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

[Valiant]

(For what it's worth closeted gay men are very common in the Midwestern region of the United States. The local culture and the "small town gossip" aspect of life in the Midwest keep a lot of gay men discreet. It's always possible there's a bit of gossip that might shed light on Brian's case but no one wants to come forward with it.)

But yet Columbus is a gay friendly town.

 

[WyomingSkyAngel]

But yet Columbus is a gay friendly town.

On an individual basis gay men can be very sensitive about how they present to others. Thankfully we are in more tolerant times but some still have anxiety about being way out of the closet. If this issue had something to do with Brian's disappearance it's easy to see how confusing it would make an investigation.

Also whether his relationship with his girlfriend was super serious on his side might not matter, a lot of women start getting anxious around the 6 month mark and start asking about the future of the relationship. Several statements about his relationship made me think he might have been looking to party and get a break from that stressor. Might have put him in a very impulsive frame of mind.....

 

[ShamelessObserver]

Have any jailhouse snitches said anything about Brian over the years?? Anything ever leaked out I mean? Surely if he was killed by someone, or a gang then it would leak out from inside jails eventually.

'I know the people who did it, I was in prison with them and they said X Y Z happened' etc?

 

[itsrak]

Have any jailhouse snitches said anything about Brian over the years?? Anything ever leaked out I mean? Surely if he was killed by someone, or a gang then it would leak out from inside jails eventually.

'I know the people who did it, I was in prison with them and they said X Y Z happened' etc?

The lack of snitches or spilling of the beans is another indicator to suggest that perhaps Brian's death was accidental and unobserved with no sightings outside the complex where last seen - no perp, no witness, remains hidden from view.

 

[TizerisT]

To me this seems like a classic case of:
1a) drunk, he looks around, can't see his friends. or:
1b) wants to slip away from his friends
2) fixates on a door, thinks "where does this lead to?"
3) ends up in a dark maintenace area
4) dies from misadventure, likely a fall.
I've done similar things myself.
Theres 3 doors at the top in this video:

 

[dotr]

To me this seems like a classic case of: drunk guy looks around, can't see his friends, fixates on a door, thinks "where does this lead to?", ends up in a dark maintenace area, dies from misadventure, likely a fall. I've done similar things myself.
Theres 3 doors at the top in this video:

View attachment 263381

True, I once observed a very drunk guy walking along the sidewalk where he came upon quite a high scaffold, instead of walking around it, he climbed up one side, then climbed down the other, without comment- and just continued along on his merry drunken way!

 

[TizerisT]

It seems to me that law enforcement have not searched the complete property, from what I am reading.
Forget the cadaver dogs, search the premisis. It's a building, not a forest. Every boiler room, every elevator shaft must be ticked off. There's probably an area under the escalators strewn with faded 1950's Pepsi cans and the like.
If they haven't brought the fine-toothed comb out, then thats concerning.

 

[itsrak]

It seems to me that law enforcement have not searched the complete property, from what I am reading.
Forget the cadaver dogs, search the premisis. It's a building, not a forest. Every boiler room, every elevator shaft must be ticked off. There's probably an area under the escalators strewn with faded 1950's Pepsi cans and the like.
If they haven't brought the fine-toothed comb out, then thats concerning.

No find toothed comb, much less even a shovel. Dirty everywhere. Guy missing. Try a shovel, move a little dirt? Meh.

 

[Dnp2be]

To me this seems like a classic case of:
1a) drunk, he looks around, can't see his friends. or:
1b) wants to slip away from his friends
2) fixates on a door, thinks "where does this lead to?"
3) ends up in a dark maintenace area
4) dies from misadventure, likely a fall.
I've done similar things myself.
Theres 3 doors at the top in this video:

View attachment 263381

I agree. And #2 really resonates with me. My bf is OCD and his son has some behavioral issues and gets stuck or fixated on things very easily. I don’t know if BS had any OCD traits or fixated on things but I can agree with any one of the scenarios to he provided. And Curiosity killed the cat they say.

 

[GoBuckeyes]

Hi, I'm new to this discussion because I just watched a YT video mentioning this case. I've been interested in the SFK(s) for a while and feel that Brian may have been a victim - the Olentangy River is quite close and would have been a good body disposal site.

I did come across this picture of Brian with his father, and I'm really curious about the hand sign he seems to be making. To me, the expression on his face seems like he's doing something on purpose, but I can't figure it out. File:Brian Shaffer with his father Randy.jpg - Wikimedia Commons




I've been traveling extensively throughout the USA over the past few years, and I'm not sure how things were at that library at that time, but most libraries I've been to simply have pieces of paper with access codes written on them for anyone to take and use, no ID has been necessary. Also, if there was someone with a laptop, and there was wifi in that library at that time, they wouldn't have needed ID either.

PS BTW I know my profile says new member, but I've been visiting Websleuths off and on since before 2011.

Regarding the picture and hand sign. It appears to be intentional. It may stand for other things too, but in ASL it means "I love you."

 

[GoBuckeyes]

Brian had a girlfriend, he was flirting with and kissing on a different female at the bar, why is there any speculation that he may have been gay? It’s been awhile since I read through everything.

I'm with you on this. I haven't read anything that would indicate a struggle with his sexuality.

 

[GoBuckeyes]

....Going with the theory that a sexual predator (male) might have done something to Brian, people with standard day jobs often start taking vacations right when spring or summer starts. (In some workplaces employees stagger the schedule of time off so things get done with no real interruption to the flow of labor at a business, and everyone gets a vacation period during nice weather.)

I thought of this because the recently arrested homosexual serial killer of Toronto Canada was a landscaper and used his job sites to dispose of some of his victims. (You can Google this case, it's appalling.) He also was killing for a long, long time, since the local police did not take tips about him seriously......

