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vimmo.me/terms. >> Adobe Acrobat Studio, [music] your new foundation. Use spaces to generate a
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Choose a template with your timeless cool. Come on now, let's flex those tunes. [music] Draft, design, deliver,
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Learn more at adobe.com/do [music] that acrobat. Welcome to Off to the Record. I'm your
00:00:56
host Nick Crime. >> It's good to be seen and it's good to [music] see you. Off the record. Thanks
00:01:03
for listening. Thanks for telling a friend. >> True Crime Podcast. >> Be good. Be kind and don't crime.
00:01:12
>> Gather around. [music] Grab a chair. Grab a beer. Let's talk some true crime.
00:01:27
In 2006, a young medical student stepped into a crowded bar and seemingly vanished without a trace. Brian Schaefer
00:01:37
was 27 years old. By all accounts, he was charismatic, intelligent, and standing at the
00:01:44
threshold of a promising future. A second-year medical student at Ohio State University, Brian had plans,
00:01:53
ambitions, and a spring break trip to Miami, waiting just days ahead. But those plans
00:02:00
would never happen. On March 31st, 2006, Brian joined friends in Columbus, Ohio to celebrate the beginning of spring
00:02:10
break. The night unfolded like countless others with laughter, drinks, and bar hopping
00:02:19
through the lively campus district. Eventually, the group arrived at a popular student hot spot known as the
00:02:26
Ugly Tuna Saloona. Security cameras captured Brian entering the bar shortly before closing time. At
00:02:35
approximately 1:55 a.m., surveillance footage recorded what would become the final confirmed sighting of him. Brian
00:02:45
was seen casually speaking with two women near the entrance of the bar. [music] He appeared relaxed, calm,
00:02:53
ordinary. Moments later, he stepped out of the camera's view and then he was [music] gone. Despite extensive
00:03:03
review of surveillance footage covering the bar's main entrance and surrounding areas, investigators never found a
00:03:10
single image of Brian leaving the building. Friends who had been with him eventually
00:03:16
exited without him, assuming he had left on his own, but Brian never returned home. He never contacted family or
00:03:24
friends. He never boarded his scheduled flight to Miami. It was as if he had simply vanished into thin air.
00:03:34
Authorities launched an extensive search. The bar was combed from top to bottom. Nearby construction zones, sewer
00:03:42
systems, rooftops, and surrounding buildings were searched. Detectives examined Brian's apartment,
00:03:49
his car, his phone records, and financial activity. Everything remained untouched.
00:03:58
No signs of a struggle, no indication he had planned to disappear, no confirmed sightings ever surfaced.
00:04:07
In the weeks leading up to his disappearance, Brian had endured personal tragedy.
00:04:12
His mother had recently died after a long battle with cancer, a loss that deeply affected him.
00:04:19
While friends describe him as resilient and forwardlooking, investigators question whether hidden
00:04:27
emotional turmoil could have played a role. Still, those closest to him insist Brian
00:04:34
was making plans for the future, not preparing to abandon it. Over the years, theories have multiplied.
00:04:43
Did Brian slip out through an unseen exit only to fall victim to foul play? Did he wander into a dangerous
00:04:51
construction area and suffer a fatal accident? Could he have deliberately walked away from his life, leaving
00:04:59
behind everyone who knew him? Some even speculated about connections to other unsolved disappearances across the
00:05:06
Midwest. Though investigators have found no evidence supporting a serial predator.
00:05:13
Nearly two decades later, the mystery remains. Some remember his name, others simply
00:05:20
recall the haunting story. A man walks into a bar. Security cameras watch him enter. [music] Crowds surround him.
00:05:30
Music plays. Life continues all around him. But somehow he is never seen leaving. To this day, no one knows what
00:05:40
truly happened to Brian Schaefer. and his disappearance remains one of the most baffling missing person's cases in
00:05:47
modern American history. Over the last 10 years since True Crime Garage discussed Schaefer's case, we have
00:05:55
collected more information. We are now sharing that information in hopes that someone knows something more and that
00:06:03
this information might finally lead to some answers. This is true crime garage. [music]
00:06:22
[music] Welcome to True Crime [music] Garage. In the next handful of episodes, we're
00:06:37
going to be talking about everything Brian Schaefer. April 1st, 2026 [music] will mark 20 years missing. Since we
00:06:46
covered this case 10 years ago, we've been learning a lot of new information and trying to sort through some new
00:06:55
leads and rumors. We're going to be joined by Kelly from the Comeback podcast, which is about Brian Schaefer's
00:07:02
case, and also she runs the Brian Schaefer dead or alive Facebook page. And for the last year, we've been
00:07:09
talking weekly, exchanging notes, theories, rumors, and to mark the 20th anniversary of Brian going missing, we
00:07:19
wanted to put out the information that we have found, put out the questions that we have and some of the speculation
00:07:26
that we have to maybe help shine some light again on this case, and maybe get the case moving in the right direction.
