Welcome to Off the Record.

I'm your host, Nick.

It's good to be seen, and it's good to see you.

Off the record, thanks for listening, thanks for telling a friend.

True Crime Podcast. Be good,

be kind, and don't let it. Gather a crowded bar and seemingly vanished without a trace.

Brian Schaefer was 27 years old.

By all accounts, he was charismatic, intelligent, and standing at the threshold of a promising future.

A second year medical student at Ohio State University, Brian had plans, ambitions, and a spring break trip to Miami waiting just days ahead. But those

plans would never happen. On March 31st, 2006, Brian joined friends in Columbus, Ohio, to celebrate

the beginning of spring break. The night unfolded like countless others, with laughter, drinks, and bar hopping

through the lively campus district.

Eventually, the group arrived at a popular student hotspot known as the Ugly Tuna Saluna.

Security cameras captured Brian entering the bar shortly before closing time.

At approximately 155 a.m., surveillance footage recorded what would become the final confirmed

sighting of him.

Brian was seen casually speaking with two women near the entrance

of the bar. He appeared relaxed, calm, ordinary. Moments later, he stepped out of the camera's

view, and then he was gone. Despite extensive review of surveillance footage covering the bar's main entrance

and surrounding areas, investigators never found a single image of Brian leaving the building.

Friends who had been with him eventually exited without him, assuming he had left on his own. But Brian never returned home.

He never contacted family or friends. He never boarded his scheduled flight to Miami.

...