OH OH - Brian Shaffer, 27, Columbus, 1 Apr 2006 #5

[Valiant]

After reading through this thread, I have a question. I keep seeing it stated that "no construction was done on the weekends" and the site was searched on Monday. Where did the info come from, that there was no work done over the weekends? Just curious, I thought construction wasn't a 9-5 M-F type job.

It all depends on the site.
Some are typical working hours only, some are 24 hours a day.

 

[King91]

The case that I referred to earlier was Fernanda Maciel’s case.

I haven’t followed her case lately .

I had never heard about it before. Thank you for bringing it up. I just read about it, and what a sad case that is.

Interesting that the killer’s garage was searched six previous times, with dogs, before they found her remains concealed just 70 cm below.

 

[Feme98]

I had never heard about it before. Thank you for bringing it up. I just read about it, and what a sad case that is.

Interesting that the killer’s garage was searched six previous times, with dogs, before they found her remains concealed just 70 cm below.

Yeah! The whole case was just baffling, it's truly sad that her family went through this ordeal, specially when her alleged killer lived next door to them.

Fernanda and her baby has their whole life ahead of them, they are resting properly and her family is still healing from this.

 

[SaucyWalker]

Perhaps he and Brian were doing drugs that evening or knew of Brian's intentions to score some coke (maybe Clint put him in touch with someone?) after bar-hopping. The supposed planned after-party doesn't get addressed enough. If Florence testified on the record he was involved with (hard) drugs he may see his medical license or career aspirations jeopardized. He could also be fearful of snitching on a dealer Brian was getting involved with that night.

It may be unfair to him to speculate stuff like this, but this is the can of worms that gets opened when you're so evasive and shut off communication with law enforcement. If you've got nothing to hide, why hide at all?

I agree with this; it would not be a stretch to imagine they were taking drugs that night. The quantity doesn't matter, but simply having this sort of information on record does. As a premed student with presumable ambitions to become a doctor, I could see where he would not want to blemish his reputation.

In still another question, do you remember the early details of the story in which someone (the girl who was with them?) recalled Brian asking Clint, "Do you want to go up?" As I recall, it was never determined just what Brian meant by this, but there was speculation that he may have been referring to talking to the band that was playing that night. Apparently, this was something he liked to do.

It doesn't seem plausible that Brian just took off, especially with his car still there at his residence and a trip planned in the coming days. I suspect he was picked up by the wrong people and murdered. I also think Clint's reluctance to take a polygraph was related to self interest for his future, not due to guilt.

 

[XPh]

I agree with this; it would not be a stretch to imagine they were taking drugs that night. The quantity doesn't matter, but simply having this sort of information on record does. As a premed student with presumable ambitions to become a doctor, I could see where he would not want to blemish his reputation.

Clint was not a premed student, nor is he a physician now. He is a scientist/microbiologist. I hear this misstated often and I think it’s important to be accurate.

Nonetheless, I still think your point is valid in that Clint’s silence / lawyering up could be due to knowledge of illegal activities (e.g. drugs) as opposed to direct knowledge of what happened to Brian.

 

[ErinC]

Police: Human remains found in south Columbus | NBC4 WCMH-TV Apparently skeletal remains of a male have been found off of South High Street. I came right here with the link and didn't look into how far that would be from campus/the Ugly Tuna.

 

[itsrak]

Police: Human remains found in south Columbus | NBC4 WCMH-TV Apparently skeletal remains of a male have been found off of South High Street. I came right here with the link and didn't look into how far that would be from campus/the Ugly Tuna.

Where the remains were found is around 5 miles right down High St. (south) from where Brian was last seen in the Gateway complex...

 

[dotr]

Police: Human remains found in south Columbus | NBC4 WCMH-TV Apparently skeletal remains of a male have been found off of South High Street. I came right here with the link and didn't look into how far that would be from campus/the Ugly Tuna.

Thanks for the heads up!
The bodies of two men were found Monday in Columbus in separate incidents.
''Medics with the Columbus Division of Fire were dispatched just after 1 p.m. Monday to a wooded area on the South Side after police received a call from a resident who heard a rumor that a missing family member's body could be there, said Columbus police Lt. Larry Yates.

Human skeletal remains believed to be those of a man were found off the 1800 block of South High Street near West Bartham Avenue near railroad tracks and police are working to identify the individual.

The remains were in a state of "severe decomposition," Yates said, making it difficult to confirm the man's age and race.''

 

[tarabull]

Additionally snipped...
...Yates said police believe they know the name of the deceased man, but have not publicly identified him pending confirmation that the remains are indeed his and his family has been notified.

 

[Kaie]

Where the remains were found is around 5 miles right down High St. (south) from where Brian was last seen in the Gateway complex...

I've just had a look at the area on a map. Even though I've never been there before, I think I've figured out the general area they're referring to. It's not on the Gateway complex's doorstep by any means, but definitely within striking distance... especially considering how little time it would take in a car.

