Authorities hope age-progression photo leads to answers in disappearance of Brian Shaffer

I'm sorry, Ugly Tuna Saloona?

I've always wondered about this case. I was living in the area when it happened and I remember seeing his flier everywhere

Well, we are all wondering where someone is, right?

Oh. He's lost his looks...

Time to 'let go'.

These are the worst stories. I hate them. It inflicts family members with a longing and pain until the day they die. It's a cold universe where things like this are allowed to happen.

There was a woman with Alzheimer's who vanished from LACMA a few years ago. I first found out about it by seeing a flyer stapled to a tree on Wilshire Blvd. I found that in itself to be so damned sad. Her name was Nancy Paulikas.

She was missing for two years, until bones were found near a freeway in the Valley that were determined to belong to her. Of course this was sad, but I was relieved for the family that the question of her fate was answered.

After ten years, I doubt the family in this case will have that closure. Terrible terrible thing.

I live in LA, R5

I remember seeing fliers of Nancy and then the years going by.

Not having closure sucks; I'd be up for implanting a device in earlobes so that we can always find someone.

I wouldn't need an age progression pic as I still look the same as I did in college.

Yes, R6, I, too, look the same as I did in first grade.

What happened to Nancy, though? Did they figure out what caused her death?

I look the same as I did in the womb and up in heaven before the womb.

Some people just don’t want to be found. Leave him alone to his new life.

i don't think he walked off to a new life, i truly think he's dead. someone ended him...prob some sex antics in the bathroom gone wrong. i don't think i recall anything major going on in his life before his disappearance.

I don't think he walked away either, r11

We could try age-progression on DLers who look 20 years younger.

R8 they have no idea what happened. There was a brush fire, and part of her skull was found as they were putting it out. I've actually searched to see if there were any theories, but there aren't. Not even on Web Sluths.

It's still pretty awful that her family will never know what happened to her, but at least they're aware that she's not still out there somewhere suffering.

I guess in Brian's case there's some vague suspicion on behalf of his brother that his friend may know more than he's saying. I suppose that's a tiny glimmer of home that he may come clean at some point.

How could a 6'-2"-tall guy disappear into thin air? Probably only in America.

He dedd. Move on.

Poor Brian. Even in his own thread, people indifferently discuss Nancy somebody instead.

Brian's mother had died shortly before he disappeared. His dad and brother have since died as well.

That's sad, r18. How did his brother die?

I can't imagine dying without knowing whatever happened to your son/brother

This one has intrigued me since I read about it. It seems a lot of people even think he is buried in fresh cement somewhere in that building. Lots of weird theories, hopefully his body will be found as well.

R18 where did you see that the brother had died?

Wow, that age progression is terrible.

I think he's dead. I think he left the bar, was robbed/killed in the neighborhood (which was very rough back then), and ended up in a dumpster.

Brian's brother Derek was alive in 2019 and I can't find anything saying he's since died.

Brian's mother died about three weeks before he disappeared, and then the dad died in a freak accident two years later when a tree fell on him during a bad storm.

Thanks r23

[quote]Brian's mother had died shortly before he disappeared. His dad and brother have since died as well.

Brian's brother is still alive.

The girlfriend to whom Brian was supposedly planning to propose during their vacation that never happened is a doctor. She's married and has two kids.

There have been people who fell into or behind something accidentally and were lost until their bodies were found years later. His phone and credit cards were never used after he disappeared. His body is probably somewhere nearby.

There wasn't any surveillance video of him leaving the bar, right?

He wasn’t identified as anyone shown leaving in the video, but the camera was not stationery and could have been pointed away at the moment he left.

Right, R27. The last surveillance footage of him shows him coming up the escalator that led to the bar's entrance. He's later seen outside the bar's entrance talking to a couple of women. He turns to leave, presumably to go back into the bar. That was the final footage of him. No surveillance footage captured him leaving the bar.

Thanks r28/r29

He has to be dead. One day when they demolish that building, he may be buried in a wall somewhere.

Paging the Datalounge Detective Agency

Think of all the things that Gordon Ramsay finds when he examines the refrigerators on Kitchen Nightmares.

I don't understand how he could have become lodged inside a wall. This isn't The Cask of Amontillado

It couldn't have been that rough of a neighborhood. The bar was in a building with an escalator.

r34, it happens.

