MISSING: Brian Shaffer

Nov 25, 2019

Brian Shaffer was supposed to be enjoying a night out with friends on April 1, 2006. Instead, he vanished. 13 years later, the mystery of what happened that night still endures.  Sources for this episode cannot be listed here due to character limitations. For a full list of sources, please visit https://crimejunkiepodcast.com/missing-brian-shaffer/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Play Episode

this episode was made possible by Boost Mobile making the switch to boost gives you more a super reliable Network for free Samsung Galaxy phones and four lines for just $25 per line per month with unlimited gigs for data talk and text this is a limited-time offer while supplies last offers and coverage not available everywhere each free phone requires port in additional terms and conditions May apply visit Boost Mobile.com or your nearest retailer for details

this episode was made possible by State Farm so you've purchased a car with all the bells and whistles and got it for the perfect right price all that's left is finding the right Insurance to protect your new ride life is scary enough as it is so don't settle for the wrong coverage that will leave you hanging when you need it the most get yourself a State Farm agent who gets you and knows your specific needs there's one right in your own neighborhood talk to an agent at 800 State Farm or go to statefarm.com

a high-crime junkies I'm your host Ashley flowers and I'm Britt and the story I want to tell you today is a creepy one and one that I've been obsessed with for years long before we had a podcast this was one of those cases that I would put on my Google rotation along with like more Amory and Bryce laspisa I always wonder has there been an update in The Disappearance of Brian Schaeffer

in the spring of 2006 a young woman named Alexis should be getting ready to enjoy a hard-earned vacation she's in her second year of medical school at Ohio State University studying to be an obstetrician and the courses are tough but she is thriving under the challenge along with her long-term boyfriend Brian Schaeffer who's in medical school with her now the both of them had planned this spring break trip to Miami but on the morning of April 3rd 2006 this was a Monday morning Alexis is at the airport

and she is anything but excited she is anxious she's scared getting panicky even she had spoke to Brian on Friday night but she hadn't been able to get ahold of him all weekend so she had stopped by his apartment multiple times throughout the weekend Saturday Sunday each time finding nothing there no Brian she tried calling over and over all day Saturday all day Sunday but got no answer on his cell phone so that Monday this

was her last shot at hope that Brian was okay maybe he needed some time but he would not miss this flight Alexis waits for Brian all around her flights are taking off Landing it would be their turn soon but Brian is nowhere in sight and listen there are two types of people in the world those that want to roll up to the gate just in time for boarding and those like me yeah and then the people like me who are there two hours ahead of time so I can have my two glasses of wine and not feel rushed at all so even though he's not there right

that second like again she's still holding out hope until a half hour before takeoff when the flight attendant at the gate is ready to begin the boarding process and he's still not there and she's getting more and more nervous more and more anxious where is Brian she keeps trying to call his phone over and over why isn't he answering it's not like him to just drop out of touch and disappear by the final boarding call Alexis is panicking because she knows

something is terribly wrong she keeps thinking back to the last time she talked to him on Friday night just three days before he sounded completely fine he told her he loved her like nothing seemed wrong when the flight takes off and Brian is still not there Alexis calls Brian's dad Randy and Randy goes right over to Brian's apartment to look for him and according to Mel magazine Randy finds everything just like it should be car outside the apartment bed made all of his school books

order everything at the apartment is normal except there's still no Brian right away Randy calls the police to report Brian missing meanwhile Brian's brother Derek gets involved to hoping against hope that this is all just some misunderstanding and according to the Columbus Dispatch he even wonders for a second like if this whole thing is a practical joke because Brian was last seen on April Fool's Day and there's no way a guy like Brian just disappears not a guy who's 6-foot 265

sounds handsome with like just enough of a quirk to his features to make him like the best kind of memorable and he even had this Pearl Jam tattoo on his right bicep and a distinctive Fleck on his I surely someone has seen him okay so the last time Alexis talk to him was Friday night right right like what were his plans for the rest of the weekend well that's something that the police and the family had to piece together Randy knows that he actually saw Brian on Friday night the same day that Alexis talk to him but they

