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

[MerryB]

I'm of the opinion (JMO) that he slipped out of the building, down Pearl to avoid Cliff and Meredith, something happened and he never made it home alive. The streets of Columbus are and were even then a dangerous place to be in the middle of the night alone.

SBM. I was at OSU at the time & am familiar with the area. This is an important possibility that is often overlooked.

 

[doctorsleuthy]

Welcome Dr. Sleuthy! I’m looking forward to reading your insights on this case.
I’m going to tag @Looking4Brian because Kelly is in touch with Detective Hurst & might be able to help answer some of your questions.

Thanks @MerryB, that would be great. There will be no one who knows more about the details than Det. Hurst.

 

[doctorsleuthy]

SBM. I was at OSU at the time & am familiar with the area. This is an important possibility that is often overlooked.

Ive never been to Columbus, so Im sure many people, including myself, rely on those such as yourselves who live or have lived there, so you are all helping to paint a picture.

Ive actually been able to find some pictures of the area from around 2006-2007 through google maps and other sources. It definitely looks different and a lot more open areas, but For an outsider, it helps to see the area.

 

[doctorsleuthy]

So after reviewing the Podcasts sessions with Det Hurst I began to hear a couple things that I just can’t get past.

The Emergency Exit door inside the bar...Det Hurst discusses these doors in both Podcasts.

These doors lead from the second floor inside the bar and then downstairs to outside the building on ground level, basically right outside where you would enter the building and go up the escalator toward the bar.

These doors are supposed to sound when someone exits but apparently they do not, from what I read or heard. There is also a camera which is supposed to have an Auto Focus feature on it that pans to the door when it opens.

Det. Hurst states in both podcasts that this feature was disabled or overridden by an employee for whatever reason and it was operating on manual.

Now he also states in one podcast that CPD spoke with the UTS staff who stated that they had security at the door watching and nobody went up or down.

He also states on one of the podcasts that security monitoring the cameras, stated that “to the best of their knowledge” no one exited. To me thats an interesting phrase because it leaves room for possible error.

But for me the biggest statement he makes about that door is that while the camera was on manual control, that “it appeared at one point to want to pan and focus on something however it didn’t actually do it because it was overridden.”

For me, the time frame for this happening is absolutely critical because if it happened after 1:59am when Brian was last seen and could have been in the bar, then its very possible it could have been Brian.

Im not saying security did it on purpose, but Im questioning why would the camera attempt to pan unless someone was exiting those doors? It says to me someone left and the time of when they left is critical because if everyone else was accounted for as leaving by CPD, then that could be the 1 who wasn’t...which is Brian.

Id love to know what time that occurred.

In the E-news special a detective says its not possible that Brian went out the emergency exit because of the Auto Pan feature which would focus on whoever left...however we know thats not factually correct seeing as Det Hurst states in both Podcasts that the Auto Feature on the door was on manual and not working for whatever reason...they contradicted each other.

 

[Ozoner]

As of right now with where I am at the 1 question I would have for Det Hurst is:

Is there a piece of information you can tell us about or discuss, that made you believe definitively that Brian made it out of that complex?

I have many follow up questions to any answer he would give to that question, but again, he is privy to things the public just doesn’t know, it very well may be one of those things...that he may have info he just is not able to share with the public.

Hurst has already explained his thinking on that issue. He thinks Brian made it out because LE searched with dogs and didn't find him there. There's no more to it than that unless you want to hang your hat on the tracking dog following some kind of scent trail out the door adjacent to Wendy's. That the police have three different theories proves that they don't have the sort of secret evidence to which you're referring.

 

[psych-nurse]

What do you think would be the reason he would want to avoid his two companions? I’ve seen that a few times on this thread and the older ones about Brian that he may have left an alternative way to avoid Florence and Meredith, but after spending all night with them why suddenly would he need to get away from them right at the end? Did they have an argument? If so, why did Florence and Meredith go back into the bar to look for Brian? if the argument had already happened and Brian had separated from them based on that then surely the other two would have known he’d gone off on his own. What was the need to seek him out before leaving themselves?

I think it's as simple as wanting to spend more time with Amber and Brighton without that fact getting back to his girlfriend.

 

[bbsus]

I think it's as simple as wanting to spend more time with Amber and Brighton without that fact getting back to his girlfriend.

Maybe but why wouldn't he have left with them? I highly doubt he was privy to exactly where the camera could see him.

 

[psych-nurse]

Maybe but why wouldn't he have left with them? I highly doubt he was privy to exactly where the camera could see him.

I think he went out another door to avoid the friends he came with. The fact that there were no camera angles was a coincidence IMO. If he would've left with the two girls, his friends would've seen him do that as they left via the escalator - he didn't want them to know and be able to tell his girlfriend. I think he planned to try to slip out and meet up with them outside while Cliff and Meredith were still waiting for him inside.

 

[bbsus]

The girls never mentioned that, right? I'd think they'd at least admit such a thing to at least an investigator. I also thought they ended up not exchanging numbers?

