AI Summary
5 min readThe Man Who Walked Into a Bar and Never Came Out
On March 31, 2006, 27-year-old Brian Schaefer—a second-year medical student at Ohio State University who had just aced his midterms and was three days away from a spring break trip to Miami with his girlfriend—went out drinking with friends to celebrate. Security camera footage shows him walking into the Ugly Tuna Saluna bar at 1:55 AM. He was never seen leaving. And he was never seen alive again.
Brian's mother Renee had died of aggressive bone cancer just three weeks earlier. That night, he had dinner with his father Randy at Outback Steakhouse, a restaurant Renee and Randy used to visit together. Randy broke down crying at the table. Brian comforted him, saying he would be there for his father as much as possible, and made plans to go through his mother's belongings the next morning. Then Brian went out drinking.
The Last Night
Brian met his friend William "Clint" Florence at his apartment around 9:30 PM to pregame. The two walked to the South Campus Gateway, a large building near campus built to give students a safer place to hang out in a high-crime area. The Ugly Tuna Saluna was on the second floor, accessible only by escalator, with a single public entrance. Brian texted his girlfriend Alexis at 9:52 PM, telling her how excited he was for their trip and that he loved her.
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What you'll learn
- 1 (00:09) **Case Introduction: Brian Schaefer's Last Night** - A 27-year-old medical student vanishes from a bar on spring break 2006, seen on CCTV entering but never leaving.
- 2 (02:16) **Brian's Background: A Golden Boy** - Details of Brian's life as a popular, athletic, and academically gifted medical student from a close-knit family.
- 3 (04:03) **Romance and Family Tragedy** - Brian's relationship with Alexis Wagner and the devastating loss of his mother set the stage for his disappearance.
- 4 (06:10) **The Night of Disappearance: Dinner with Dad** - On March 31, 2006, Brian has an emotional dinner with his father before going out drinking.
- 5 (07:58) **Pre-Gaming and Bar Hopping** - Brian meets friend Clint Florence, and they begin a night of bar hopping with friends.
- 6 (10:08) **Last Sighting: The Escalator** - Brian is seen on CCTV talking to two girls outside the bar, then walking back inside—the last confirmed sighting of him alive.
- 7 (11:36) **The Vanishing Act** - Within five minutes of the bar closing, Brian disappears, and his friends cannot find him.
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Show Notes
In this week's investigation Hot On The Case covers one of the most confusing missing persons cases of all time. Brian Shaffer was a medical student at Ohio State who walked into a crowded college bar, and never walked back out of it. He can be seen on CCTV footage arriving with friends, talking to people outside, and having a seemingly normal night. However, when his friends reappear within sight of the security camera as they leave, Brian is nowhere to be seen. He vanished and has remained that way for over 20 years. The bizarre nature of his disappearance has led to tons of online speculation and multiple theories all trying to answer one question.. What happened to Brian Shaffer?
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