Is it possible one can wander off in a busy populated area, and disappear into thin air? What if I told you they wandered off at 3:30 am?
The story of Tyler Davis is exceptionally puzzling. Tyler & his wife, Brittany, were enjoying a rare getaway at the Easton Town Center complex in Columbus, Ohio on February 23, 2019. They had treated themselves to an overnight stay at the Hilton and had a couples massage scheduled for the next day.
After a night on the town, and meeting up with a friend, an Uber driver dropped them off at the Hilton just after 3:00 am on the morning of February 24. Travis suddenly felt disoriented and confused and claimed they were not where they were supposed to be. He said he wanted to take a walk around the block and think. Brittany needed to charge her phone so she headed up to their hotel room, and the friend would go check on Tyler.
Tyler would never be seen again.
Where is Tyler Davis?Tyler & Brittany Davis
Tyler Davis was a 29-year-old man in 2019, married to Brittany, and together they have one child, Aaron. Aaron was born in 2017 and was just two years old at the time of Tyler’s disappearance.
Honestly, Aaron might be the biggest victim of all in this tragedy. It is unlikely he has any memory of his father at this point.
Tyler met Brittany at their fast food restaurant in 2013. They didn’t begin dating however until 2016. In 2017 they would have their son, Aaron, and they would marry later that year.
Tyler was a fast-food manager, working at a Wendy’s in a little town outside of Cincinnati, Ohio. He often worked nights, and Brittany occasionally worked as a bartender, so the two were self-proclaimed night owls. Money was tight as a young family, but they vowed to have at least 3 nights out a year- Brittany’s birthday, Tyler’s birthday, and their anniversary.
February 24 was Brittany’s birthday, and they had planned a nice little getaway up in the Columbus, Ohio area, about 3 hours from their home. They chose to stay at the Hilton in Easton Town Center.Hilton Hotel Easton Town Center
Easton Town Center is a large, very nice shopping center. Actually- more like a town in itself. Over 270 shops and stores, 75 restaurants & bars, and a few condo/townhome complexes — all located in the Easton Town Center premises. There are several hotels in the general vicinity, but just the Hilton and the Courtyard Marriott are considered located within Easton Town Center.
On February 23, 2019, Tyler and Brittany took their son Aaron to Tyler’s parent’s house before heading up to Easton. They check into the hotel around 5:00 pm and shortly after, a friend of Tyler’s meets up with them at the hotel. The friend, Schon Hughes, would be hanging out with them for the entire night.
They hit up some local restaurants in Easton and check out the area. Brittany said she had never been there before and was excited to see what the area had and kind of plan out what they wanted to do the next day. They had a couples massage booked for that Saturday, but the rest was going to be just doing whatever they wanted.
Most of the restaurants and bars within Easton closed around midnight, but they weren’t done drinking and hanging out. They found a nearby gentlemen’s club- The Dollhouse- and took an Uber over there, where they would remain until close.
Near the end of the night at the Dollhouse, Brittany went to use the bathroom. When she came out, she said she heard Tyler and Schon arguing with someone and noticed the lights were now bright within the club. The bouncers were telling Tyler and Schon they had to leave, but Tyler insisted he had to wait for his wife who was in the bathroom.
They soon got an Uber and made the twenty-minute drive back to the Hilton. Here is where things start to get strange. I’m going to detail the order of events, and then we will discuss them- and if they make sense or not.
Brittany said Tyler was dozing off in the car, but when they arrived at the Hilton, Tyler woke up and was pretty agitated and confused, saying they weren’t where they were supposed to be. Brittany and Schon tried to talk to him, but he kept insisting they were in the wrong place. Finally, he said he needed to take a walk and clear his head. He got out of the Uber and started walking away.
Brittany didn’t know what to do- but she had to pee again- totally believable as a consequence of drinking all night- and her phone was almost dead and she wanted to go charge it. Schon said he would follow Tyler and make sure he was alright and that she should go up to their room. Brittany did just that.
