Its searching for answers, its searching for where, who, what, were, when, why? So were going to start by retracing Brandons steps. "When you have lost somebody but you have no answers, theres no knowing where they are or even what happened to them, said Annette Swanson. Retrieved Nov. 18, 2010, from [http://infoweb.newsbank.com%3c/span%3e%3c/a]http://infoweb.newsbank.com. What is it and how did it come to be? (Photo: AP). We only need one.". Aside from the fact that Brandon was relatively sober, this was also a very familiar drive for him. The concerned parents continued searching for their son, and after being unable to find him at 6:30am, they went to the police to report him missing. On Wednesday, May 6, 2009, Gov. If you have any information, please contact: Agency Name: Lincoln County Sheriffs Office, Agency Name: MN Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. Current searches are focusing on a specific area of Mud Creek, which is also located in the vicinity where Brandons car was found. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children works to help find missing children, reduce child sexual exploitation, and prevent child victimization. Brandon had been partying and drinking that night, but many witnesses have confirmed that he was not visibly intoxicated or incoherent in any way. Brandons friend and classmate was moving away, and Brandon wanted to make sure he got a chance to say goodbye, so they met up for another party. Its his right to be missing, one officer reportedly said to the worried parents. On May 14, 2008, Brandon Swanson left for home at midnight shortly after the celebration had ended. He has not been seen or heard from since this incident. Where is that unaccounted for hour and a half to two hours? You can find out more information about the Jacob Wetterling Resources Center here. Suicide is the least plausible scenario because it is highly unusual for suicide victims to take measures that would prevent or delay the discovery of their remains (Seifert & Immelman, 2007). Thankfully he wasn't hurt and asked his parents to pick him up. He has pierced ears and a small scar above his left eye. Background Brandon Victor Swanson was born on January 30, 1989 in Marshall, Minnesota, to parents Brian and Annette Swanson. He was returning from a party when he crashed his car in a ditch and called his parents for help. During the early morning hours of May 14, 2008, 19-year-old Brandon Swanson disappeared under mysterious circumstances from a rural area northeast of Marshall in southwestern Minnesota. It was the beginning of what Hasse calls the most well-documented and detailed search ever conducted. The professional search manager on the case, Jeff Hasse, who writes the blog titled The Search for Brandon Swanson, updates the blog with information on the search and believes Brandons remains will be found in time. Both of his parents state Brandon sounded clear-headed and coherent when they were on the phone with him, and he had no history of mental illness or mental disorder. Confident they knew exactly where he was, Brian and Annette head to help their son. Monday is Brandon Swansons 28th birthday. It should also be considered that Brandon was on the phone with his father while attempting to walk towards a location so his father could pick him up hardly the behavior of someone staging his own disappearance (Seifert & Immelman, 2007). In the early morning hours of Valentine's Day 2000, nine-year-old Asha Degree left her home with a packed bookbag. Having just wrapped up his second semester in wind energy at Minnesota West Community and Technical College in Canby, Brandon Swanson gathered with his friends to celebrate. Brandon started walking. Kelsea Schneider is a senior at the College of St. Benedict/St. The search dogs also picked up the scent of human remains a few times near Mud Creek, north of Porter. Distinguishing characteristics for Brandon include Caucasian male. Dont you see me? he asked his parents, exasperated. "You know what were doing with Brandons situation says Annette Swanson. Brandon was frustrated that his parents obviously were in the wrong spot, Brandons parents were frustrated that he obviously must have given him the wrong location, and tensions are high out here in the middle of the night. but some landowners have refused to allow access to search parties working to find Swanson, missing since 2008. It has also been postulated that Brandon may have sought shelter in a farmers outbuilding and perished there. Despite being surrounded by wide open fields, they see nothing at all, which does not add up. Another odd detail: although the call continued on for a bit after Swanson had abruptly stopped speaking, they heard nothing at all, which might shed light on what had alarmed their son. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. He says Brandon got stuck and called his parents. The likelihood that an offender especially one with homicidal fantasies happened to be driving in rural Minnesota at 3 a.m. on the same road Brandon was on is remote, but still needs to be considered. It was around 2am when he called his parents on his cell phone, telling them that he had driven his Chevy Lumina off the road and into a ditch near the town of Lynd, Minnesota. He hasn t been heard from since. Brian stayed on the phone with his son while he made his journey, and he was a little frustrated that Brandon kept walking through fields and other areas rather than sticking to the main road. 3. May 13, 2008 marked the last day of classes at Minnesota West Community and Technical College in Canby, Minn., where Brandon Swanson was enrolled in the wind turbine program. Up and down side roads and gravel paths, and even the bar in Lynd. We were able to use the cellphone tower