Today’s case… is one of the strangest disappearances in modern history. A case with cameras. Witnesses. Timelines. Evidence. And still, no answers.
On April 1st, 2006, a medical student walked into a bar at Ohio State University… and was never seen again. No confirmed sighting. No body. No clue as to how he left a bar with only one entrance, and multiple cameras watching.
This is the story of Brian Shaffer.
It was supposed to be a celebration.
Early on the morning of April 1st, 2006, 27-year-old Brian Shaffer and his friend, William “Clint” Florence, were wrapping up a long night out. They’d just finished their final exams at Ohio State’s College of Medicine. Spring break had officially begun.
They started their evening at the Ugly Tuna Saloona, a campus-area bar known for loud music, cheap drinks, and its location in a part of Columbus known for crime.
They hit a few bars. Had a few drinks. And near the end of the night, Clint’s friend Meredith Reed picked them up and drove them back to where they’d started, the Ugly Tuna.
As last call approached, the three gathered for a final round.
Somewhere in this window, somewhere between music, drinks, and the chaos of a closing bar, Brian got separated from his friends.
When the bar closed at 2:00 AM, Clint and Meredith waited outside…
…waited…
…and waited.
But Brian never came out.
Assuming he’d grabbed a ride home, or had simply slipped out without telling them, they left.
It wasn’t until Monday morning, when Brian failed to show up for a flight to Miami with his girlfriend, that anyone realized something was terribly wrong.
Brian Shaffer was missing.
Background
Let’s back up and learn a little about Brian. He grew up in Pickerington, Ohio, a suburb outside of Columbus, the elder of Randy and Renee Shaffer’s two sons. He graduated from the local high school in 1997 and went to Ohio State University (OSU) for his undergraduate work. Six years later he graduated with a degree in microbiology. Following that, Brian began studies at the OSU College of Medicine in 2004. During his second year there, in March 2006, his mother died of myelodysplasia, a type of blood cancer. Brian’s friends say that although he appeared to be handling it well, her death was hard for him.
During his time at medical school, Brian had become romantically involved with another medical student, Alexis Waggoner. She, along with their families and friends, believed that Brian would probably be proposing marriage to her later in 2006, most likely on a trip to Miami the couple had planned for spring break at the beginning of April. Tropical locations such as Miami attracted Brian; he liked the relaxed lifestyles. He told his friends that despite his decision to pursue a medical career, his real ambition was to start a band playing music in the vein of Jimmy Buffett.
On March 31, a Friday, classes at OSU ended for spring break. Brian and his father, Randy, celebrated the occasion by having a steak dinner earlier that evening. Shaffer’s father noted that he seemed exhausted from having studied through the night earlier in the week cramming for some critical upcoming exams. Randy could see that his son needed some rest and didn’t think he should go out later that night, but did not express his reservations to his son.
The Cameras
Police began their investigation exactly where Brian was last seen: the Ugly Tuna Saloona.
What they found was… unsettling.
Because of the area’s reputation, the bar was equipped with numerous security cameras, including one directly facing the escalator leading to the entrance.
The footage showed Brian at 1:55 AM, standing outside the bar’s entrance, chatting with two women. Then, moments later, cameras captured him turning and walking back into the bar.
And that is the last confirmed visual of Brian Shaffer alive.
There was only one public entrance or exit. Every person who came in or out of that bar was caught on camera.
Every person… except Brian.
He never appears leaving. Not by the escalator. Not slipping past crowds. Not wearing a disguise.
Police examined footage from neighboring businesses. Nothing. No sign of Brian leaving the building.
Which leads to one of the strangest possibilities in this case:
Did Brian never leave the bar at all?
The Impossible Exit
Investigators considered another possibility: a back door.
There was a service exit, but it led directly into a dangerous construction site. Rebar, debris, jagged metal, an area so hazardous police believed even a sober person might struggle to navigate it safely in daylight.
Brian, after a long night of drinking, would’ve been at extreme risk.
However, the cameras in that area might also have missed Shaffer—one panned across the area constantly, and the other was operated manually.
But even then… a serious accident would leave behind evidence: blood, clothing, a body. The site was searched thoroughly. Cadaver dogs combed the area.
Nothing.
Police widened the search.
Dumpsters. Sewers. Riverbanks. Nearby properties.
