Brightan are the last 2 people that we know Brian spoke with.

 

[itsrak]

Clint and Meredith are the only 2 people that said Brian came back into the bar after speaking to Amber and Brightan. No one else remembers him coming back into the bar. So I would say Amber and Brightan are the last 2 people that we know Brian spoke with.

Do you happen to know, did Clint and Meredith just say they saw Brian come back in but did not speak with him, or do they say they spoke with him after he came back in?

 

[Looking4Brian]

Your conclusion is the most logical one, itsrak. Some amateur sleuths don't want to accept it because they wish so badly for Brian to still be alive.
I've listened to the way certain people (both women and men) discuss Brian in podcasts and in posts in this forum.
It has become obvious to me that those people hold some very romantic ideas about Brian. Some of them seem to believe that they're speaking directly to Brian and hoping to touch his heart and convince him to return. The fact that one series of podcasts was entitled "Comeback" is clear evidence of that mentality.
I believe that some of these people actually have a crush on Brian and imagine having some kind of relationship with Brian if he were to return.
Pointing out the most likely, most logical scenario--that Brian died in the construction area the night he disappeared--runs counter to the fantasies of those people, which is why they try to shut down any discussion of that outcome. They will do anything to cling to the scenario that they want to believe in.

Of course everyone hopes or wishes for Brian to be alive. You don’t? Just because we wish or hope that doesn’t mean we have romantic ideas about Brian Shaffer. I have been told by many officers investigators and detectives that Brian made it out of that building so I believe them. With that being said, it doesn’t mean that I do not still investigate the theory of Brian’s body being in or around the Gateway building. I’m simply relaying information and my opinion on the facts we have. I have stated many times I go back and forth on whether Brian is Dead or Alive and I investigate every tip and lead no matter which way it leans. Even tips as morbid as Brian being killed by his father and being buried on the family property. Nothing is off the table until we find Brian. As for Comeback podcast...it was named for the Pearl Jam song that Eddie played for Brian during a show. For the record I came on board with Comeback while it was trying to be launched and had no part in the name. To insinuate anyone has romantic hopes for Brian is absurd! The only hope I have is one way or another we get answers for Brian and the Shaffer Family.

 

[Looking4Brian]

Around April of 2018 on a whim I checked yelp ratings for other businesses in the Gateway complex, hoping to find a clue. Yelp was new and not widely used at the time, yet I found a yelp comment dating to around 2007 that mentioned a stench. So, if you read April 2018 or so websleuths threads you'll find that discussion. A patron of the Gateway Cinema, the entrance to which was right where Brian was last seen on video (entrance to UTS on one side of escalator, entrance to cinema on the opposite side) had circa 2007 or so provided a yelp rating of the cinema and mentioned the awful stench.

You'll also find discussion of the Sunflower Market, which is what came to occupy what is referred to as 'the construction area', which was on the street level one floor below and to the south of the space UTS then occupied. Sunflower Market was a whole foods type grocery that opened around Sept 7, 2006, around 5 months after Brian went missing. I'm pretty confident that if Brian entered the construction area, as Hurst has surmised he well may have, he was in space that came to be occupied by Sunflower Market. If Brian's remains are ever discovered in the complex in which he was last seen, I believe it likely they would be found in/under the former (it closed a year or two after opening) Sunflower Market space, which has since been converted to office space, or perhaps under the elevator shaft (if I understood Hurst correctly in the recent podcast interview, the elevator shaft (the elevator doors were located nearly directly under the surveillance cam that made the last known images of Brian as he conversed with Amber and Brightan) was under construction at the time, elevator cab not yet installed, just a dirt hole at the base at the time). There was also talk of a stench in UTS, but it was after all a bar.

I have seen these reviews as well and they are actually the reason I initially thought Brian was killed and concealed in the building. They still intrigue me.

 

[Looking4Brian]

Do you happen to know, did Clint and Meredith just say they saw Brian come back in but did not speak with him, or do they say they spoke with him after he came back in?

Clint and Meredith both stated that Brian came back into the bar and then said he was going to talk to the band, but with the timing of Brian’s whereabouts I don’t see how this is possible.