to realize as they talk more and more to one another to other people that no one had seen him after the early morning hours of Saturday April 1st and here's what they piece together on March 31st Bryan has dinner with his dad Randy at a steakhouse in Columbus then he goes to a popular bar near campus on High Street called Ugly Tuna so Luna to meet up with his old roommate Clint now the Ugly Tuna caters to the Ohio State crowd and it's known for like cheap drinks loud music and but generally be like

fire yeah it's like the good place to hang out and I even saw some pictures online and they have like this Fishbowl drink that are in actual fish bowls like very calm my God yeah so Brian when he goes out he leaves his dad he goes out he invites his brother Derrick and Derek's girlfriend to come meet them but Derek and his girlfriend had been at a comedy show all evening and they're just ready to head home so they pass it was Alexis with him at the saloon oh no so actually Alexis doesn't go out with Brian that night because she's not actually in town at all she had gone

back home to Toledo Ohio to visit family so around 10 o'clock Brian actually calls Alexis just to like check it and they talked for a little while you know maybe after vacation whatever they part on good terms they're excited for Monday and then he goes back to having fun and again she says he sounded totally fine totally normal after a few drinks at the Ugly Tuna Brian and Clint decide to leave they do some shots at other bars in the area they have a little bit of kind of like a pub crawl and according to 6 1 for now Doc

calm Clint and Brian then meet up with another friend Meredith who drives them back to Ugly Tuna now at some point at the Ugly Tuna they get separated like Clinton Meredith are still together but Brian gets split off and you know like this happens at a bar sometimes you leave your friends to like step outside for a second you go to the bathroom you grab another drink like it's no big deal you come right back when you're done right so except after they got separated Brian doesn't come back eventually last call comes up the lights

man in the bar and Clinton Meredith are looking around for Brian because like they're ready to leave but they can't find him they call his phone Clint checks the men's room but Brian is totally Mia and they equate outside of the bar for a little bit but when they realize he's like nowhere to be seeing Clinton Meredith figure you know he probably just decided to head home on his own like he lived within walking distance of the Ugly Tuna so he could have left early it would been super easy for him like who knows maybe he didn't want to pressure them into leaving before they were ready made

he he got the drug munchies and wanted to go eat something like right a thousand things like I had this friend in college who that was like her Mo she would just disappear and a friend disappearing is worrisome to all his crime junkies and life role if you came with friends leave with friends yes but they don't worry too much at the time and they decide to make their own way home now they weren't worried when they left the bar and they're still not worried necessarily the next morning when he doesn't pick up their phone calls for a lot of people like the general thought

like you know maybe you know he was out drinking all night they were doing shots everywhere there's a good chance he's hungover maybe he's just sleeping it off like been there done that yeah morning Afters are rough and there are definitely times where you just like don't you want to get out of bed oh yeah I mean I had a more than I'd like to admit those in college so I get it and even though again us crime junkies like to look back in hindsight and like scream I think it was totally normal for no one to be like sounding the alarm bells ringing

right away that like Saturday morning Brian was smart he was responsible guy like no one ever thinks something bad could happen to them or someone that they know but Brian wasn't just sleeping it off everyone realizes that when they come together and realize that no one had talked to Brian during the day Saturday or Sunday and now that he hasn't shown up for his trip they were sure something serious was going on you see the trip was extra special not just because Brian needed a break or because he was planning to

opposed to Alexis on the trip the trip had a way more significant meaning than that

the trip was a gift from Brian's mom Renee the whole family was super close but Brian was extra tight with his mom Renee she was a nurse and his whole inspiration for studying medicine came from her three weeks before he was supposed to leave for his trip his mother actually passed away she had been sick for a while battling a rare form of blood cancer so Brian skipping out on the trip didn't seem right it didn't seem like something that he would do but now the Schaefer family are in this

devastating position haven't just lost Renee and now just literally a couple of weeks later Brian is missing after a night out drinking with friends leaving his dad Randy and his brother Derrick and girlfriend Alexis frantically searching for some insight about where he is now police did say that since Brian had been drinking all night he was more vulnerable to getting mugged or for something like Sinister having happened to him now he was six to remember and it's clear from photos on his Myspace page and around the internet

he kept himself in good shape like sober he'd be a risky Target for prospective Thief but drunk he might be a little easier to take advantage of now Brian's girlfriend Alexis stays at his apartment for days on end desperate for that front door to open and Brian to walk back into their lives she takes to social media begging Brian's Myspace friends to please spread the word and keep Brian in their prayers these messages are heartbreaking and there's one from April 3rd the day

miss the flight that says quote I love you so much and I just want you to come home unquote police check local hospitals and homeless shelters but there's no sign of Brian and no one that matches his description local media picks up the story a tip line is set up police and volunteers plaster missing person posters on telephone poles all over Columbus but Brian isn't found and no one is coming forward with any helpful information so the police decide to go back to the ugh

