also owns another bar in Hilliard but appears to have opened years later
OH OH - Brian Shaffer, 27, Columbus, 1 Apr 2006 #5
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also owns another bar in Hilliard but appears to have opened years later
It’s a huge reach but that’s all we have at this point. Why would the bar owner care if shaffer met his demise in the construction area? Wasn’t the only access that little alcove outside the bar where the two cpd officers were supposedly watching ? Even if something happened inside the bar there’s so many drunk idiots and accidents that happens that’s why they have business insurance.
It’s a huge reach but that’s all we have at this point. Why would the bar owner care if shaffer met his demise in the construction area? Wasn’t the only access that little alcove outside the bar where the two cpd officers were supposedly watching ? Even if something happened inside the bar there’s so many drunk idiots and accidents that happens that’s why they have business insurance.
Looking4Brian
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I have actually known this for a while. The bar he opened in Hilliard didn’t open until several years after Brian’s disappearance. The bar owner did live in the Hilliard area too.
Looking4Brian
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From what I have been told from retired Sergeant John Hurst, the bar was checked from top to bottom. Any loose piles of dirt were moved and searched. There were several exits in the building. There was the escalator exit outside the bar and the fire escape exit in the bar. Under the camera where Brian was standing was the entrance to the construction area and the access to get downstairs. Down stairs there was the trash exit, the exit the band used, the back kitchen door to MadMex, and a couple of other makeshift doors covering the construction.
So basically there were multiple ways he could’ve left. Do you know which exits didn’t have surveillance? In the video it does not look like he went back into the bar.
UnderWhelmed405
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True Crime Garage podcast has multiple episodes on this case and they are very familiar with the area/bar. They strongly believe he left and have stated there were multiple exits w/o cctv. Namely, the exit the band used which had a witness that night stating that a large group of people left through that door that included band/patrons/employees/etc.
Ozoner
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We know that Brian didn't leave in a group that included the band—he was still talking to the girls when the band left—but he may have tried to follow the band.
It's possible that he made it out of the building, but not a single credible witness can place Brian anywhere outside the building after his disappearance. When you add in the fact that Brian's phone started going to voicemail almost immediately, it becomes probable that Brian stumbled into the construction area and met his demise there.
But where was his body? The detective said the area dug up was 4 ft deep and 6x6.
I find it hard to believe the officers would let him go through that door.. and I’m surprised ugly tuna would let him back in at 1:55 since they were closing
2:00 AM is "closing time". Closing time is the time at which they stop letting people into the bar and the time at which you can buy your last drink (also known as last call).
The bar actually remains open for 1/2 hour (or possibly 1 hour, depends on the law and I forget Ohio's law at the time, plus the bar's policy which is often the maximum the state allows) for people to finish the drinks they have though they can't order new ones. Then the lights come on and everyone is sent out the doors.
Another thing, many bars have an "official" clock they use to determine closing time. I've noticed these clocks can be 10-15 slow so they can be open a few minutes later. I have no idea if this place did that or not.
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My understanding is that access to that door was not restricted. I think the cops were there to keep an eye out for drunken brawls, etc. I don't think were tasked with preventing access to that door. That door did not lead directly to the construction area. It led to a hallway that included an elevator shaft and a stairway. (I believe there was some kind of office back there, too—something to do with OSU—but I've forgotten the details.) The stairway could have been taken down to the lower level, and the construction site would have been accessed from there.
Ozoner
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That's a new one by me. Every bar I've ever been to has the clock set ten minutes fast so they can't get busted for accidentally serving past the statutory last call time.
Kaie
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Yeah, I don't think so. I'm not in Ohio, but where I come from... the fines for serving outside of licensed hours are hefty. And I say the following with all due respect to liquor laws, which exist for good reasons... these kinds of charges are also a revenue gaining exercise, and that's true no matter where you are. They don't let all those dollars go just because of dodgy clock settings. Anyone whose job it is to enforce these laws, knows exactly what time it is.
tarabull
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Looking4Brian
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We have confirmed last call at UTS that night was around 2:00 A.M. The bar closed at 2:30.
itsrak
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The detective characterized the construction area as having been 'completely dug up' and difficult to navigate even sober. When asked in a subsequent interview in particular about the state of the elevator shaft he noted that at the time of the disappearance the base had been dug, the 4x6x6 hole that you ref.
DD Byrd
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I'm with Occam on this one; except in truly rare instances, the most likely scenario is usually the least complicated. It still sounds like Brian left through the band exit, even after the band had left while he was with Amber and Brighton. There would've still been people leaving that way for the after-party, going to the bathroom etc on the way out. As long as they had the address/ vicinity of the party there wouldn't necessarily be a one-time herd leaving before 2:30am. With a school that size, and presumambly not the most sober of groups, he wouldn't stand out.
I think Brian made his way to the Wendy's lot for a ride to the party, for drugs, or a hookup (male or female). He would've intentionally avoided Clint and Meredith if he either didn't want them to know his destination, or simply didn't want to go home yet and run risk of his girlfriend wondering why he told C and M to leave without him since he would've had to come up with something if he'd run into them. He would have assumed he could tell them he just lost them in the shuffle the next day. If Clint were hiding something at the time, it could be as simple as Brian did drugs and/or was cheating on his girlfriend. Both of which would have been a big deal at the time to blow your friend's cover. Clint may very well have released that info later, and police haven't disclosed it.
