18 years ago, Brian Shaffer walked into a bar and was never seen again. Ohio brothers are now suing a Reddit user who accused them of killing him

A A medical student walked into a bar near the Ohio State campus in the early hours of April 1, 2006 — and disappeared.

This may sound like an April Fool's prank, but it's one of Ohio's biggest mysteries.

Brian Shaffer was 27 when he wandered into The Ugly Tuna Saloona, a local college bar lit by a bright neon sign reading “Fresh Fish.” Ugly owners.

Surveillance footage from outside the establishment captured the medical student entering the bar around 1:55 a.m. Then he left.

For nearly two decades, Brian's disappearance has remained a mystery to Ohioans.

Online sleuths have debated theories about what happened to Brian, digging deep into cold case subreddits in hopes of solving the case, particularly on Reddit, a social media platform that allows users to post and interact anonymously.

Did he trip, drunk, into the Olentangy River? Or, because there is no surveillance footage showing him leaving the bar, is he still there, his body hidden in the walls, or in a beer keg?

In a subreddit “Brian Shaffer”, a user with the handle “QueenBeeeee” frequently posted about the case, among other things, repeatedly mentioning the names of two brothers from Ohio, alleging that they were the ones responsible .

Today, these brothers are suing the unknown user called “Jane Doe” in the defamation lawsuit.

A Reddit user accused them of murder. Now they continue

Matthew Osowski and Brian Osowski filed a lawsuit this week in Franklin County Common Pleas Court against anonymous Reddit user “QueenBeeeee.”

The lawsuit alleges that the Reddit user, listed as “Jane Doe,” continually accused them in the comments of being involved in several homicide and missing persons cases, including the case of Brian Shaffer.

In the subreddit Brian Shaffer, user QueenBeeeee shared his theories about the case as well as accusations that the Osowski brothers are “psycho serial killers,” according to a post seen by The Columbus Dispatch.

Other posts included personal information about the brothers, including what they look like, where they live and where they work. There is no evidence to link the Osowski brothers to Brain's disappearance, or any other case, and the posts have since been deleted by Reddit.

According to the lawsuit, the user also alleges that the brothers were involved in the 2005 murder of 20-year-old Julie Popovich and the disappearances of Tyler Davis and Joey LaBute. However, again, there is no indication that the brothers had anything to do with these matters. In fact, in 2007, Adam Saleh was convicted of Popovich's death and is currently serving a life sentence.

The Osowski brothers are seeking $25,000 in damages, according to the lawsuit. They are also seeking a removal of the posts, as well as a court order prohibiting QueenBeeeee from publishing further allegations. The account has since been suspended.

In a statement provided to The dispatch On Monday, the brothers' lawyers said they had no idea who the anonymous poster was and that the lawsuit was filed to stop “this false and unscrupulous behavior.”

“They were not involved in any of the crimes mentioned in this person’s messages. They had no contact with the victims of the crimes,” the lawyer said in the statement.

“The Osowskis have families and jobs and the wild and unjustifiable allegations in the messages are irresponsible. The Osowskis are taking legal action to stop this false and unscrupulous behavior.”

What happened to Brian Shaffer?

Four weeks before Brian Shaffer died, his mother, Renée, died of myelodysplasia, a rare form of cancer.

In the days and weeks that followed, Brian, his brother Derek Shaffer and their father, Randall “Randy” Shaffer, leaned on each other for support.

Brian began looking toward the future, specifically toward his upcoming vacation to Miami with his girlfriend, Alexis.

Brian had planned to propose, but he never got on the plane.

On March 31, 2006, a Saturday evening, Brian joined his friend William “Clint” Florence for a bar crawl near the Ohio State campus.

They stopped at Ugly Tuna Saloona in Columbus' University District, then headed back toward the Arena District and Short North.

Later that night, another friend, Meredith Reed, offered them a ride back to Ugly Tuna, and they returned to the bar.

Surveillance camera footage shows Brian and his friends entering the bar around 1:15 a.m. He was last seen chatting with two women and going back inside the bar before disappearing.

His friends tried to call him after getting lost at the bar, but only received his voicemail. Thinking he had returned home, they left.

When Brian didn't show up for his flight on Monday, his father became concerned and reported him missing.

Brian's latest video footage

Brian's father searched his apartment but found everything where it was supposed to be.

His bed was made and his medical books were neatly arranged on the shelves.

A search was launched as cadaver dogs roamed the area surrounding the bar, the woods near the river and the campsites.

Surveillance footage that captured Brian's final movements was viewed repeatedly, but police still had no answers.

In the video, Brian, Clint and Meredith took the escalator to the bar at 1:15 a.m. An hour later, Clint and Meredith came back downstairs. But Brian wasn't with them.

“The police were as confused as the rest of us,” Derek Shaffer told local media. “They did everything they could to try to find my brother.”

Clint and Meredith were questioned by the police. She took a polygraph, but Clint allegedly refused to take one, it was reported.

Weeks passed, then months, but Brian's family refused to give up hope. His father Randy conducted media interviews, created a website to get tips from the public and continued to pray that his son would be found.

Then the wild theories and hoaxes started pouring in.

Someone called Jesus claimed that Brian was beaten unconscious by two men after an altercation at the Ugly Tuna.

“[Jesus said] “When Brian woke up, he had a big black penis in his mouth,” Mr. Shaffer recalled in 2007.[He said] they shot him in the head, burned his body and had sex with his ashes.

But it wasn't a tip, it was a prank.

There were reportedly sightings of Brian in Atlanta and Sweden. But nothing made it possible to find him.

His brother Derek told The Dispatch that he stays away from what people say about Brian online.

“I don’t really read about Brian online,” Derek said. “He was going to do great things as a doctor. He wasn't on drugs or anything like that. I don't think he would leave and never contact us again. No, he wouldn't have done that to us.

“I'm afraid something bad has happened and we may never know,” he added.

Another tragic loss

In 2008, two years after Brian's disappearance, the Shaffer family suffered another tragic loss.

Brian's father, Randall “Randy” Shaffer, 55, died in a windstorm that hit central Ohio, killing at least six people in the area.

Mr. Shaffer was thought to be walking to a shed in the backyard of his Fairfield County home during the storm when he was struck and killed by a falling limb, the Fairfield County Sheriff Dave Phalen, according to The Columbus Dispatch.

When he failed to show up to his job at Midway Electric, where he worked as an electrician, neighbors went to his house and found his body in the backyard.

Mr. Shaffer was a familiar face to many people in central Ohio who followed his high-profile search for his son.

In three years, Derek Shaffer had lost his mother, his brother and now his father.

On Brian's right bicep was a tattoo of the stickman depicted on Pearl Jam's first single, “Alive.”

He was a devoted fan and planned to see them in Cincinnati. But he never succeeded.

Four years after Brian's disappearance, the band performed “Come Back” at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, two miles from the Ugly Tuna.

Eddie Vedder, the band's lead singer, dedicated the track to Brian: “Wherever you are, we're always thinking of you,” he said.