Columbus area Pearl Jam fan gone missing...

Heatherj43

Wow! Its been that long already. It must be hard for his loved ones to stay optimistic. You'd think something would have been found by now. Its just so sad to not know. I wish Nancy Grace would get on this case and go non-stop 'til something emerges, like she does on some cases. She does seem to get to the bottom of things once she gets single minded on it.

Lost In Ohio wrote:

Three years ago yesterday. (April 1st, 2006.)

The local Columbus news did a story reminding everyone. They aired his photo and said the $25,000 (I think that's what it is) reward is still out there and if anyone thinks they may know anything, no matter how small, to contact the Crime Stoppers people at the information below. Yes, you can remain anonymous:

Central Ohio Crime Stoppers, Inc.
PO Box 16038
Columbus, OH 43216

Phone: (614) 645-8477
Toll Free: 1 (877) 645-8477
Email: <!-- e --><a href="mailto:info@stopcrime.org">info@stopcrime.org</a><!-- e -->


I think we've already been over this, but the Central Ohio Crime Stoppers has a page for Randy:

http://stopcrime.org/?page_id=361

Mrowkoob66

I can't see how this happens....

BrokenGlass

Today's Ohio State student newspaper, The Lantern, has a banner across the front page of today's edition that says "COMING TUESDAY Missing med student alive, lawyer says" Anyone know if this is about Brian?

sigh eternally

I believe it is.

mrshock13

sigh eternally wrote:

I believe it is.

Anybody have a copy of that? I go to OSU, but it's a matter of personal health that I do not touch a copy of the lantern.

mrshock13

Well, I got past my distaste for the Lantern, and here, for everyone, THIS IS THE LATEST INFORMATION!!!:

http://media.www.thelantern.com/media/s ... 7043.shtml

I was going to type out everything, but I figured everyone might want to read it on their own.

pearljgirl2010

mrshock13 wrote:

Well, I got past my distaste for the Lantern, and here, for everyone, THIS IS THE LATEST INFORMATION!!!:

http://media.www.thelantern.com/media/s ... 7043.shtml

I was going to type out everything, but I figured everyone might want to read it on their own.

thanks for posting that...3 years ago already, wow...

pjbugs007

Very interesting...Seems a bit sketchy...

mrshock13

pjbugs007 wrote:

Very interesting...Seems a bit sketchy...

Yeah, it really does. I'm kind of wondering how long, if ever, it will take for someone or something to be revealed and end this 3 year search.

Lost In Ohio

I just randomly typed "Brian Shaffer" into Google and saw the article. I was coming here to post it, but it is GREAT to see that other people still care.



BTW, TinyURL.com (a great site) now has a feature wehre you can make your own extensions.

www.tinyurl.com/brianshafferapril13 (Easy to use and hopefully easy to remember.)

yahamita

Is Brian Shaffer alive?
Missing med student might be alive, attorney says; brother suspects best friend has knowledge of incident that happened three years ago
By: Drew Sullivan
OSU The Lantern
Posted: 4/13/09
An attorney believes that an Ohio State medical student who has been missing for more than three years is alive, he told a private investigator in an e-mail.

Brian Shaffer has been missing since April 1, 2006. He was last seen on surveillance video outside the Ugly Tuna Saloona on the South Campus Gateway at 1:55 that morning. One of the last people to see Shaffer that night was William "Clint" Florence, one of Shaffer's best friends.

Attorney Neil Rosenberg represents Florence, who has refused at least two requests to take polygraph tests during the investigation of Shaffer's disappearance. Florence is the only person who has refused to take a polygraph, said Kevin Miles, director of the Central Ohio Crime Stoppers.

Private investigator Don Corbett, who has worked on the case for free for the Shaffer family, said Florence refused his request to take a polygraph as recently as last September. Corbett said Florence also refused a police request to take a polygraph soon after Shaffer went missing. The Columbus Division of Police did not respond to phone calls last week seeking comment about Florence's refusal to take a polygraph.

In the e-mail he sent to Corbett on Sept. 22, 2008, Rosenberg said: "If Brian is alive, which is what I'm led to believe after speaking with the detective involved, then it is Brian, and not Clint who is causing his family pain and hardship. Brian should come forward and end this."