 

[MerryB]

So after reviewing the Podcasts sessions with Det Hurst I began to hear a couple things that I just can’t get past.

The Emergency Exit door inside the bar...Det Hurst discusses these doors in both Podcasts.

These doors lead from the second floor inside the bar and then downstairs to outside the building on ground level, basically right outside where you would enter the building and go up the escalator toward the bar.

These doors are supposed to sound when someone exits but apparently they do not, from what I read or heard. There is also a camera which is supposed to have an Auto Focus feature on it that pans to the door when it opens.

Det. Hurst states in both podcasts that this feature was disabled or overridden by an employee for whatever reason and it was operating on manual.

Now he also states in one podcast that CPD spoke with the UTS staff who stated that they had security at the door watching and nobody went up or down.

He also states on one of the podcasts that security monitoring the cameras, stated that “to the best of their knowledge” no one exited. To me thats an interesting phrase because it leaves room for possible error.

But for me the biggest statement he makes about that door is that while the camera was on manual control, that “it appeared at one point to want to pan and focus on something however it didn’t actually do it because it was overridden.”

For me, the time frame for this happening is absolutely critical because if it happened after 1:59am when Brian was last seen and could have been in the bar, then its very possible it could have been Brian.

Im not saying security did it on purpose, but Im questioning why would the camera attempt to pan unless someone was exiting those doors? It says to me someone left and the time of when they left is critical because if everyone else was accounted for as leaving by CPD, then that could be the 1 who wasn’t...which is Brian.

Id love to know what time that occurred.

In the E-news special a detective says its not possible that Brian went out the emergency exit because of the Auto Pan feature which would focus on whoever left...however we know thats not factually correct seeing as Det Hurst states in both Podcasts that the Auto Feature on the door was on manual and not working for whatever reason...they contradicted each other.

Interesting. I’ve always thought that there was some reason why investigators firmly believed he made it out of the bar (and I can tell you that was the general belief on campus at the time as well); something they knew that the public did not. This could be it.

 

[psych-nurse]

The girls never mentioned that, right? I'd think they'd at least admit such a thing to at least an investigator. I also thought they ended up not exchanging numbers?

There have been so many podcasts that I've listened to and one was an interview with Brighton. I'm trying to find out exactly which one and which episode, but IIRC there was talk of him walking them to their car. She mentioned that she was buzzed and memories are fuzzy but he was heavily flirting and kissed her neck. That he left them to go back inside and she didn't see him after that.

 

[MerryB]

There have been so many podcasts that I've listened to and one was an interview with Brighton. I'm trying to find out exactly which one and which episode, but IIRC there was talk of him walking them to their car. She mentioned that she was buzzed and memories are fuzzy but he was heavily flirting and kissed her neck. That he left them to go back inside and she didn't see him after that.

You are correct. She stated that they exchanged numbers and he then offered to walk them to their car, but they declined. She said she’s not sure why they declined, but they had plans to go back to Amber’s boyfriend’s place, so maybe Amber didn’t want him to tag along. She stated she was drunk and didn’t remember exactly why he didn’t walk out with them.

Based on the CCTV footage when Brian is first seen outside the bar talking to Amber & Brightan at 1:55: If you watch, the girls are really talking to each other & he’s just kind of sticking close by. They are standing right by the false wall that was there at the time. There are cops standing off to the side by the stairs that run parallel to the escalators. Brian kind of glances in their direction briefly, while the girls are talking, and kind of moves with the girls so he’s got a view of the bar. Looking at the footage, the bar is out of frame to the left. At 1:58 the girls leave down the escalator & Brian is out of frame.

I’m wondering if he wanted others to think he left with them. Clint & Meredith may have actually assumed that, because they didn’t seem to look too hard for him.

Clint & Meredith were on the escalator by 2:00.
Brian was out of sight within 2 minutes.

 

[doctorsleuthy]

Hurst has already explained his thinking on that issue. He thinks Brian made it out because LE searched with dogs and didn't find him there. There's no more to it than that unless you want to hang your hat on the tracking dog following some kind of scent trail out the door adjacent to Wendy's. That the police have three different theories proves that they don't have the sort of secret evidence to which you're referring.

I do find it interesting that Det Hurst when talking about that scent leading out the side and behind Wendys says “and thats all I can release about that” and then moves on. That tells me they do have something they can’t discuss.

 

[doctorsleuthy]

I think it's as simple as wanting to spend more time with Amber and Brighton without that fact getting back to his girlfriend.

There could be any number of reasons for not wanting to see Merideth and Clint.

Something that was previously discussed in the past was that Merideth liked Brian, but Clint supposedly liked Merideth, and possibly he was just trying to avoid ending the night and leaving with them?

Maybe he felt they would try and bring him to the professors house and he didnt want to go?

Maybe he was going to sneak out and try and meet Amber and Brighton?

It really could be anything. Heck, back in my day we used to have a joke amongst friends we named the “Irish goodbye” where someone would say, Im going to the bathroom and duck out a side door of a bar and go home. The reason was always because the party was going to keep going and that person just wanted the night to end! We would call the next day and say, dude, where did you go? It really could be that simple, just wanting to go home and avoid friends arguing and convincing you to stay.

