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True Crime Garage
Brian Shaffer /// 20 Years Missing /// Tips /// Part 3
00:45:36
Ohio State Medical Student, Brian Randall Shaffer disappeared without an apparent reason on April 1, 2006. His last known whereabouts was a second-floor campus area bar where he was having drinks with friends. Near the entrance of the Ugly Tuna Saloona just before 2 a.m. Brian is seen on security footage talking briefly with two women. Brian later became separated from his friends who have stated that they assumed that Brian had left and gone home. At the time of his disappearance Brian Shaffer was 6’2” tall and approximately 160 to 165 lbs. He’s a caucasian male with brown hair and hazel eyes. Brian had a Pearl Jam tattoo on his upper right arm and he plays guitar. If you have any information regarding Brian’s disappearance or his whereabouts please contact Columbus Police Missing Person Unit at 614-645-2358
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- [00:01]
Host (possibly Nick or co-host)
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Kelly (investigator and podcast creator)
The IRS said I filed my return, but I haven't.
- [00:05]
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Kelly (investigator and podcast creator)
What do I do?
- [00:09]
Nick (host)
My refund though.
- [00:10]
Kelly (investigator and podcast creator)
I'm freaking out.
- [00:11]
Host (possibly Nick or co-host)
Don't worry, I can fix this.
- [00:12]
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- [00:19]
Host (possibly Nick or co-host)
No problem.
- [00:19]
Nick (host)
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- [00:21]
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- [01:07]
Nick (host)
Welcome to off the Record. I'm your host, Nick.
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Host (possibly Nick or co-host)
It's good to be seen and it's.
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Nick (host)
Good to see you off the Record.
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Host (possibly Nick or co-host)
Thanks for listening. Thanks for telling a friend.
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Nick (host)
True Crime Podcast Podcast Be good, be kind and don't live. Gather round, grab a chair, grab a beer. Let's talk some true crime.
- [01:32]
Host (possibly Nick or co-host)
So Kelly, you are similar to me and the Colonel before we ever got involved in creating podcasts and talking about other cases. One of the cases that we were all fascinated with was the disappearance of Brian Schaefer. Mainly because it's local, but also it became a very huge story in the Columbus area. So you get involved with the Facebook page, March for the Missing. You then go on to create a podcast series about the Shaffer case with Nicholas West. And then you go on to create your own Facebook page, Brian Schaefer Dead or Live Talk a little bit about the early days of you looking into the Shaffer case. But then what have you learned? Because once you have whether it's a podcast like True Crime Garage or you have a Facebook page like Brian Schaefer Dead or Alive, you then get information coming into you, whether that's credible information or just speculation. But you. You're getting information all the time.
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Kelly (investigator and podcast creator)
Yeah, for sure. So when I first started with Comeback in the early days, the thing we really got into was the interviews. And one of the first interviews we did was with Kevin Miles, the former president of Central Ohio Crime Stoppers. Then we interviewed private investigator Don Corbett, and then we eventually got to interview Sergeant John Hurst for the podcast. Of course, we were getting all kinds of new information and our mind was just kind of blown at that point in time. And we just kept digging in and trying to find as much information as we could. Because as you both know, there's. There's a lot of rumors and speculation online about Brian's case, but there's not as many facts when it comes to Brian's case.
- [03:19]
Host (possibly Nick or co-host)
Yeah, I believe initially when Dateline reported about it, it was what, a nine, ten minute long segment?
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Kelly (investigator and podcast creator)
Yeah. And that was recorded, I think, six weeks after Brian went missing. Lori Davis and I had decided that there had not been an event for Brian since 2010. So we wanted to do something just to raise awareness and we created the March for the Missing from the March for the Missing. We were continuing to do comeback, but Nick and I had some scheduling issues. He was a long haul truck driver and I was a single mom and making time to meet was just next to impossible. So I felt like I still had more that I could do and I wanted to do. So I created the Brian Schaefer Dead or Alive series and the group page. And actually through that group page, I have received several tips. A lot of them, you know, aren't really anything, but there are a few that I received that I wouldn't say they're credible, but I feel like there is.
- [04:24]
Host (possibly Nick or co-host)
There's some weight to them.
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Kelly (investigator and podcast creator)
Yes, there's some weight to these. Okay. So the very first tip that I received was a picture that was sent to me of a homeless man. And the person that sent it to me told me that this homeless man was living in between San Diego and Tijuana, Mexico. The picture, I mean, it looked a lot like Brian, a more scruffy version or, you know, from living a rough life of being homeless. But it definitely resembled Brian.
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Host (possibly Nick or co-host)
And if the listeners want to see this photo, it's going to be on your Facebook page. Brian Schaefer, dead or alive.
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Kelly (investigator and podcast creator)
Yeah, I'll send it to you guys as well, so you guys can share it too.