Lee Tunis Aluna to retrace Brian's steps they pull the video surveillance from that night and there he is on camera and here is where everything gets so strange and you'll see why I've never been able to stop thinking about this case security footage shows Brian going into the Ugly Tuna at 1:15 in the morning of April first now Brian can be seen outside on the escalator that leads up to the bar and he's standing in front with

people behind him who's six one four now says is Meredith and Clint there's nothing weird about this footage he looks like he's having a good time everyone's happy he doesn't seem like overly intoxicated like he can still walk and function normally then when he gets to the top of the escalator he walks out of frame and heads inside the Ugly Tuna with Clint and Meredith behind him now according to Dateline there were a couple of girls inside that Clinton Meredith new and Brian starts talking to them now police know from

talking to everyone that Clinton Meredith at some point got separated from Brian and they couldn't find him and they assume that he left on his own so they start going through the other security tapes fast-forwarding to see when Brian comes out you know trying to like nail down exactly what time he left maybe which direction he went stuff like that exactly exactly like where did he go at the bottom of the escalator so they spot him again on the tape at 155 in the morning and you can just barely see him in the corner of the frame but he's hanging out at the Top End of the Age

later like right outside the entrance of the bar and he's talking to two girls after a minute or two goes by he walks off camera again back inside the bar so the police fast-forward again like again looking for the time when he comes out he leaves but the thing is they never see him on security footage again wait what yeah and I'm sure they re wound a couple of times played it back slower but no matter how many times they watch the tape Brian never

never was seen on it again coming out of the Ugly Tuna okay but like that can't be the only exit right like yes it's like the one that the public uses or the one that everyone usually uses but they have to have like an emergency exit or like a delivery door somewhere in the back like come on yeah so so yes you're right there is another exit the Ugly Tuna has one other door out back but there's a freight elevator and

leads to a really messy construction site like heavily under construction site that would be super hard to navigate even if Brian hadn't been drinking but like again like add alcohol to all of this dark out and it wouldn't make sense like yeah you would have had to like go out there again if you're so wasted that you don't even know where you are not functioning properly like you go out there and get stuck out there right but like again no one found him in this construction site and there was no camera on that door

or but a lot of other places around that area had cameras that would pick up that door so they pull video from all these places to see a Brian made the strange decision to exit that way and again Brian isn't on any of the other cameras footage now this gets even crazier when you factor in just how much surveillance is in Columbus now I didn't know this before I was researching but according to this Mel magazine article that I read Columbus quote has more closed circuit

Jen then Cleveland Cincinnati and Toledo combined whoa that's like a lot of surveillance right so which means like if Brian left in any way thing would have seen it like I don't know how he would have been able to leave and avoid all of those cctvs now even though they aren't able to spot Brian on any of the video footage they are able to use all of this video footage and comb through it to find out exactly who was at the bar that night and Fox 8 Cleveland and others

sources report that every single person who entered the bar that night was accounted for and seen leaving except for Brian and it's literally like he vanished Into Thin Air somewhere inside that bar I mean yeah but like unless we're going to stop this and make this show about aliens that just doesn't happen like know either he left or someone did something to him those are really the only two options right right I mean I think the how like the physical how of

this could have a spinning in circles all day how can you be seen going into a place and never seen leaving right when everyone else is accounted for coming in and out like how so instead of how maybe let's talk about why so like you said I feel like we have two real options here either Brian left on his own or someone did something to him right and early on and you still see people speculating about this today people thought that maybe Brian did walk away

a on his own because he was so overcome with grief for the loss of his mother I mean I guess that's not out of the question like how many times have we seen like what grief can do to a person like you can be a hundred percent Okay one minute and then just devastate the Vex like there's nothing about the grieving process that's rational and people do things that they just wouldn't normally do our aren't them you know and right running away and starting a new life I don't think