Rosenberg said last week in a phone interview that as far as he is concerned the case is closed, and he declined to comment about the investigation or the e-mail he sent to Corbett.

In an e-mail last week, Florence said: "While I appreciate any effort in trying to determine what happened to Brain [sic] that night, I must decline your request. ANY and ALL questions you have for me should be directed to my attorney, Neil Rosenberg."

Florence, 32, works for the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the Vanderbilt University Medical School, where he is a postdoctoral fellow, according to a Vanderbilt Web site.

Corbett said he doesn't know which detective Rosenberg was referring to in the e-mail. However, he believes it is one of three men at Columbus Police: detective Andre Edwards of the Physical Child Abuse Section, Sgt. John Hurst of the Physical Abuse Section and Deputy Chief Antone Lanata of the Investigative Subdivision.

All three did not respond to repeated requests last week for an interview about whether they told Rosenberg they believe Shaffer is still alive.

Rosenberg also said in his e-mail to Corbett that, "The only burning issue with the authorities remains Clint's refusal to be polygraphed. That decision was based on my recommendation and advise [sic] to Clint, not because he is, has been misleading or has something to hide, but that he simply has nothing new to tell and was totally up front and honest with them from the beginning. As far as Clint is concerned, this matter is closed."

In a telephone interview Friday, Meredith Reed, a friend of both Shaffer and Florence who was with them that night, said she took and passed a polygraph about a month after Shaffer disappeared.

She said she assumes the Columbus Police asked her to take the test.

In fact, everyone who was asked to take a polygraph passed it, Miles said.

But not everyone who knew Brian or who had seen him the night he went missing was asked to take a polygraph.

The last time Shaffer was seen on surveillance video outside the Ugly Tuna Saloona he was with two women, Brightan Zatko and Amber Ruic. Ruic said in a phone interview Friday that she was never asked to take a polygraph.

Brian's brother, Derek, is the last surviving member of the immediate family. His father, Randy, died on Sept. 14, 2008, when a tree limb fell on him outside his house during a windstorm. Derek's mother died of cancer three weeks before Brian went missing.

In a phone interview last week, Derek Shaffer said he was not asked to take a polygraph but that his father took and passed one. Derek Shaffer also said he thinks it's odd that Clint has refused to take any polygraphs.

"As soon as the detective started getting involved, that's when he pretty much had no contact with anybody," Derek Shaffer said. "I've always thought he definitely knows something - just won't come forward with it.

"If Brian did take off somewhere, if that is the case, we just always had a strong feeling that Clint would possibly know that."

Shaffer's girlfriend at the time, Alexis Waggoner, also thinks Florence knows something he doesn't want to tell. But her opinion regarding Shaffer's whereabouts now is different than Derek's.

"I don't think he's alive," Waggoner said. "I can't imagine he would have just done that."

Alexis Waggoner's father, Tom Waggoner, participated in the search for Shaffer in 2006. During that period he became acquainted with Florence.

"The gist of my perspective on Clint Florence is that I think that basically all roads to making any progress on the case on Brian Shaffer lead through Clint Florence," Tom Waggoner said.




There is still a $25,500 reward for information leading to Shaffer's whereabouts, Miles and Corbett said last week.

Link to actual story: http://www.thelantern.com/

mrshock13

To keep things a little light-hearted, nobody go on to continually read The Lantern. Most of campus doesn't read the newspaper, mainly because it's a pile of bureaucratic one-sided drivel. Though, the headline today staring at me in the Chem building hallway was enough to get my attention for once, especially after reading about the paper on this site.

Heatherj43

Wow! That article is very interesting. Someone thinks they have gotten away with the perfect crime. Like that Florence guy. Even if Brian is missing on purpose, it is still perfect. I would never think that anyone could get away with just missing for this long, nor could someone kill someone and not be caught by now.
Too bad they can't force that guy to take a polygraph. If he does know something, and it seems he does, it is so cruel to just stay quiet about it. Too many people have hurt from this.
No way is this a perfect anything! Detectives need to look a little harder.

PJPixie

I still think about Brian all the time.