Still nothing.
Not even the K-9 units could pick up a trace.
It was as though Brian had vanished into thin air.
Desperation and Dead Ends
Brian’s apartment was later burglarized. His family hoped, oddly, that the crime might connect to his disappearance. Maybe there was a clue, a motive, something.
But there wasn’t.
His father, Randy Shaffer, newly widowed after the recent death of Brian’s mother, was desperate for answers. In a moment of grief and hope, he turned to a psychic. She claimed Brian’s body was “in water near a bridge.”
Randy spent hours wading through the Olentangy River, searching.
Again… nothing.
But maybe the oddest twist came from Brian’s girlfriend, Alexis Waggoner. For months, she called his phone every night. Every call went straight to voicemail.
Until one night in September.
The phone rang.
Three full rings.
She called back immediately, heart racing, but this time, it went straight to voicemail again.
A ping from the call traced to a cell tower in Hilliard, 14 miles away.
Had Brian turned on his phone?
Had someone else?
The carrier later admitted the ring and tower ping might have been a glitch, a phantom connection in the system.
There was no way to know.
Suspicions
Almost everyone connected with Brian took a polygraph.
Everyone… except Clint Florence.
Through his attorney, Clint claimed he had “nothing to hide,” and that he had already told police all he could. Police didn’t force the issue.
The two women Brian spoke to outside the bar were identified and cleared.
No suspects. No persons of interest. No confirmed timeline.
Just a man walking into a bar… and never coming out.
A Father’s Fight
Brian’s father refused to let the case fade. He fought tirelessly for answers, posting flyers, speaking with police, pushing legislation to reform how Ohio handles missing persons cases.
His efforts led to a more organized, modern protocol, something that has helped countless families since.
But Randy never found the closure he sought.
In 2008, he died tragically after being struck by a falling branch during a windstorm.
And then, another bizarre twist.
In an online condolence book for Randy, someone wrote:
“To Dad, love Brian. U.S. Virgin Islands.”
A message that instantly reignited hope… and suspicion.
But investigators traced the post to a public computer in Franklin County, Ohio. A cruel hoax.
Another dead end.
Theories
With no evidence, no sightings, and no answers, theories run wild.
Some believe Brian intentionally walked away from his life. He’d joked about playing in a Jimmy-Buffett-style band on a beach somewhere, maybe spring break was his breaking point. One of the original investigators, Andre Edwards, told Columbus Monthly that after an extensive review of the camera footage at the Ugly Tuna Saloona from the night Shaffer disappeared, which was intended to rule out the idea that he could have left in disguise, he could “say with 100-percent certainty” that Shaffer did not leave via the escalator.
Others point to grief. Brian had lost his mother to cancer just three weeks earlier. Maybe he was struggling more deeply than anyone knew.
Another theory suggests he wandered into the construction zone behind the bar and suffered an accident that was somehow overlooked… or even covered up.
And then, there’s the most sensational theory:
The Smiley Face Killer.
A proposed serial killer, or group of killers, believed by some retired detectives to target college-aged men leaving bars, often found near water.
Brian fits the victim profile. But with no body and no physical evidence, any connection is speculation.
Most police departments dismiss the Smiley Face theory entirely, attributing many cases to accidental drowning.
Even if that theory were true… Brian’s body has never been found.
In 2014, Columbus police said they were still receiving at least two tips a month on the case via the local Crime Stoppers hotline, though none had proven useful. Police say they have three theories about the case, but declined to discuss them even generally.
Closing the Bar
In 2018, the Ugly Tuna Saloona closed its doors for good. The space is rumored to be under renovation for office use.
Cadaver dogs had searched the property back in 2006, finding no trace.
And yet… as the walls come down, as the floors are replaced, many can’t help but wonder:
Are we destroying the last remaining evidence in a case where the victim may never have left the building?
As of today, there are no promising leads. No new clues. No confirmed sightings. Only theories, and a family left with questions that may never be answered.
Brian Shaffer’s disappearance remains one of the most baffling cases in American history. A man seen entering a bar, surrounded by cameras, friends, and eyewitnesses… simply vanishes.
No trace.
No explanation.
No ending.
If you have any information about the disappearance of Brian Shaffer, please contact Central Ohio CrimeStoppers at 614.645.TIPS. Even the smallest detail could change everything.
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