like crazy to consider no it's totally true so I'll admit up front like in all the past years that I've been obsessed with this case I never really gave that possibility a ton of consideration because personally I just didn't understand it but I've also never lost a parent and I think it's really hard to put yourself in someone else's shoes but as I was putting together this episode I was talking to a friend about the case and she opened up to me about the loss of her dad and she said you know is soon as he died I ran I went overseas for three

weeks I didn't go to his funeral it was the only way that she could cope and there's something about hearing it from her like all of a sudden I got it like medical school was stressful enough without having a seriously ill family member and remember Brian's mom Renee was in bad shape before she passed away it didn't just happen overnight and on top of that she was his inspiration for going to medical school in the first place yeah and I mean watching a loved one go through cancer treatment is a grieving process all on its own and I don't think it's

something that I can even fully grasp or explain to you well like I don't think anyone could unless you've had to live through it but my friend she helped describe it this way she said it's hell and it's hard because when the cancer is terminal their death just kind of slows down so every moment with them is precious but also every moment is just Agony as well right and even though Brian was a medical student and understood intellectually what his mom was going through that didn't make it any easier for him and so he's they're still there

emotional component for sure yeah and he's caught between this turmoil of like wishing her suffering would end without wanting her to die so what if in the middle of all this stress and pain Brian decided to completely walk away and just start over somewhere like it becomes a little more possible in my mind well especially if you consider the fact that this trip was a gift from her like yeah this trip could be an emotional trigger for him that's really true idea until that moment yeah until it's like coming up like oh my gosh I'm going to have to leave this is

this is too much now everyone in his life knew how hard Renee's death was on him but despite all of that and you don't they're considering all the same things we are here they're convinced there's no way Brian would up and run away from his life no matter how upset he was because of Renee's laws Brian Randy and Derek had all grown even closer and they all said Brian was expressing excitement about the future his proposal his trip and he was just determined to make his mom

proud and beyond that when I kept talking to my friend about how she dealt with her grief I said here's the thing I don't get like you came back you wanted to see your mother again yeah like I get him running and that part does make sense to me but what doesn't make sense is that you would never come back to your girlfriend who you're planning on making your wife you never come back to your brother to your dad like that part doesn't quite work for me especially because they seem like such a close family like like you said your friend came back like you would think that

if he did decide to you know step away from his life or whatever for a time he would want to reconnect and want to be there for his family like they've been there for each other all along right and plus let's just go back to the how if he wanted to leave and start over hey he could have done it at any time like go missing from your apartment why the mystery of like you being seen coming into a bar and never coming out yeah and again even be if that was your plan

I want to be seen going into this bar and then like just disappear I still don't get how like he would have needed one crazy kind of Disguise to leave the Ugly Tuna and totally avoid being spotted by all those cameras and everyone around him and what I've never seen mentioned is again police accounted for everyone walking in everyone walking out I've never seen it mentioned anywhere that like oh there's this like person who walks out that we never saw walking in so even a disguised as it really makes me everyone's walking out was a

and for walking in yes so I think we know if this was the plan I think whatever he would have had it done would have been really hard and then again factor in that he had been taking shots and drinking all night long it just even seems less plausible so another possibility police and the Searchers have to consider is that maybe Brian had been the victim of a terrible accident maybe Brian got hurt somewhere or maybe he fell into the Olentangy River by his apartment so they bring in cadaver dogs to the OSU

you campus but the dogs don't pick up any scent Columbus monthly reported that the city even searched the sewer lines and found nothing okay but what about his friends did any of them see anything like weird or out of the ordinary at the bar before they lost track of him nothing that's been officially reported so here's the thing police do talk to both Clint and Merit it pretty early on in the investigation Meredith doesn't know anything about what happened to Brian and when they asked her to take a polygraph she

he's and she passes Clint however is more of a mystery

this episode was made possible by Boost Mobile switching to Boost Mobile gives you more so they're surprising people with more at every single turn because boost doesn't just offer one great thing it offers many like they're super reliable super fast network but beyond that there's still more you also get four free Samsung Galaxy phones for the whole family when you switch to boost but there's still more you get four lines for $25 per line per month with

limited gigs for data talk and text you guys if anyone is still living with gigabyte limitations in the world of streaming I'm going to have to ask you to please step out of 2010 and into present day we are streaming everything all the time life without unlimited gigs on a high-speed reliable network isn't a realistic one anymore Boost Mobile they are the switch that gives you more this is a limited-time offer while supplies last offer coverage not available everywhere each free phone requires port in

