The Cincinnati Enquirer from Cincinnati, Ohio • A12

12A SUNDAY, MAY 3, 2020 THE ENQUIRER The Cincinnati.com Sports Awards honors the top athletic accomplishments in Greater Cincinnati high school sports. This year, instead of a live event, athletes will be celebrated in a special on-demand broadcast hosted by sports anchors Jesse Palmer and Sage Steele. Join us as we honor area athletes, name the players of the year in each sport and present several special awards. The broadcastpremieresat6pm, June 18atnochargethankstooureventsponsors. Learn More Sign up for Updates sportsawards.c incinnati june 18, 2020 6pm the star-studded event of the year Celebrating the best in High School Sports with awards presented by: Drew Brees, gabby douglas, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Rose Lavelle, Misty May-Treanor, VenusWilliams andmanymore! happened to him next is a mystery.

When failed to come home, both his girlfriend and father were im- mediately concerned, but they held out hope that he might surface on the 3rd. After all, he had a plane to catch. When he still show up, his father, Randy who has since died reported him missing. The investigation The days before disappeared were a bit hectic, but family-focused. He had dinner with his father at the Outback Steakhouse in Reynoldsburg on March 31.

Randy told a reporter that the two talked about mother, who had died of cancer about a month earlier. Later that night, called his girlfriend around 9 p.m., then went bar- hopping with a friend named William Florence. They stopped at several Arena District bars, where they downed a shot before moving on to the next stop. Shortly after midnight, and Florence met up with a friend, Meredith Reed, in a bar called The Short North. She later told police she drove the two friends back to the Ugly Tuna Saloona Surveillance footage shows them arriv- ing around 1:15 a.m.

All three shared a last round together. then separated from Reed and Florence, they told police. Forty minutes later, a camera caught again standing outside of the bar and appearing to say goodbye to two young women. He then walked era, in the direction of the entrance. The closing time was 2 a.m., but was never spotted on camera again.

Reed and Florence waited for in front of the bar after it closed, but he never showed. They assumed found another way back to his apart- ment. The theories First, the least likely to come to light. Some posited that distraught over his death, decided to dis- appear and start a new life. a tough scenario to imagine considering his case has been featured on high-pro- media, including an episode of Dateline, and yet never been a sighting of him in 14 years.

Suicide was weighed as well, but no one near felt anything was amiss with him aside from mourning his mom. His friends and family said he was han- dling his grief as well as could be expect- ed and was making ambitious plans for the future. Last, the theory of foul play. While the area was well covered by sur- veillance cameras not just at the Ugly Tuna, but also other establishments nearby possible that slipped past them, maybe blocked by a crowd of passersby. also possible he went out a back door to the bar, which covered by a camera and typically was used by musicians who performed live at the bar.

That egress opened to a construction area at the time. The search Police searched the sewer sys- tem to no avail. family donned waders to search the Olentangy River, which was less than a mile from apartment. Suspected sightings have been reported in several states and even Sweden, but never been con- The aftermath father, Randy, never stopped looking for his son. He became obsessed with him, working with Crime Stoppers to put out and a hef- ty reward.

In 2008, he was killed in a freak accident when a windstorm snapped a tree limb free. It hit Randy, who was killed on impact. Crime Stop- pers president at the time, Kevin Miles, gave the eulogy at his funeral. case still haunts and in- trigues many, in part because it seems unfathomable for someone to vanish in a crowd. In February, after a Columbus TV station ran an update on the mystery, the police department posted a link on its Facebook page.

Though the page is usually pretty quiet, that post garnered more than 130 people comments and nearly 300 shares. Got info? Call Crime Stoppers of Central Ohio at 614-461-TIPS. Accused, reported by Enquirer jour- nalists Amber Hunt and Amanda Ross- mann, has three seasons available on all mainstream podcast platforms and at www.accusedpodcast.com. Disappearance Continued from Page 1A Derek Shaffer holds a photo of his mother and brother on March 16, 2016. His brother, OSU medical student Brian Shaffer, went missing in 2006 after a night of drinking with his buddies.

COURTNEY HERGESHEIMER, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH In the installment of a new Enquirer series focusing on cold cases, we look at the baffling disappearance of Brian Shaffer, who was last seen entering a bar in Columbus in 2006..