[quote] I don't understand how he could have become lodged inside a wall.

Like this.

He wasn't in the ceiling and he (presumably) wasn't in the kitchen. He was in a crowded bar

r38, if you read the story, you’ll see that the police don’t know where he went, and obviously you don’t know either.

It doesn't make sense, r39.

Occam's razor

R38 no one is saying they know what happened, nor that it is even likely that the scenarios shared here are even the method in which this man disappeared - but who the hell knows - weirder things have happened.

[quote]R38 He wasn't in the ceiling and he (presumably) wasn't in the kitchen. He was in a crowded bar

We don’t know WHERE the little whore was in the building, or WHAT he was up to.

Wasn't the bar turned into another business?

R23, that’s the third tree falling on a person and killing them story I’ve heard today!!! Lock your windows up!

[quote]He wasn’t identified as anyone shown leaving in the video, but the camera was not stationery and could have been pointed away at the moment he left.

The camera pointed at the escalator and entrance was stationary. Authorities used it to account for everyone who left the bar via the escalator, and he wasn't among them. He could have left the bar through a rear entrance that led to a construction area. He'd been drinking all night, so some have theorized that, in his drunken state, he became disoriented trying to exit through the construction area and fell into a hole that was eventually covered by concrete. Police have said that is extremely unlikely.

[quote] some have theorized that, in his drunken state, he became disoriented trying to exit through the construction area and fell into a hole that was eventually covered by concrete. Police have said that is extremely unlikely.

Every case in which someone falls into or behind something and is not found for years was an unlikely situation.

How likely is it that a handsome medical student would walk off and leave his life? They were a close family. Why would he put his father and brother through the emotional hell of losing another family member and worse - IMO - not knowing what happened to him?

Strange his friend said negative things about him to the police and didn't help with the search.

[quote]R47 Strange his friend said negative things about him to the police and didn't help with the search.

That bitter little bitch is behind it, mark my words.

[italic]LOCK ‘IM UP ! !

R48 highly likely. The police have just given up, apparently.

He was really cute. And I think he was close to graduating

The bar closed and has been remodeled for office space.

Spooky AF.

Is he still smelling cookies in heaven?

[quote] Is he still smelling cookies in heaven?

Oreos

After 15 years and not a single solid clue, I rather doubt that an age-progression photo is going to any good. It presumes he's still alive somewhere, which seems highly unlikely.

And if he were alive somewhere, he would have disappeared by choice, and would not be happy about the publicity with this age-progression thing disrupting his new life and identity.

Don't people go to bars to hook-up? And being attractive he would have had no problem going home with someone.

I agree with the dumpster theory. Something happened and they dumped him. Campus areas are responsible for tons of trash per day.

I would LOVE to disappear without a trace, Sadly, I do not think this is the case here at all.

This is one of the weirdest missing persons cases I've ever heard of. So strange, it was like he just disappeared into thin air.

He dade. Declare him legally dade, and that's all you can do. Doubtful you'll ever find the remains

He's smelling something in that photo, but it wasn't tuna.

He was engaged to be married, about to graduate from medical school. You don't walk out on the beginning of your life.

All of the other security cameras in that area were checked, and Shaffer wasn't seen on any of them. There were only two exits from that bar, and they both had cameras on them. It's like he just vanished inside the bar. So bizarre.

We need to call Brian Baranski for this one!

Big dick face and sloped shoulders. Surely these are clues.

Why is he making this strange hand signal in both of these pics?

2nd pic

What are the mean things his suspicious friend said about him?

[qupte]The bar closed and has been remodeled for office space.

Yes, the building was sold several years ago and although exterior was kept, the interior was gutted and completely rebuilt. All the workers knew to be on the lookout for any sign of human remains but nothing was found.

ok I will be the first one to say it here

who cares!

"It's like he just vanished inside the bar."

That weren't pulled pork we had on the menu that week...

Most likely he was somehow killed inside the bar and removed at a later date.

That's not a strange hand symbol, that's throwing horns, though I have no idea why he's doing it.

Scroll down and you'll see he's throwing horns in this photo too, it must have been something he was known for.

r72 that's a very plausible scenario.

