Ongoing Search and Cold Case

This is an IiHart podcast Guaranteed human Hello and welcome to Unexplained With me, your host, Richard McLan Smith Where each week we explore another true tale of high strangeness But first a quick update on some things before we begin As some of you may know, ironically, the biggest thing in podcasting right now is making videos So Ive finally bitten the bullet As you will see, if you're watching this Here I am For those listening and who will always prefer to listen Don't worry. Absolutely nothing will change from your perspective Unexplained will always be available to listen to as a podcast. Only now it will come with an accompanying video If you do want to watch, you can find the podcast at youTube. com forward slash unexplained Pod. The video versions will also be available on Spotify and Apple podcasts once my hosting company updates their system So listen out for any announcements regarding that. If you're new here and you're a fan of expertly told atmospheric stories about the strange and unexplained then you've come to the right place please subscribe to the show if you haven't already done so This is unexplained Season nine episode twenty six. in through the outdoor Brian Schafer mystery Early on Friday evening in March of two thousand six There was a celebratory mood on the campus of Ohio State University Classes are just finished for spring break The Qad was packed with students ready to let loose twenty seven year old Brian Safer wove his way through the crowds keepeeping his eyes fixed on the ground ahead of him He heard a friend calling his name trying to summon him over to join the celebrations but he didn't look up Brian was tired He was midway through his second year of medical school ploe was crushing. pulled multiple ornighters that week ahead of his exams. tryrying to retain impossible volumes of information about the human endocrine and reproductive systems And that was only the tip of the iceberg The past month had been the hardest of Brian's life And right then He was trying not to think about the deeper reason for his exhaustion He' locked that away firmly in a mental box which he didn't plan to reopen until he was ready Definitely not until he'd passed his end of year board exams. Brian made it to the parking lot on the edge of the campus. got into his car. barely used it in weeks One of the perks of life at OSU was how walkable the university neighborhood was He drove about fifteen minutes east to a nearby outback steakhouse. where he'd agreed to meet his father for dinner. Randy Schaefer was already inside iting at a corner table Randy stood up to greet his son immmediately noticing the dark shadows under Brian's eyes pale complexion and the way he wouldn't quite make eye contact. Absolutely exhaust it That wasn't a surprise, of course The entire family was still in shock Less than a month ago. Brandy's wife and Brian's mother, Renee died from an aggressive, fast moving cancer Although Brian had been stoical about it on the surface Randy knew his son was in pain He tried to convince Brian to take some time off school Surely the college would understand, he thought Brian wouldn't hear of it. He insisted that missing his exams would just derail his whole med school career. and stress him out even more Clearly Brian needed to keep things as normal as possible in order to cope That's why Randy had insisted on taking him out to dinner too celebrate the end of the semester It was their tradition, after all But now that they were here in their favorite steakhouse Renee's absence felt all the more glaring. neeither of them wanted to acknowledge it. Instead, they just made small talk about the exams As Brian said had gone pretty well, all things considered And they talked about Brian's vacation plans for sppring break at the end of their dinner Randy was surprised when Brian said he was going to meet some friends for drinks at a local bar Considering how tired he clearly was What he really needed was an early night Randy almost said so but decided better of it. Drool Maybe a night out with friends to blow off some steam was exactly what he needed. He couldn't possibly have known then That was the last time he'd ever see his son Schafer was born and raised in Pickerington A suburb just outside of Columbus, Ohio bright, energetic kid Who made friends easily and was good at almost everything he tried He was a model student played multiple sports. And as a teenager had even taught himself how to play the guitar it so much that he had dreams of starting his own alternative rock band one day But it was never more than a passing fantasy truth Brian was far too disciplined and sensible to do that as the older of two brothers He also had a strong sense of responsibility being the first child He felt it was important to set a good example for his younger brother His father, Randy, an electrician And his mother Renee, who was a nurse but always encouraged him to choose a stable career path. Medon. seemed about as solid as they come In two thousand three Brian earned his undergraduate degree in microbiology. fromr Ohio State University before taking a place at their medical school It seemed like a natural fit to his friends and family. He had the right mix of smarts and social skills to become an excellent doctor. the grueling pace of that first year at med school Brian adapted well up with all of his coursework while still carving out some time for a social life and the occasional guitar jam session In the fall of two thousand five. R at the beginning of his second year. Brian started dating fellow medical student, Alexis Wagener ly got serious between them part because soon after they met Brian was shaken by some devastating news from home. His mother Renee was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of blood cancer Brian had always been