39°59′38″N 83°00′24″W / 39.99382°N 83.00657°W
Brian Shaffer | |
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| Born | Brian Randall Shaffer February 25, 1979 Pickerington, Ohio, U.S. |
| Disappeared | April 1, 2006 (aged 27) Columbus, Ohio, U.S. |
| Status | Missing for 18 years, 7 months and 13 days |
| Education | Ohio State University (BS) |
| Occupation | Medical student |
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (188 cm) |
| Parents |
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| Relatives | Derek Shaffer (brother) |
Brian Randall Shaffer (born February 25, 1979)[1][2] was a medical student at the Ohio State University College of Medicine who has been missing since the early hours of April 1, 2006, after security cameras recorded him just outside a bar in Columbus. He had gone out with friends earlier in the evening of March 31 to celebrate the beginning of spring break; later, he was separated from them, and they assumed he had gone home. The security camera outside the entrance to the second-floor bar recorded him briefly talking to two women just before 2 a.m. and then walking off-screen without any further evidence of him leaving the area. Shaffer has not been seen or heard from since. The case received national media attention.[3]
Shaffer's disappearance has been especially puzzling to investigators since there was no other publicly accessible entrance or exit to the bar at that time (though there was a service exit near where he was last seen). Columbus police have several theories about what happened;[4] some interest and suspicion has been directed at a friend of Shaffer's who accompanied him that night, but he has refused to take polygraph tests regarding the incident.[5] While foul play has been suspected, including the possible involvement of the purported Smiley Face serial killer,[6] it has also been speculated that he might be alive and living somewhere else under a new identity.[7]
- ^ "Brian Randall Shaffer". The Charley Project. May 10, 2009. Archived from the original on March 20, 2016. Retrieved March 12, 2016.
- ^ "Brian Randall Shaffer". The Doe Network. September 17, 2017. Archived from the original on November 17, 2021. Retrieved November 17, 2021.
- ^ Stafford, Rob (May 8, 2006). "Into thin air". Dateline NBC. Archived from the original on March 13, 2016. Retrieved March 12, 2016.
- ^ Sullivan, Michelle (September 2014). "When Missing Persons Cases Go Cold". Columbus Monthly. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved March 12, 2016.
- ^ Sullivan, Drew (April 12, 2009). "Is Brian Shaffer alive?". The Lantern. Archived from the original on March 17, 2016. Retrieved March 12, 2016.
- ^ Johnston, April (April 2009). "In the Name of the Father". Columbus Monthly. Archived from the original on March 13, 2016. Retrieved March 12, 2016.
- ^ Miner, Abigail (October 12, 2008). "Brian Shaffer: Clue could lead to missing student". The Lantern. Archived from the original on March 16, 2016. Retrieved March 12, 2016.