After the Wendy's rendevous, he may have had a fatal drug overdose, alcohol poisoning, or drunken fall and then dumped in the woods, possibly just to sleep it off. If he wasn't dead yet, he would be of hypothermia and just hasn't been found. A darker theory would be one/both of the significant others of girls at the bar, or anyone he may have run his mouth at for that matter, who followed him to Wendy's or the party. Or if they weren't at UTS, were called to show up. Less likely are being hit by a driver who panicked and was able to get his body out of the road without being seen or a mugging/abduction/murder/disposal by a stranger or strangers.
While it's possible he ran away to start a new life, even possible though unlikely that some in his life new his desire but not the exact plan, it seems highly improbable without some serious planning and resources. And certainly not after a night of drinking. If he made it home and planned to leave the next day it'd still be unlikely for him to pull it off without help.
As for the construction site, I don't think his body is there. If he'd been bonked over the head with rebar or somehow died accidently someone would've had to find him and then decide that whether accident or homicide it wasn't good public relations for UTS or OSU, whether or not that person was involved. He/she would then get his body out of there asap, even if it had to be hidden until the next day. That someone would need access at off hours or to have gotten his body to a dumpster after even staff had left. It would make no sense to try to permanently hide his body on the premises, he/she would most likely assume in a college town that the deceased's friends would lead police right back to UTS. In my estimation, the only way his body could be on premises is the farthest of flung scenarios where his body made it's way deep into the ground by itself ie sinking, and sinking below the level of the actual construction itself, which is unlikely. I don't think the zoning would be allowed over that kind of water table. And he can't be just behind a wall or a floorboard. If he died or was killed at UTS, it was an awfully short timeline and he's probably in a landfill, which could have been traced in those first few days.
I think Brian made his way to the Wendy's lot for a ride to the party, for drugs, or a hookup (male or female). He would've intentionally avoided Clint and Meredith if he either didn't want them to know his destination, or simply didn't want to go home yet and run risk of his girlfriend wondering why he told C and M to leave without him since he would've had to come up with something if he'd run into them. He would have assumed he could tell them he just lost them in the shuffle the next day. If Clint were hiding something at the time, it could be as simple as Brian did drugs and/or was cheating on his girlfriend. Both of which would have been a big deal at the time to blow your friend's cover. Clint may very well have released that info later, and police haven't disclosed it.
After the Wendy's rendevous, he may have had a fatal drug overdose, alcohol poisoning, or drunken fall and then dumped in the woods, possibly just to sleep it off. If he wasn't dead yet, he would be of hypothermia and just hasn't been found. A darker theory would be one/both of the significant others of girls at the bar, or anyone he may have run his mouth at for that matter, who followed him to Wendy's or the party. Or if they weren't at UTS, were called to show up. Less likely are being hit by a driver who panicked and was able to get his body out of the road without being seen or a mugging/abduction/murder/disposal by a stranger or strangers.
While it's possible he ran away to start a new life, even possible though unlikely that some in his life new his desire but not the exact plan, it seems highly improbable without some serious planning and resources. And certainly not after a night of drinking. If he made it home and planned to leave the next day it'd still be unlikely for him to pull it off without help.
As for the construction site, I don't think his body is there. If he'd been bonked over the head with rebar or somehow died accidently someone would've had to find him and then decide that whether accident or homicide it wasn't good public relations for UTS or OSU, whether or not that person was involved. He/she would then get his body out of there asap, even if it had to be hidden until the next day. That someone would need access at off hours or to have gotten his body to a dumpster after even staff had left. It would make no sense to try to permanently hide his body on the premises, he/she would most likely assume in a college town that the deceased's friends would lead police right back to UTS. In my estimation, the only way his body could be on premises is the farthest of flung scenarios where his body made it's way deep into the ground by itself ie sinking, and sinking below the level of the actual construction itself, which is unlikely. I don't think the zoning would be allowed over that kind of water table. And he can't be just behind a wall or a floorboard. If he died or was killed at UTS, it was an awfully short timeline and he's probably in a landfill, which could have been traced in those first few days.
DD Byrd
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I failed to mention the dogs. Cadaver dogs wouldn't hit on remains removed immediately, decomp gases they pick up wouldn't have accumulated. More than that is a different story, but the body could still have been removed. I haven't seen it released whether dogs hit on dumpsters or the sidewalk beyond the construction site, even days later. So that is open.
Dogs tracking a living person, on the other hand, are more reliable if the person was traversing solo in favorable conditions. Unless there was a torrential rain or unexplainable extended trek through water, I think Brian walked to the Wendy's parking lot. I'd be interested to know if the Wendy's was open, I know some franchises have early morning hours. If it was open, he could've gone for food and something unplanned occurred. But I'm still leaning towards it was closed and he was going there to meet a car.
Dogs tracking a living person, on the other hand, are more reliable if the person was traversing solo in favorable conditions. Unless there was a torrential rain or unexplainable extended trek through water, I think Brian walked to the Wendy's parking lot. I'd be interested to know if the Wendy's was open, I know some franchises have early morning hours. If it was open, he could've gone for food and something unplanned occurred. But I'm still leaning towards it was closed and he was going there to meet a car.
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