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Host (possibly Nick or co-host)
Perfect. And then I've seen this photo. Nick, have you seen this photo?
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Nick (host)
Yes, I believe I've seen this one. This one made its way around and it was pretty readily available.
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Host (possibly Nick or co-host)
Yeah. And he looks almost like a disheveled. Almost like he's passed out because he's drunk or something. I can see an argument for it being Schaefer, and I can see argument for it not being Schaefer.
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Kelly (investigator and podcast creator)
The thing that actually excited me about it is because this actually kind of supported the theory that Sergeant Hurst had told me that he had. That his theory was that Brian was living homeless and may not know who he is. Receiving a picture of a homeless man that looks a lot like Brian was very intriguing to me. So I immediately sent it into the Columbus Police Department, and a couple weeks went by, and I hadn't heard anything. So throughout, like working on Brian's case, I have met several members of the local media in Columbus, and Angela ann from Channel 10 News is one of them. And she's covered Brian's case since the very beginning. And she actually grew quite close to Randy Schaefer. So I thought I would send it to her to see if maybe she could help me get some traction. And I basically created a flyer that we were trying to identify this homeless man. Well, thankfully, Columbus police department took Angela Ann a little bit more serious than me, and they actually dug into it. And Detective Tucker at the time actually involved the FBI, and she sent the image to a facial analyst expert. They went through the picture, and they determined that the image is not Brian Shaffer. However, I know that I should just say that that's accurate and take that tip out of my investigation. But through my investigation, I have met other members of government agencies, and one of them being a facial analyst expert. And when he looked at the photo, he told me that the nose gives the same shadow and appears to have been broken in the same place as Brian's, that the ears are almost identical, and that without seeing this homeless man in person, he could not say the photo was not Brian Schaefer.
- [07:37]
Host (possibly Nick or co-host)
And also, I mean, the size of the individual and also the weight of the individual. And Brian was already a pretty fit guy, low body fat. And this guy appears to have even less, which you would expect if he's living homeless.
- [07:54]
Kelly (investigator and podcast creator)
So the person that sent me the picture, I continued to communicate with, and she took it upon herself to actually track down the homeless man. And when she was talking to him, he told her his name was Brian, but he doesn't remember anything else. So she decided to ask him if he has any tattoos, because at this point, she knew who I thought it could be. So she was trying to just get any more information that she could for me. And when she asked him about the tattoo, the man got very upset and began yelling at her. So for her safety, she decided to leave.
- [08:32]
Host (possibly Nick or co-host)
Yeah, so just for people that don't know Brian Schaefer and all of his missing posters, they. They tell you his height, they tell you his weight, they tell you what he could possibly look at, possibly look like. The problem with Brian was he changed often, you know, whether he had facial hair or not facial hair. Sometimes he had long hair. But one of the things that was consistent was he had a Pearl Jam tattoo, and he didn't have a bunch of tattoos. So this would be a identifying mark that one could. Couldn't easily remove.
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Kelly (investigator and podcast creator)
So unfortunately, I, you know, I didn't gain any more information about it. But the homeless man is actually a tip that I leave open in my investigation.
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Nick (host)
I mean, it's a. It's a tricky thing here. I don't think that the picture is of Brian Schaefer, but it's also a very easy statement to throw out there because if you're going to play the percentages and anybody could do that, the smart answer would be that it's not Brian Schaefer. You know, it's a million to one shot. And then tracking down the man, that's the right way to do this. But, yeah, I don't have any great thoughts on it.
- [09:39]
Host (possibly Nick or co-host)
Well, this next tip, like I've said multiple times on the show, I feel like we've had consistent calls about the Shaffer case and working through some possible thoughts and ideas for at least the last year. And this, this tip is something that we just recently discussed. But you've had this tip for a while now.
- [10:02]
Kelly (investigator and podcast creator)
Yeah, I've had this tip since 2019, and I actually don't think I've ever discussed it before. It's not because I don't think it's important. It's just because I don't have a lot of information on it. Through the group page that I started, I had a lady reach out to me and she. She kept asking me for my phone number that she had something she wanted to tell me on Brian's case. Of course, I was a little skeptical, but I was talking to Detective Hearst at the time, and I told him who it was, and he told me that he had actually already interviewed her in 2006 when she called in the tip to Columbus Police Department. So he was curious to see if she would tell me the same thing that she had told them. So she told me in 2006, her, a co worker and her boyfriend were all playing cards and drinking, and the news channel flashed on and it started showing Brian's disappearance. Now, this was within the first couple weeks of Brian going missing. So the co worker asked her if she had heard about the case, and she said yes. And that something along the lines that she felt bad for his dad or something like that. So the co worker then laughed, took a sip of beer and said, yeah, they're never gonna find him. Now, he didn't say anything incriminating in that statement, but the lady that told me about the tip was very concerned. And evidently it creeped her out enough that she went to the Columbus Police Department. When I continued talking to her, she told me that they all worked for a landscaping company and that they had access to heavy equipment. Now, I do know Columbus Police Department brought this co worker in to talk to him about the tip, but it didn't lead anywhere. But I do know at least one location was searched based on this tip.
