The Fall Line: True Crime · The Fall Line®

From Orlando: The Vanishing of Bryan Vladek Hasel

·35 min·1 clip

The day a 22-year-old walked into a coffee shop and disappeared for four years

This episode details the 2021 disappearance of 22-year-old Bryan "Vlad" Vladek-Hassel from Orlando, Florida, as investigated by hosts Laura Norton and Brooke Hargrove. It focuses on Vlad's complex personal history and the mysterious circumstances surrounding the day he vanished. The narrative is built from interviews with his adoptive mother, Cheryl, and sister, Bethany, who remain dedicated advocates. Vlad, adopted from a Russian orphanage at age five, was known for a gentle, helpful nature but struggled to find direction after an early discharge from the Marines in 2019. In the months before disappearing, he became intensely religious, rejected materialism, and frequently used his limited funds to buy meals for Orlando's unhoused community. His routine included daily walks to Foxtail Coffee near the University of Central Florida, where his pacing and loud headphones sometimes disturbed other patrons. On November 6, 2021, police issued him a trespass warning at Foxtail after a prior complaint; bodycam footage shows him calmly walking west toward a Wawa convenience store. His family, returning from a Tennessee trip on November 15, found his flip phone at home, an unopened bed-in-a-box in his closet, and a package from November 8th uncollected. A surprising detail is that Vlad purchased a pocket knife for protection just days before vanishing, and a customer complaint at Foxtail allegedly involved him placing a knife on a table, though no staff witnessed it. His lifelong dream of being a Marine ended after just months due to a "failure to adapt" discharge, partly because a desk job triggered memories of his orphanage upbringing. Despite speaking no English upon arrival in the U.S., Vlad and his sister became fluent within six months. His family notes a stark personality shift in 2021, from a teen wanting brand-name clothes to an adult sleeping on a deflated air mattress and giving possessions away. The episode reveals the family learned of the trespass order months after the fact and that there have been no credible tips or sightings in over four years. Vlad had discussed hiking the Appalachian Trail but made no concrete plans. His father had provided him with a credit card and about $100 in cash before leaving town, but no transactions were reported after his disappearance. The tone is empathetic and investigative, blending a narrative true-crime style with educational elements about missing persons cases and adoption experiences. Listeners interested in detailed, compassionate cold case explorations and complex family stories will appreciate this episode. Those seeking fast-paced resolutions or criminal culpability might find the lack of clear answers frustrating.

As heard by us

An interview-led cold case anchored by Orlando, family recollection, and a long-held Marine goal.

Brian Vladeck-Hassel's story is organized as a timeline shaped by loss, which gives the piece its force. It begins at Foxtail Coffee on University Boulevard in Orlando, then moves through family recollection, his return to Central Florida the year before, and the long-held aim…

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Why you'd press play

You want a careful Orlando cold case told through memory and record.

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