Channel terms and conditions apply visit Boost Mobile.com or your nearest retailer for details all right now back to our show

Clint refuses to take the polygraph then he gets a lawyer and according to the lineup Clint through his lawyer expressed that he had nothing to hide and felt that he already told the investigators everything he could which yes we talk all the time about knowing your rights and understanding how you interact with police Andy and not taking polygraphs yeah like again cleanse doing all the things I would do but it instantly makes people suspicious especially Brian's brother Derek

he told Mel magazine quote I didn't know Clint very well but I always thought something was off with him the way he talked about my brother after he went missing kind of in a negative way I wouldn't expect that from someone whose friend vanished if Clint knew something I hope he would have shared it I deserve to know and quote but their friends like Clint and Brian are friends I mean you'd want to help your friends family in a situation like this which is like literally a worst-case

scenario situation like even if it's just to help them get closure yeah this kind of reminds me of the live show that we do like there's a portion where someone related to the victim might have information and they just like they literally do the same thing they have shut down they get a lawyer the guy like moves and everyone is saying like I get protecting yourself but at some point like if you're feeling member your friend is like missing the most important thing isn't like if you go to get in trouble or something happened to you it's like let's find the missing person

right but the more I found I guess things really weren't the best between Clint and Brian though in the investigation discovery special that I saw they did like a piece on this case back in July of this year and they spoke to Sergeant John Hirst of the Columbus PD who was the lead investigator in Brian's case and he said that at some point they had found out that Clint and Brian had like got into a verbal argument at the bar which I had never

heard before and this only makes Derek and Alexis more suspicious that Clint knows more than he's owning up to now there's another theory that makes Clint look like he's involved but with a Twist people say if Brian really did have this like premeditated plan to run away he probably would have needed help so some are saying like Okay he's this old friend and old roommate maybe he helped him leave and disappear when that's why he's being so cagey

right so it may be he is protecting his friend but like in his own weird way that's making him look guilty but that's just one of the theories and there isn't anything to link Clint to Brian's disappearance so investigators have to just keep looking they talked to the two women who were chatting with Brian outside of that bar you know on the video at 155 and neither of them have any real insight either so they're crossed off the list pretty fast now as you can imagine between losing his wife

and his eldest son in the span of three weeks Randy Schaefer is devastated so much trauma in such a short time makes him desperate so he consult psychics while the police are searching for clues about where Brian might be a Columbus monthly article from 2009 told this heartbreaking story about how one psychic told Randy that Brian's Body was quote submerged in water held down by the whirlpool that form at the base of concrete bridge posts and

now since Brian lived so close to the Olentangy less than a mile away Randy goes out buys waiters and just starts canvassing the river with Derek and they do this for Miles looking into all the whirlpools for any signs of Brian until Randy trips falls in the water and almost drowned in the same place that he's searching for his missing son oh my God I know there's something about that story that just really got to me

now Randy and Derek and Alexis keep searching and keep hoping and keep praying Alexis calls Brian's phone every day for months and it always goes right to voice mail but one day about six months after he disappears his phone rings

now when the phone rings Brian doesn't pick up the phone but just the phone ringing itself was something Alexis hadn't heard in half a year when she called his phone so she notifies the police and they reach out to the phone company because if there's a ring there's a ping right I like that slogan but yes if there's a ring there's a ping so they reach out to the phone company and find that the phone pinged off of a tower outside of Columbus the problem is like no one can really like pin

down and the best anyone can say is his service provider says you know it's possible that this was just some kind of computer glitch and there's really nothing to indicate that Brian had actually turned his phone back on and there's been no activity on his phone since the night he went missing not only has his phone not been used but his bank account his credit cards all of that stuff is totally untouched if Brian still alive he's not accessing his finances at all and all he had with him when he went missing from the ugly