I would have taken him out back of the Ugly Tuna Saloona and blown him! He was lovely

Think of all the gay twinks and young ladies who never had the pleasure of being examined by Dr. Shafter... er Dr. Shaft, um Dr. Shaffer.

[quote]who cares!

No one cares whether you care or not. Here's a novel idea: Just skip over threads in which you have no interest.

Could he have gone out the back of the bar if it had another door? If so,did they cameras there too?

Such a strange and eerie case. I'm going with the theory that he was killed in the bar and his body was removed later on. Why, I have no idea.

[quote]Could he have gone out the back of the bar if it had another door? If so,did they cameras there too?

There was only one other way to exit the bar and that also had a camera on it.

Why was the brother suspicious of the friend?

The friend lawyered up immediately and refused to take a polygraph.

That's suspicious.

r83 Um, yeah...if that's not a sign that the friend knows something more than what he's been telling (or NOT telling), i don't know what is.

Getting a lawyer and refusing a polygraph is smart. It what you should do so in case the cops falsely accuse you of murder.

Most people can give a statement and alibi up. When you immediately lawyer up and refuse a poly. Hm? if you have nothing to hide?

Polygraphs are bullshit. The only reason cops still use them is to coerce a confession. Never talk to the cops without a lawyer present.

The friend wasn't in the bar with him, he stayed outside.

Hook’im Horns!

The friend never went inside with him? Maybe he was a lookout so the guy could slip away?

Or, he’s some “friend” who won’t cooperate.

I find the hand gesture in his pics peculiar.

If the recording in the camera was grainy or poor quality, maybe it did record him leaving but he was unidentifiable. He could’ve been messing around and threw on someone’s baseball cap and walked out.

R92 the video quality was OK. I think they accounted for everyone who came into the bar that night making an exit, except Brian.

He was part of a Latin gang.

A Reddit thread with a detailed explanation of the events.

The bar did have a back door but at the time it opened directly into an active construction site and was being kept locked. Of course some people think that means he's buried in concrete somewhere next door. LE investigated that theory at the time and rejected it.

Age progression? So they think he’s alive?

He was hot. I would have fucked him.

The hand gesture/signal is odd. It also didn’t seem to fit the occasion. I could see if he had his hands up where it would be more visible to the camera and was posing with friends. But he was posing with his parents (at a graduation?) and his hand was down and to the side. The gesture was vague with the gf as well. Reminds me of those white power signs rednecks use.

I think he had enough and his life was overwhelming with studies, possible fiancé and the death of his mom and he got the hell out of dodge to go live on a quiet beach.

r70 is Brian Shaffer's killer.

Well this photo'll get all the DL detectives to stop looking for him!

[quote]He was hot. I would have fucked him.

Why else would we be discussing him on DL?

R26 Somewhere in the elevators shaft.

r99 has anyone identified what the hand sign is? if it's a gang sign, someone *should* know this.

It would be helpful to know his exam results. He was apparently out celebrating the end of term.

The Brian Shaffer case is one of those missing persons cases that can make you go down an internet rabbit hole for hours. WTF happened to him?

Can someone get out of America without ID?

Not after 9/11.

There are surely ways to cross into Canada or Mexico without ID but overseas travel must be nearly impossible in this day and age.

Here is a guide to gang signs:

Unless somebody lived on the street as a homeless person, I don't know how they could make themselves disappear and assume a new identity in modern times. I don't know how you could even begin to do that.

Did the Ugly Tuna Saloona serve food? Was he dismembered and cooked in the kitchen?

This case has definitely sent me down an Internet rabbit hole more than once. One detail I recall is that some law enforcement officials did seem to think he was still alive somewhere, but they have never revealed their reasons for thinking so. Logic and common sense would seem to dictate that he died that night, either accidentally or because he met with foul play, so I always wondered what the evidence was, if any, for him having willingly disappeared. Even the recent release of the age-progression photo is based on the possibility that he might still be alive.

They’re better off showing what he would look like dead.

Usually with missing persons cases there's at least one suspect and some kind of evidence or at least a plausible explanation about what exactly happened (i.e. somebody's care broke down on the side of a desolate road and they were never seen again - obviously somebody came along and abducted them) but this is one of those rare cases where there is just absolutely nothing to go on, like The Springfield Three (another case that can suck you down a rabbit hole).