- [12:03]
Host (possibly Nick or co-host)
Yeah, at first it kind of seems like a nothing burger, but obviously it sparked her spidey senses. And then also there's some. I guess, am I correct in saying that there were some strange interactions enough to cause her. Again, like you said, I need to call this tip in. And then eventually she's going to stop working with this individual because she feels uncomfortable?
- [12:26]
Kelly (investigator and podcast creator)
Yes, she did all of that. And the thing that actually caused her to call Columbus Police Department is that she went back through her text to see if she could find where this coworker was the night that Brian went missing. And he was actually at a party on Pearl Alley. And for anyone that doesn't know, that is the alley that runs directly behind the Ugly Tuna Saluna and the Gateway Plaza.
- [12:51]
Nick (host)
Do you have any idea, and I don't know that they would have shared this information with you, but do you have any idea if Hurst or any of CPD had discussed this location, this party, with Clint or Meredith or anybody that would have been hanging out with Brian on the night in question?
- [13:12]
Kelly (investigator and podcast creator)
Not that I'm aware of.
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Host (possibly Nick or co-host)
I think the difficult thing about this case, too, is, and I don't want to get into the weeds about this, but John Hurst is put on this case. He's the lead detective. So you've spoke with Hearst many times. I've been fortunate enough to speak with Hearst as well. But a lot of the interviews and a lot of the groundwork, if you will, was done by other members. So sometimes when you're talking to Hearst, he'll say, oh, yeah, well, you know, we interviewed them, but he might not have spoke with them directly. And then some of the detectives that worked on this case for a time period either moved on to different departments or they pulled him off this investigation.
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Kelly (investigator and podcast creator)
Yeah, I. I actually think that since Hearst retired, Brian's had Like, I want to say, like six or seven detectives since Hearst has retired.
- [14:05]
Host (possibly Nick or co-host)
Yeah. So a lot of what they're going off of is information that was gathered by other individuals and not. And not information that they gathered directly themselves.
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Kelly (investigator and podcast creator)
Yeah. Hearst wasn't so much boots on the ground. He was overseeing everything. But I do know that Hearst personally interviewed this. This lady that I spoke with.
- [14:27]
Nick (host)
Yeah. And to expand on that information a little bit, again, because I don't have detailed information in front of me or, you know, the written statement or what she said when. When brought in. But Pearl street is a lengthy road. I mean, it's not. It's not just an alleyway that is limited to directly behind the Ugly Tuna Saluna. It's. It's. I wouldn't go as far to say that it's a. In a very expansive road, but it. It does. It does expand. It's not just a few blocks. It's. It's dozens of. Of blocks.
- [15:06]
Host (possibly Nick or co-host)
I believe you have to look at the Ohio State University as its own city. In a sense. Yes. It's a part of Columbus, but it's its own little city. And some of the roads that are very significant with that area would be High Street, Summit street, and then this. And it's really hard to call it like a street. It's more of a. An alley that goes behind everything, so it becomes another significant part. But again, like Nick said, I think it's important to point out that it's not just behind the complex where the Ugly Tuna was. It's behind so many other buildings. But it's also a road that if you are walking somewhere and you're trying to get from A to B, you might not walk down High street because there's a lot of people. You might walk down the alleyway. Your first tip is about this picture of a homeless guy. That could be Brian, could not be Brian. There's another pic that could be Brian or could not be Brian.
- [16:16]
Kelly (investigator and podcast creator)
Yeah. And it's not so much of if it's Brian or not. It's some of the other details surrounding it that make it intriguing to me. So while I was going through Brian's cell phone records, I was trying to put a name with every phone number that was on there, just trying to figure out who Brian was speaking. Well, the very last number that Brian spoke to was a guy named Jason Fistic. I immediately found Jason on social media, and I sent him a message. Basic questions like, how did you know Brian? You know, could I speak to you? Things along those lines. Well, Jason eventually messaged me back, but in the meantime, I was being a little nosy. So I was going through his profile page and I stumbled upon a picture. The picture has someone that looks similar to Brian.
- [17:12]
Host (possibly Nick or co-host)
And in the picture there's four individuals. And this guy that could be Brian would be on the right hand side of the picture. And he looks like he's wearing some giant Jackie Onassis type glasses.
