The Vanishing Elephant

It has been 11 years since Brian Shaffer disappeared at The Ugly Tuna Saloona on April 1st, 2006 (Tribune Media Wire). Behind he left his loving brother, his father who was looking for answers til the day he died, and a heartbroken girlfriend. Randy Shaffer, Brian’s father, said in an interview with NBC News what the worst part of all this has been, “Just not knowing or understanding. What, why, where, how? I mean, there’s nothing that really fits” (Stafford). Brian’s disappearance left everyone without a single answer, and a father to die without seeing his eldest son for the last time. When looking at the events of the night that led up to Brian’s disappearance, Brian’s actions were not of one who purposely wanted to disappear, abandoning his friends, family, and girlfriend because he was getting cold feet or because he was upset about a death in the family. Between Brian calling Alexis while at the bar and inviting his brother, Derek, to come drinking with him to celebrate, it does not seem like Brian was looking to escape his life. This conclusion leads us to the most probable outcome of that night, that Brian likely met up with foul play at The Ugly Tuna Saloona and since he was intoxicated, he was not able to fight them off.