The Disappearance of Tyler Davis

Tyler Davis, a young father and husband goes missing after a night out drinking with his wife and a friend. All clues in this case point to Davis running away, or simply vanishing... sound like anyone we know? Since hearing this story earlier this year, I've always thought it was a little too similar to the Brian Shaffer case. Let's dive in.

Tyler Davis- see the very distinct birth mark

Tyler and Brittany Davis, along with their young son, live in Wilmington, Ohio. According to Brittany, Tyler was " a really good dad and provider," and does a really good job taking care of them. There are no signs that he would ever choose to leave. However, on the night of February 23, 2019, Tyler Davis goes outside their hotel and never returns.

Earlier that morning, the couple got ready for the hour drive into the city, where they would be meeting Tyler's family for a lunch. They were going to be staying in Columbus for the night, celebrating Brittany's 23rd birthday. According to Brittany, the two rarely went out and were self proclaimed "home bodies." The only celebrations they ever held were each of their birthdays, and their anniversary. Tyler's parents had agreed to watch their son for the night so they could go out. When they had finished their meal, the two checked into the Hilton Easton, where they had booked a room for the night. After a few hours of relaxing in their hotel room, a friend (who has remained nameless) met up with them and they bar hopped around the Easton area, hitting Adobe Gila's and Bar Louie. When they finished their drinks, the trio hopped in an Uber and headed to Dollhouse, a strip club roughly 15 minutes away.

They stayed there until close to 3 am, when according to Brittany, they were told they had to leave. Brittany recalls leaving her drink with Tyler and heading into the women's restroom. When she exits the restroom, she sees that the lights are on and that Tyler is being told he has to leave. She is unsure what had happened and remembers noticing that Tyler had finished her drink she had him watch while she went to the restroom. After leaving Dollhouse, they call and Uber and head back to the Hilton.

The nights events must have worn Tyler out, as his wife says he fell asleep in the car on the ride home. It's also worth noting she told True Crime Garage that he had taken extra shifts that week and had been overly tired. When he was awoken, he kept insisting they were not supposed to be at the hotel and seemed very agitated. Tyler angrily walked off away from the hotel entrance. The friend who had been out with them promised to go along and keep an eye on him, while Brittany took her phone to the hotel room to charge it. Just minutes after plugging in her phone, Brittany returns downstairs only to find no trace of the friend or Tyler. She begins calling Tyler's cell phone, with no answer. She tries the friend's phone, and even tries to video chat Tyler via Facebook.

At 3:37 am, Tyler returns the phone calls, stating he was walking outside and he was sorry for missing the previous calls. He said he would be back at the hotel soon. While waiting for Tyler to return, the friend comes back and tells Brittany that Tyler was just " blowing off steam," and that there was no reason to be worried. It's now 4:10 am and Brittany receives a call from Tyler again. At this point she is outside the hotel walking around looking for Tyler. This time Tyler says he is walking through the woods, and that he can see their hotel. He tells his wife he would be at the hotel in 5 minutes. Brittany states they she and her husband are not the outdoors type, and that a few trees would seem like woods to Tyler. Shortly after the couple hang up, she receives another phone call from Tyler, but he's not saying anything. The line stays on for a few seconds with nothing but silence and then cuts off. Brittany tries returning the call and the phone goes to voicemail immediately. She assumes that his phone died, as he had mentioned earlier in the night it was low on battery.

Brittany is now alone as the friend decided to leave and go back to his place, which was about 10 minutes away from their hotel. Upon leaving he tells Brittany not to worry and that Tyler will be back soon. Brittany calls her friend Harley, and spends 20+ minutes on the phone with her while looking for Tyler. She decides at this point to head back to the hotel room, thinking Tyler may have returned.

Brittany calls mutual friend and ex-roommate Adam. He heads over to the hotel and Brittany fills him in on the story. They get in Adam's car and drive around Easton thinking he may have fallen asleep on a park bench or passed out drunk somewhere. The two spend an hour or so looking for Tyler, before Adam suggests he may be back at the hotel now.

According to Brittany, the camera in the lobby could have picked up the footage of them entering and leaving their room, to confirm her story. However, she states there is no way it would have picked up Tyler outside, or the Uber drop off footage. She also confirms that both Tyler and his friend are not confrontational type people and there is no way they would have had an altercation after she goes up to her hotel room, which is something that has been questioned.

Something I also find strange is that she says in an interview with True Crime Garage, she was worried that Tyler would have been upset with her because she had called Adam. This is just my personal opinion, but I wonder if there was something that had happened between the two or three of them that would have made Tyler mad that she had chosen to call him. This also goes back to the fact that Brittany says Tyler isn't an angry person, and doesn't get upset easily. If he was a calm person, why would she be so worried if he knew she had called Adam?

At this point in the timeline, it's now 10am the following morning, and Brittany still has not contacted the police or Tyler's parents. She says she was nervous to talk to his parents, but finally calls his mom. Tyler's mom sends her husband Kevin to help search, and according to Brittany he searched all the surrounding area on foot, walking close to 30 miles that day. After the search comes up empty, she calls the Franklin County Police Dept. The police show up and tell Brittany because of Tyler's age, they will have to wait 72 hours before beginning the search.

After police begin their search, the following Tuesday, they report that they have footage of Tyler returning to the Hilton around 4 am. After reviewing the footage Brittany realizes that the footage is of Tyler's friend, who according to her, has a similar build and look. Since the search began, Brittany and friends have searched the area multiple times, police have searched and drug surrounding bodies of water with no results. The police did note that the search dogs hit on a body of water near Costco, but after searching twice they did not find anything.

Brittany has offered both hers and Tyler's call logs, although they have separate phone plans. She also gave them the passwords for the social media she did have. When they tracked his phone via Gmail, it hit at Abbott Laboratories, which is over a mile away from the Hilton Easton. Police searched the area as well, but found nothing unusual.

It has been over 6 months since Tyler Davis simply vanished. There have been multiple Facebook pages, Reddit threads, and podcasts discussing this case. Among some of the theories circulating, there are a few that suggest Brittany was involved, and that their friend may have murdered Tyler with the help of Brittany. Although this theory is interesting, it still leaves us wondering where the body is. How does a woman unfamiliar with the area set up and orchestrate the murder and disposal of her 195 lb, 5'9 husband, and get away with it?

Another theory I found fascinating was that the trio may have been talking about buying drugs, something as simple as marijuana, however not being from the area, when they sent Tyler to meet the dealer things went south. This theory works and also answers the question why his roommate came back and left him outside alone, and also why people think Brittany was not being completely truthful.

The final theory I wanted to mention was the Smiley Face Killer theory. I brought this up in my Brian Shaffer article, and I think it's worth a mention. In previous Smiley Face cases, all the victims were young men who had been out drinking and ended up "accidentally" drowning in near by bodies of water. The obvious problem with this theory is that his body was never discovered.

When asked what she thought happened to her husband, Brittany said she believes Tyler was the victim of human trafficking.

Thanks for reading and comment below with your thoughts on the case, or another case you'd like me to look into to! Be sure to subscribe to keep up to date on new stories.

If you have any information on the whereabouts of Tyler Davis please don't hesitate to reach out to your the Columbus Police Department Missing Persons Unit at (614) 645-4624.