After charging her phone for about 10 minutes, she came back downstairs and found Schon walking back in. He said Tyler would be right back and he was just taking a short walk.
Brittany tried calling Tyler, but he didn’t answer. He did, however, call right back. It was 3:37 a.m. He said he was just walking around the block and he’d be back soon. At 4:10 a.m. he called her again and said he was ‘in the woods’ but he could see the hotel and he’d be there in 5 minutes.
Two minutes later Brittany’s phone rang again- it was Tyler. When she answered this time, she only heard a few seconds of empty air when the phone cut off. She tried Tyler back numerous times, but at this point, his phone was either off or dead.
At 4:30 a.m. Schon said he was going to head home. He lived just 10 minutes from the Easton shopping area. Brittany, panicking, says she called friends for advice on what to do, and everyone told her to just wait it out, Tyler would be back soon.
8:00 a.m. comes and Brittany is desperate. She calls a friend of hers- someone that from what I read was a former roommate of hers- and he lives in the Columbus area. He shows up and the two go off in search of Tyler.
Brittany later would say that she just thought he probably passed out on a bench or somewhere. Certainly logical since he had been drinking all night- however, February in Ohio isn’t exactly warm, especially at night, so even if that was true, they definitely should have been worried.
They looked all over the entire Easton Town Center area but found no sign of Tyler.
Finally, at 10:30 a.m. the morning of February 24th — Brittany called Tyler’s parents & then called the police to report him missing. She said in an interview she was terrified to call his parents. She really wanted to find him first. He was very close to his parents and she knew that when Tyler did return he would be really upset that she called his mom and worried her.
She was at her last option, however- she had already called the hospitals and the jails, and was getting nowhere.
The police showed up around 12:30 p.m. She met with the officers in the parking lot of the Hilton Hotel. The first thing the police officer said was, a man has a right to go missing & since Tyler wasn’t elderly or a child, they couldn’t really do much for about 72 hours.
Brittany was frustrated as she knew that something was wrong.
At 5:00 p.m. Tyler’s dad told Brittany to go back and get her son, and they would keep looking.
Brittany also repeatedly said the detective wasn’t very forthcoming with her & wasn’t very nice to her during their initial conversations.
That Sunday evening (the night of the 24th), Brittany went back to Easton with some friends and they searched wooded areas and all areas they could think of. She spoke to the manager of Easton and they started reviewing security footage. Brittany had very little sleep but seemed determined to find her missing husband.
Easton security told her they saw Tyler walking back to the Hilton around 4:15 on camera- which made sense to Brittany based on when she last spoke to Tyler. However, it could come to be that this footage wasn’t Tyler, but someone else- possibly Tyler’s friend Schon. The footage was dark & grainy but looked to be Schon. Also- it’s 4:15 in the morning- there aren’t a lot of people out just walking around. Brittany said it was probably when she and Schon were walking back and forth up and down looking for Tyler.
The cops conducted their first official search on Tuesday, February 26th. Afterward, they called Brittany and let her know they searched some bodies of water and some woods- concentrated on the area where his phone pinged. They brought out search dogs and they did say the dogs hit on the area of one of the ponds. The police have said all the nearby bodies of water have been searched multiple times.
There were zero signs of Tyler anywhere.
The police do obtain some records from Tyler’s phone and found some interesting clues. They do verify these phone calls to Brittany. They also find a record of him searching his google maps for directions back to Easton.
Interesting. We can definitely verify that Tyler was out and about- but wanted to get back to the hotel. So then why didn’t he?
At first- police don’t release much information. Most people on social media and in the community find flaws in Brittany’s story. And, I don’t think it’s that they find flaws so much, as it is there are just so many questions left unanswered. It would be months before police would release surveillance footage and information that they were able to confirm through this phone GPS that he did indeed walk away from the Hilton- alone. They can tell he walked through the nearby Huntington Bank Complex on Stelzer road and then asked his phone for directions. They can also tell- via phone GPS records- that he was nearby the Abbott Labs complex at one point. Which is interesting- while not far via a car ride- it’s at least a mile from the Hilton Easton.
