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

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Are there any cadaver dogs that are capable of detecting a corpse through concrete? I know that the dogs detect scent particles that travel through the soil, so they might miss a freshly buried corpse (if those scent particles had had time to travel all the way to the surface). Can those scent particles migrate through concrete? That's what I don't know.

I found an article regarding this. According to this article, most cadaver dogs are trained to be able to detect remains in shallow graves. However, in the article it speaks of one dog that is specifically trained to sniff out remains in more solid materials such as concrete. It refers to the finding of a child being detected In several inches of concrete. Supposedly dating back from 1980’s (remains believed to be buried in 1980’s and article was from 2008).

I will have to do more research tho. I’d like to know some statistics on such findings.

Joana Morais: McCanns Case: How can a dog sniff through concrete?
 
Here’s another article that says a trained dog can smell a cadaver under cement at least 15 feet down. Not sure of the accuracy or reliability of the article but I recall a case of a man getting buried at the construction site he worked at. If I recall correctly, he was located a long while later under cement with the help of dogs. I can’t recall his name unfortunately.
https://outdoordogfun.com/how-far-can-a-dog-track-a-scent-outdoors/
 
BBC NEWS | UK | Magazine | How can a dog sniff through concrete?
26 February 2008 rbbm.
''When police suspected human remains were buried on the site of a former children's home in Jersey, the springer spaniel was part of the specialist team brought in to investigate.

Jersey Police said the seven-year-old dog located parts of a child's body even though they were buried under several inches of concrete. So how did he do it?''
''Eddie is an enhanced victim recovery dog and is specially trained to detect the scent of human remains. He is able to smell through solid materials, like concrete, because of scientific training techniques.

It's this training that sets him apart from standard police sniffer dogs, which are able to detect human remains in shallow graves. The springer's nose is more sensitive and he is called in on more complicated cases.''

''The specialist training techniques - which are highly confidential - were developed by Eddie's handler Martin Grime, along with the UK's National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) and America's Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

They are scientifically based and rely on how dogs smell and the chemicals involved''

"In the Jersey case, parts of a child's body were found on Saturday. The remains are thought to date from the early 1980s. Police have yet to say whether they are male or female.''

New Technique Finds Buried Bodies Better
rbbm.
''Because the method relies on a superthin, flexible tube to catch faint chemical signatures in air pockets near the corpse, it may be used to detect bodies buried in hard-to-reach areas, such as under concrete slabs.''
Currently, people use corpse-sniffing dogs, ground-penetrating radar, and chemical analyses of air and soil to pinpoint buried bodies. But study coauthor Thomas Bruno of the National Institute of Standards and Technology campus in Boulder, Colorado, says that none of these methods would work in every situation.

The new method promises to be specific, sensitive and, importantly, flexible, Bruno says. The tube could be inserted into a small hole drilled into a concrete slab or rubble to sniff out bodies buried underneath. “For a body buried under a concrete slab, there is nothing else that would work,” Bruno says. “Ground-penetrating radar has problems, and you don’t have access to the soil to do analyses.”
 
This just popped into my head. It counters my bullet point post and again is MOO.

Brian had made the decision to get away on his own for a few weeks at some point prior to 1st April. Stress, university pressure, Alexis and family issues meant he just wanted to take a time out. In line with this, he turns off his phone that night of the disappearance because he just wants to switch off from it all. Brian exits the UTS without being seen and goes home.

He packs a bag, sleeps for a few hours and then leaves the next morning. He hitch-hikes his way to another location. In this location, he lies low for a few weeks gathering his thoughts. During this time, it becomes clear to him that the police investigation has no further CCTV of him than the one outside UTS at close to 02:00am. Now this is his chance, he can vanish forever without a trace. So he does.

There are obviously holes in the theory, but if he had enough cash on him (we don't know he didn't) then he could've potentially pulled this off. Perhaps also it was he who turned the phone on 6 months later. Maybe he was looking at messages from all of his friends, family and Alexis. Perhaps he even thought about showing up again, but the night the phone went back on he decided to fully commit and hasn't displayed any signs of existence ever since.
 
Been lurking for a while reading these posts. It’s easy to get obsessed with this case because of the mysterious circumstances. I’m leaning more toward Brian being deceased sadly. Just my opinion. I think he made it home that night. All the cameras were either not working or pointed in the wrong direction. I think he simply walked home to avoid Clint. I think he saw Clint coming out of the bar and went down the elevator. My own theory is once he got back to his apartment he left with someone he knew and was dead within hours. It’s probably a very simple scenario and I’m guessing it was not planned but accidental maybe from an argument. This person or persons panicked and put Brian somewhere he will hopefully one day be found. I hope I’m wrong and he’s out there alive and well.
 
