29-year-old Tyler Davis was a hard-working family man. He was exhausted but excited because he had worked six grueling days straight so he could have the weekend off to celebrate his wife Brittany’s 24th birthday. The young couple had a 20-month-old son and were thrilled to have a night out. It was February 23rd, 2019, and their busy day started with meeting Tyler’s parents for lunch before leaving their son with the grandparents for the night. The pair planned to go to Columbus, Ohio, and had reserved a room at the Hilton Hotel for the night. Columbus was a 90-minute drive from their home in Wilmington, but they chose the Hilton because it’s connected to the Easton Town Center, a large indoor/outdoor shopping center that would give the couple plenty to do. They had also scheduled a couples massage for the following day before heading back home.

The couple checked into the Hilton at 5 pm, and a close college friend of Tyler’s joined them at the hotel. (The police have not officially released the friend’s name, so he will be referred to as “the friend.”)

Timeline

8:30 pm –  The trio ventured out and walked around the Easton Plaza, and got dinner. Afterwards,they walked to Bar Louie for drinks.

10:19 pm- They closed out their tab at Bar Louie and walked to Adobe- a bar & grill. 

11:30- According to credit card statements, they closed their tab at this time. The trio stayed a little longer to finish their drinks and then they got an Uber back to the hotel, which was a 20-minute ride.

During the ride, Brittany, feeling tipsy, asked to go to the Dollhouse, a local strip club. 

12:45am-  Brittany, Tyler, and the friend arrive at the Dollhouse. They stay until closing at 2 am. They go outside and wait for an Uber. 

3am- around this time, they take an Uber back to the hotel. While on the way, Tyler falls asleep. 

3:18 am- The Uber arrives at the hotel. Brittany wakes Tyler up, but Tyler seemed confused and agitated. He started to argue that they weren’t at the right hotel and thought they were getting kicked out of the Uber. Brittany and the friend try to convince Tyler that yes, they were at the correct hotel.

Tyler gets more frustrated and says he’s going on a walk. Brittany offers to go with him, but the friend says he will go. Brittany said ok and went to the room to charge her phone, which was about to die.  

3:37 am- Tyler calls Brittany and says he’s sorry. He said he was smoking a cigarette and on his way back to the hotel. The friend comes back after this phone call and says Tyler is fine, just walking off some steam.Brittany stated shes not sure how or why the friend and Tyler separated. Brittany waits for Tyler.

4:10 am- Tyler calls Brittany back. He says, “I see the hotel. I’m walking through the woods. I’ll be right there,” and hangs up.

A few seconds later, Brittany’s phone rings, and it’s Tyler again. She said there was silence for four seconds, and the call ends. She tries to call him back immediately, but his phone goes straight to voicemail. She figured his phone died because he had mentioned having a low battery while at the Dollhouse.

4:30 am- The friend, who lives 10 minutes away, decides to go home. Brittany doesn’t feel good about the situation, so she started to call friends for advice. Most reassured her Tyler would return shortly.

8:00 am- Brittany calls an old roommate who lived close by. He comes and gets Brittany, and they drive around the area looking for Tyler.

10:30 am- Brittany calls Tyler’s parents, and his father travels to Easton and searches till dark for Tyler.

11:30 am- Brittany calls the police, and they arrive at 12:30 pm, and a missing person report is filed.

Search for Tyler

Brittany and friends searched the area the next few days, but law enforcement didn’t start a search for Tyler until Tuesday, February 26th. At first, they believed Brittany and Tyler got into an argument, and he was taking some time to calm down.

Dive teams searched several ponds in the area, but the searches gave no answers.

Detectives were able to trace some of Tyler’s movements from cellphone pings.

His last known location was at 3:53 am near Stelzer road and Morse crossing at the Abbott Labs building.This is around 1.5 miles from the Hilton. Just south of the Abbott Labs property is a swampy region that has been subject to several searches. The wetland area is thick with vegetation and waist-deep water. Police and rescue organizations have searched the wetlands many times. 

In May of 2020, law enforcement released a surveillance video of Tyler walking away from the Hilton after arriving back to the hotel at 3:18 am. Also released was an audio recording of Tyler asking his phone for directions back to the hotel,leading police to believe Tyler didn’t just walk away from his life.

Brittany passed a lie detector test but the friend has declined to take a test and now has an attorney.

So, the question remains, what happened to Tyler? Did a killer take advantage of the perfect opportunity? Maybe he walked into the swamp and hasn’t been found yet. Or did Tyler get hit by a car, and someone tried to cover up the crime?

Tyler Davis is 5’10” tall and weighs 170 lbs. with brown hair, brown eyes, and a red birthmark on his right arm that travels up to his neck. He was last seen wearing blue jeans with a blue and green flannel shirt with black/white Nike shoes.

If you have any information regarding Tyler’s disappearance, please call the Columbus Police Department at 614-645-4545.

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