00:07:34
I used to think I knew a lot about the Brian Schaefer case. I've learned so much. So, if you think you've heard it
00:07:40
all about this case, I think you'll be surprised on what we have found. Kelly, could you tell us how you got involved
00:07:48
in looking into the disappearance of Brian Schaefer? >> So, I have followed Brian's
00:07:52
disappearance pretty much since the very beginning, but around 2018, it seemed that I had come to the end of
00:07:58
information on the internet about Brian. So, I reached out to Lorie Davis, who is
00:08:04
the Schaefer family advocate. And shortly after we decided that we were going to plan a an event for Brian
00:08:13
and we decided on the March for the Missing. It was an event where we would have different families with missing
00:08:20
loved ones in Ohio come and set up >> [clears throat] >> uh pass out flyers for their loved ones,
00:08:28
wear t-shirts, just basically raise awareness. After talking to Lori, she introduced me to Nicholas West, who was
00:08:36
creating a podcast for Brian called Comeback. After talking to Nick for, I would say maybe about a week, he told me
00:08:45
that he needed a co-host. I actually didn't even know what a podcast was at that time. And Nick sent me a True Crime
00:08:52
Garage episode of Your Coverage on Brian's case. And after that, I decided that I could help him. I guess the rest
00:09:00
is kind of history. Like we started doing the episodes and interviewing Don Corbett, um, Detective John Hurst,
00:09:10
Kevin Miles from Central Ohio Crimestoppers, the Schaefer family. Like, we just kind of got into it and
00:09:17
began investigating Brian's disappearance. >> Yeah. Cuz most of the people that I've
00:09:20
talked to about the Schaefer case, they only have information that's coming from
00:09:25
the internet. And one of the things that I really respect about what you and also
00:09:30
what Nicholas has done is that you guys actually talked to people that were involved in the case. So I think
00:09:38
probably the best spot to start instead of trying to retell the story that's been told for 20 years, let's tell it as
00:09:48
if nobody's ever heard of this story before. >> Okay. So, I'm going to start at the
00:09:53
summer of 2005, and that is when Brian went with his medical school class to Puerto Rico. It was a learning trip, but
00:10:01
also a vacation for the students. They volunteered in a lot of different medical facilities, and um even worked
00:10:10
in a couple soup kitchens while they were there. And it actually became a pretty important place to Brian. And he
00:10:17
went back and forth to Puerto Rico a whole lot. He was there um most of the summer of 2005 and then when he came
00:10:25
home from Puerto Rico, that is actually when he met Alexis Wagner and they began
00:10:30
dating. The winter of 2005 was very difficult for the Schaefer family because Renee was nearing the end
00:10:39
of her battle with cancer and she was in the hospital and actually um that Christmas they actually spent in the
00:10:46
hospital with her. So in the Brian Schaefer family, we have Brian, then we have his brother Derek, we have his
00:10:52
mother Renee, and we have his dad Randy. >> Correct. So that Christmas was actually
00:10:58
real special to Brian because not only was it his last Christmas with his mom, but his mom had gifted him a trip to
00:11:07
Miami, Florida, which he was to take uh spring break 2006. She also gifted the same trip to Alexis. So, it was going to
00:11:15
be like a couple's trip that they took a >> a trip for Brian Schaefer plus one. >> And then for New Year's, Brian and his
00:11:22
friend Clint Florence, who we're going to talk about a lot today, [clears throat] and his friend Matt all
00:11:28
went to New to New York and celebrated New Year's Eve. January of 2006, Brian was pretty much just attending classes
00:11:36
and spending as much time as he could with his mom. Brian actually even discussed the possibility of getting
00:11:43
engaged to Alexis with his mom. And Renee went as far as asking a doctor friend of hers to refer a jeweler to
00:11:53
Brian. With Brian and Alexis both going to be doctors, she knew that it needed to be a nice ring from a reputable
00:12:00
jeweler. So Renee did get that referral and she did give that referral to Brian.
00:12:05
In January of 2006, Brian actually also broke the news to his mom that Randy, his father, was
00:12:13
having an affair, causing her to change her life insurance, leaving Randy only 50% and the other 50% was divided
00:12:22
equally between Derek and Brian. >> Yeah. So, just so people are clear, Renee is undergoing treatment. They're
00:12:30
not very hopeful that she's going to recover. And in this process, Brian's father, Randy, is having an affair, and
00:12:39
that would be a pretty difficult thing. Weigh in on you. Do you do you tell your
00:12:44
mom about this or do you or do you just not say anything knowing that she's not going to be around much longer?
00:12:51
>> I I actually struggle with that as well. Like, I'm sure it was very difficult for
00:12:55
Brian to take that news to his mom. This is uh such a weird spot in the timeline
00:13:00
for me because it while it's pretty factual that this activity was going on. It's to me unclear what level of
00:13:11
suspicion Renee may have had at the time. Was this what I love seeing here is look you good mothers what they
00:13:19
always do they're always trying to help their kids no matter their situation. And so putting Brian in touch with the
00:13:26
reputable jeweler trying to help out and and work on his future even though hers
00:13:31
seems so bleak is just such typical good mother action there. And so while that really
00:13:39
>> yeah while that grabs my heart then my my suspicious mind goes to did she have
00:13:46
any kind of idea that something might have been going on and this is now son returning the favor of you know I could
00:13:52
sit here on the fence and say nothing and let her go out on top or I could break the bad news to her and let her
00:14:03
choose how we deal with this and what the next action is for her. >> Yeah. Yeah, I agree. Actually, I would
00:14:11
like to know that, too. Every part of my information told me that Brian broke the
00:14:15
news to Renee, but I don't know if she was actually having any assumptions before that.
