Brian Shaffer Missing Persons Reward Now $100,000

The missing persons case of Brian Shaffer resembles all the other Smiley Face Killer disappearances -- before and after his -- with two notable exceptions...

Shaffer vanished upon reentering a bar. And his remains have yet to be recovered.

Ten years later, both of Brian Shaffer's parents are also now deceased, and the reward for info that will help solve their son's puzzling cold case has risen to a $100,000.

The 27-year-old Ohio State University med-student was celebrating Spring Break in downtown Columbus on the evening of April 1, 2006.

He went missing that night at the Ugly Tuna Saloon, a popular bar-and-grille located not far from the one where 26-year-old Joey LaBute similarly disappeared last month.

The LaBute and Shaffer disappearances in Ohio, though spaced a full decade apart, are almost identical in that both magically vanished without a trace inside a pub where they'd been socializing with friends and relatives.

True to The Case of the Drowning Men, however, LaBute's body was found weeks later dumped in an outdoor body of water; but this young man's death is one of the few to subsequently be ruled a homicide.

A medical examiner determined that LaBute hadn't been in the Scioto River the entire time he was gone without a trace. And it was clear by other autopsy results that he didn't really "drown."

Naturally, these two strikingly-similar missing-persons cases in Ohio has generated a lot of speculation as well: For Joey, over what role his "sexuality" might have played. For Brian, whether he "deliberately" fell off the radar or even "killed" himself.

Though Joey LaBute was found dead relatively soon after he disappeared and his suspicious death remains unsolved, the LaBute family has partial closure that the Shaffer family has not.

Thus, the rumors surrounding the Shaffer's missing young man still abound, even ten years after the fact.

“There is a possibility he is alive," conceded one of the detectives who first worked the Brian Shaffer case back in 2006. "But, if you look at the probabilities that he isn’t, those are just as great.”

“Everybody has a theory,” he added,“but the ultimate mystery remains -- where is Brian?”

What do you think, was Shaffer also killed the night he went missing in Ohio? Did he, instead, commit suicide someplace where he'll never be found? Or is he alive and well today, living under a false identity?

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Parents of Missing Adrian Lynch Renew Search Pleas

The parents of 20yo Adrian Lynch (below), who went missing from Jersey UK four months ago, has renewed pleas for help in finding his body.

Adrian 'Addy' Lynch vanished this past winter after leaving a Christmas work party in a taxi sometime around the witching hour.

The cabbie reportedly dropped him off on the evening of December 5th in the Carrefour Selous area of St Lawrence, which is approximately one mile from Lynch's residence.

He was then observed traveling on foot through that neighborhood by a number of eyewitnesses, and filmed as well by several surveillance cameras.

But where the youth went after that, and what happened to him there, is still a mystery.

Jersey island police believe Adrian Lynch was "disoriented" from drinking and suffered a fatal "misadventure" that night; which seems likely because the young electrician hasn't been seen or heard from since.

However, months later there are still no hard clues as to Lynch's actual fate, and nothing but a few personal possessions were ever recovered from the area he was last sighted alive in.

This week Adrian Lynch's parents are issuing new fliers listing some of those items -- and others -- he had on him when he disappeared, in hopes of refreshing people's memories and reigniting interest his unsolved missing persons case.

These are as follows:

1. a Ford Fiesta car key
2. a Yale house key
3. a pair of black shoes (which may have come during an accident)
4. a blue suit, white shirt, and white undershirt
5. a Signet ring

Danny and Sharon Lynch also released a written statement about the emotional impact their 20-year-old son's troubling and unexplained disappearance has had on them:

"Four months have passed since Adrian was last seen and although time is said to be a great healer, in this case that doesn’t seem to be true," they jointly stated. "Not knowing where he is or what happened to him on that night is just unbearable and it feels as though things are just getting worse, the longer this goes on."

Local officials have previously assured the Lynchs that as long as their young man is missing his cold case will be actively investigated, although "not [as] a crime."

Indeed, police recently alerted farmers and seasonal workers arriving in the region this spring to be on the lookout for human remains or related evidence. But so far no one's come across anything.

 

Anyone who knows what befell Adrian Lynch on December 5, 2015, or his current whereabouts, is urged to contact Jersey UK authorities at 612612 or CrimeStoppers at 0800555111.

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Colin Madsen's mom says Russia is covering up his murder

The mother of Colin Madsen (below), who went missing in Russia this spring and was later found dead, believes corrupt local cops are covering up her son's murder.