close to his momum She was his closest confidant. And the idea of life without her was unthinkable But Renee didn't want Brian to worry So she did what she could to play down her condition Brian, now a med student He couldn't be fooled. He understood the prognosis too well Even so The speed of his mother's decline still stunned him In early March of two thousand six Only six months after her diagnosis Renee passed away in hospital surrounded by her family. Brian was shattered by the loss But he was also determined not to let it derail him So rather than take any time off school. He doubled down in his studies in his mum's honor trying to do what he thought she would want or as he put it on his Myyspace page, She will always inspire me to do my best And I don't want to let her down As far as Brian's friends could tell He was handling the loss of his mother about as well as could be expected He planned to just stay focused until his exams were out of the way. And then he could take some much needed time to try and process it all during spring break When he and Alexis had booked a vacation to Florida By then, The couple's friends and family ' pretty sure that Brian was planning to propose during that trip grief and the pressures of med school It seemed that Brian had grown up a lot in the past year. And maybe the idea of settling down appealed to him Being a chance to get some stability and control back into his life Besides, as some of them figured It was probably what his mum would have wanted for him On march thirty first The final day of classes before spring break. Brian's home His father, Randy Schafer stood in the doorway of his bedroom Still utterly devastated by his wife's death He hadn't been able to bring himself to touch any of her belongings. clothes were still draped over a chair. Her jewelry still out on her makeup table Even the book she'd been reading when she died was still on her nightstand Randy took it all in and then switched off the light. and headed out to meet his son. night. He drove over to the outback steakhouse in the city of Reynoldsburg. situated almost exactly halfway between the Schaefer home and the Ohio State University campus It had become the family's favorite meeting spot Ever since Brian started his undergrad studies that night. Randy was determined to put on a brave face for Brian And the reverse was also true So they both made an effort to keep things light. As they ate their rebed steaks At some point, Randy asked Brian about his upcoming trip to Miami with Alexis Brian had always loved Florida In fact, he loved anywhere with a beach and a tropical climate. Before he committed to medical school It' sometimes joked about leaving it all behind and moving to an island where he could make music and drink margaritas all day this vacation, he thought. would give him at least a taste of that dream When the night was over Rundy paid the bill and said goodbye to his son He gave him a quick hug and jokingly told him Do anything I wouldn't do? And in that moment, As he watched his son walk away into the night Randy would later say that he suddenly felt an all consuming sense of foreboding and had the sudden urge to run after Brian and hold him back. As if he somehow saw the city for what it was in that moment pping snarling mouth about to swallow his son whole Whether that was true or just the distorted way that he remembered that night in the aftermath of what was to come. Either way, If it had been true Reason After dinner Brian drove back home to his apartment on campus, where he lived alone his car and then walked a few blocks to OSU's South campus gateway sprawing shopping and entertainment complex for students There he met up with his former roommate, William Florence also known as Clint at the ugly tuna salona busy college bar The place was packed with students, celebrating the start of spring break And there was a restless kind of excitement in the air chatter almost drowning out the music Brian and Clint both drank a beer and had a shot taking advantage of that night's special offer and talked about how their exams had gone beforefore ten PM Brian stepped outside to make a phone call Th he died Alexis, who was visiting her family in Toledo that weekend. Pair finalizeed their travel pl and agreed to meet at Columbus Airport on Monday morning. catch their flight to Miami Brian told Alexis he loved her and told her to say hi to her parents from him Just as Brian was finishing his call Clint emerged from the bar and suggested they get started on their bark Rll They worked their way gradually southwards across the city ing every now and again along the way At every bar They each had a single shot of hard liquor Never lingering long before moving on two hours and as many miles later They reached a bar in the short North neighborhood where they met up with a friend of Clint's called Meredith Reed but it was getting close to midnight Bryant was beginning to succumb to all the sleepless nights and stresses of the exam week sensing that the night was winding down Meredith offered to give the guys a ride back to the university district get one last drink there with them A short time later At one fifteen AM. The three of them rode up the escalator to the main entrance of the ugly tuna saluna Brian Clint had begun earlier in the night Both were several drinks deep at this point. but weren't visibly drunk or out of control. By then The bar was much less packed than it had been earlier But the atmosphere was still buzzing and a life band was playing The trio mingled and danced A some point Brian got separated from the others It's been suggested that shortly after re entering the ugly tuna saluna Brian Clint got into an argument But this has never been confirmed In any case By the time the bar closed at two AM Meredith appeared to have completely lost Brian They both