On previous occasions, when new discoveries like this have been raised in this thread, there's always been some detail in the linked article that makes it pretty obvious straight away that it couldn't be Brian. I don't see anything in this story so far that rules the possibility out in the same way. I am wondering though, if remains could be in that area for a whole 15 years without detection. Then again, the article doesn't go into whether there was any concealment, and how much effort it really took to find these remains once they'd been tipped off.

 

[george14]

Very interested to see if one of the two men are Brian. One would think the odds are solid given the location, sex, and fact that the amount of people missing is a relatively low number in the grand scheme of things.

 

[XPh]

Very interested to see if one of the two men are Brian. One would think the odds are solid given the location, sex, and fact that the amount of people missing is a relatively low number in the grand scheme of things.

IMO: I don’t think the odds are very high at all. I don’t think Brian’s remains would even be intact at this point if they were outdoors this long. I am thinking if it were Brian we would be talking about scattered / fragmented bones, and I got the impression these were closer to intact. One of the articles talked about “severe decomposition,” which to me implies that there was maybe at least a bit of other tissue besides bone, which I don’t think would be the case if it was Brian.

But possible? Yes I suppose so. At least more possible than any other finding I can recall in the last 15 years. Just unlikely IMO.

Also, only 1 of these 2 unrelated discoveries could be Brian. The other in the apartment building makes no sense (and I think was identified anyways).

Maybe I’ll be wrong. If so, at least that would provide some long sought after answers.

 

[itsrak]

IMO: I don’t think the odds are very high at all. I don’t think Brian’s remains would even be intact at this point if they were outdoors this long. I am thinking if it were Brian we would be talking about scattered / fragmented bones, and I got the impression these were closer to intact. One of the articles talked about “severe decomposition,” which to me implies that there was maybe at least a bit of other tissue besides bone, which I don’t think would be the case if it was Brian.

But possible? Yes I suppose so. At least more possible than any other finding I can recall in the last 15 years. Just unlikely IMO.

Also, only 1 of these 2 unrelated discoveries could be Brian. The other in the apartment building makes no sense (and I think was identified anyways).

Maybe I’ll be wrong. If so, at least that would provide some long sought after answers.

In linked article below, the remains are characterized as skeletal. Remains of a male, along High St. Brian was last seen in a complex along High St. around 5 miles north, he's male, and his remains would be skeletal at this point. So the chance is real. But, like you say, a long shot.

Police: A skeletal human corpse found in a forest area along South High Street in Columbus - Ohio News Time

In article is a pic of cops, pile of rubble nearby, and then woods and train cars further back. 1800 block of S. High. Based on that, here is satellite image of what I believe is the approximate area where remains were found. Looks like a convenient dump site....

 

[Kaie]

Going by the Google Maps directions feature, it's only a 13 minute drive from the Gateway building that housed the Ugly Tuna Saloona to the location @itsrak has posted above.

 

[Valiant]

Going by the Google Maps directions feature, it's only a 13 minute drive from the Gateway building that housed the Ugly Tuna Saloona to the location @itsrak has posted above.

It's possible it may be a little north of there, which is even more wooded as some news reports said near Reeb Avenue and South High Street.
Reeb is about 2 blocks north of Barthman which is shown in the map.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

police received a call from a resident who heard a rumor that a missing family member's body could be there,

Quote RSBM. Doesn't this quote indicate this will be a more recent case, from a local family?

In any case, my sincere condolences. No one should have to hear rumors about their missing family member and have to contact LE with that information.

 

[MerryB]

<modsnip - quoted post removed>
Pearl Alley, which runs behind the bar and parallel to busy High St., does not have many cameras. It had even less back then, as the area was not as developed at that time. Here is a picture to give you an idea.

 

[Satch]

Respectfully SBM.
Pearl Alley, which runs behind the bar and parallel to busy High St., does not have many cameras. It had even less back then, as the area was not as developed at that time. Here is a picture to give you an idea.

Wow!
Thank you for sharing. Very easy how Brian could have simply gone out the back way, undetected. Was this area the construction site back in April 2006? Regardless, Brian could have left out the back door and vanished into the night.

Satch

 

[JaimeInLA]

Police: Human remains found in south Columbus | NBC4 WCMH-TV Apparently skeletal remains of a male have been found off of South High Street. I came right here with the link and didn't look into how far that would be from campus/the Ugly Tuna.

could also be Tyler Davis.

 

[Satch]

RSBM

I’m trying to imagine any type of pit large enough or awkwardly shaped enough to conceal a body that would be also filled full of concrete. What construction work was being done that you’re mentioning?

I can't remember, but I think it was an add-on to the stores in the complex. Earlier in the thread there was IIRC a discussion of what other businesses were in that building. It wasn't just The Ugly Tuna.

Satch