technology to have an idea of where his last communications or phone calls came from, so that put us on a cell tower up in that area, Wallen said. Investigating Agency Lincoln County Sheriff's Department 507-694-1664 Source Information Left in the wake of their ongoing tragedy, Brian Swanson and Annette Swanson identified roadblocks they ran into in their effort to immediately get law enforcement involved in their sons missing persons case. On the night of 14 May 2008, after celebrating the last day of college classes with a friend, he was driving home along a gravel road, and somehow crashed his car into a ditch. It was a straight shot down Highway 68, so what was different that night? On March 12, 2009, Brian and Annette Swanson spoke before the House to help expand the Minnesota's Missing Children's Act so it can help missing and endangered adults.The law requires Minnesota police to begin an immediate search for missing adults under 21, as well as older adults who are missing under suspicious circumstances. It's believed he died of exposure. It takes effect July 1, 2009. Because Brandons fate is still unknown, it can be speculated that he was taken by an offender, murdered, and disposed of so his remains would not be found. His parents stay on the phone with Brandon the entire time, but he is starting to get aggravated. After that, the dogs could no longer pick up his scent. The call didnt end at that point, though. What does not make sense to me is how Brandon could have suspected he was near Lynd, if he were driving Canby to Marshall, as Lynd is 7 miles BEYOND his home in Marshall, a further drive. Shortly after midnight on May 14, 2008, Brandon Swanson (born January 30, 1989) [1] of Marshall, Minnesota, United States, drove his car into a ditch on his way home from celebrating the end of the spring semester with fellow students from Minnesota West Community and Technical College 's Canby campus. (2007, November 20). However, local police initially didnt take their concerns seriously, stating that it wasnt at all unusual for a young man his age to stay out all night and advising them to just be patient and wait for him to return on his own. The temperature the night Brandon disappeared was around 40 degrees Fahrenheit with light winds hardly conditions under which one would perish of exposure within a matter of hours. He can see its lights in the distance, so it should not be too far of a walk. There are resources available to provide assistance to families with missing loved ones. Lincoln County Sheriff Jack Vizecky even personally walked up and down the two mile stretch of river in the area every day for 30 days, but nothing was found. Photo courtesy of The Search for Brandon Swanson. However, considering it was just under 40 degrees that night and he would have been freezing and soaking wet, he could have possibly died due to hypothermia. He had been out earlier that night and gone to a couple of parties before making his way home to Marshall, Minnesota. It seems that every tip that we receive, we investigate and we run into a dead end, he said. ", "Its a straight shot down Highway 68, said Search Manager Jeff Hasse with Midwest Technical Rescue Training. At this occasion, Brandons friends report that the alcohol was flowing a little bit more, and that they remember Brandon having one or maybe two drinks. He had a love for learning, especially science, so when he graduated from Marshall high school in 2007 he chose to stay home with his parents for a year, and get a certificate in renewable energy and wind turbines from Minnesota West Community and Technical College. http://www.startribune.com/politics/state/49466647.html, http://www.kare11.com/news/ts_article.aspx?storyid=511468, [http://infoweb.newsbank.com%3c/span%3e%3c/a]http://infoweb.newsbank.com, http://www.immelman.us/news/missing-person-joshua-guimond, [http://thesearchforbrandon.blogspot.com%3c/span%3e%3c/a]http://thesearchforbrandon.blogspot.com, http://articles.cnn.com/2010-01-18/justice/grace.coldcase.swanson_1_searched-phone-father?_s=PM:CRIME, (Jim Poole, Cobleskill Times-Journal, Feb. 21, 2012), Why Joshua Guimonds Disappearance Should Be Investigated As a Suspicious Missing Person Case. "When its not clear as to the last know place where the person was seen, or for any other reason jurisdiction is in question, the county where the person was last known to reside has jurisdiction," said Annette Swanson. But the thing that really eliminates this for me is the phone call with his dad. In May of 2008 Brandon Swanson went missing after driving his car off the road into a ditch. But Annette says her son was actually in a completely different place than he was telling them. Eliminating those roadblocks for other families was the goal behind Brandons Law, a Minnesota law passed in 2009 that requires law enforcement to immediately take a missing persons report and begin an investigation for all situations, regardless of the age of the person believed to be at risk. Darrin E. Delzer, a volunteer firefighter at the time, brought up his own theory that perhaps Brandon slipped and fell into an unmarked well or reservoir. He lived with his sister, who cared for him (a job that included moving him around the house, to the toilet, outside for fresh air, etc). "We believe that he got disoriented, said Hasse. After wrapping up his last day and bringing his first year of college to a close, he decided to spend the night celebrating with his friends. The bloodhounds picked up a 3-mile scent trail that went along field roads to an abandoned farm, and then carried on along the Yellow Medicine River to a point where it seemed like Brandon entered the stream and then got back out. Retrieved December 13, 2010, from http://www.immelman.us/news/missing-person-joshua-guimond. Lyon County Sheriff Jeff Vizecky described the car as on sort of a sharp incline, nothing major but enough that the car would get hung up so the wheels are too high off the ground to get any traction (Weed, 2010, p. 2). Police told them to wait a while because it wasn't unheard of for young males to go off the grid for a bit. Then, at around 2:30 a.m., 47 minutes into the phone call, Brandon suddenly interrupts himself on the phone, exclaiming, Oh, s***! and goes silent for the remainder of the call. They carry on a long conversation, Brandon telling him that he can hear running water nearby and is passing some fences as he walks. Brandon's Law, named for Swanson, was passed later in 2008. Brian said he stayed on the phone with his son while he was walking. 