Tuna were like normal things you take with you if you were planning to come back home like Keys wallet shoes but none of that stuff has ever been located either with no new leads and every tip turning out to be either a vicious hoax or a dead end gradually the case goes cold by 2008 there haven't been any new leads in years and the tip line has turned into a place for the worst kind of humans to have fun like these quote-unquote tips aren't even attempting to be credible

read some of them in Mel magazine and they're just people being racist and obscene for the sake of just being gross it's awful it was total abuse of the tip line now as if the Schaefer family hasn't had enough tragedy Randy is killed in a freak accident on September 14th of 2008 when a tree branch falls and hits him during a windstorm before he died Randy was involved in the central Ohio Crime Stoppers and he even worked to get

legislation passed in Ohio that set up a Statewide protocol for handling missing adults cases he had never given up hope that Brian would come home and now for Derek this is just another shock to his system his whole immediate family is now gone in less than three years God once again the Schafer's friends and family gathered to mourn they pay tribute at his funeral and online and this is where things get even weirder

The Columbus Dispatch publishes Randy's obituary on their website where people can like leave condolences and a mysterious post shows up in the comments and it says quote dad I love you love Brian unquote and in parentheses it finishes with US Virgin Islands and everyone is like taken aback like could this be real is this proof that Bryan's alive and has somehow snuck out

out of the Ugly Tuna to start a new life like away from all the suffering away from his home as an American citizen he wouldn't need a passport to get into the Virgin Islands either like and he had his wallet with him so presumably he had a photo ID which was never recovered so if Brian had truly wanted to disappear and start over it would be an easy place to go now according to the lantern the Ohio State University's student newspaper police subpoena the website records to find out where this comment originated hoping that maybe

like just maybe this is going to offer some genuine insight into Bryan's disappearance right but of course it does not on October 7 2008 is about three weeks after the message appears police announced that the post was made on a public computer in Franklin County Ohio which houses both the city of Columbus and Ohio State University and we find out that basically this post is just yet another hoax and Brian's case stays cold

in the years right after Brian's disappearance the internet kind of Goes Bananas for this case there are so many conspiracy theories about what could have happened to him one of them though is that Brian was murdered not by a friend or someone he knew but by an elusive Predator known in the online community as the smiley face killer now we have gotten so many requests to talk about the smiley face killer and we might someday but that's like a whole nother can of worms were that we're not opening just

yet yeah it's not even been proven that it's like a real one person doing it exactly so for anyone who doesn't know the smiley face killer theory was developed by a pair of retired NYPD detectives and a criminal justice professor in Minnesota and basically they think that a series of drownings in the midwest over the 1990s and 2000's weren't accidents rather they were the actions of a serial killer targeting intoxicated college aged men dumping their bodies in rivers

it's and then spray painting a signature smiley face near where the bodies were left and this idea that Brian's disappearance was somehow connected to the smiley face Killer really picked up a lot of steam in 2016 when another young man went missing from that same area where Brian banished and the parallels are Erie this kid's name was Joey labute he's 26 years old were Brian was 27 they were both tall with dark hair they were both drinking at bars on High Street near campus in the spring time

and actually they were just a mile apart now in both cases their friends lost track of them and then they're each last seen on surveillance footage from the bars Joey's loved ones were just as heartsick and terrified as Brian's as they waited for information but three weeks later his body was found in the site oh River but here's the catch his body was found in the river but Joey didn't drown there was no water in his lungs so he was

dead before his body was placed in the river oh my god there was no sign of trauma no obvious cause of death like no sign of suicide nothing weird on the toxicology reports just another enduring mystery and plenty to speculate on this smiley face killer Theory got so much attention that the FBI even looked into it for several years and they put out a statement in 2008 saying quote we have not developed any evidence to support links between

tragic deaths or any evidence substantiating the theory that these deaths are the work of a serial killer or killers and quote aside from law enforcement agencies like the FBI saying this isn't a credible Theory even if Brian was a smiley face killer victim there's no way to tell without his body or proof that he's even really dead right now no smiley faces were found along the river where police and family searched for him and even if there had been like it's a really common thing that anyone with a can of spray paint