Of course I meant "somebody's car" and not "somebody's care." Sorry.

The construction site was thoroughly searched and they brought in dogs to sniff around, and from what I've read the construction site was not a very large area at all.

It was a very rough neighborhood, r35. That complex is called The Gateway. Immediately to the north is the Ohio State campus, and immediately took the South is Weinland Park, which, at the time, was the poorest, most crime-ridden neighborhood in Columbus with tons of gang activity. Ohio State built the Gateway to spur development in/help gentrify Weinland Park.

I lived in Weinland Park from 2008 to 2010, and we left when a pizza delivery guy was shot in the face outside of our home. Another friend was robbed on the street of knife point. That was about five blocks from this bar. If Brian was drunk, and stumbled down through Weinland Park in the middle of the night, I have no problem believing that something very bad happened to him.

What undies was he wearing? He looks like a briefs boy

I was getting my haircut yesterday and another girl cutting hair was telling her client that this guy’s girlfriend is her OBGYN.

Brian had an 8" pinga

With the weird hand signs in photos i suspect this to be a gang murder. they can pull shit off without LE figuring it out.

Brian Shaffer was not involved in any gang activity. He was a med student at Ohio State.

r124 explain the hand signs in the few photos we have.

They were hand signs. He was a bro and bros do that. An affluent white guy in med school is not hanging in gangs.

Yeah, those hand signs aren’t exactly “the goat” (index and pinky finger, hand upheld) or the “surfer” thing. Him keeping his arm down, and also doing it in multiple pictures is weird. I’m not ascribing any sinister meaning to it or saying it was gang related or even a clue to his disappearance—just noting that I don’t recognize it.

I’m thinking he was a frat-like douche hence the hand signs.

RIP

Surely someone who has studied the case can explain the strange hand signals for us?

I'm surprised more people here (of all places) didn't suggest he was a closet gay. Maybe they did in previous threads. This case must have generated a lot of interest. Anyway, I actually think it's a sound theory. Occam's Razor and all.

Oh please, he’s dead.

Dead, I tell you.

r131 meh, the depraved bisexual killer schtick would be more believable a few more decades past.

Still, closeted homo, med school burn out - even 'good' students burnout, it would be a practical assumption especially if one believed he merely disappeared. . . houseboys were still quite big then and choices in applicants were few. It would be possible to disappear without ever needing identification, real or otherwise.

Of course, though, it would be possible to get an id and difficult for investigators to track. Even now there's several states with many unconnected cities. Hence why most track through social security. But he could have easily changed his name and social security and more or less lost in the larger system. It's not like they're getting fbi help on this.

It wasn't that dfficult to be out in 2006 but one might find more difficulty with some medical programs. Discrimination was common under the guise of being a health risk, not unlike the restrictions on blood donations... wtih a few exceptions basedd on specialty. Though you'd still have to get through the first track.

For a str8 man to disapepar, escaping to Canada or Mexico is the greater possibility though some could find work in the boonies or crime, of course. But disappearing into the LGBT community would have been much easier and understood, so one would find more support to live and work under the table.

Face-wise, both original and aged photos, he could pass for latino... so,you have another excuse for not being fully on the up and up.

Other possibilities, also with med school in mind.. possible drug issues. . . the stigma on meth didn't really take hold until a few years later. Also, ritalin/adderal/etc were in heavy rotation too and the public awareness of abuse for that took a decade longer. It had infected all aspects of life. So, it was rare not to know someone that used from business to the party scene.

In case of death, he'd have a higher likelihood of just a random killing... especially being missing this long. People like to think that if it was random, then it would be messy and unorganized, and even the mystery gang could solve the case in twenty minutes. But there are many killers out there, not murderers so to speak, just people that don't sweat a kill. Second nature, no thought, no guilt, just a part of routine life.

Just look up what happens to a John Doe.. it's so widely variable. Many jurisdictions it ends in cremation. They're supposed to collect samples and send it to the national database but shit happens. Too many would assume he would have to have been killed locally, in the same time period he went missing and found for all this to line up. But no, any number of situations could place his body well outside the area. . . and you're left to the mysteries of the however the system might handle this elsewhere. If there was even a body to be found.

He looks in the photos like he might have been gay.

