‘Holy hell, how do you know that name:’ Researchers, podcasters unveil new details in Brian Shaffer case

Almost 20 years ago, Ohio State medical student Brian Shaffer walked into a campus bar and was never seen again.  Now, for the first time in years, podcasters and police are revealing an important new clue as well as information they had not previously shared with the public.

A second person coming forward about a same person of interest, a month-long triangulation of Shaffer’s cell phone, a search warrant to dig up a basement near Lane Avenue.  All of these new revelations are bound to reignite theories into one of Central Ohio’s most baffling missing persons cases.

The mysterious Brian Shaffer case has helped spawn two podcasts – the popular Columbus-based True Crime Garage, hosted by Nic Edwards and Patrick Edwards and Brian Shaffer Dead or Alive, by Washington Courthouse native and current Georgia resident Kelly Bruce.  Both have helped keep this baffling story alive for two decades.

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Last month, True Crime Garage aired an exhaustive, six-part retrospective into the case, on which Bruce collaborated.  Shortly afterward, a listener texted Bruce the name of a person he said authorities should be looking into.  She immediately shared the information with a startled detective at the Columbus Division of Police.

“When I told [the detective] the name, he said, ‘Holy hell, how do you know that name,” Bruce told 614Now.

The detective told Bruce his unit had been given the same name by a friend of Shaffer’s shortly after the 27-year-old man’s disappearance in 2006.  The two then determined that the name had been supplied by two separate tipsters. Neither policers nor researchers have made the man’s public.

Since her conversation with police two weeks ago, a follow-up call from the department has yet to come.  And, in an unrelated call to Missing Persons by (614) Magazine, a detective said his unit was under direct orders from Police Chief Elaine Bryant to not discuss the Shaffer case with anyone.

And other, previously unknown details of the investigation were revealed after Kelly’s tip to police about the person of interest.  Perhaps the most intriguing clues to Shaffer’s possible whereabouts came from his cell phone.  It has now been revealed that for a month after Shafer went missing, mobile phone company Cingular was able to use triangulation to trace Shaffer’s phone to various, successive locations – Kenny & Lane, North High Street, Hilliard and more.  But the method was not exact enough to lead detectives to any particular location.

However, based on Cingular’s investigation and the address of the person of interest’s address at the time of the disappearance, police homed in on a house near Lane Avenue.  They obtained a search warrant to dig into the floor of the home’s basement.  One area of the floor appeared to have been disturbed.  That’s where they dug.  But all they found was an obsolete fuel oil tank that had been used years earlier to help heat the home.

These new – and newly revealed – wrinkles in the case are bound to stir up additional theories as to exactly what happened to Shaffer on the evening of March 31, 2006.

It was the end of finals week at OSU, and the second-year medical student had just enjoyed dinner at a local steakhouse with his father, Randy.  The two were still grieving the death of Brian’s mother from cancer three weeks earlier.  Brian was also exhausted from studying for his tests, but he insisted on following dinner with a night at the bars with his friend, former roommate Clint Florence.  

The two started the evening at the Ugly Tuna Saloona on the second floor of the South Gateway complex and then walked south, along High Street.  In the Arena District, they ran into Meredith Reed, a friend of Florence’s, who drove the two back to the Ugly Tuna for a nightcap.

Security cameras captured Shaffer and the others entering the bar, where he became separated from his friends.  Those same cameras caught everyone in the establishment leaving by the entrance at or shortly after the 2 a.m. closing time – except for Shaffer.

At one point during the evening, Shaffer had called his girlfriend, Alexis Waggoner, who was out of town tending to a family matter.  He left her a message saying he looked forward to seeing her Monday morning at the Columbus airport, where the two were to depart on a short vacation together.  Family and friends were concerned for Shaffer’s well-being throughout the weekend.  And when he failed to appear at the airport, his father went to the police.

Since then, authorities have sifted through five-thousand or more tips and have debunked many myths about the man’s disappearance.  For instance, podcast interviews have revealed that Shaffer probably was not going to propose marriage to his girlfriend, as some have said they expected.  Interestingly – and perhaps because of the recent stress in his life – Shaffer had asked Waggoner to run away with him.  Though on track to become a doctor, Shaffer’s passion was music, playing guitar and dreaming of a life similar to that of Jimmy Buffett.

As for his disappearance from the bar, it is not true that the front entrance was the only route Shaffer could have taken to leave.  At the back of the bar was a door into a hallway that led to the employees’ exit.  Security cameras at this location were considered unreliable.  One or more were set up to record only still images, and the recordings were periodically overwritten.  Still, no one has come forward to report having seen Shaffer in that area.

Nic and Patrick Edwards, the True Crime Garage podcasters, may reveal even more revelations next month when they host a public speaking event.  Edwards said all proceeds from admissions will be donated to The Porchlight Project, a non-profit organization he helped set up to offer support for families of missing and murdered people. The event will be held on April 18 at BrewDog DogTap Columbus in Canal Winchester.

Podcaster Kelly Bruce and others involved with sharing Brian Shaffer’s story will be on hand, as well, to speak about the new information and to solicit additional information on one of Central Ohio’s most intriguing missing persons cases.

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