Dr. Dana Madsen's 25-year-old son Colin was staying at a remote guesthouse in Arshan, Buryatia with a group of his Russian university mates, in preparation for scaling one of the nearby high-peaks together.

According to those young men, the skilled mountaineer and world-traveler allegedly went outdoors at dawn on March 27th -- during arctic temperatures dressed only in undergarments -- and never returned again.

Per this site's original coverage of his missing persons case, a broad search-and-rescue effort was launched and, approximately one week later, the frozen remains of Colin Madsen were found only a mile from his lodgings.

Just prior to that discovery, Russian authorities had opened a murder investigation naming each member of Colin Madsen's climbing party a suspect, including one fellow American, because their stories weren't adding up.

However, it wasn't long after finding the U.S. grad-student's prone but "uninjured" body outdoors, that police changed their theory about Madsen's suspicious disappearance and death, suggesting instead that it was somehow a "drug" related accident.

Dana Madsen, a physician who lives and works in Jefferson City Missouri, had immediately flown to the mountainous Russian region where Colin vanished, in hopes of assisting searchers in locating him still alive.

This week she posted on Facebook the below public appeal regarding the callous treatment she received from local officials once she arrived there. In it, she also describes their shoddy investigation and gross misstatement of facts surrounding the actions and activities leading up to Colin's death in Siberia:

"I want to know if any of you can help me get the right information about Colin out to the press. There is so much misinformation out that makes him appear foolish and they are simply not correct. It is very hurtful to his family. A: He did not go out in a tee shirt; it was a long sleeve thermal shirt. B: There is no substantiation that he went or told anyone he was going outside for a walk. The bathrooms are outside in an outhouse. C: If Colin did any drugs (which we don't know) he would have smoked marijuana and that was hours before this event occurred. There was no alcohol involved.

"D: There were not subzero temps that night. I have been told it was warm, and if anyone knows Colin, he had an incredible tolerance to cool weather. E: He was familiar with this place that he loved to hike, spoke fluent Russian, and had his pack, water and food ready for the climb. Those things were left at the cabin. F: He was found a mile away, one day after the Russian FBI came. Not huddled or covered with leaves but flat on his back in grass with his sleeves pushed up, his boots unlaced, no socks on, his eyes and mouth open. He was not in snow but on the grass under a tree. We know this, as an unscrupulous rescuer took this photo and sold it to a Russian tabloid. G: We know he wasn't suicidal, he was excited about wanting to work in the embassy in Vladivostok or the UN. H: He Loved his friends and family.

"I believe that the local police here did not do their job and even to me made innuendos and remarks that were defamatory about Colin, when they didn't know him and should have been looking for him. I think they are trying to cover up the ineptitude that occurred here before we came and the pressure to find him was accelerated . Help me if you can get the right information out there . He deserves better than this. Corruption, cover up abounds here in this place but I am so grateful for the Russian FBI, all of the volunteers, and Colin's dear, dear, friends. I also want to tell all of you how proud I am to be from the U.S. Our two consulate friends from the Moscow U S embassy, Courtney and Vassily, have been by our side every step of the way with compassion, wisdom, and love.

"The murder investigation is still open and I hate to even think it, but I believe barring some medical catastrophe like an aneurysm or pulmonary embolus, that it is likely [since] he would have never walked to a place in the pitch dark with his shoes unlaced, no socks, and when he was leaving for a climb in just a few hours that he was so excited about.

"Thanks, my friends for all of your love and support. The autopsy was done yesterday (and I hate to say it was in this place), Colin will be taken to Irkutsk today and then we will fly to Moscow and home, hopefully in a few days. I have so many other things to tell you about this debacle but I might not ever be ready to talk about it."  [end quote]

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MISSING PERSONS ALERT for Brandon Bourbon, 24 of Missouri

This missing persons alert is for Brandon Bourbon below, 24 of Potosi Missouri, who vanished en route to his local church.

Brandon Kyle Bourbon is a former college football player for both Kansas University and Washburn University. His family last heard from him on April 2, 2016. 

They said that day "he was supposed to be going to church in Potosi about four miles from home and never made it there."

Brandon Bourbon was reportedly driving his silver 2001 Chrysler Town & Country minivan with license plates RJ-JENA.

The vehicle also has a few Kansas University stickers on its windows.

According to the missing man's relatives, no one has spotted the van since he disappeared last weekend, and they've "received no leads" as to his whereabouts and fate.

Although they're not certain yet if foul play is involved in Brandon's uncharacteristic disappearance, they are asking the public to keep an eye out for him and/or his automobile.

