Hey everybody welcome back to another edition of Cold Case Murder Mysteries.

I'm your host Ryan Kraus and today's offering is the very intriguing case of 27 year old Ohio State Medical student Brian Schaefer who disappeared on April 1st, 2006 at a Columbus bar called the ugly Tuna Saluna after a night of drinking with friends.

But if you thought I was about to say he wandered off into the night and was never seen again,

or perhaps had some kind of altercation was abducted, think again.

Because if Elvis truly has left the building,

the chances are pretty good Brian Schaefer might still be inside.

That's how bizarre this case becomes as it unravels.

So let's circle back to the beginning of this tale and set the stage for the events to follow that day.

Brian graduates from Ohio State in 2004

with a degree in microbiology,

at which point he enters their college of medicine.

During his second year,

his mother Renee passes away from cancer.

But while this is a difficult development in his life,

he's also romantically involved with a fellow medical student named Alexis,

with whom he'd become serious.

In fact, they had a vacation plan for the week after

Brian disappeared, and there was even speculation he might propose marriage during that time.

So classes that OSU had just let out for spring break on March 31st, 2006, and Brian met his father Randy early that evening to have dinner at a local restaurant.

He expressed that he was exhausted after pulling some all-nighters while studying for exams that week,

but was going out that night with some friends to have drinks and let off steam.

Now, while this sounds like a reasonable night of fun,

...