00:14:20
>> They had a a a strange relationship. Anyways, it seems like both Brian's parents were heavily into drinking and
00:14:28
to the point of excess. >> Yes, I've heard that a lot that [clears throat] they definitely like to
00:14:33
have their scotch. Where does this lead to us next in the timeline? >> On January 29th, Brian paid $455 to
00:14:41
schedule an upcoming test. And it was like a board exam. And when you're in medical school, you have to pass, I
00:14:48
believe it's two or three parts of it. And this was the big one. This was if you don't pass, you don't go forward.
00:14:54
So, it was a very big stressor in Brian's life. >> Yeah. No soup for you. In February of
00:15:01
2006, Randy Schaefer gave Brian a check in the amount of $4,500. And the check was made out to the Ohio
00:15:08
State University, and that was to pay for some expenses for Brian's next term. >> Right. So, Brian Schaefer, a medical
00:15:16
student at Ohio State, the Ohio State University, and it seems like his parents were paying for maybe not all of
00:15:25
it, but they were definitely his financial backers as far as it comes to college tuition and college life.
00:15:33
>> Is what's the paper trail on this check here? Because this is something that's
00:15:38
occurring shortly after Brian has ratted out his father to his mother. father has
00:15:44
been cut out of that uh inheritance or or insurance. >> It's lessened. So instead of getting
00:15:51
100%, he's going to get 50%. But I don't think Randy Schaefer is aware of this at
00:15:58
the time. >> Okay. >> No, actually, so he wrote the check to Brian in February, but Randy actually
00:16:05
didn't find out about the change in the life insurance until after Renee had passed away. So, he gave him the $4,500
00:16:12
check and it was never turned in to Ohio State. After Brian went missing, Randy had told a relative that he had wrote
00:16:20
the check and then checked his account and saw that it had never been cash. So, the relative suggested to Randy that he
00:16:28
put a stop payment on it. So, Randy did do that. But, I will also say this check
00:16:32
has never been found. On February 8th, Brian paid a minimum payment of $135 on his credit card, his Discover card,
00:16:42
leaving a balance of $6,746.94. The $135 payment to Discover was paid from Brian's checking account. On the
00:16:53
same day, Brian paid the balance in full of his Amazon Visa card, which was $7,387.15.
00:17:02
That payment did not come from Brian's checking account or any other account that I have information on of Brian's.
00:17:08
>> Really, we have no way of knowing where that came from? >> No, none at all. So, the next day on
00:17:14
February 9th, after Brian had just made that minimum payment of $135 the day before on his Discover card, he paid off
00:17:22
the entire balance of the Discover card, which was $6,746.94. That money did not come from Brian's
00:17:32
accounts either. >> So, we have an influx of money coming into Brian Schaefer's bank accounts.
00:17:38
>> Yes. And paying off all of his debt within a little over a month before he went
00:17:43
missing. On February 11th, Brian turned 27 years old. And on February 27th was actually the deadline for Brian to turn
00:17:52
in that tuition check to Ohio State, meaning that he would not have been enrolled for the next term. But again,
00:17:59
that check that was given to him by his father, that's never been found and we have no record of it being cashed.
00:18:06
>> Correct. And as far as I know, there was never an attempt to cash it because it
00:18:10
was flagged through Ry's bank that if an attempt was made to contact and let him
00:18:16
know. So March 6th was probably the hardest day of Brian's life, and that is when Renee lost her battle with cancer.
00:18:23
On the 10th was the funeral for Renee and they had a lot of guests there and Randy was playing the saxophone and
00:18:32
while playing the saxophone, he was stalling time because Brian had actually not made it to the funeral yet and he
00:18:38
was close to 90 minutes late before he actually did show up. And when he did show up, tensions were running very high
00:18:46
and there was a shoving match between Derek and Brian Schaefer. And Brian's excuse was that he had
00:18:55
overslept, >> right? So you have the mother passing away, losing the battle to cancer, and
00:19:01
then you have which Brian the speculation has been Brian Schaefer was a mama's boy. So it's odd that he would
00:19:08
show up late. And I've seen some speculations on possibly why he showed [snorts] up late. Do you have any
00:19:15
thoughts on why Brian showed up late to his mother's funeral? I don't have any real reasons why he showed up late, but
00:19:22
my guess is Brian was struggling a lot with the passing and I kind of think it was maybe he got a little too
00:19:28
intoxicated the night before and maybe actually did just oversleep. It >> doesn't seem like Brian Schaefer was
00:19:34
maybe like a daily drinker, but he definitely seems to have a pattern of when he drinks or when he parties, he
00:19:42
parties. >> He does. Actually, I have spoke to a few of his friends and they nicknamed him
00:19:48
the instigator because he always liked to just tease people, joke around, prank.