- [17:25]
Kelly (investigator and podcast creator)
Yeah, they all are wearing those big sunglasses in the picture. But the interesting part is the other three people in that photo are some of Brian's last calls from that evening that he went missing. So as I said, Jason messaged me back and he told me that that night was the very first night that he had ever met Brian and that he was out with his friend Brandon Schettouni, who happened to be a co ed of Brian's. They were going out to celebrate medical school accomplishments. So we talked back and forth a little bit, just basic questions. And I asked him how Brian and him had each other's phone numbers if they had just met that night. And I was immediately blocked. He blocked me on messenger, and so I didn't get any further. But I did try to reach out to the other two people in the photo as well. And I have never heard from them at all.
- [18:23]
Host (possibly Nick or co-host)
So there's four people on the photo. One could be Brian. The other three were individuals that Brian was with the night he went missing. So there's a lot, there's a lot to unpack here. Because with Jason Fistic, you talk to Hearst about him and Hearst tells you the same thing. Well, yeah, I talked to Jason and he just met Brian that night. Well, when you have phone records of this guy calling Brian, to me, that's a very odd thing to do. Why would you be calling if you're in a group of friends and everybody knows Brian but you, why would you call Brian? It doesn't make a lot of sense.
- [19:02]
Kelly (investigator and podcast creator)
It doesn't. I was actually confused immediately because one, what did I say to get blocked? And two, why are we just now hearing that there were four other people out with Brian that night when it's been so widely reported that Brian was out with Clinton Meredith that night when that's simply not the case?
- [19:23]
Host (possibly Nick or co-host)
Brian, like I said with talking to you, it really kind of opened up my eyes because we go, okay, Brian, Clint and Meredith, they go to the Ugly Tuna. Well, the story was just always told that they. They're going by themselves. And then Brian talks to these two girls, Amber and Brighton. Well, who are they well, they're just some random girls. Well, then you eventually learn that Amber is in one of the classes that Clint teaches. So then you can make an argument that all five of these individuals are connected. And like you were talking about the timeline, you say, well, Amber shows up to the bar. Brighton shows up to the bar, but they're also with another girl, and she leaves the bar. So we're calling that girl a mystery girl because we have presented video footage to Amber in Brighton, and they can't tell us who this individual is, which we also find strange. And then through talking with you, I was curious, do we have a reason why they went back to the spar and you said yes, and it's to meet these four individuals. And those four individuals weren't questioned that hard or asked to take polygraph tests from Columbus pd.
- [20:34]
Kelly (investigator and podcast creator)
Correct.
- [20:35]
Host (possibly Nick or co-host)
And again, my other problem with that, with the work of the investigation, is that we also have. It's not just that they met them at the bar. It's the fact that they're in communication with Brian through. Through his phone records, we can prove that. So why weren't these people looked at? And also why weren't these people ever talked about? Because they weren't talked about 20 years ago. They weren't talked about 10 years ago. Do we have the identity of all four individuals?
- [21:08]
Kelly (investigator and podcast creator)
Yes, I do.
- [21:10]
Host (possibly Nick or co-host)
So it's not just Jason Fistic that wasn't questioned. It was. Who else wasn't questioned?
- [21:17]
Kelly (investigator and podcast creator)
It was Brandon Chatuni, it was Jeremy Douglas, and it was Graham Davis.
- [21:23]
Host (possibly Nick or co-host)
And who do we believe is in this photo that could possibly be Brian Schaer.
- [21:28]
Kelly (investigator and podcast creator)
So I know for certain that the other three gentlemen are Jason Fistic, Jeremy Douglas, and Graham Davis.
- [21:36]
Host (possibly Nick or co-host)
And personally, when I saw this photo and then through, I believe it was through Nicholas West, I was able to talk with Don Corbett, which we'll talk more about Don Corbett. But Don Corbett was a private investigator that worked, and I'm going to say worked with Brian Schaefer's dad, Randy, because I don't think Randy ever paid him. I don't think it was like a hired situation. I could be wrong about that.
- [22:03]
Kelly (investigator and podcast creator)
No, Don 100% worked for free.
- [22:06]
Host (possibly Nick or co-host)
When I initially talked to Don years ago, he never heard of this photo, so I sent it to him. I don't know if it's Brian or not mess things up. But here's where it gets fishy to me with old fist stick is if it is Brian in the photo and the photo was taken before Brian went missing, then Jason is lying about his relationship with Brian Schaer. If the photo is taken after Brian went missing, well, then it's three guys partying with somebody that is known to be missing.
- [22:46]
Kelly (investigator and podcast creator)
So the one thing that I do know is that the picture would have been taken after Brian went missing. From my research, I was able to track down the label on the beer sitting on the table. And that label, that specific label was not used until, I want to say, between 2008 to 2010 is when that label change happened for that beer company.
- [23:14]
Host (possibly Nick or co-host)
The other problem with this photo, too, is the person to the right. Maybe they're wearing a wig, maybe they're not, but they're clearly making a face. So it's just really kind of hard. Again, we'll post this picture for people to see. It'll be on our social media pages, but it'll also be on Brian Schaefer, dead or alive.
