The bar where Brian Shaffer went missing
Last Seen Location in Columbus, Ohio
This is the location where Brian Shaffer went missing.
It is situated at 1546 North High Street in Columbus, Ohio.
At the time of Shaffer's disappearance, the second floor of this building was occupied by a bar called the Ugly Tuna Saloona.
The bar vacated the unit in 2018 after its lease expired. It then reopened at a new address on Chittenden Avenue the following year.
Shaffer was an Ohio State University medical student who was last seen in the foyer outside of the Ugly Tuna Saloona during the early hours of Saturday, April 1st, 2006.
The 27-year-old arrived at this bar with his two friends, William "Clint" Florence and Meredith Reed, at around 1.15 a.m. However, he eventually became separated from them.
After straying away from his companions, it appears as though he wandered out into the foyer and began talking to two women.
A surveillance camera captured him talking to the women near the entrance at roughly 1.55 a.m., which was just five minutes before closing time. Following a short conversation, the women left the building, and he seemingly walked back towards the bar.
This was the last known sighting of Shaffer.
When the bar closed at 2 a.m., his friends called his phone and checked the bathrooms. After failing to find him, they assumed that he had left and walked back to his apartment, as he had a habit of leaving bars without saying anything.
Shaffer wasn't reported missing until Monday, April 3rd, 2006. This means that at least 48 hours passed before the police became involved.
A review of the surveillance footage failed to find any sign of him exiting the bar. However, one of the cameras was programmed to periodically pan from side to side. Additionally, there were other exits in the building that surveillance cameras didn't cover.
Shaffer's disappearance left investigators baffled. The tips that they received from the public led nowhere. Furthermore, there was no activity on his phone, credit cards, or bank accounts to suggest that he had run away. Friends and family said he was in good spirits and that there didn't seem to be any indication that he was feeling down or depressed.
Sadly, there have been few developments in the case.
Shaffer remains missing to this day.
Brian Shaffer last seen location
The address and the GPS coordinates for this location are as follows:
Address
1546 N High Street, Columbus, Ohio, OH 43201, USA
GPS coordinates
The latitude and longitude coordinates for the bar are:
39.994010, -83.006497
Directions
The bar was situated about 270 feet south of the intersection between North High Street and East 11th Avenue. The area lies to the southeast of the Ohio State University campus.
Photos
Photos of the bar and other related images.
Ugly Tuna Saloona
This Google Street View image of the Ugly Tuna Saloona was captured in May 2009—roughly three years after Brian Shaffer seemingly vanished into thin air.
The bar was situated on the second floor of the South Campus Gateway building on High Street (red rectangle).
The main entrance (yellow rectangle) led out onto a pedestrian walkway on the northern side of the building.
Entrance
Image source: Google Maps
There are stairs and an escalator inside this entrance, which lead to a foyer on the second floor.
Once you reach the foyer, the entrance to the former Ugly Tuna Saloona is on your right.
A surveillance camera captured Shaffer and his friends, William "Clint" Florence and Meredith Reed, walking up the escalator at around 1.15 a.m.
Surveillance footage
Shaffer was last seen at 1.55 a.m., when he spoke to two women called Brightan Zatko and Amber Ruicin in the foyer outside the Ugly Tuna Saloona.
Following a quick conversation, it appears as though he walked back towards the entrance to the bar.
By that stage, closing time was fast approaching, and patrons were beginning to leave the building.
Shaffer's friends said that they called his phone, searched the restroom, and then looked for him outside. When they failed to find him, they assumed that he had already left, as he had a habit of leaving bars without saying anything.
Shaffer's last known location
Image source: Mark Carper on Google Maps
This image of the foyer was taken in April 2017. Shaffer was standing in the vicinity of the red ellipse when he was recorded by a security camera.
Foyer
This is an alternative view of the foyer. The image at the bottom is facing away from the bar.
South Campus Gateway
This is an east-facing aerial image of the South Campus Gateway building in Columbus, Ohio.
There are a number of different exits that Shaffer may have taken.
One of the staff service exits did not have a surveillance camera.
However, to reach the exit, he would have had to sneak past the two security guards stationed near the top of the stairs and then make his way through a construction site.
It is important to note that the construction site was not filled with holes, wet concrete, or anything else that Shaffer could have fallen into, as the foundations and floors had already been laid. This was a largely finished area. The only thing left to do was construct the partition walls between the various retail units.
The cadaver dogs that the police used to search the building failed to find anything.
The lead investigator, Sgt. John Hurst, said that there were a number of surveillance "blind spots". He also acknowledged that one of the cameras had a pre-programmed panning motion that may have missed the exact moment when Shaffer left the building.
There have also been reports that the fire exit was not fitted with an active alarm in 2006. Although it did have a surveillance camera, the tape had already been overwritten by the time the police checked the footage (many cameras will automatically overwrite older footage).
Shaffer's apartment
Shaffer's apartment was situated at 208 King Avenue in Columbus.
Coordinates: 39.990614, -83.011921
Route
Schaffer's apartment was a 10-minute walk (0.5 miles) from the Ugly Tuna Saloona.
The aerial image above highlights the various routes that he may have taken if he did leave the building.
This part of Columbus had a reputation for being a high-crime area. If he was walking home alone while drunk, he may have been vulnerable to foul play.
There is also the possibility that he was hit by a drunk driver, as he would have been walking home at a time when people were leaving bars in the vicinity.
The police checked dumpsters in the neighborhood using cadaver dogs. However, by that stage, a number of days had passed since his disappearance.
The Olentangy River, vacant buildings, homeless shelters, and local hospitals were also searched.
Investigators were confident that he didn't fall into the river, as the section that runs through the city is pretty shallow (2–3 feet deep).
Garage
Surveillance footage showed Florence and Meredith pulling out of the Gateway garage at around 2.09 a.m., which was roughly ten minutes after the bar closed.
The pair did not spend a lot of time searching for Shaffer because a) he lived nearby and b) he had a habit of leaving without saying anything.
Coordinates: 39.993546, -83.005576
William "Clint" Florence
Shaffer's friend and "drinking buddy", William "Clint" Florence, is pictured on the left. The pair visited a number of bars that Friday night, including the Ugly Tuna Saloona. They later met up with Meredith Reed before returning to the bar at around 1.15 a.m.
Florence called Shaffer when the bar closed. After checking the bathrooms and waiting around for a few minutes, they left in Reed's car at around 2.10 a.m.
During the investigation, Florence refused to take a polygraph test. However, these tests are notoriously inaccurate and have led to innocent people becoming suspects in the past. For example, the husband of BTK victim Vicki Wegerle failed two tests despite his innocence.
The photograph on the right shows Shaffer and his girlfriend, Alexis Waggoner.
Waggoner's concern steadily grew over the weekend after her boyfriend failed to respond to her phone calls. When Monday came around, he didn't show up for a trip that the couple had planned to take to Miami, Florida. At that point, the decision was made to file a missing person report.
Map Viewer
There is more than one location associated with this entry. To view all of these places on the same map, you can use the following feature:
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Crime Location in Columbus, Ohio