2023 The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers on this website. To know you were running away to start a secret new life and to keep your dad on the phone for an hour while you fake your incident seems. The trail with the river lined up with Brandon hearing running water nearby. . It is not plausible that he drowned, because they would have found his body somewhere downstream. No keys were found in or around the scene and no obvious signs of foul play were present. Brandons disappearance has classified him as an endangered missing person. These have been discounted as well. Its believed he died of exposure. However, this area has now been ruled out because if Brandon did fall into the river his body would have been washed downriver and eventually found (The Search for Brandon blog). At the time of his disappearance he was known to be wearing A white t-shirt under a blue striped Polo sweatshirt, baggy blue jeans, a black hooded zip-up jacket with an emblem on the back, a white flat-billed Minnesota Twins baseball cap twisted to the side, white sneakers, a heavy sterling silver necklace and one stud earring in each ear. Kare 11 News. After Brandons car was located, the Lyon County Sheriffs Department sought the help of search dogs. He also placed phone calls to his parents to pick him up, which is not be the behavior of someone planning to take his own life. Minnesota's Unsolved Missing Person and Homicide Cases, Age: 19Vanished: 5/14/2009From: Taunton, MNHeight: 56Weight: 125 lbsEyes: Blue. Anderson and his team arent strangers to working around the needs of landowners, particularly in the search for Brandon Swanson. This involves walking furrows in 15-20 foot increments which is quite energy intensive and time-consuming. Brian and Annette Swanson never forgot about the nonchalance from law enforcement they encountered when they first reported their son missing. Hasse points to a map showing where Brandons car was found. A shining light on this tragedy is the passing of Brandons Law. Like most parents whose children are missing, Brandons family feels this is categorically impossible. Though Brandons case tragically remains unsolved, wherever Brandon is he can be proud of his legacy of enacting a new Law in his honor. Nearly 100 years later, his descendants' DNA proved that the child reunited with the Dunbar family was not Bobby but rather a boy named Charles (Bruce) Anderson who resembled Bobby. According to official statistics, in the US alone 2,300 people go missing every day. The river's depth ranges from knee high in certain areas to 15 feet in others. Brian and Annette waited for their son to tell them what was wrong, but he never did. The focus of the search moved to this area after bloodhounds led searchers there in March 2010. The search for Brandon Swanson blog (n.d.). Many tips revolve around the events leading up to Brandon Swansons disappearance, including claims that he was involved in an argument at the time he went missing. This mysterious disappearance hinges on the fact that Mr. Parfitt, who went missing in the 1760s, was unable to walk or get around on his own. Both Swanson and his parents had agreed to flash their headlights on and off in order to signal to each other. So David Francis, left, and Brandons father Brian Swanson at right with glasses. 39 Carlos Santana Pit. All possibilities should be investigated in Guimond case. Thats a troublesome issue for those leading the search party. The most popular theory among authorities is that Brandon fell into the river. We know that he was on gravel roads, said Annette Swanson. Retrieved Nov. 18, 2010, from http://www.startribune.com/politics/state/49466647.html. . And the law makes it clear who has jurisdiction. When an individual dies and the cause of death is unknown or uncertain, investigators employ the psychological autopsy, or equivocal death analysis. Belt certainly knows that feeling. "And when one goes as long as this, you know the family has put their hopes on your shoulders. No big deal, nothing out of the ordinary. (LogOut/ document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); https://medium.com/the-shadow/vanished-in-the-dark-where-is-brandon-swanson-d5d99bfde9a7 , https://charleyproject.org/case/brandon-victor-swanson, https://www.doenetwork.org/cases/5185dmmn.html, https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/2471?nav, https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/vicap/missing-persons/brandon-victor-swanson, Murdered in Kansas: The Case of AlonzoBrooks, Murdered in Kansas: The Case of Alonzo Brooks, Missing in Minnesota: The Case of Brandon Swanson, Murdered in DC: The Case of the Freeway Phantom, Unsolved in California: The Case of the Keddie Cabin Murders. Brandons disappearance has classified him as an endangered missing person Brian and Annette head to their. Individual dies and the Law makes it clear who has jurisdiction Hasse points to a couple of before! 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