- [23:38]
Nick (host)
I mean, it doesn't help Jason that he's not willing to explain or talk about the picture. Right. Do I have that?
- [23:45]
Kelly (investigator and podcast creator)
Yeah, absolutely. And honestly, I think the picture resembles Brian, but I've seen other pictures that look much more like Brian to me. So I don't even know if I would have been as suspicious of this photo had it not been for Jason's actions.
- [24:01]
Host (possibly Nick or co-host)
Yeah, but you can tell he's a tall guy. He's slender. So I don't think it puts it out of the realm of possibilities that it could be Brian. And again, when you're talking, look, I don't want to throw Jason under the bus completely because like you said, you get these tips. People are calling in. You're looking for information. People are saying, hey, here's my number. Give me a call. You're skeptical of calling these individuals, so he doesn't know who you are. And I think a lot of times when you're on the Internet, we go, well, people are crazy, right? So now we got this person looking into this missing person case, and it could just be simply like, I don't know how they got my information, especially because he had. He wasn't talked about. And this is, you know, one of my problems with the investigation is we go. Clint and Meredith were there, and we. We really kind of hone in on them, and Meredith takes a polygraph test, and these other individuals are just never named. So the fact that you're even messaging this guy and going, hey, I know you were there the night Brian Schaefer went missing, that's enough to spook anybody, right?
- [25:21]
Kelly (investigator and podcast creator)
Yeah.
- [25:32]
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- [25:46]
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- [26:03]
Kelly (investigator and podcast creator)
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- [26:31]
Kelly (investigator and podcast creator)
Take the exit, turn right into the drive thru.
- [26:34]
Nick (host)
Nope, I'm making dinner tonight.
- [26:36]
Kelly (investigator and podcast creator)
You don't have time. Josh has practice.
- [26:39]
Host (possibly Nick or co-host)
That's right.
- [26:39]
Nick (host)
I'll just get a salad and fries. No, just the salad.
- [26:42]
Kelly (investigator and podcast creator)
But salad cancels fries.
- [26:44]
Nick (host)
Salad only. Fries. Salad, fries.
- [26:47]
Kelly (investigator and podcast creator)
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- [26:53]
Nick (host)
Hey, can I get the fries? Salad?
- [26:55]
Host (possibly Nick or co-host)
Sorry.
- [26:56]
Kelly (investigator and podcast creator)
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- [27:13]
Host (possibly Nick or co-host)
And again, it's a tough situation because if this guy in the picture had these weird glasses and I don't know if it's a wig or if it's just somebody grew out their hair, you go, well, it'd be nice if he was. This is the first time I said this today, but it'd be nice if this guy was shirtless so we could see if he had a Pearl Jam tattoo.
- [27:36]
Kelly (investigator and podcast creator)
Right?
- [27:36]
Host (possibly Nick or co-host)
If you're questioning why. Why are you putting this out there? We don't even know if it's Brian or not. We're putting this out there so people can help further this investigation. And maybe somebody knows Jason. Maybe they've talked to talk to him about it. This picture, because of Kelly, has made its rounds throughout the Internet and we haven't had anybody come forward and say, I know who that guy is in the picture. So maybe this will put a little pressure on Jason to contact us, to tell us, who are these guys in the pictures? Who Are the guys in the pictures? Can you confirm who they are? Can you confirm when this picture was taken?
- [28:20]
Kelly (investigator and podcast creator)
Yeah, absolutely. By no means am I saying that I think any of these guys are responsible for Brian's disappearance. I would just like to talk to them about the night Brian disappeared, the time they spent with him, maybe his demeanor, anything like that. So, yeah.
- [28:36]
Host (possibly Nick or co-host)
And. And this also goes back to if anybody's listened to our coverage or other people's coverage on this case. Meredith takes a polygraph test. The cops believe she's being completely truthful. Clint doesn't take a polygraph test. A lot of people have speculated he's involved somehow, but we know his movements and his whereabouts. He was with Meredith. So if Meredith is telling us the truth on key items, like, did you have anything to do with his disappearance? Did you. Did you do anything to Brian? And they believe her statements in the polygraph test, she passed. Then she establishes an alibi for Clint, at least the night that Brian went missing.
- [29:22]
Kelly (investigator and podcast creator)
Well, I mean, we did talk about the fact that Meredith was his alibi for Friday night going into Saturday and then most of Saturday evening, but Alexis is actually his alibi for Sunday.
- [29:37]
Host (possibly Nick or co-host)
Yeah.
- [29:39]
Kelly (investigator and podcast creator)
So maybe it was somewhere along those lines. I'm not sure.