Lost In Ohio

http://www.nbc4i.com/cmh/news/crime/art ... now/14506/

Video of a news story concerning the three-year "anniversary."


In my mind, you can't have a murder without a body. Seeing as we don't have a body, a ransom note, or even personal items showing up, I think he's still alive. And I don't think the "smiley face killers" have anything to do with it. Here's what I think COULD have happened: Brian wanted to disappear for whatever reason. He told Clint that he was going, but also said to STFU about it. Is it a story like "Into The Wild?" Perhaps it could be, but I'm not so sure about that.

yahamita

I have mixed feelings about this too. Was watching the morning show the other day, they were discussing the Smiley Face killers, but blew it off as grieving parents can't accept the facts about their sons death. Just so "oh well, they(killers) can't possible exist could they??? Wouldn't the police know more?? If they stayed their asses out of Krispy Kreme,maybe they could find more clues or at least some sort of closure regarding Brian.

Lost In Ohio wrote:

http://www.nbc4i.com/cmh/news/crime/article/without_a_trace_shaffer_missing_3_years_now/14506/

Video of a news story concerning the three-year "anniversary."


In my mind, you can't have a murder without a body. Seeing as we don't have a body, a ransom note, or even personal items showing up, I think he's still alive. And I don't think the "smiley face killers" have anything to do with it. Here's what I think COULD have happened: Brian wanted to disappear for whatever reason. He told Clint that he was going, but also said to STFU about it. Is it a story like "Into The Wild?" Perhaps it could be, but I'm not so sure about that.

Heatherj43

I was watching some show about pschics and they showed a little bit about this case. It was basically about younger people that are just discovering their abilities and are taken to the spot Brian was last scene. I don't remember the show. It really wasn't about Brain as much as it was about these psychics.
EDIT: It was an A & E special, "Paranormal" may have been the name.
The psychics seemed to think that a girl with dirty dishwater haired blond color knows more than she is saying and that Brian was being watched, or something like that, from a balcony. The psychic felt something about a balcony you can see when outside the building. They seemed to act like Brian was being watched from afar via this balcony.

Heineken Helen

Lost In Ohio wrote:

http://www.nbc4i.com/cmh/news/crime/article/without_a_trace_shaffer_missing_3_years_now/14506/

Video of a news story concerning the three-year "anniversary."


In my mind, you can't have a murder without a body. Seeing as we don't have a body, a ransom note, or even personal items showing up, I think he's still alive. And I don't think the "smiley face killers" have anything to do with it. Here's what I think COULD have happened: Brian wanted to disappear for whatever reason. He told Clint that he was going, but also said to STFU about it. Is it a story like "Into The Wild?" Perhaps it could be, but I'm not so sure about that.

I don't know... I still think there would come a point when there's no WAY you could let his family go through that. All Clint has to do is tell the police that Brian's alive and doesn't wanna be found and give some evidence to support that and, since Brian's an adult, that would be that.

If a friend of mine wanted to disappear and asked me to cover it up, I could probably only do it for so long... but to see his dad and brother and gf suffer like that would break anyone. UNLESS there had been some bad family circumstances, which there is no point speculating on... or if he was in some kind of trouble... but that's the ONLY reason I would STILL keep quiet. BUT if he just wanted to vanish for his own reasons and let his family suffer like that... well that's just disgusting... but I'm not buying it.

michelleelise

It's sad, but I can't believe he's alive :( I think that any defendant's attorney will try to use that possibility to create reasonable doubt, though.

We had a Marine here who faked his death to get out of going back to Iraq. He and his friend faked a climbing accident late at night in an area where there's known mountain lions. His friend went for help and when he brought help back there was just blood and no body. Anyway, long story short: the buddy cracked after only a few days. It's hard to imagine any friend of Brian's taking so much pressure for so long. His reputation is being trashed, as far as his future and job searches and what not. So I think he would've given Brian up already if he knew anything about an intentional disappearance.

And I also agree with some other posters that if Brian did this himself, he would've contacted someone or been recognized by now.

I hope someday they find out what happened to him. His family's story is so tragic :(

Fahka

PJPixie wrote:

I still think about Brian all the time.

yes! He couldn't have just vanished :( I just hope his surviving family and friends get some form of closure soon.