I really do feel this entire case, that the simple answer is going to be correct. I dont think anything was planned on Brians part, or anyone who could have harmed him. It just happened! He went out a door and died or was killed. In my opinion Brian is still in that area somewhere.

 

[bbsus]

^^ Sure, I am of the opinion it is simpler than it seems as well. However, I find it incredibly odd and frustrating we don't have a body. We even got Joey's. it's like some mastermind somehow perfectly found Brian alone and knew enough to hide it this long.

 

[MerryB]

DBM double post

 

[MerryB]

I really do feel this entire case, that the simple answer is going to be correct. I dont think anything was planned on Brians part, or anyone who could have harmed him. It just happened! He went out a door and died or was killed. In my opinion Brian is still in that area somewhere.

I do tend to believe that the fact he is not seen leaving is a red herring.
Brian left the bar an alternate way to avoid running into Clint & Meredith for whatever reason. Perhaps if they did have an argument earlier in the night as Meredith said, he did not want to be around Clint. This could also be why Clint refused to answer Grand Jury questions once he saw them (not because he was necessarily guilty of anything, but felt admitting to an argument might implicate him or raise eyebrows).
Brian dodged them as they exited the bar, and turned his phone off at 2 AM so they couldn’t reach him.
IMO he either made it to Wendy’s (which was the common belief at the time) or he took Pearl to walk home the back way and something happened.
The question is *what.*

 

[doctorsleuthy]

I do tend to believe that the fact he is not seen leaving is a red herring.
Brian left the bar an alternate way to avoid running into Clint & Meredith for whatever reason. Perhaps if they did have an argument earlier in the night as Meredith said, he did not want to be around Clint. This could also be why Clint refused to answer Grand Jury questions once he saw them (not because he was necessarily guilty of anything, but felt admitting to an argument might implicate him or raise eyebrows).
Brian dodged them as they exited the bar, and turned his phone off at 2 AM so they couldn’t reach him.
IMO he either made it to Wendy’s (which was the common belief at the time) or he took Pearl to walk home the back way and something happened.
The question is *what.*

After listening to the podcasts Ive come to the opinion that Brian left the bar and the building entirely. I do not think he is there. Hurst said the construction area was treacherous and dug up, but he also said at the very beginning of the disappearance that the resources they used were tremendous searching. He said they even had horse back officers looking. I have to take him at his word when he says they searched that entire building top to bottom, even taking doors off maintenance rooms and closets. Anything is possible, I just feel it’s very unlikely now that he died in there and is still there.

Det Hurst also says on podcast “its a possibility” that Brian could have exited from the first floor out any of the businesses front doors at the time as well because the businesses all left their doors open, and wasnt caught on camera. Im not sure how plausible that is, but he’s admitted its possible.

And I completely agree with you @MerryB about the relationship and possible reason why Clint didnt want to answer questions. I do not feel he had anything to do with it, I do feel he got nervous because they had an argument that night and in the past, and things would have come out where LE could look his way.

With everything I am reading and hearing, In my opinion Brian made it out, and something happened like you said, either at or near Wendys or on the way home. But its just my opinion. I think he is in that area still within range of the pings on his cellphone.

Question, was the phone still going to voice mail Monday evening when CPD started pinging it? Or was it ringing as well?

 

[doctorsleuthy]

@MerryB, seeing as you lived there at the time and attended school there, could you shed any light on the searches that took place along the Olentangy River or Trail? I am assuming these were searched extensively, however these are places where bodies could be concealed easily. I did read that even Randy Shaffer searched here as well.

Im curious as well if there are any places you believe could have or should have been searched that maybe were not paid attention to.

 

[dotr]

Brian Shaffer Case Enters Year No. 4

image_shaffer-video-280
April 2, 2010
''It's been four years since Brian Shaffer was last seen going up an escalator to a bar near the Ohio State campus, but his brother expressed hope Wednesday that the case would eventually be resolved.

"If I don't see him again, that's OK," said Derek Shaffer. "But just to hear from him (and know) everything's OK; it just makes me sick to my stomach to this day that someone could have possibly hurt him, or beat him like that."

''Columbus police detectives have traveled to six states and the U.S. Virgin Islands to follow upon potential leads in the case.

Central Ohio Crime Stoppers continues to ask for tips in Shaffer's disappearance. It is offering a reward of up to $25,000 for information on his whereabouts.''

What happened to Brian Shaffer? Columbus police continue to work case 14 years after his disappearance
Feb 19 2020 rbbm.
''Foul play has never been ruled out in the Shaffer case, nor has the fact that he perhaps just took off. Detectives have long suspected that the stresses of life, medical school and losing a mother to cancer may have played a part in his disappearance.

After all, "adults can disappear," says Det. Tucker, but she still believes his case is rather suspicious given the family he left behind.

Tucker says she plans to re-interview people from the case, hoping to uncover one more clue. She believes someone already interviewed is withholding information.'