can just put up on a wall right it's not like a unique tag or anything right but again you will still see this Theory all over the internet now shortly after Randy's death another tip comes in Columbus monthly recalls the story of this like more credible tip that puts Brian's Body in a field near a freeway just outside of the city so a team of human officers and canine sniffer dogs head out there but the field is empty and there at square one yet again

no new trace of Brian just that same grainy image on the tape that's been rewound again and again and again all with the enduring hope that maybe this time something new will emerge

this episode was made possible by Iowa luggage you guys this is one of those products that I bought before they were ever a sponsor and I'll be honest I had always heard ads for years for away and I was like I don't know it's a suitcase I can throw my clothes in anything and it won't make my trip any better or worse but I was super wrong when we started touring I was traveling a lot so I decided that I deserve an upgrade and oh my gosh

now I don't go on any trips without my suitcase not only are they super durable and functional with their 360° spinner Wheels but the way the inside is compartmentalised has me packing in a whole new way away products are designed to last a lifetime if any part of your suitcase breaks aways standout customer service team will arrange to have it fixed or replaced now you can get a discount for $20 off any suitcase or bag

visit away travel.com crime junkie and use promo code crime junkie during checkout that's away travel.com crime junkie and use promo code crime junkie for $20 off any suitcase or any bag all right now back to our show

I read a quote from Sergeant Hurst in Columbus monthly that I think really sums up the difficulty of cases like this he described the investigation as quote looking for a deceased person and for someone who's still amongst the living at the same time unquote Brian's brother Derek's still blames himself for not going out to meet Brian that night he vanished she keeps thinking like what if him being there change just one little thing about that whole night like the butterfly effect what have him being there changed

all of it and completely change the circumstances and everything would have gone differently and even now Derek asked himself the hardest question of all if he'd gone to Ugly Tuna that night would Brian still be with them today now Derek eventually married the woman that he was out with that night and while Derek remains haunted by Brian's disappearance he's moved on with his life as best he can and Alexis has to When The Columbus Dispatch visited her in 2016 10 years after Bryan disappeared they reported that she

she'd finished medical school she became an OBGYN who practices in her hometown of Toledo she's married with two young kids and she's not the same person who is posting loving messages on Brian's Myspace page but she's candid about that part of her past and how it altered her life she told the dispatch quote I put his things in the back of my closet and I just needed that chapter of my life to be over there were a lot of tears and it was sad but it was time to move forward and quote

as for the ugly Tunis Aluna it closed in 2018 whatever Clues the interior may still have held about Brian's fate are completely gone now I mentioned earlier in the show that Brian had a tattoo of his favorite band Pearl Jam Brian's tribute tattoo is of Stickman which is basically become like iconic as the cover art on the band's alive single and Eddie Vedder the band's lead singer even dedicated one of their songs come back to him when Pearl Jam performed in Columbus in 2010

ten yeah which if Brian knew about this tribute it probably would have delighted him and maybe just maybe someday he'll be able to find out about it or may already know if you have any information regarding The Disappearance of Brian Schaeffer please contact the central Ohio Crime Stoppers at six one four four six one eight four seven seven or go to stop crime dot-org to submit a tip online

again if you have any information about The Disappearance of Brian Schaeffer go to the central Ohio Crime Stoppers at stop crime dot-org if you want to see any pictures or our sources for this episode you can find those on our website crime junkie podcast.com and be sure to follow us on Instagram at crime junkie podcast

fast and we'll be back next week with a brand new episode

crime junkie is an audio Chuck production so what do you think Chuck do you approve

okay so prophet of the month right let's do it okay so this one is a little bit unconventional and I want to highlight it specifically because like a lot of families get puppies for Christmas and it's so true and then so many people don't keep dogs Pastor exactly like it like I am all for like getting dogs for Christmas I got one for my birthday one

once and I still have him Niles but a lot of people get puppies from like puppy mills and not great places and adult dogs are everywhere and they are in every shelter completely inundating there are their shelter and I really want to highlight some dogs are being fostered right now that are looking for their forever homes let's do it yeah okay so our listener Jason emailed me and told