00:19:56
Like, so they always referred to him as the instigator. >> And then obviously this puts his brother
00:20:01
Derek in a difficult position cuz he's like he knows Brian. So it's like, why are you showing up basically with a
00:20:08
hangover to your mother's funeral? I mean, that's disrespectful to her and disrespectful disrespectful to the
00:20:15
family. But at this time in his life, he has conflict. Brian Schaefer has conflict with his father, Randy
00:20:23
Schaefer. >> And we all very I mean, this is a cliche, but it's it is so true. We all
00:20:29
grieve very very differently, and we all have different relationships with people
00:20:34
who pass away. It's fair to speculate on this point in the timeline, but it's also I feel like it's a bit of a fool's
00:20:43
errand, I think, because of we we can't crawl inside his mind. We we know he's going to be emotional about the
00:20:51
situation. It's one of the most difficult things any one of us could face. So, it's of course tensions are
00:20:59
going to be high because again, everybody's grieving differently and everybody's having different feelings in
00:21:04
that moment. Nobody wanted to be at that funeral. Nobody wanted to be at that funeral. Everybody wanted to be
00:21:11
>> at the hospital the day that she stands up, walks out of the hospital room, and
00:21:16
rings the bell and says, "I'm cancerree." That's where they wanted to be, >> right?
00:21:20
>> Absolutely. >> So, after this shoving match, what happens? There were really no more
00:21:24
details given to me about the funeral or anything else that happened, but I do know that, you know, tensions continued
00:21:32
to be there between Randy and Brian, but I do know that Randy or I'm sorry, that
00:21:36
Brian and Derek were talking and were trying to get closer after their mom's passing. So then on March 12th, Brian
00:21:44
updated his MySpace page and he stated that his mom is his hero and that that he was doing things to make her proud.
00:21:54
But he also wrote that this doctor thing was only temporary until he got his band
00:22:00
going and was living on an island with his senorita. Then on St. Patrick's Day 2006, Brian spent St. Patrick's Day with
00:22:08
Clint Florence and Meredith Reed. While they were out drinking, Brian and Clint actually got into a little bit of an
00:22:14
argument. I don't know the details of that argument, but Meredith had reported it to Columbus Police Department, but it
00:22:23
resulted in Brian leaving whatever party they were at and walking to his apartment and Meredith followed Brian to
00:22:31
his apartment and then Clint followed Meredith. Around this time as well, Brian actually asked his [clears throat]
00:22:38
girlfriend Alexis to run away with him. And about a week later, when after she had said no, he actually told her that
00:22:47
she should move on with her life and find someone new because he was struggling with uh his mom's passing.
00:22:53
>> Do you know any details about did he have a plan or was it just simply, hey, we should run away together?
00:23:00
>> I don't think that he had a plan. At least if he did, it was never told to me. It seemed more like a fishing
00:23:07
expedition to see if she would actually run away with him. >> Right. >> So March 27th through March 31st was
00:23:14
finals week. So he was very busy throwing himself into that. And of course the last day of testing was March
00:23:22
31st, 2006. >> This brings us to the most significant point in our timeline here.
00:23:31
the night and morning early morning in question. This is when Brian Schaefer will be last seen or his last known
00:23:40
whereabouts. >> So, while the time that Brian was out that night is very important, I took the
00:23:46
timeline back just a bit further. And I actually start at 1:20 p.m. on March 31st.
00:23:53
And I used Brian's cell phone records and credit card statements and actually Merida's statement to put this all
00:24:00
together. So at 1:20 p.m. Brian called Alexis while she was driving to her parents
00:24:07
house in Toledo. At 1:47 p.m. Alexis returns Brian's call. At 6:45 p.m. Brian called Derek to
00:24:18
invite him out to dinner. At 6:57 p.m., Derek returns Brian's call and declines the invite. At 700 p.m., Brian called
00:24:29
Clint, but he did not answer and immediately called Brian back. From 7 to 8:00 p.m., Brian had dinner with Randy
00:24:36
Schaefer at Outback Steakhouse in Reynoldsburg, Ohio. Now, a lot of people think that this is
00:24:43
significant in the case because Brian is going on a holiday trip to Miami with his girlfriend. And so, a lot of people
00:24:54
just view this, like we said, there's some tension in the family because the mother of the family passed away. And
00:25:02
so, and like Nick said, everybody's grieving in their own ways. But the way this is initially reported to people is
00:25:10
this is just a hey, let's catch up before I go on vacation, but it seems like there might be more to the story
00:25:18
than that. >> Yeah, it's always been reported, you know, that Brian was worried about
00:25:22
Randy, which I'm sure he was, but it there was actually some tension that night. Now, while it isn't actually
00:25:30
known and it is assumed based on my conversation with Sergeant John Hurst, Brian and Randy actually had an argument
00:25:37
that night. Randy was very upset about the life insurance money and he had had a conversation with Derek a day or so
00:25:45
prior and told him, "Your mom didn't mean to leave you that money. You keep $1,000. You give me the other $19,000."
00:25:55
So, it is assumed that that same conversation happened between Randy and Brian that evening. And there had
00:26:02
already been a couple other arguments, including Randy threatening to cut Brian off from paying for his education.
00:26:10
>> Yeah. And I think this gets a little deeper, too, because he's inviting his brother out. Brian is saying, "Hey,
00:26:16
Derek, why don't you come with me? You had this confrontation with our dad. I don't want to face him alone, really."
00:26:23
And that's possibly why Derek declined to go to dinner with them. It >> it's absolutely why he declined.