lingered by the exit as other patrons descended the escalator Wondering if perhaps Brian was still in the bar maybe using the restroom or finishing up a conversation with someone They tried texting and calling him As they scanned the faces of the thinning crowd of people As they emerged one by one from the bar Brian didn't respond neither did he appear to emerge from the bar. Barely a few minutes later, The ugly tuna saluna turned out its lights stores. A security guard confirmed that there was nobody left in sight. Infused Clint and Meredith assumed that Brian must have simply gone home without them It was a little strange But he wouldn't be the first person to pull a French exit when he got tired The next morning Brian's dad Randy better than to try calling his son so soon after a night out. Even when he finally shot off a text to him on Saturday afternoon How was last night? He wasn't surprised not to get a reply Brian's girlfriend Alexis, who was busy with her family in Toledo for most of Saturday had tried calling him earlier in the day to check in But her call went straight to voicemail So she figured he was just sleeping off a hangover. She tried again that evening Again, it went to voicemail A thread of unease began to twist in her stomach But she tried to shake it off They'd already finalised their plans and agreed to meet at the airport on Monday morning So there wasn't anything pressing they needed to talk about And still Brian had always been communicative And it was rare for them to go a full day without any contact Sunday She tried him again But yet again, it went to voicemail By now, Alexis was beginning to wonder if Brian had lost or broken his phone She thought about calling his dad But the family had been through so much recently But she didn't want to worry him unnecessarily On Monday morning Axis arrived at the airport as plan Brian was nowhere to be seen. Alexis could only wait at the security gate Watching as one after another passenger filed pass to get onto their flight On the huge illuminated departures board above her head, She watched just the status of their flight to Miami Mved from go to gate Barding to final call Then she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket And for a second, her heart letap But it wasn't Brian It was his dad, Randy As Alexis answered the phone call. She realized for the first time that her hands were shaking A voice came out strangled with panic. And finally, she told Randy everything She told him that Brian was missing. For Randy It was almost a relief to finally hear the words out loud Like Alexis, he'd been desperately trying to convince himself that everything was okay. Even as his texts and calls went unanswered Now finally, he could spring into action. As soon as he got off the phone with Alexis Randy reported Brian missing to the Columbus pololice and told them everything he knew about his son's Friday night plans ps began by interviewing Clint gave them a rough timeline of the evening As he explained it to them. He'd last seen Brian inside the ugly tuna saluna Around one forty AM but hadn't been able to find him when the bar closed at two This location was good news for the investigation. Thanks to high crime rates in the surrounding neighborhood, the South campus gateway complex, where the bar was located had numerous security cameras police reviewed the security footage, they quickly identified Brian, Clint and Meredith Going up the escalator towards the bar at one fifteen AM This matched the timeline that Clint had given them which lent credibility to his statement but otherwise didn't give them much to go on then one fifty five AM Just five minutes before the bar closed Incredibly Brian was picked up on CCTV emerging from the bar into the street outside app here to talk to two young women there before heading back into the bar The CCTV footage then revealed Clint and Meredith leaving a few minutes later Along with the rest of the bar's remaining punters that night Brian wasn't abong them Despite scouring the footage again and again, police couldn't find a glimpse of him leaving the club No one in the footage really looked like him or was wearing the same clothes as him that night the position of the camera. also eliminated any blind spots It was inconceivable that anyone could have used that main entrance without showing up on the footage which left two possible explanations. Brian had deliberately disguised himself by changing his clothes and hiding his face from the cameras Sneaking out with the crowd at two AM Or else is left by a different route officially The ugly tuna saloona's main entrance was the only way in and out of the building There was a service door tucked away in the side of the bar not far from the spot where Brian had last been seen It led to a first floor hallway which in turn led to a construction area that wasn't technically open to the public but wasn't locked either There were security cameras in that area too And when the police reviewed that footage There was no sign of Brian there either The camera coverage there was much more patchy and had multiple blind spots So it was entirely possible that he could have slipped past unrecorded Still, there was no mistaking that service door for a public exit. Brian had chosen to leave the bar that way It was because he didn't want to be seen because he wanted to disappear Even though multiple bars in the area had security cameras too Brian wasn't visible on any of them After one fifty five AM On the morning of april first There wasn't a glimpse of him anywhere in the city In the days following Brian's disappearance The police mounted a vast search effort which spiralled outwards from the ugly tuna salona Brian's apartment nearby As many as fifty officers went door to door, asking for information They searched local hospitals and homeless shelters