Mystery of student who went into bar with friends 17 years ago and was never seen again
Dominic Smithers
Featured Image Credit: Dateline/NBC
In 2006, a young student was captured on CCTV walking into a bar - and then vanished without a trace.
Brian Shaffer was studying at the Ohio State University College of Medicine when he and one of his friends decided to go on a night out.
On 31 March that year, the 27-year-old and buddy William 'Clint' Florence headed out to the Ugly Tuna Saloona in Columbus’ University District.
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After enjoying a few drinks, the pair left, heading towards the Arena District and Short North.
However, when another friend, Meredith Reed, offered the two of them a lift back to Ugly Tuna, they hopped in.
Footage from a CCTV camera showed them heading up the escalator towards the bar's entrance at around 1.15am.
Less than an hour later, Brian was seen chatting to a couple of women, before he vanished.
Concerned he had gone off by himself, Meredith tried calling Brian, going through to voicemail.
Unable to get through to him, she and William left the bar in the hope they'd manage to catch up the next day.
But they never did. Even Brian's dad, Randy, tried contacting him and heard nothing back, with the medic missing the flight he'd booked to see his girlfriend.
After being reported missing, a huge search operation was launched, with Brian's partner calling him every day in the hope he'd answer, but still it went straight through to voicemail.
With no GPS to go off, the authorities struggled to work out what had happened to Brian.
The last known footage of Brian showed him walking around outside the Ugly Tuna bar, before eventually disappearing out of shot back in the direction of the bar.
Detectives suggested that Brian may well have disguised himself that night and left through a different exit, which led to a construction site.
However, his family refused to accept this was true, saying this didn't make sense.
Three years ago, hope for his safe return was renewed after a photograph of a man began circulating.
The person in the picture, which was captured in Tijuana, Mexico, appeared to have a resemblance to Brian, however, the FBI eventually concluded that it wasn't him.
To this day, Brian remains a missing person, his case still unsolved.
If he is alive, he would be 44 years old, with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation releasing an aged photo of what he might look like now to help with the search.
Anyone who may have information concerning Brain's whereabouts is urged to contact their local FBI office or the nearest American Embassy or Consul
There is a $100,000 (£80,000) reward for information that leads to his return.