00:26:30
Actually, it was reported in the early days of Brian's disappearance that Brian had invited Derek out with him that
00:26:37
night to go to the bars and stuff, but that wasn't the case. He invited him to dinner because he didn't want to have
00:26:42
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00:32:16
[music] So, do we know how he [music] got to the dinner and how Brian got home? I have
00:32:29
been told that Randy picked Brian up at his apartment, drove him to Outback in Reynoldsburg, and then drove him back to
00:32:37
his apartment. Now, I haven't been able to confirm that, but that's what I've been told.
00:32:42
>> Yeah. And Randy was living in what general area of the greater Columbus? >> Uh, like Pickerington, Baltimore area.
00:32:48
>> Okay. So, he's going to go way into central Ohio, central Columbus, pick up Brian, and then take him back out east
00:32:57
to Reynoldsburg, and then need to bring him back again to central Columbus, >> right?
00:33:04
>> Which makes some sense if you have stuff that you need to talk about. I mean, it
00:33:08
is his son and there's a lot going on with their family at this time. You know, myself, I've actually kind of
00:33:14
speculated that maybe he didn't know if Brian would show up because of the tension, so he offered to pick him up.
00:33:20
>> Also, just a a pretty normal dad move, I think. Hey, you want to grab some dinner? What time? Sure, I'll pick you
00:33:26
up. >> Yeah, I agree. >> At 8:41 p.m., Brian called Randy. It is unknown what they spoke about. At 9:00
00:33:34
p.m., Alexis called Brian. At 9:06 p.m., Brian called fellow co-ed Brandon Chatuni. Sometime between 9 and 9:15
00:33:43
p.m. Clint Florence arrived via car at Brian's apartment on King Avenue. >> Who's at Brian's apartment at this time?
00:33:51
>> So, I have been told that when Clint arrived at Brian's apartment that Brian and Randy were there and that Clint,
00:33:58
Randy, and Brian all had a beer together before Brian and Clint walked to the bars. At 9:51 p.m., Brian and Clint are
00:34:07
seen arriving at Ugly Tuna Saloona via surveillance footage. This is not the famous surveillance footage that is all
00:34:16
over the internet. This is actually before that time. >> Yes, this is the very first time they
00:34:21
were there. At 10:03 p.m., Brian calls fellow Coet Graham Davis. At 10:26 p.m., Amber Ruick and a mystery
00:34:32
woman are seen arriving at Ugly Tuna Saloona. And Kelly, from my understanding, Amber is friends with
00:34:40
Clint and Brian. Is that correct? >> Amber was a student of Clint's. He was a TA in one of her classes.
00:34:47
>> And Amber's important to this case because on the surveillance footage that everybody has seen, Brian is
00:34:54
[clears throat] talking to two ladies outside of the bar before he goes missing. Those two ladies are Amber and
00:35:03
Brighton. So, what we're establishing here is when Amber arrives to the Ugly Tuna Saloona,
00:35:10
>> and we'll go into detail as to what the surveillance footage is showing us as to
00:35:17
important persons arriving to the bar that night and then when they are later seen leaving the bar that night. And
00:35:24
this surveillance footage, for those of you not familiar with this case, is a camera that is positioned at the top of
00:35:32
of a set of stairs and escalators. So, the Ugly Tuna Saloona is a bar that is on the one of the upper floors of a
00:35:42
downtown campus uh building. And there are two escalators to the left. So when you walk into the building, they would
00:35:51
be to your right. But from the top of the stairs, this is your left. And that's where the camera is positioned
00:35:56
just above those escalators and then the set of stairs to the right of those escalators.
00:36:02
>> At 10:40 p.m., Brian and Clint are seen leaving Ugly Tuna, and Brian actually
00:36:07
does like a little surf down the escalator with the arms out. At 10:43 p.m., Brian called Matt Ryan
00:36:17
and made plans to meet the next day. At 10:59 p.m., Brian called Graham Davis for the second time.
00:36:26
At 11 p.m., Brian and Clint arrive at the Short North Tavern. At 11:20 p.m., Brian checked his voicemail even though
00:36:35
he had no missed calls. At 11:21 p.m., Jeremy Douglas called Brian. At 11:23 p.m., Brighton is seen arriving at the
00:36:45
Ugly Tuna Saloona. And like we said, Brighton is one of the ladies that was talking to Brian later in the night on
00:36:52
surveillance camera. >> At 11:45 p.m., Brian and Clint arrive at Brother's Bar. >> So, this is the third bar that they've
00:37:01
been to that night. >> At 11:57 p.m., Jason Fistic called Brian. At 12:00 a.m., Clint called
00:37:08
Meredith and invited her out. At 12:30 a.m., Meredith meets Brian and Clint. At 12:48 a.m., the mystery woman
00:37:18
is seen leaving Ugly Tuna Saloona. At 1:15 a.m., Brian, Clint, and Meredith are seen arriving back to the Ugly Tuna
00:37:27
Saloona. >> So, this would be the footage that has been all over the internet and news
00:37:32
reports. You see to the left is the escalators and to the right are the stairs. And you see Brian, Clint, and
00:37:39
Meredith all coming back to the Ugly Tuna, which again, they were there before earlier in the evening.
00:37:47
>> According to Meredith's statement, right after arriving at the Ugly Tuna Saloona,
00:37:52
Brian basically just kind of disappeared and then he reappeared a short time later and he was coming back into the
00:37:58
bar from out by like the escalator area that we mentioned where the camera is. Around 1:30, Brian walked away from
00:38:07
Clint and Meredith and goes in the opposite corner from the bar's entrance. Again, that's from Meredith's statement.