 

[Looking4Brian]

A few ?s for PI Hurst:
* You are doubtless aware that multiple people reported a 'stench' in the Gateway complex in the years after Brian went missing. Odd for a new building. Quite odd. Any follow-up on that?
* As to 'the construction area', did CPD interview the building contractor who was building out the Sunflower Market space? When? Did CPD interview construction workers? When? Were they asked if they saw anything out of place on Monday, April 3, 2006 or when they first returned to the site following Brian's disappearance? Did they work at the site on Saturday, April 1 2006?
* On what dates was the 'construction area' searched? By CPD? By third parties? I understand that dogs were used. Of course, dogs are not reliable. Was any dirt moved as part of the search? If not, why not?
* Brian was last seen near an elevator shaft under construction. Were the elevator doors in place at the time of the disappearance? If not, what was in their place - plywood?
* Given Brian's permanent disappearance, has CPD contemplated a new search of the building using current tech such as radar or floor borings? If so, has it been discussed with the owner of the building, listed in tax records as an OSU entity? Is OSU amenable to a new search?
* Based on your comments concerning Cingular's pinging of Brian's phone in 4/2006, it seems reasonable to conclude - given the proximity of the two towers from which successful pings were transmitted - that Brian's phone when receiving the pings could conceivably have been located in the Gateway complex and could conceivably still be there to this day. Would you concur?
* Is it true that Clint refused to answer grand jury questions?
* CPD inspected Clint's and Meredith's vehicles, correct? Did CPD obtain and review their phone records for calls and phone locations in the wake of Brian's disappearance? If not, why not?

Thank you for your questions!

 

[dotr]

Thank you for your questions!

Thank you for all you have done to advance Brian's case and for bringing it here to Ws!

 

[Looking4Brian]

It seems that everyone including myself still has questions about the pings. I’m going to break it down again and add in some new information I have learned. I already explained the ping service that CPD had Cingular put in Brians phone. Basically the company would send out a ping to see if it could connect with the phone. The phone had no usage activity from Saturday at 2:11 am until Monday evening. All of the calls and texts people were making to Brian over the weekend were not making his phone communicate with or ping a cellular tower, meaning the phone was more than likely off. However, on Monday evening the ping service started communicating with Brian’s phone and pinged a tower near Kenny and Lane. Over the following week there were several pings from the cellular service as well as pings from when someone would call Brian’s phone. This meant the calls and messages were now going through. The pings all seemed to stay in the general area for the first couple of weeks. Then later in the month the phone started pinging 2 different towers as if the phone was moving in the West side/Hilliard area. Every time the phone would ping, Cingular would give CPD a report with the pings and they began checking the areas closest to the tower pinged. They used the pings from the West side/Hilliard area to triangulate the signal for a search on Scioto-Darby Creek Road. They found nothing during the search. Cingular gave the explanation that if a tower is overloaded it will jump to the next closest tower and this could make it look like Brian’s phone was moving. However, if this is the case there were several other towers closer to the original pings (Kenny/Lane area) that the phone should’ve connected to first. For the remainder of the 30 days the phone continued to communicate with the ping service. After the 30 days we have no information. Fast forward to September 2006 and Brian’s phone began ringing after continuously going instantly to voicemail. Cingular explained this was either a glitch or someone turned on Brian’s phone. That statement leads me to believe that Brian’s phone quit communicating with towers and was shut off at some point. I hope this helped explain a little bit more. I’m still looking into all of this to try to make sense of it.

 

[Looking4Brian]

Thank you for all you have done to advance Brian's case and for bringing it here to Ws!

Thank you! I hope it helps get answers for Brian. I love the difference of opinions on this thread and the questions that come up.

 

[dotr]

One question that i have is one that i am hesitant to ask.
Is everything about BS's father's shocking and untimely death caused by a tree limb falling on him, widely accepted as a complete freak accident?
speculation, imo.

 

[Ozoner]

Of course everyone hopes or wishes for Brian to be alive. You don’t? Just because we wish or hope that doesn’t mean we have romantic ideas about Brian Shaffer. I have been told by many officers investigators and detectives that Brian made it out of that building so I believe them. With that being said, it doesn’t mean that I do not still investigate the theory of Brian’s body being in or around the Gateway building. I’m simply relaying information and my opinion on the facts we have. I have stated many times I go back and forth on whether Brian is Dead or Alive and I investigate every tip and lead no matter which way it leans. Even tips as morbid as Brian being killed by his father and being buried on the family property. Nothing is off the table until we find Brian. As for Comeback podcast...it was named for the Pearl Jam song that Eddie played for Brian during a show. For the record I came on board with Comeback while it was trying to be launched and had no part in the name. To insinuate anyone has romantic hopes for Brian is absurd! The only hope I have is one way or another we get answers for Brian and the Shaffer Family.

I don't hope that Brian is dead, but I don't hope that he's alive, either. I don't hope for any particular outcome. I simply go where the evidence takes me. I would argue that hoping for a particular outcome would compromise my objectivity.
The totality of the evidence in this case, when considered in light of solved disappearances with similar circumstances, tells me that Brian most likely died in or near the construction site, possibly within a confined space that has eluded searchers.