you out three dogs that they are currently fostering which three dogs this is even better so it's not like you just found them they came from one of our crime genteel exactly and it's a crime of listener they have these dogs out there fostering they are willing to travel across state lines from where they are to get these dogs their forever homes and I just I'm so obsessed so Jason and his wife has started fostering dogs and they are in Houston Texas which Ashley I don't know if you know this but supposedly according to Jason

in Houston is like the Stray dark Charlie it itching and like making that padding noise I don't know if you can hear it it's a puppet month I mean I don't know okay go back so Jason and his wife have been fostering profits that they've been finding in their hometown of Houston and Ashley I don't know if you know but Houston is evidently like the Stray Dog capital of the u.s. oh really I actually did know that at all neither did I and there's like thousands of

stray dogs just surrounding the Houston area and so every time his wife kind of stumbles across when she brings it home which like same yeah I gotcha I mean I like I cannot cross paths with a homeless dog it would not end up a right exactly like I just have like a million dollar tax in my home yeah he cannot move to Houston and when they emailed me they had three Foster dogs Scarlett Bruce and Ivy and he's not me pictures of them

and they're all just these beautiful sweet loving pitbull puppies I say puppies that's you know very Universal there are a range of Ages but they're all puppies to my heart and Ash by the time that I emailed him and was like we want to feature these prophets tell me all the things more he was like so we've already gotten them adopted that's great news that is it such amazing news and I was like that's that's great like I have no problem with that

thank you I'm glad you emailed us like whatever and he was a sir yeah like this is a great this is a great ending to my email I would love I would love for more emails to end like this and then he was like but also we found two more I'll tell me about these two more so they had just found them like this past week so they don't know a ton about them but they attach pictures and information on Barton and Gomorrah and

and Bart is definitely pretty young he has like the whole puppy energy going on he is super friendly and loving there is some skin damage around his his legs and then he again like he's a stray they have no idea what he has lived through in his a very very young life and Gomorrah is super super laid back and only wants attention and she's super sweet and doesn't seem to have a violent bone in her body and the only reason I say that

of course she doesn't because she is a pit bull and a lot of people have you know negative connotations towards quote-unquote like violent breeds which I had is such a bummer now I have to pit bull crosses and Ash are my dogs cuddlers dude the sweetest little dog only want to sit on your lap and they only want love and so Bruce and Gomorrah are going to be on our page along with Jason's information on how to reach out to them and figure out how to adopt them I'm

super excited and again like it's they will drive to you you little bit come to you you guys and it's a holiday season if your kids or your family wants a dog this season like please consider not getting a puppy from a Mill and or even from from Rescue because they're so they go so quickly consider an adult dog they're potty-trained yeah they already are already trained completely can be trained on leashes yeah I think that's great yeah for the holiday season this year you guys yes if you're going to get a dog for your

we consider a dog that's a little bit older I mean like you know I have a soft spot for full-on Senior Dogs but even this a dog that's like whole year a year or two years it's so much harder for them to get it really is and it's such a great need in our country to adopt older dogs so consider it like it's just an option and everyone would love you for it and before we sign off completely I have like a little mini story to tell you I'm here and it's kind of like a

mystery dog he's only a dog that I've heard about okay listen to this so I was having dinner a couple of weeks ago with the old director of Crime Stoppers who I'm still good friends with yeah and he has this new job and works with some listener in Texas if this is you please reach out so he works with one of our fans in Texas and he said that they have this like shelter or rescue or something and they had this dog who's been there a long time again one of these like dogs who's a few years old nobody wants to adopt

because they all want the puppies and the dog is a kind of anxious like wouldn't really like calm down not that he's like violent or mean or like hyperactive but just like just a lot yeah just anxious and so they tried all these things they tried playing music they tried like the puppy TV like all of the things and nothing worked to get this dog to calm down until they started playing crime donkey for this dog and they said what I hear they

I said it's like you know through the chain of people is that when they started playing crime junkie as soon as this dog heard my voice just like totally calm down totally soothe I'm about to cry no so if this listener is soooo listening we need to know who this dog is because this seems like the perfect companion for any crime junkie like listen to cry and hug you with your new friends friends feature him yes as a property of them right and get him a home with a crime John yeah so call out

whoever that listeners I want to find this dog so this dog can find their new crime junkie home make sure to go to our website to see the dogs that Britt featured and we'll be back next month with a new prophet of the month bye guys bye