Brian Shaffer

Brian and Randy Shaffer

Surveillance Footage (Columbus Police)

Surveillance Footage (Columbus Police)

Pearl Jam's "Alive" logo (Araki Illustrations / Alamy)

Georgia:

The disappearance of Brian Shaffer

Episode sources:

1. “Unsolved mystery: 10 years later, Brian Shaffer still missing” by Mike Wagner (Columbus Dispatch) 2016

2. “In the Name of the Father” by April Johnston (Columbus Monthly) 2009

3. “A Guy Walks Into a Bar – and is Never Seen Again” by Kirk Pepi (Mel Magazine) 2015

4. “Moving on from Lost Love” by Mary Dannemiller (The Lantern) 2008

5. “Father looking for son who went missing April 1” by Amanda Miller (Zanesville Times Recorder) 2006

6. “Moving On” (The Columbus Dispatch)

7. “What Happened to Brian Shaffer? It’s Been 20 Years Since the Ohio State Med Student Disappeared” by Max Filby (The Columbus Dispatch) 2026

Karen:

The mysterious creature, the Van Meter Visitor

Episode sources:

1. “The Van Meter Visitor: A True and Mysterious Encounter with the Unknown” by Chad Lewis, Noah Voss and Kevin Lee Nelson

2. “Van Meter: ‘Lick-Skillet’ to Tracy to Van Meter … community has a rich tradition’ by Bill Haglund (Des Moines Register) 2013

3. “Local Lore: The Van Meter Visitor” (Iowa PBS)

4. “6 photos: Van Meter’s visitor – a ‘winged creature’ reportedly seen in 1903” (Des Moines Register) 2015

5. “Half human, half bat: Van Meter remembers a 1903 visit from a winged monster” (Des Moines Register) 2015

6. “The Van Meter Visitor” (Leaky Pen, the Coralville Public Library)

7. “Van Meter” (Iowa Realty)

Van Meter’s Rock Island Railroad station, 1907

(Olson Photograph Co. / CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Van Meter bank

Sketch of the Van Meter Visitor

(Des Moines Daily news, October 3, 1903)