TADP Season 2 Episode 9 – The mysterious disappearance of Brian Shaffer

The mysterious disappearance of Brian Shaffer:

Brian Shaffer on February 25th 1979. He was a medical student at the Ohio State University at the time of his disappearance. At the time of his disappearance, Brian was 27 years old and today he would be 39 years old. Brian is described as 6 feet two inches tall and weighing about 165 lbs. At the time of his disappearance, he was wearing an olive green short-sleeved polo shirt over a white long-sleeved shirt, blue jeans, white Adidas sneakers and a yellow rubber cancer awareness bracelet. Brian is a Caucasian male with Light brown hair and hazel eyes. Shaffer has a tattoo of a Pearl Jam symbol on his upper right arm; I have included a copy of the photo on my website. He also wears wire-framed eyeglasses. Shaffer has a black spot on his left iris.

Shaffer grew up in Pickerington, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus, the state capital, where The Ohio State University (OSU) is located, the older of Randy and Renee Shaffer's two sons. He graduated from the local high school in 1997 and went to OSU for his undergraduate work. Six years later he graduated with a degree in microbiology.

Following that, he began studies at Ohio State University College of Medicine in 2004. During his second year there, in March 2006, his mother Renee died of myelodysplasia. His friends say that although he appeared to be handling it well, her death was hard for him.

Renee was not the only woman important in Brian's life. He had become romantically involved with a fellow second-year medical student, Alexis Waggoner. She, along with their families and friends, believed that Brian would probably be proposing marriage to her later that year, most likely on a trip to Miami the couple had planned for spring break at the beginning of April.

On March 31, a Friday, classes at OSU ended for spring break the next week. Brian and Randy Shaffer, his father, celebrated the occasion by going out for a steak dinner together earlier that evening. The older man noted that his son seemed exhausted from having pulled all-nighters earlier in the week cramming for some important upcoming exams. He did not think Brian should go out with a friend, William "Clint" Florence, later that night as he planned to do, but did not express his reservations to his son.

At 9 p.m., Brian met Florence at the Ugly Tuna Saloona, a bar in the South Campus Gateway complex on High Street. An hour later, Brian called Waggoner, who had returned to her home in Toledo to visit with her family before the two went to Miami, and told her he loved her. He and Florence went bar-hopping, visiting several other drinking establishments and working their way down to the Arena District. At each stop the two had one shot each of hard liquor, according to Florence.

After midnight, the two met Meredith Reed, a friend of Florence, in The Short North. She gave them a ride back to the Ugly Tuna Saloona, where they had started the night, and joined them there for a last round. While the three were there, Brian separated from his companions. Florence and Reed had been trying to find him, repeatedly calling him. They left with other patrons when the bar closed at 2 a.m., waiting outside for Brian. When he was not among the departing crowd, they assumed he had gone back to his apartment without letting them know.

Waggoner and Randy Shaffer both tried to call Brian later that weekend but he did not answer. On Monday morning he missed the flight to Miami he and Waggoner had scheduled long before. He was reported missing to the Columbus police.

Now Brian Shaffer was last seen at the Ugly Tuna Saloona, which at the time was a bar near the Ohio State University (OSU) campus, between the hours of 1:30 a.m. and 2:00 a.m. on April 1, 2006. He had gone there to celebrate the beginning of spring break with several male friends,