00:38:13
At 1:55 a.m., Brian is last seen on surveillance in front of the ugly tuna saloona. At 1:58 a.m., Brighton returns
00:38:21
to the restroom and join and then joins the group. At 1:59 a.m., Amber Brighton and the mystery woman are seen leaving
00:38:29
Ugly Tuna Saloona. Closer to 2 a.m. after closer to 2:00 a.m. after talking to Clint while sitting at the bar, Clint
00:38:37
and Meredith realize that they don't see Brian. They proceeded to walk around the
00:38:41
bar several times, even checking both restrooms. At 2:01 a.m., Meredith calls Brian's phone from Clint's phone and
00:38:49
leaves a voicemail asking where he is and to call her if he needs a ride. At 2:09 a.m., Clint and Meredith are seen
00:38:57
leaving Ugly Tuna Saloona. >> So, their statements were always, "Hey, he he either said he's going to the
00:39:03
bathroom or he's going to talk to the band. They can't get a hold of him, but they but they know he's a sociable
00:39:11
person. He's been talking to people all night. He doesn't live that far from the
00:39:16
bar. It's possible that he's leaving with somebody, whether that's male or female, and so they just decide, hey,
00:39:26
we're going to we're going to hit the road, and I'm sure he'll be fine. Well, and and we know they walked there, so
00:39:34
it's not out of the realm of possibility if you're there with him or even concerned about his whereabouts that you
00:39:42
might jump to the idea of, oh, well, for one reason or another, maybe he just started to walk home. The other thing,
00:39:49
too, is bars at 2:00 a.m., 2:30 a.m. are weird, right? None of them seem to operate exactly the same. I I'm a a bit
00:40:00
of a frequenter of many bars and have been in several of the bars that we've been discussing here so far. And from my
00:40:08
younger days when I was out that late, there was a a few different scenarios you could run into where they were
00:40:16
diehard about getting everybody out exactly at closing time or just before closing time. And then there's other
00:40:23
situations where they may not force you out the door right away, but if you get outside of those doors, even though
00:40:31
there's people still in there finishing their drinks and conversation, we're not
00:40:35
letting you back in. >> Right. And to actually add to it, Nick, of what you said, Brian, according to
00:40:40
all of his friends and some family members, he had a habit of wandering off towards the end of the night and they
00:40:47
would see him a day or two later. So, this was something that he did. So, it wasn't out of the norm. And I imagine it
00:40:54
wasn't the first time that Brian had done this to Clint. >> He goes to the bar with his buddy Clint
00:40:59
and Meredith. So, can you explain the dynamic of that trio's relationship? >> I can. So, from what I have been told,
00:41:10
Meredith um was attracted to Brian and Clint was attracted to Meredith. Well, Meredith and Clint actually began
00:41:19
dating, and that night was actually the first night that they were going to spend together.
00:41:24
>> Through our conversations throughout this last year or so, one of the things I always wondered was,
00:41:31
why would Brian and Clint go back to a bar that they already were at earlier in the night?
00:41:39
So, I always kind of assume that maybe Brian maybe he left a debit card or maybe he left a hat or maybe he left a
00:41:47
jacket. Maybe he left something. And if he left a hat or jacket, then that that would make sense why we don't see him on
00:41:56
surveillance footage leaving because he's now wearing a different outfit. But you have reason to believe that you know
00:42:03
why Clint and Brian went back to the ugly tuna. >> I do. As I've been going through this
00:42:09
timeline, I've mentioned a few names that several people probably have never heard of before. Um, from Brian's cell
00:42:16
phone records, the reason why Brian and Clint went back to the Ugly Tuna the second time that night is actually the
00:42:24
reason they had went to every bar they had went to that night. They were trying to meet up with four of Brian's other
00:42:31
friends. One being a fellow medical school student and a couple others just being Ohio State regular undergrads.
00:42:39
>> So Brian is a medical student, Clint's a medical student. They're also trying to
00:42:43
meet up with this other four individuals. And like you said, they're almost chasing them throughout the night
00:42:51
to meet up with them. >> Correct. And it seemed they were playing phone tag a little bit, too. At 2:09
00:42:56
a.m., Clint and Meredith are seen leaving Ugly Tuna. 2:10 a.m. was last call for alcohol. At 2:14 a.m., Clint
00:43:05
and Meredith are seen leaving the Ugly Tuna Saloona parking garage. At 2:30 a.m., the Ugly Tuna closes for the
00:43:13
night. And at 10:00 a.m., Meredith drops Clint off at Brian's apartment to pick up his car. So, one of the speculations
00:43:21
online has always been that maybe there was a confrontation and that somehow the
00:43:27
band that was playing at the Ugly Tuna is somehow involved in Brian's disappearance.
00:43:34
You uh along with Nicholas West were able to figure out who that band was because for years we knew that there was
00:43:43
a band. We knew that Brian told people he wanted to talk with talk with them, but we never knew the name of this band.