- [29:41]
Host (possibly Nick or co-host)
And so a lot of people that have looked into this case, they can make speculations on the band, or they can make speculations on Clinton, but there's all these other individuals that we just never talked about. Just. Just never was discussed. And. But one of the things that Clint said, because eventually Clint lawyers up, and again, people then throw Clint under the bus because he lawyered up, but his lawyer was stayed in, in cooperation with the investigation and said, hey, you submit questions to us, we'll answer them. And what was the weird statement that his lawyer made?
- [30:25]
Kelly (investigator and podcast creator)
So his attorney made a statement that it is his understanding that Brian is the one responsible for his disappearance. And the family should ask Brian instead of Clint, because Clint has given all the information that he knows.
- [30:41]
Host (possibly Nick or co-host)
You know, me and Nick have looked into a lot of missing person cases. There's nothing that many that have much evidence pointing to somebody leaving and starting a new life somewhere else. I think this case probably has the biggest amount of evidence I've seen towards that, whether you want to. Whether that homeless picture is him or not or this other picture. But we have all these other sightings, and we also have all these other rumors. So I think there's. It's building a case that maybe he started a life somewhere else.
- [31:14]
Kelly (investigator and podcast creator)
Yeah. Yeah. I think that it's definitely one of the leading theories in Brian's case. So another tip that came in to me through the group actually came from an ohio man who was vacationing in puerto vallarta. Tom said that while he was at a restaurant in puerto vallarta, he decided that he had to use the restroom. So he went back to the restroom, and when he came out, he noticed that there was a second dining room and there were two men eating inside. Tom was. Well, Tom is a huge Ohio state buckeyes fan, and he was wearing what he described to me as a jim trestle sweater vest. And I'm sure you guys know what that is. One of the two men noticed tom and appeared to be a little nervous at the sight of him or Tom's shirt. At that moment, Tom realized that he had seen the man's face before, and he mouthed the words brian schaefer. And in return, the man sitting at the table picked up his napkin in an attempt to wipe his mouth. But tom described it more as he was trying to hide his face. So tom walked through the dining room and went out the door and had a cigarette. When he came back in, he told his wife and their friends about it, and they were just all chit chatting about it, because the one thing I didn't mention is they are big true crime buffs. But tom's family members are also law enforcement, so he was really into it. So his wife was so intrigued because she knew Brian's case, too, and they decided that they were going to walk back there again so she could see the guy sitting at the table. But when they got close to the dining room, Two staff members stepped in front of them and would not let them go any further and would not let them back there to see the two gentlemen. So what was weird to him is that the dining room only had those two diners in it when there was a whole line of people waiting to get in the restaurant, and all the tables were filled in the other dining room. So he was very intrigued that two men had a dining room to themselves and that the staff would not let him go back there. So when tom got home from his vacation in puerto vallarta, he called the columbus police department and left several voicemails with the tip and trying to tell them what he had seen. And he was determined that who he saw was Brian schaefer. Well, when columbus police department did not get back to him, that's when Tom posted in my group and a couple other groups of everything that he had seen.
- [34:00]
Nick (host)
I tend to think that sightings of missing people are all bunk. Sorry.
- [34:06]
Host (possibly Nick or co-host)
Sorry, guys.
- [34:07]
Kelly (investigator and podcast creator)
No, it's okay. I feel the same way about most of them, too.
- [34:09]
Host (possibly Nick or co-host)
No, I. I normally do, too, but the. The reason why I like this one a little bit is because one as I'm seeing this guy, I mouth to him, brian Schaefer.
- [34:21]
Nick (host)
Brian.
- [34:22]
Host (possibly Nick or co-host)
Are you Brian Shaffer? And it's. He doesn't wait till he gets back home to tell anybody about this. He's telling people at the restaurant in that moment that he saw it. So I'm not saying he saw Brian Schaefer, but he believes he saw Brian Schaefer. And I think we have. You see what I'm saying? Like, there's. And it's not just like, oh, yeah, I'm.
- [34:45]
Nick (host)
I'm not questioning that part of it. I don't question that part of it. It's just there's been a lot of things that I've thought that I've seen at some point in my life.
- [34:54]
Host (possibly Nick or co-host)
And.
- [34:55]
Nick (host)
And I can sit here today and say, I probably didn't see what I thought I saw in that moment. Yeah, I'm not questioning that part of it. I. I do. The part that I do question is I think I would have thrown out the law enforcement card there. I think I would have said to the wait staff, busboy, Whoever's telling me I can't talk to that person or I can't go in that room, I'm going to. Then even though I'm way out of my jurisdiction, I'm throw. If I. If I am of that level of concern or that level of suspicion, I think I'm. I think I'm pulling out my badge and. Or I'm pulling out my law enforcement card there just to see what happened.