police doocks were used to comb through dumpsters landfills abbandoned buildings for any evidence of Brian But there was nothing They questioned Brian's family, friends and fellow students hoping to uncover some dark secret that might offer a clue. drug habit, perhaps gambling debts or even a known enemy But yet again, they came up empty handed Nobody had anything bad to say about Brian nor any clue where he might have gone. Brian's own apartment offered no leads either His car was still parked outside, so wherever he'd gone, He hadn't used his own vehicle to get there This was significant because detectives were considering the possibility that Brian had disappeared voluntarily. By anyone's standards had been under intense stress before he disappeared There was the fresh grief of his mother's death the sleep deprivation and stress from his exams Maybe even the pressure he'd felt to propose to Alexis. Brian's friends and family dismiss this out of hand And even the detective who thought it was possible, had to admit that Brian didn't fit the profile Typically people who deliberately disappear teend to do so to escape financial ruin abuse. or a similarly unbearable and inescapable situation Despite everything that Brian had been through You had a stable life. and a loving family he was close to. It just didn't feel right Brian hadn't intended to disappear The police figured there were only two real possibilities to explain what had happened to him. Either he'd fallen victim to an accident deliberate act of violence Because that service door from the bar led into a construction area, which wasn't well lit at night. Investigators thought it might be possible that Brian had fallen there and somehow died But after an exhaustive search of the whole site, body was ever found As for an act of violence There was no sign of a struggle or foul play at the bar Brian was a strong, athletic young man. who was more than capable of defending himself Even after several drinks It is hard to fathom how he could have been overpowered and taken against his will Without anybody noticing and without any video evidence Every possibility seemed equally implausible Before long The police began to wonder if Clint or Meredith were hiding something They asked the pair to take polygraph tests Meredith agreed happily and passed the test It refused Such tests are notoriously unreliable. So perhaps Clint figured not unreasonably that he didn't want to subject himself to something so unpredictable. Eespecially if you didn't have anything to hide way There was no evidence to suggest that Clint had anything to do with Brian's disappearance and the security footage clearly showed him leaving the bar with Meredith after they appear to have innocently failed to find him All the while Brian's father, Randy, continued to search relentlessly for his son losing his son so soon after his wife's death, without any closure. was too much for him to bear Throwing himself into the search was just about all he could do to keep it together And so, as the official investigation began to lose steam He ramppped up his own He and Brian's younger brother, Derek, formed a search party with some of their neighbourors. together They spent hours trudging along the shores of the Olland Tange River searching for any sign of Brian Meanwhile, Alexis would repeatedly call Brian's cell phone heart just so she could hear his voice on the voicemail but also in the hope that one day, Somebody might answer And for months, it went straight to voicemail She called Brian's phone again Ring As Alexis sat listening to that ring tone She was instantly seized by hope But after only a few rings The call once again went to voicemail as usual investigators determined that this was probably just caused by a glitch on the cell phone network end Brian's phone from that exact call was later found to have pinged a tower in Hilliard, A northwestern suburb of Columbus This cell phone pink 's the closest thing to new evidence that's emerged since Brian went missing But in the end just like everything else It led nowhere Although dozens of tips came in from members of the public cllaiming to have seen Brian in locations as far apart as Texas to Sweden, these leads panned out either In septtember two thousand eight Brian's father, Randy was killed in a freak accident by a falling tree branch during a storm then comments of his online obituary post appeared claiming to be from Brian giving his location as the Virgin Islands Pice soon determined that the post was just a cruel hoax The investigation into Brian's disappearance is officially still active and remains one of Ohio's most notorious cold cases In twenty twenty one Authorities released an age progressed photo. showing what Brian would look like in his forties. in the hopes that he might still be located one day doesn't have an expiration date Ohio attorney Genal set Every missing person counts spring of twenty twenty six. It twenty years since Brian Schaefer was last seen This episode was written by Ea Dibbon and produced by me Richard McLain Smith Thank you as ever for listening Unnexplained is an Avy Club productions podcast, created by Richard McLanain Smith All other elements of the podcast, including the music are also produced by me Richard McLane Smith Unexplained the book and audio book is now available to buy worldwide You can purchase from Amazon, Barn and Noble waterater stones and other bookstores Please subscribe to and rate the show wherever you get your podcast And feel free to get in touch with any thoughts or ideas regarding the stories you've heard on the show Perhaps you have an explanation or a story of your own you'd like to share You can find out more at unexplainedpodcast. com. and reaches online through X and Blue Sky, but unexplained pod and Facebook at facebook. com Forward slash Unexplained podcast