00:43:52
>> Right. After talking to Sergeant John Hurse, we were able to find out that the
00:43:56
name of the band is Rock House. >> And when you guys were doing the Comeback podcast, at that point I was in
00:44:04
conversations with Nicholas West. So when he told me, "Hey, I know the band's name." I I was very interested because
00:44:12
I've obviously played in bands and worked in studios in Columbus, so I figured I'd know these individuals. When
00:44:19
he said Rockhouse, I was actually blown away because I've played with all three of the members uh either in bands or on
00:44:30
records with them. And so I was able to talk to every single member in the band.
00:44:38
They were surprised to know that there's speculation online that they possibly uh
00:44:44
that the speculation was that they murdered some guy that they didn't even know and took his body out in in drum
00:44:53
cases. So first of all, I know all three of these band members and they're good guys. upstanding guys. It was just
00:45:03
another gig to them. They obviously heard, oh yeah, the night that we were playing at the Ugly Tuna, this guy went
00:45:11
missing. But none of them were really into true crime, so they just didn't follow the story. They also weren't
00:45:18
interviewed or heavily questioned by police, and they all thought that was odd. But where I believe their story,
00:45:28
because the the bar is like a almost like a little square, so you can almost see everybody no matter where you're at
00:45:35
in the bar. There's not like these hidden corners or all these uh things that would obstruct your your vision.
00:45:45
And so what these individuals told me is, you know, they packed up their stuff like normal, but they had a small crowd
00:45:52
of friends there. And so when they left the bar that night, they weren't just leaving with the band. They weren't the
00:46:00
last people in the bar. They're leaving with their friends. They're leaving with
00:46:05
other patrons of the bar. They're leaving with staff members. And none of these individuals were ever seen on
00:46:12
surveillance footage because they took a backway exit. >> Yeah, actually that backway exit they
00:46:18
took was actually on camera as well. We just have never seen that footage because it has not been released.
00:46:24
>> Right. Yeah. And so, just to be clear, not only was I able to speak with the band members, but I was able to speak
00:46:30
with other individuals that were there to see that band that night, cuz like I said, I have several common friends of
00:46:37
these individuals. And so, it's not just the band telling me this story and going, "Well, I'm just going to take
00:46:42
them at at their word." I'm It's a bunch of other individuals that were there that night. And one of the things that
00:46:49
was interesting is one of the friends there that night was a guy I played in a band with, his name is Quinn, and he's
00:46:59
great songwriter for the band X-rated Cowboys. And he did tell me that there was a confrontation between a female
00:47:08
friend of his and some guy they didn't know, but it he said it wasn't that big of a deal. Quinn also own owns a a bar,
00:47:17
so he kind of knows when something's a big deal and not a big deal. But he did say there was a confrontation and and
00:47:24
then that was um quickly dispersed and then they left and they all left out that back exit instead of going down the
00:47:34
escalators. And just because this was such a popular theory 15 years ago, I just want to point out Brian Schaefer
00:47:46
was 6'2 in tall. >> Right. >> I Right. I mean, I don't know exactly what equipment they were playing with,
00:47:54
but even to try to stuff a male body 6'2 in tall into a bass drum case seems very
00:48:05
difficult to me. I'm not saying it's it's not possible, but it would seem to be very difficult to me. And then if you
00:48:12
were not able to find something large enough to sneak this person's body or unconscious person out of the bar via
00:48:21
service entrance or exit or or what have you. Now you're talking about dismemberment and there obviously no
00:48:29
signs of any of that occurring in this situation. >> Yeah. And I was able to interview the
00:48:35
singer and the bass player of the band. His name is Mark with uh Quinn as well. I interviewed them
00:48:43
with Maggie Freeline a couple years back and Mark didn't even really understand like why are you
00:48:51
talking to me anyways and I was like look one of the number one theories is that you guys have a conf you guys had a
00:48:57
confrontation with Brian and then put him in instrument cases and took him out of the bar. Well, he stops to look this
00:49:06
up online just to see if I'm telling the truth. And like you said, one of the first things that comes up is there's a
00:49:12
confrontation and they dismember him. These are guys that obviously can hold their own cuz they played in bars. So
00:49:20
that they've probably been in some tough situations before. But none of these guys are violent individuals. None of
00:49:25
these I've played in bands with them, been on recordings with them, never had any conflict with them, never seen them
00:49:32
in conflict with anybody else. So you're making the the internet with this theory
00:49:38
is making these giant leaps. It takes a special piece of [ __ ] individual to have
00:49:47
a confrontation with somebody and dismember them. So but because of Kelly's excellent work and Nicholas West
00:49:57
excellent work, we're able to know who this band was. We're able to question them. were able to talk to other
00:50:03
individuals there and I kind of think we can stomp out that theory that the band
00:50:08
had something to do with his disappearance that night. >> Captain, didn't you tell me that it took
00:50:12
almost 2 years for CPD to interview the band? >> Yes. And it was almost by random
00:50:21
accident chance. the some of the members that were in Rock House became another band called
00:50:30
the Filthy Habits and they were playing back at the Ugly Tuna playing cover songs and a group of detectives walk in
00:50:39
as they're setting up and the detectives ask them some questions just about, you
00:50:46
know, the bar playing at the venue, you know, how do you enter, how do you leave? And then it comes to the
00:50:54
detectives attention that hey well we were actually in another band and we were actually there that night that
00:51:02
Brian went missing. These detectives for whatever reason were at the ugly tuna to
00:51:08
and my guess is that maybe it was like turning over the case to somebody and so hey let me take you down to the ugly
00:51:15
tuna and let's go over some of the stuff that I feel like I've already learned. So they were never properly questioned.