- [35:34]
Host (possibly Nick or co-host)
And. And the thing I don't like about this tip is he sees the individual one time and they're not able to confirm it. And look, I applaud him. I applaud his wife. I applaud everybody at the table to go, hey, I know we're sitting around talking about that. I know we're sitting around talking about this, but let's go look at him again. Let's get somebody else to see what you think you saw. But again, the problem with this tip is they weren't able to go back, see the guy, at least confirm their suspicion because. And this happens, I'm sure, with a lot of people, But I've had several listeners go, I think I saw you in a bar in Texas. Were you in Texas this weekend? No, I wasn't. And they go, well, I actually took a picture of the person, and they send it to you, and you go, well, that's a white guy with a beard. But to me, I'm going, that looks nothing like me. But he has a hat on and has a beard, and he's white. So therefore, he must be the captain from True crime Garage.
- [36:42]
Kelly (investigator and podcast creator)
So what I will say is that after they left the restaurant, they did hang around outside trying to catch a glimpse of this guy again. And Tom said that his friends were getting a little restless, so they eventually walked away. But he did attempt to try to see the guy again.
- [37:00]
Host (possibly Nick or co-host)
And that's where I applaud them. Because some people go, I was in this bookstore, and I thought I saw somebody, that I was a missing person from my area. And then you question them and go, well, why didn't you go back? If you really thought you saw this person, why didn't you go back? Oh, I don't know. But that's what I like about the stories he tells the people he's with. Right away, they are suspicious of this. So they go, let's go find the guy, and let's try to get a good look at him. Because could you imagine if they actually did see him? And then you have people that are in law enforcement and him and his wife, Then it becomes not just one person saying, I think I recognize the missing person. It's now a group of people that think they recognize the missing person.
- [37:50]
Kelly (investigator and podcast creator)
And, you know, I. I didn't see what Tom saw. So, of course, I can't say it's 100% true. But I do believe that Tom 100% believed everything he was telling me. And he was so adamant that he found the name of the restaurant they were at by going back through his bank statements. And he sent me the name of the restaurant, which I contacted, and I emailed them a photo of Brian and asked them if they had seen him or anything. And the owner of the restaurant messaged me back and told me that he had never seen Brian, but he would show the photo around to some of the employees to see if anyone else recognized. Recognized him. But I had not ever heard back.
- [38:35]
Host (possibly Nick or co-host)
Yeah, but again, I applaud you for taking instead of just taking down the tip. I applaud people that go the extra step to try to further an investigation.
- [38:46]
Kelly (investigator and podcast creator)
Yeah, it was just really how he was telling me. You know, I mentioned that I've talked to so many people about Brian's case, but most of the time, you can tell pretty early on if the Information is credible or not. And Tom just really had me thinking that this could be a possible sighting just based on his actions and reactions.
- [39:08]
Host (possibly Nick or co-host)
Well, so again we're going to be talking about another photo which is a little bizarre because we have, like we said, the, the homeless picture of the homeless guy could be Brian. We have this picture of a individual that could be Brian at a party and then we have a picture of a guy and I'll just let you describe it.
- [39:30]
Kelly (investigator and podcast creator)
Yeah. So this picture looks like. I mean the best way I can describe it is he looks like he's In a. An 80s hair cover band and a long black wig with sunglasses and denim, with leather chaps over top and just a plain T shirt basically. But he's on a stage at what appears to be a festival and he is playing the guitar. Now this picture was sent to me. I guess it was found on websleuth or Reddit. And as soon as I saw the picture, I mean, I was kind of floored because in my opinion this image is the one image that I have received of someone supposedly being Brian that I can't dispute it really. It looks so much like him, if that makes sense.
- [40:20]
Host (possibly Nick or co-host)
It definitely looks like it could be Brian, but he definitely put on some more muscle mass.
- [40:26]
Kelly (investigator and podcast creator)
Yeah. And he was very much into his health and working out and stuff. So I think that that is a possibility. So there was a guy that I used to work with on Brian's case and one of the best researchers I've ever met in my life, he supposedly found this picture or it was sent to him. And there were two pictures sent to him. One of the guy in costume of the pic I just sent you and one of the guy out of costume sitting on a couch. So Jim, the guy I used to work with and I always had this deal that if we ever found Brian, we necessarily wouldn't tell anyone, but we would just quit looking silently, basically. And that's pretty much what Jim has done. And based on what he said about the second picture, is that looking at the second picture you can tell it's Brian Schaefer.
- [41:22]
Host (possibly Nick or co-host)
But have you ever seen that picture?
- [41:24]
Kelly (investigator and podcast creator)
No, he hasn't shared it with anyone. And so I quit working with Jim when I found out he was arrested on drug trafficking charges.
- [41:33]
Nick (host)
Do you have the second? Do you have the non costume picture, the no costume picture?
- [41:37]
Kelly (investigator and podcast creator)
No, I do not. He never shared that one with anyone.
