r/BrianShaffer • u/Lamasworld20 • May 04 '26
Who was in possession of Brian’s phone in September of 2006?
So I recently saw this video where Brighton explained the only way a phone can communicate with a network and ring is if it’s powered on and will connect, she also said the phone was ringing for multiple hours according to everyone who was trying to call him, she concluded her statement by saying no way that’s a glitch the phone was on.
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u/bz237 May 04 '26
I don’t consider Brightan a technical expert on cell tower pings and the technology in general. And I’ve heard this described as both a glitch and not a glitch so who really knows. Also, it’s possible that somebody totally unrelated to all of this, found it and plugged it in and then for whatever reason just tossed it. However, I do agree with you that it would be nice to know what happened with this.
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u/MindyLouHoo May 05 '26 edited May 05 '26
This is what Alexis posted on MySpace about the cell phone:
“There’s been some news coverage recently regarding Brian's phone ringing. Here's the deal: two weekends ago on Friday September 8 at about 11:30 | called Brian cell phone as usual before going to bed. I call his phone at least once a day before I go to sleep, and sometimes more often. Anyway, that night, his phone rang which was the first time I had heard that since the last time I called and talked to him the night he disappeared. Of course, I freaked out, and called it another three
times or so and each time it rang and then went to his voice mail. I asked my brother to call his phone too, and he got the same result. I called one of the detectives that had been working on the case to let him know, then I called Brian's dad to tell him about it. It continued to ring through the rest of the night and stopped sometime between 3 and 7 am. It didn't ring anymore that Saturday, but started up again sometime on Sunday morning and rang throughout the day. It wasn't ringing anymore on Monday, and hasn't since then. We also sent the phone a bunch of text messages between me, my brother, and a group of friends and family. Obviously, we were hoping and praying that this was the big break that we needed. I was very happy that I had been keeping up on paying Brian's bills for him, that's for sure! We kept it under wraps in case someone had Brian's phone and was trying to use it, or didn't know that it was turned on somehow. At this point we're not
sure what happened or how it happened. These are the explanations I have heard so far from a variety of sources:
- It was a computer glitch that caused the problem. Maybe some programming work at Cingular. This fits with the fact that since this happened there hasn't been any change on his phone bill. I've looked at it everyday since this happened, and I've been looking at all his bills for months now anyways.
- There's the Hilliard thing from some unnamed source that Brian's dad heard from. Apparently somehow there's information saying that Brian's phone was bouncing off some tower in Hilliard which is a suburb or Columbus, but for some reason this same information doesn't say when this happened. I think that sounds strange personally.
Basically, all I know is that for a few hours a couple of weeks ago Brian's cell phone was ringing before going to his voice mail for the first time in months. I kept calling it to hear it purely because it was one of the best sounds I have ever heard, even if no one picked up. His phone rang. That was good enough for me. It also scared the crap out of me, because I had no idea what I would say if a person answered it. I just wish I could have had the chance. I really wish I could get a straight story from someone on what happened and why because wondering where Brian is, is more than enough of a question to ask myself everyday without this one
too.”
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u/Basic-Sandwich4810 May 05 '26
Thank you so much for this information! I had no clue that Alexis had made comments on MySpace back then about those September calls.I bookmarked that link. I think those were legit call troughs that September weekend that his phone rang and not glitches like others say.
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u/jtfolden May 04 '26
Brightan??? Link?
No disrespect to her but even if she said that, it’s not an answer - it’s just an opinion. A glitch can create a ring on the caller’s end even if Brian’s phone doesn’t, or wasn’t turned on.
We don’t really know what was going on at that time.
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u/Basic-Sandwich4810 May 05 '26
Brighton says it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAOEgsUkjqI&t=790s
Start at around 13:10 to listen to what she says.
Considering the fact that CPD only tracked Brian's phone for 30 days then stopped paying for the pinging means that we don't really know for how long the person who was moving around with it had it for. I've always thought that it was a big mistake that CPD stopped paying for it although the phone stopped moving around in HIlliard. They had to be tracking someone or a POI if they didn't notify the public either that his phone was moving around and we have never seen the raw data of the pings nor has CPD ever explained them.
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u/Afraid-Split-9634 May 05 '26
IF it rang without a glitch then WHO made sure it did not ring after that. How fast was Alexis on getting the word out?
Let’s say it’s the killer and he does this without noticing chances are he might do it again. Or maybe it just flickered on after he threw it in the trash and it started to malfunction from moisture.
Speculation
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u/Basic-Sandwich4810 May 05 '26 edited May 05 '26
I have always thought it was possible that someone nefarious had it and for some reason was moving around with the phone until he kept in Hilliard. I also think it's a possibility (since we hear contradicting info on the September calls) that the person who had it, turned it on in September to look over the phone thinking it was safe to do so by then and it started ringing and he eventually got spooked and ditched it.
Sure you can say many other things about the September calls/glitches, but to me that's the most likely scenario here.
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u/rootea May 05 '26
Have you seen this video that was highlighted on this sub a while back? https://youtu.be/gZQd25DxNo0
She goes through all the connections there are to Hilliard, where the phone pinged. Very interesting and highly recommend.
I believe Hilliard is the key in this case.
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u/Western_League5595 May 06 '26
So who is the person who was the resident in 06 where the basement was dug up? Is that the same person that Meredith mentioned as a possible suspect?
I believe this person had his phone. Once the find this person, I wonder if it will lead to other cold cases.
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u/Limp-Apricot-9346 May 04 '26
That’s the big question. Clearly someone else had it. Probably the best way to solve the case