I read that his cell phone pinged at various locations away from the bar. Also, his girlfriend would call his phone every day, it went straight to voicemail, of course — except for that one time when it didn’t. The phone rang. Nobody picked up.

A couple of contributors on Websleuths (I know, I know) said that construction works ALWAYS check the site before pouring concrete. This is to make sure there is nothing that could be detrimental to the structure’s integrity later on.

Did they check the air vents?

The amount of tragedy that struck this family is crazy—mom dies of cancer, Brian goes missing mere weeks later, and then his dad is killed in a freak accident by a falling tree. I also have always wondered if Brian was gay—a lot of the pictures of him give me gay vibes. I have always thought he and his friend Clint might have been secretly fucking, emotions ran high, and they got into a fight the night of the disappearance and Clint killed him. I know this conflicts with the account that Clint apparently didn't enter the bar where Brian vanished from, but I wonder if there is some way to explain that. The timing of it all is suspicious, considering Brian was purportedly going to propose to his girlfriend on the vacation they had planned, yet he was also making comments to her that she should leave him, move on, etc. It suggests in my mind that there were some unspoken internal conflicts going on.

No^.

"The police have just given up, apparently."

No, they haven't which is why they're releasing this photo

Looks like Tom Cavanagh to me

I think he just wanted out. It was the eve of his Spring Break and he seemed to be on the verge of some big life decisions. But he joked to friends that he'd like to play in a band and live a beachy life.

I bet he's self-employed somewhere in S. America.

Isn't the basic premise of issuing an age-progression photo flawed?

Sure, we would hope that he simply decided to vanish, but realistically do people think he's still alive such that he would have actually aged since disappearing?

[quote]I can't imagine dying without knowing whatever happened to your son/brother

Here's the thing, when you die you learn immediately about everything. No more secrets. And if your son is dead, he'll be there to say welcome.

This story is creepy

He may have been a victim of the “ Smiley killer.”

The "Smiley killer" isn't real

19th anniversary today

One of the strangest missing persons cases ever.

This poor man was buried in construction cement.

Age-progressed "Jaycee Dugard" at 25 vs. real Jaycee at 29. Not very accurate. In fairness, this was 16 years ago, so maybe age progression technology has advanced since then.

The construction area was thoroughly searced by police very soon after Brian disappeared and nothing was found. The cops would've been able to identify fresh cement.

The authorities obviously thought he was still alive in 2021, and they probably still do. I agree with them. Remember, they don't have to release all the evidence they have, and I think they know a lot that we do not.

He wouldn't have made himself disappear. Something happened to him.

r150 Looks very accurate, actually

r152 Ok, we'll remember

There were a lot of other security cameras in the area and he wasn't caught on any of those either.

R153: "He wouldn't have made himself disappear."

And you know this how?

r157 he was close with his father and brother, he had a fiancee he was happy with. He was in a good place in his life and very upbeat. Everyone who knew him said he would never just make himself disappear. And in all these years he's never been found? Come on. And how could anyone make themselves disappear in this day and age and stay hidden anyway?

He could have, R153!

R158, in all these years a body hasn't been found? Come on.

The fact that the authorities released an age-progressed photo in 2021, and the language they used in the statement, convinced me that they have reason to believe he is alive. "...and believe this is another step in hopes that we can find Mr. Shaffer." Another step? That means there are PREVIOUS STEPS. Steps we don't know about, but steps.

R133, you just love to talk right out of your ass. You have no idea of what you are even talking about. Clown

Med School burnout?

Could have easily changed his name & social security number? I had to stop reading your nonsense after that.

No, he couldn't have easily changed his name & social security number. The authorities actually keep track of that

r161 Are you ok?

Agreed, r148

How does a 6'2" man in his twenties who's athletic and in peak physical shape just disappear in a busy area with lots of people around? It's so strange. I hope this gets solved at some point.

R88 Is right, polygraphs are fucking garbage and if someone asked me to take one, I would laugh at them. You might as well hook someone up to the scientology stress test. Psychos like Ted Bundy can beat them.

About the first half dozen Google images for Columbus, OH show a river running through it. He was probably drunk, needed to take a piss, and unfortunately fell in. April 1, the water was cold and he succumbed quickly. They probably dredged, but by that point his body was probably washed far downstream.

r166 the Olentangy River is over a mile away from where he was last seen.