00:51:23
And one of the things you see in a lot of the news reports back in 2006 was that the police question every
00:51:31
individual that was working that night. Well, I don't believe that's true. If the band is saying, well, we were never
00:51:37
questioned. We were never asked to give polygraph test. We were never brought in
00:51:43
for questioning even afterwards. The only contact that they had afterwards with detectives was two two and a half,
00:51:51
you know, was two to two and a half years later when they're just back at the bar and this group of detectives
00:51:57
randomly shows up. >> I'd like to point out too with the timeline, it really doesn't allow for
00:52:03
the ban theory to even be possible. We knew where Brian was standing up until 1:59 a.m. and Clinton Meredith began
00:52:12
looking for him at 2:01 a.m. So, I don't really think that the band theory could
00:52:17
be possible with the timeline. >> Well, and just going from a security standpoint here, we got to keep in mind
00:52:24
one thing that is visible in the surveillance footage is two CPD, two Columbus police officers standing at the
00:52:32
top of the stairs. They are h they're not there because the city of Columbus is like, "Go stand in this building
00:52:38
because there's a bar." No, they're hired. Okay? So, they're contracted workers by the businesses with inside of
00:52:45
this building. They're not leaving when the patrons leave the bar. They're leaving after the bar has closed, all
00:52:54
operations has ceased, and the they are dismissed. And guess what? I can tell you that I know for sure they're not
00:53:00
leaving until they're dismissed because CPD back then, and I know that it doesn't seem like such great pay today
00:53:07
because we're we're now talking 20 years later, but in 2006, they were probably collecting
00:53:15
$ 38 to $40 an hour stig. So it they're considered fairly easy gigs and easy money. And so those
00:53:30
officers that were there, they were there until operations and and management and everybody was ready to
00:53:37
lock the doors for the night. Yeah. So, to believe the ban theory, you'd have to
00:53:42
believe that a bunch of individuals of the band are in on it, that employees of the ugly tuna are in on it, and also
00:53:53
security guards that saw other surveillance footage are in on it. You'd have to believe that those police
00:54:00
officers that we see on surveillance footage are in on it. And I don't know what the protocol would have been for
00:54:07
this particular location, but typically when we were running security in sim similar situations, the great reason for
00:54:17
having two officers, especially so close to closing time, if you wanted to do things on the up and up, but you wanted
00:54:25
to you were working within a budget, the confines of a strict budget, you would have a police officer there for the
00:54:33
majority of of the evening with an additional officer arriving closer to closing time. This gives you the ability
00:54:42
to keep an officer inside the building and have one officer escorting workers and management out either to their
00:54:51
vehicles to the parking garage or a a certain distance from the building when they are leaving and exiting for the
00:54:59
night. At this point, we have nobody that has made contact with Brian through his his phone. We we have no clue where
00:55:07
his whereabouts. The last thing other than people saying that they saw him after the surveillance footage. The only
00:55:15
thing that we have as the public is that surveillance footage. And this is kind of how the legend is born. Brian, Clint,
00:55:24
Meredith are seen on surveillance going up the escalator. He's seen on surveillance footage throughout the
00:55:31
night talking to two ladies and then he just disappears. A man walks into a bar and is never seen leaving that bar.
00:55:52
So, True Crime Garage and Brian Schaefer, Dead or Alive, is excited to announce we're doing an event at Brew
00:55:59
Dog in Canal, Winchester, April 18th, 2026. Schaefer, 20 years missing. We'll be
00:56:08
doing a panel where we discuss things that we've been talking about on this podcast and other information that we
00:56:14
gather until the event. It's going to happen April 18th, 2026. Brewog canal Winchester tickets will be available
00:56:24
tonight. The money is going to go to a great cause. We're going to be raising money for the porch light project. And
00:56:30
so we hope that you can join us. It will, well, we believe it will sell out fast.
00:56:37
>> Yeah. A limited number of tickets. Uh, anybody that's been to a previous Brew
00:56:42
Dog event, you know that there is limited space. So, tickets go on sale tonight. Where do you go to get those
00:56:48
tickets? You go to our website, true crimegar.com. >> So, come join us and let's raise some
00:56:53
money for a good cause in Brian Schaefer's name. >> Again, that's in Canal Winchester.
00:56:57
That's just outside of Columbus, Ohio. Get your tickets at trueg.com. Stick around for more Brian Schaffer 20
00:57:06
years missing. [music] [music] Hi, I'm Gabby Wendy with Long Winded and I'm not going to lie, I'm desperate. I'm
00:57:39
desperate for your attention in any way possible. So listen to my podcast, won't
00:57:43
you? It has great insights, exceptional humor, and plenty of pop culture to fill
00:57:49
your dark souls. And some even say it's a great way to fall asleep due to my soothing voice. And I don't take that
00:57:57
personally. Fall asleep. A listen is a listen even when you're sleeping. And a view is a view even with your eyes
00:58:04
closed. If you dare, and it doesn't take much gumption. Enjoy. Listen to long- winded wherever you get your podcasts.