They've also requested that people help spread the word about his missing persons case via social media.

Brandon Bourbon is a muscular 6-foot-2 and 225-pound Caucasian male, with brown curly hair and brown eyes. Despite his obvious brawny stature, though, his family reports he "is harmless."

Per the photo above, he may also be wearing eyeglasses -- please contact the Missouri Highway Patrol if you have any information at all about this young man's case.

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Steve McAfee, 19, Missing in Michigan (reward offered)

A reward is being offered in the disappearance of Steve McAfee (below) in Michigan.

The 19-year-old art student went missing from a Macomb Township neighborhood on the afternoon of March 10th, and hasn't been seen or heard from since.

 

“It is extremely unlike Steve to be gone from home for more than a couple of hours and not have direct contact with his family or any personal belongings on him,” confirmed a close relative.

She also said McAfee doesn't have a car or a driver's license, so if he left the area on his own volition it would have been by foot or as someone's passenger.

Stephen Christopher McAfee is a thin Caucasian male, about 6-feet tall and 140 pounds, with dark hair and brown eyes. Per the photos above, he may also have a beard now.

Crime Stoppers of Michigan will pay a cash reward up to $2,500 for any verifiable information which will successfully solve his missing persons case. Tips may also be submitted to that organization anonymously.

Anyone who's seen Steve McAfee, or with knowledge of his current whereabouts, is urged to alert Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP,  or to text the tip to them at CRIMES (2746370).

The Macomb County Sheriff’s Office is also involved in this investigation -- tipsters can contact the MCSO directly at (586) 307-9412.

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Missing American Colin Madsen Found Dead in Siberia

Shown below, missing 25yo American Colin Madsen was found dead today in a mountainous region of Siberia.

Madsen, who was lodging in the highland region of Buryatia with friends in advance of climbing Love Peak together, vanished under suspicious circumstances still being probed this week.

Locals say the fabled area is infested with both good and evil spirits which pose a significant hazard to visitors who underestimate the power of such supernatural forces.

Russian authorities launched an all-out search there for the missing college student soon after he disappeared in the predawn hours of March 27th during subzero weather.

Madsen's colleagues say he mysteriously left their guesthouse that morning without warning, proper clothing, or a cell phone -- claims which additionally prompted a murder inquiry to ascertain whether the U.S. tourist was a victim of foul play.

Madsen's parents also flew to Russia to help hunt for their son who they assert was an experienced world traveler and had never before encountered any trouble while touring or studying abroad.

Despite last week's massive search-and-rescue effort though, which even included helicopters and drones, there remained no sign of Colin Madsen, alive or dead.

On April 4th, however, Buryatian police informed Interfax that the frozen body of the missing American was finally located not far from the remote lodge where he and his colleagues had been staying.

"The tourist has been found dead two kilometers from the village of Arshan," a Russian law enforcement representative said. "Detectives are working the scene."

There was reportedly "no trauma" or wounds on the corpse, and rescuers were able to ID the dead man at the scene because Madsen still had his wallet on him.

Investigators are now pursuing a theory that the 25-year-old postgraduate student succumbed to the elements after "taking narcotics" with his fellow climbers on the evening prior to his abrupt disappearance.

"The young men used drugs but did not drink alcohol," a spokesman for Buryatian division of the Russian Investigative Committee told reporters today. 

He also said "there were no conflicts between them," although the investigation is still underway to determine exactly what caused and preceded Mr. Madsen's untimely death.

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ALERT: College Student Mossa Almasmari Missing in Michigan

Missing college student Mossa Almasmari (below) was last sighted on the grounds of the Macomb Community College in Michigan on March 29, 2016.

As of the date of this alert, the 20-year-old's silver 2009 Hyundai Elantra is still parked in an MCC lot, but no one has seen or heard from him since that afternoon.

Mossa Salleh Almasmari resides in Hamtramk Michigan. Police there are heading up his missing persons investigation in cooperation with Macomb Community's campus security division.

Investigators have not said whether they suspect foul play in the youth's disappearance this week but are now asking for the public's help in locating the missing college student.

Almasmari is a slender light-skinned male, about 5-foot-6 and 125 pounds, with short dark hair and a beard.

He is believed to have been wearing a gray coat, plaid shirt, khaki pants and black Air Jordan's on the day he vanished, and may also be toting a black Nike backpack. 

Anyone who knows what happened to Mossa Almasmari, or his current whereabouts, is urged to alert the Macomb College Police in Warren MI at (586) 445-7135, or the Hamtramck Police Department at (313) 876-7803.

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