The police also didn’t release the name of the friend- Schon Hughes- right away, so a lot of initial speculation was centered around him.
Was there a dispute between them all that night? Why did Tyler go from napping in the car to needing to ‘clear his head’?
And while something doesn’t seem to be adding up, what is confusing, at least to me, is that we can verify he walked away on foot alone & he did call Brittany a few times before disappearing.
Schon supposedly left at 4:30 a.m. to go home. Brittany was obviously upset and said she never slept all night looking for Tyler and calling people for help. Why did Schon leave her like this? Also, why wasn’t he more worried about Tyler? There are also a lot of names brought up in the days afterward as people searched for him- friends, family & even some of his employees from Wendy’s. But Schon’s name isn’t mentioned as being there at all. If he lived 10 minutes away, and this is a good friend, shouldn’t he be all over this search?
Or- did he leave at 4:30 and pick up Tyler from there?
A lot of people are picking apart Brittany’s stories & her interviews- but what about Schon?
Of course, it is possible he was drunk and stumbled off and had an accident somewhere. Not too long ago we heard the story of a drunk man leaving a bar and climbing in a dumpster and falling asleep, then was killed when the trash collected and compacted the contents of the dumpster the next day.
Searches & searches and more searches have been done. With no sign of Tyler. No wallet. No phone. Nothing.
It seems this story has a lot more theories than it does evidence.
Easton is a very built-up, populated area- certainly no heavily wooded areas.
There is, however, a small patch of woods about a block away that is a barrier between Stelzer Road and Highway 270. There are also two small bodies of water on the side of the trees- but to my knowledge, those have been thoroughly searched. And it’s a pretty small area-so it would certainly be an easy area to cover.
It’s also unfortunate that we don’t have more surveillance footage, considering the hundreds of businesses there- but Easton is built up to be very nice and park-like- many shrubs and landscaping shield the sidewalks from the stores. So even if he did walk by on the sidewalk, it might never be picked up on camera.
So what are the theories in this case?
- Theory #1: Tyler walked away and had an accident- or even succumbed to the elements. He was drunk & there isn’t exactly any evidence pointing to foul play. And, it’s been known to happen. I think it’s quite odd that no sign of him has surfaced, however. I mean, even if he had an accident and fell somewhere, you think someone would have found something- his phone, wallet, a shoe…something. Also- he first called Brittany at 3:37 a.m. while he was out ‘walking’ — she heard from him again just after 4:00. How far could he have gotten? He might have been more than a mile away from the hotel at that point. And yes, he did say he could ‘see’ the hotel during his last call- but was it really the hotel?
- Theory #2 : Tyler fell victim to foul play. Was he taken out of the area? Is that why there has been so little evidence recovered? And did he meet foul play at the hands of a stranger….or even more sinister…someone he knew?
In a lot of cases, we also talk about people walking away and starting a new life. Nothing says that to me in this situation. He had a 2-year-old. He & Brittany were supposedly doing well. He was very close to his parents. Why disappear? And where?
These are the same reasons I don’t believe suicide is a theory…The only Surveillance footage showing Tyler walking away from the Hilton
We have a fair amount of data on the night he went missing- meaning a timeline we can follow- at least to a certain point. And then- nothing.
What do YOU think happened to Tyler Davis?
Tyler Davis is described as a Caucasian male 5’9” and 175–195 pounds. He was last seen wearing a green and blue flannel shirt, a white t-shirt, blue jeans, and older Nike sneakers.
He has brown hair and brown eyes. Tyler also has a prominent red birthmark on his right arm that extends from his hand to his neck and chest.
If you have any information as to the whereabouts of Tyler Davis, please call Columbus Police Department at 614–645–4545.