Brian expressed doubts about becoming a doctor and wanted a simple life playing music on the beach. He followed his mother (to whom he was exceptionally close) into the medical field. He was semi-committed to marrying a girl who his mother was very fond of. And then his mum died, leaving him with a choice to make: either to follow the path his mum had approved of, or a completely different path which he found much more appealing. He was grieving, headed towards a career he was ambivalent about and was aware that his girlfriend (and many of their friends and family) thought he was about to propose. That’s a lot of pressure. It’s at least very possible that he just decided that he wanted out.

He tried to persuade his girlfriend that she would be better off without him. He was trying to get her to back away from him. I also read somewhere that he had not cashed a cheque from his father for his university tuition. How much had his parents already spent on an education that Brian didn’t love? And did he fear his dad’s anger or disappointment?

For some reason, he possibly didn’t want to commit to his relationship or his studies, but he also didn’t want to be the one who was seen to be making the decision to back out of either situation. It seems possible that, for some reason, he simply found it easier to disappear.

Columbus is the kind of dull place where you’d want to disappear.

He didn't dissapear. He would've been found by now.

How many gorgeous 6'2" white guys do YOU see living on the streets?

Ten people who went missing and lived completely new lives.

Dunno how many of them were gorgeous though.

[quote]Brian expressed doubts about becoming a doctor and wanted a simple life playing music on the beach.

Those are normal, common feelings for people in medical school and residency. Overemphasis on that and the idea that he never left the bar have created a lot of tunnel vision for true crime junkies.

He really did never leave the bar. There were security cameras all over that street and he wasn't on any of them.

So you think his body is somewhere IN the bar, R175?

No, the bar closed several years ago and the space was gutted and renovated into an office. Nothing was found.

Given the building's interior being renovated after the bar's closing, that seems extremely unlikely. I don't imagine contractors just forget to tell anyone if they happen across a mummified corpse while putting up new drywall.

Is there a body of water nearby?

Did Brian encounter a small foreign faction in the bar? They are terribly, terribly dangerous!

R167 - It’s very possible he walked there in a drunken state. We had a case in our town on New Years Eve a few years ago when a guy came home from the bars, argued with his girlfriend and took off. He was found almost a month later three miles from home on the banks of the American River in shallow water after the river had receded.

[quote] How many gorgeous 6'2" white guys do YOU see living on the streets?

And incredibly well hung - None, absolutely none.

Jfc that photo is going to give me nightmares .

Maybe he and Clint had some sort of a sexual relationship (perhaps with some resulting tension between them) and Clint didn't want this to come out. Might explain his refusal to submit to a polygraph, at least before he engaged legal counsel.

R168 I basically agree with everything you said. He was the closest to his mother and after she died, he no longer felt obligated to follow into the medical profession. And the fact that he never cashed his father's check for tuition means he didn't want to waste his father's money needlessly. He also told his girlfriend just days before that she should leave him. He probably didn't love her nor wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.

I think that the argument he had that night at the bar with his friend Clint was that he confided in him his plans to simply disappear to wherever, and to promise to keep it a secret forever, and the argument was to try to change his mind. Whether he just wanted to start a new life somewhere else playing in a band on a beach or to do something else.

The most likely option is he left through the back exit, which I understand some of the bar band left that way that night, and he might as simply sneaked out behind him in the dark unnoticed. I;m sure he had some plan and perhaps some money to travel out of town and to his destination without being traced.

The main problem I have with the "he wanted a new life" theory is, who would immediately precede a planned disappearance with going from bar to bar getting shitfaced?

There are theories now that he met someone at the nearby Wendy’s. A trick gone wrong.

It’s pretty much accepted by many people who are devoted to this case that he was fucking Clint, that they had a relationship going on.

Does he have cum dripping down his chin?

I didn’t know his mother had died only 3 weeks earlier. Did he commit suicide out of grief?

He was drunk and took a piss in the river, fell in, and drowned.

Clint has gotten a lot of shit for not taking a polygraph test, but every lawyer I know (or have seen on Youtube) says the same thing: Regardless of your innocence or guilt, never take a polygraph, ever, for any reason whatsoever.