Been lurking for a while reading these posts. It’s easy to get obsessed with this case because of the mysterious circumstances. I’m leaning more toward Brian being deceased sadly. Just my opinion. I think he made it home that night. All the cameras were either not working or pointed in the wrong direction. I think he simply walked home to avoid Clint. I think he saw Clint coming out of the bar and went down the elevator. My own theory is once he got back to his apartment he left with someone he knew and was dead within hours. It’s probably a very simple scenario and I’m guessing it was not planned but accidental maybe from an argument. This person or persons panicked and put Brian somewhere he will hopefully one day be found. I hope I’m wrong and he’s out there alive and well.

I've often wondered if Brian owed Clint a large amount of cash & there was a bit of self-consciousness/ weird behavior from Clint due to this issue. Some of the less-mentioned gossip surrounding this case is that Brian liked to party, so if they had a drug habit/running tab for coke in common, there was no way Clint would talk about any friction in the friendship stemming from that.

I sure hope there is some sort of resolution!
 
Clint is most certainly culpable in some form over Brian’s disappearance, if for no other reason his evasiveness of law enforcement.

By the way, a quick LinkedIn search shows Clint works for the National Institute of Infectious Diseases. If he’s as good of a friend to Brian as he is good at his job.... well let’s just say the shoe fits in 2020.
 
Clint is most certainly culpable in some form over Brian’s disappearance, if for no other reason his evasiveness of law enforcement.

By the way, a quick LinkedIn search shows Clint works for the National Institute of Infectious Diseases. If he’s as good of a friend to Brian as he is good at his job.... well let’s just say the shoe fits in 2020.
Liking this fantastic post before it inevitably gets deleted...I appreciate you, @Falkner77 ❤️
 
I was wondering that also concerning the witnesses that said he was hitchhiking. It may have to do with LE being a bit reluctant to divulge that to protect Brian’s privacy, i.e., it’s completely legal for an adult to disappear if that’s what they want to do. That’s really the only reason I can see for them not releasing some information.

I would be interested in hearing others thoughts on this, TIA.

It seems to me that if law enforcement has established for sure that he walked away, which is his right to do, they would've alerted the public that he is safe but doesn't want to come home to not waste resources and save his father, girl friend and others from always wondering. I think they may lean this direction with their theories but he has apparently not been located or reached out in order to definitively say this. MOO
 
It seems to me that if law enforcement has established for sure that he walked away, which is his right to do, they would've alerted the public that he is safe but doesn't want to come home to not waste resources and save his father, girl friend and others from always wondering. I think they may lean this direction with their theories but he has apparently not been located or reached out in order to definitively say this. MOO
I don’t think they know what happened, but assuming that it is one of their theories, perhaps they have to walk a fine line. I wonder if they feel that they’re somewhat between a rock and a hard place. They have to investigate it as possible homicide/ foul play, etc., but also realize it could be a voluntary disappearance.
 
If any of Brian's family members believe that he is alive, then I believe that wishful thinking is in play. I remain convinced that his remains are somewhere in or adjacent to the construction site.
 
Still waiting on that second half of the latest podcast. It’s the only way to drum up any more interest in the case.
 
When I look at this logically, the facts don't support any conclusion but yet one of them have to be true.
1) Voluntary disappearance - no evidence made public that he researched new identities or set cash aside to disappear.
2) Lost in the construction area - any areas that were dug out and fell in would be dug out again. Before concrete is poured, the area would be very busy.
3) Lost inside the building - no evidence beyond smell complaints, which are likely a common complaint around college bars and other hangouts.
4) Murdered and body carried away - no video evidence, it would require a few people to remove the body.
5) Murdered elsewhere - no evidence he made it outside the building to be murdered somewhere else but this theory does place his body almost anywhere.
6) Suicide - hard to imaging he could have found a well hidden place for this.
But yet, something certainly happened to him. That we know.
 
2) Lost in the construction area - any areas that were dug out and fell in would be dug out again. Before concrete is poured, the area would be very busy.
You're making a big assumption there. If a trench had been dug to lay a power line or a sewer line and in collapsed after the line was laid, then there would have been no reason to dig it out.
 
You're making a big assumption there. If a trench had been dug to lay a power line or a sewer line and in collapsed after the line was laid, then there would have been no reason to dig it out.
Yes, except they generally dig and fill those quickly for safety reasons, to protect workers in the area.
Not to mention the equipment is very specialized and won't dig a trench 2 feet wide to lay a power line.
 
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