From Brian Shaffer to Billy Milligan: 6 local true crime cases featured on TV and podcasts

As true crime podcasts, TV shows, books and online content continue to prove popular, cases never truly fade from the spotlight.

There are some high-profile cases that are frequently revisited, but others only get a temporary moment of attention.

Here are six central Ohio cases that have been featured in popular true crime programming in recent years.

Brian Shaffer

The disappearance of Brian Shaffer has been a mystery that has been investigated numerous times in the 17 years since he was last seen.

More: What happened to Brian Shaffer?

Shaffer, who would now be 44, has not been heard from since April 1, 2006.

Around 2 a.m. that morning, Shaffer, who was 27 and a Ohio State University medical student at the time, was seen inside the since-closed Ugly Tuna Saloona in the North High Street area. Cameras inside the bar captured Shaffer talking to two women but walking away. He is not seen on any camera footage leaving the bar and has not been seen since.

In 2021, the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation released an age-progressed photo of what Shaffer might look like in his 40s.

Since his disappearance, Shaffer's case has been the subject of podcast episodes — such as "All the Time Unsolved" and "Crime Junkie" — featured on television shows like Amazon Prime's "The Missing," and it has its own Wikipedia page.

In 2020, a photograph of a homeless man in Mexico was sent to the FBI for facial recognition software to be used to determine if it was Shaffer. The FBI determined it was not him.

Judy Malinowski

In 2015, Malinowski, who was 32 years old, was doused with gasoline and set on fire by her ex-boyfriend, Michael Slager.

For 22 months, the mother of two survived before ultimately succumbing to her injuries in June 2017. Malinowski's story and determination struck a chord with the community. She endured more than 50 surgeries and was hospitalized for the remainder of her life after the fire, which disfigured her.

Malinowski fought through a video deposition that was later used to convict Slager and resulted in a change to Ohio law for felonious assault cases in which there is permanent disfigurement or incapacitation from an accelerant being used, dubbed "Judy's Law."

MTV produced a documentary, "The Fire That Took Her," about the case that was released on the streaming service Paramount+ in May, sparking new interest in the case. Articles have also been featured in People magazine and on several true crime podcasts like "Murder and Such" and "Crime Curious."

Asenath Dukat

The case of Asenath Dukat, an 8-year-old girl from Upper Arlington that went missing while coming home from school, has been another case that frequently has been mentioned on podcasts like "True Crime Garage" in particular because of the case's age.

Dukat went missing in June 1980 while walking home from Barrington Elementary School. Her body was found about four hours after she was reported missing in a shallow stream near First Community Village. Police said a 20-pound rock had been used to hit her in the head.

The case remained unsolved until 2022, when genetic genealogy resulted in Upper Arlington police being able to close the case by identifying Brent Strutner, who died by suicide in 1984 at the age of 24, as the killer.

Her death rocked the Upper Arlington community and has been featured in a variety of media, as well as having its own webite: "The Long Walk Home: The Asenath Dukat Project."

Billy Milligan

Nearly 50 years ago, Billy Milligan made front page news in Columbus. And then, there wasn't much written about him.

However, in recent years, fascination in Milligan's case has again increased with the 2021 release of a Netflix documentary "Monsters Inside: The 24 Faces of Billy Milligan."

Milligan was accused of kidnapping, robbing and raping three women near Ohio State University's campus in the 1970s. When the case went to trial, he presented evidence — which was unique at the time — that he had multiple-personality disorder and the crimes had actually been committed by his alternate personalities.

A Franklin County Common Pleas Court judge found Milligan not guilty by reason of insanity. After 10 years in state mental hospitals, Milligan was released.

Milligan's story also led to a 1981 book by Daniel Keys, "The Minds of Billy Milligan," which inspired the first season of the Apple TV+ series "The Crowded Room," starring Tom Holland and Amanda Seyfried. That series debuted earlier this month.

Milligan died in Columbus in 2014.

Chillicothe's missing women

The stories of multiple missing women of Chillicothe have been a source of mystery and speculation for more than five years.

The suspicious circumstances struck fear in the hearts of those living in the rural community about 50 miles south of Columbus. The women, who were reported missing between 2014 and 2016, were known to have run in similar circles, hung out in similar places and all went to the same area of 2nd Street to look for drugs.

Chillicothe police and the Ross County Sheriff's office joined forces with state and federal authorities to try and find connections between the women, some of whom were friends.

Tameka Lynch, 30, was found in Paint Creek, wearing only socks. Charlotte Trego, 27, who was last known to be with Lynch, remains missing. So does Wanda Lemons, 37.

Shasta Himelrick, 20, was pregnant. She was found drowned, and her death was ruled a suicide.

Tiffany Sayre, 26, was found in Highland County and her death was ruled a homicide. Timberly Claytor, 38, was found shot to death. Rebecca Cade, 31, was found bludgeoned and stabbed to death, hanging by a sleeve on a fence.

Charges were filed against the person suspected in Cade's death, but that man was acquitted at trial. A jury found a man guilty in Claytor's death.

In 2019, five years after the women first started disappearing, the Ross County authorities seemed no closer to finding out who was responsible for each death — or determining if they were even connected.

In the intervening years, multiple miniseries have documented the cases, including "Gone: The Forgotten Women of Ohio," on Spike TV and "The Vanishing Women" on Investigation Discovery. Podcasts like "True Crime Chronicles" have also featured the women.

Brittany Stykes

The case of Brittany Stykes, a 22-year-old mother of a 1-year-old girl and with a second child on the way, was found shot on Aug. 28, 2013.

Stykes' body was found off an isolated highway in Brown County in southwestern Ohio inside the Jeep she was driving. Her daughter was shot but survived her injuries.

For nearly 10 years, the case has remained unsolved. The Brown County Sheriff's office initially investigated Stykes' husband as a possible suspect but later said publicly he was no longer a person of interest in the case.

Styke's homicide has remained unsolved. In 2022, the podcast "Culpable" devoted its entire second season to Sykes' case, interviewing her family, friends, detectives and her surviving daughter.

There is a $20,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the case.

bbruner@dispatch.com

@bethany_bruner

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: From Brian Shaffer to Billy Milligan: 6 local true crime cases to know