Brian disappeared on April 1st. IF he had been targeted by someone seeking a victim, and someone who was/is meticulous about details...The lack of clues make sense. Someone who allowed themselves enough time to kidnap someone, kill them and get rid off all traces of the event would obviously plan in advance.

(For what it's worth closeted gay men are very common in the Midwestern region of the United States. The local culture and the "small town gossip" aspect of life in the Midwest keep a lot of gay men discreet. It's always possible there's a bit of gossip that might shed light on Brian's case but no one wants to come forward with it.)

I'm sorry, @WyomingSkyAngel, but can you share any data that underpin your declaration, "For what it's worth closeted gay men are very common in the Midwestern region of the United States."? Upon what facts do you base your opinion? Could you please define "very common"? And what does your opinion stated as fact have to do with Brian's case?

To everyone speculating on Brian's sexuality...In my opinion, someone's sexual orientation and sexual preferences are theirs alone to share or not to share with whomever they choose. In other words, outing someone isn't cool. And outing someone who is missing, with no substantive foundation to those claims is worse. It's not because being gay is wrong. It's offensive because human sexuality is highly personal and private and should be left that way, IMOO.

 

[GoBuckeyes]

But yet Columbus is a gay friendly town.

True! Nor is Columbus some quaint village in the Midwest where the rumor mill runs full tilt every morning over breakfast at the local diner.

 

[GoBuckeyes]

i can confirm from personal experience, the affects occur quite quickly. I think I felt the affects within 20 mins. I immediately became very much not in control. I’m sure I appeared sloppy drunk to others when In reality I had only had 1/2 a beer or less. I passed out very quickly and did not even wake up when fire alarms were going off. It was very scary not being in control.

My point is, I think if his drink was drugged, he would have looked for some place to pass out because he would have been too disoriented to continue any activities.

I agree, also from personal experience.

 

[Old Mozez]

It seems to me that law enforcement have not searched the complete property, from what I am reading.
Forget the cadaver dogs, search the premisis. It's a building, not a forest. Every boiler room, every elevator shaft must be ticked off. There's probably an area under the escalators strewn with faded 1950's Pepsi cans and the like.
If they haven't brought the fine-toothed comb out, then thats concerning.

too bad you’re not in LE then, cause the ones who were in charge of his case are adamant they searched the place top to bottom. Problem nr 1 here is that despite whatever effort was put in place , scenery was changing from day to day because of construction , which is my view part of why this case still is unsolved. No matter how good they feel they searched, a spot must have slipped from their radar, and then coming days boards, cement or other material just tragically created the perfect man cover, denying equivalent access and search possibility again.
Must be a frustrating case for them having no evidence whatsoever he left the premise yet the claim is he’s absolutely not there.
I’d just say that they could have revised their reference to the search in the gateway complex due to the fact that nothing has been seen/heard from Brian Shaffer in 14 years and he was never seen leaving the building. I mean, maybe, this is because he never left?

 

[Ozoner]

It seems to me that law enforcement have not searched the complete property, from what I am reading.
Forget the cadaver dogs, search the premises. It's a building, not a forest. Every boiler room, every elevator shaft must be ticked off. There's probably an area under the escalators strewn with faded 1950's Pepsi cans and the like.
If they haven't brought the fine-toothed comb out, then that's concerning.

It's funny that you should mention the escalator; I think that there's a high probability that Brian is under it or near it. It's one area in the building where there would have been multiple cavities that would have been permanently sealed during construction.

 

[Kittybunny]

Cases of missing young men are much harder for me to speculate about or have concrete theories on, because they are so much less common and less frequently reported on than missing young women. With missing young women, many of them are victims of either relationship violence or random sexually-motivated murders. In following the cases of missing men here, there seem to be two primary outcomes - death by misadventure (especially when alcohol is involved), or foul play related to their own criminal activities, usually drugs. Another, less common, is being killed by spouse for financial gain. Suicide is also not that uncommon. And of course, by definition, those who have successfully staged a disappearance to start a new life are not ever solved. So given that we don't have indications of any criminal activity by Brian, my prevailing theory is death by misadventure. The nature of that misadventure however is as puzzling now as I'm sure it was then. Sadly, I don't hold out hope that this one will ever be solved.

 

[itsrak]

It's funny that you should mention the escalator; I think that there's a high probability that Brian is under it or near it. It's one area in the building where there would have been multiple cavities that would have been permanently sealed during construction.

And it ain't far (based on what I saw when I toured the building 2 years ago, perhaps 50 feet or so) from where the stench in the building was reported by a Yelp user way back when.

 

[itsrak]

Cases of missing young men are much harder for me to speculate about or have concrete theories on, because they are so much less common and less frequently reported on than missing young women. With missing young women, many of them are victims of either relationship violence or random sexually-motivated murders. In following the cases of missing men here, there seem to be two primary outcomes - death by misadventure (especially when alcohol is involved), or foul play related to their own criminal activities, usually drugs. Another, less common, is being killed by spouse for financial gain. Suicide is also not that uncommon. And of course, by definition, those who have successfully staged a disappearance to start a new life are not ever solved. So given that we don't have indications of any criminal activity by Brian, my prevailing theory is death by misadventure. The nature of that misadventure however is as puzzling now as I'm sure it was then. Sadly, I don't hold out hope that this one will ever be solved.

I believe that if it is solved, it will likely be via the use of a jackhammer and a shovel, just feet from where Brian was last seen.

 

[Ozoner]

I believe that if it is solved, it will likely be via the use of a jackhammer and a shovel, just feet from where Brian was last seen.

I think that it will happen one day when the building is demolished—but that could be 150 years from now after most of us are long gone.