- [41:40]
Nick (host)
Because the chin is the same. The chin in this, the rocker guy looks like. I would describe this as a superfly Jimmy Snuka Rock and roll costume with that hair, the headband, the chin is the same.
- [41:58]
Host (possibly Nick or co-host)
Yeah. But here's what gets me in this, and I think I've talked to Kelly about this before. His hands, his. His arms, his forearm, and his biceps are clearly bigger than Brian Schaefer's forearms and biceps at the time he went missing. But is it possible that he. Like I said, he put on muscle mass. Sure. But what gets me is I think his hands look similar to Brian's. Always making, like, a certain hand gesture and a lot of his.
- [42:35]
Kelly (investigator and podcast creator)
Yeah. And actually, for me, I looked at the hands as well, and I even went as far as finding a picture of Brian playing the guitar and zoomed in on the hands. And as crazy as it sounds, even the nail beds look the same.
- [42:52]
Nick (host)
The problem with the rocker picture is the right sleeve. His right sleeve are on our left, when we look at it, is short enough that I.
- [43:05]
Host (possibly Nick or co-host)
You should see a tattoo.
- [43:07]
Nick (host)
I would think that you would see at least it peeking out. I. It's. It's just long enough that I wonder if it's covering it up. But. But I'm looking at another photo of him wearing a very, you know, wearing a T shirt, and the. The bottom portion of his Pearl Jam tattoo is clearly very visibly peeking out.
- [43:29]
Host (possibly Nick or co-host)
Yeah. I feel like you should be able to see the tip. You should be able to see the tip.
- [43:34]
Nick (host)
Just the feet of that little. Because it's a little guy, Right. Tattoos of a little guy. And. And I think you would see the feet hanging out just like I do in this picture that I'm looking at. That is Brian.
- [43:49]
Kelly (investigator and podcast creator)
So I actually thought the same thing. And my friend Meredith, who actually runs the Brian Shafer Dead or Alive group with me, she spent a lot of time analyzing it, and she has done some different things with it and zoomed in, and there are some marks that clearly look like there could have been something there. Have you ever seen a tattoo removal and the yellowing that it gets when you remove a tattoo? Well, when you zoom in on that picture there, you can see some yellowing that almost looks like there was something there. But again, maybe we just want to see that.
- [44:27]
Nick (host)
I. I don't see it, but I am also not. I don't have a great deal of experience with that. My. My circle of friends, when they get a tattoo they don't love, they tend to cover it up with another tattoo.
- [44:39]
Kelly (investigator and podcast creator)
I did have the photo analyzed to see if it was photoshopped or anything like that, and the person that analyzed it came back and told me that it was not Photoshopped, but it had been cropped from its original picture. So there was something cropped out of it when it was sent to me, but it definitely was not Photoshopped. I don't have any more information about this image, but if the original person is out there that shared these images, I would absolutely love if you would send them to me. Send them to True Crime Garage. Send them to the Columbus Police Department. Just get them into someone's hands where we can analyze it and say for sure if this is Brian Schaefer or not.
- [45:22]
Host (possibly Nick or co-host)
Well, that's the thing. And when we post these pictures, so we have the picture of the homeless guy, we have the picture at the party, and we have this rocker guy picture. And as we post these on social media, it's. You don't have to be the person. You can just go, hey, I. I know that guy. I played in a band with him, right?
- [45:43]
Kelly (investigator and podcast creator)
That.
- [45:43]
Host (possibly Nick or co-host)
His name is whatever.
- [45:46]
Nick (host)
Yeah, the Jimmy Snuka rocker guy. You would remember playing in a band with him. You would very likely remember being in an audience where he's playing. I would remember that guy because I would be pointing and I want to. I would be laughing in a fun way. Not poking fun at the guy, but just like, look at this guy. Like, like, I dig. I dig people that are. That are. Well, I dig people that are flamboyant, especially in moments when they should be right, when they, like, hey, I don't mind making a bit of a spectacle of myself, but why wouldn't I? I'm up on stage or I'm rocking in front of a bunch of people. Why wouldn't I want to stand out? And so that, like, to me, grabs my attention and it gets me going and it gets me thinking. Like, that guy, I'd like to buy him a beer. I would love to buy him a beer just to see what comes out of his mouth. Yeah. So I. I would remember this dude.
- [46:44]
Host (possibly Nick or co-host)
Yeah. Somebody knows who this is. And that. And I think, look, the people that are really into true crime know this. I mean, you take a photo, you take a. A video, and you. And you share that. You take any true crime podcast that are saying, hey, I have some information. Share this information. We will get answers. We will get tips. Well, okay, let me say that again. We'll definitely get tips, which hopefully leads to some answers. I want to thank everybody for joining us here in the garage each and every week for everything true crime. Check out true crime garage.com until the next episode. Be good, be kind, and don't litter.
- [48:08]
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