One officer in particular even stated that, at his age, Brandon, had a right to be missing, a remark that has stuck with Annette Swanson years later. He was carrying his black Motorola SLVR cellphone, his wallet with identification and his keys. Planning to spend his. Brandon Lawson, 26, vanished along a desolate stretch of State Highway 277 outside of San Angelo, Texas which is about 250 mile southwest of Dallas on Aug. 9, 2013, according to the San Angelo Standard-Times. He tells his parents that he does not see or hear anything at all. It was a cold night. Monday is Brandon Swanson's 28th birthday. Teen drove into ditch, vanished as parents searched. It is also not likely Brandon drowned because it was reported that until May 16, 2008 Brandons cell phone remained turned on. Brian goes back to Annette so they can start looking for their son together. Yet in the early hours of May 14, 2008, Brandon Swanson chose to drive on the back roads, rather than on the commonly traveled Minnesota State Highway 68. He had been out earlier that night and gone to a couple of parties before making his way home to Marshall, Minnesota. CNN Justice, 1-3. He reassured them that he was not injured and that the car did not have any damage, but he needed help getting the car free. Brandon Victor Swanson was born on Jan. 30, 1989, and by 19, he was a 5-foot, 6-inch student at Minnesota West Community and Technical College. Though Brandons case tragically remains unsolved, wherever Brandon is he can be proud of his legacy of enacting a new Law in his honor. In Minnesota alone, roughly three dogs possess the capabilities to carry out this type of search, although Anderson said its not uncommon for his team to utilize canines from other states. Not only was Brandon in contact with his brother, Kyle, moments before he disappeared, but they were also in the same area, possibly yards apart. As days bled into weeks, the search efforts slowly died down. All possibilities should be investigated in Guimond case. Brandons parents encourage him to flash his lights. What happened to the Fort Worth Missing Trio? Born on January 30, 1989, in Marshall, Minnesota, Brandon Swanson was a 19-year-old college student who was enrolled in a wind turbine program at Minnesota West Community and Technical College in Canby. Though Brandon may have enjoyed himself early on that evening, what happened later that night is a baffling mystery, one where the deeper you dig the less things seem to make sense. 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. He was sure hed given the directions correctly, and he decided he didnt want to wait anymore. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. 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. He was returning from a party when he crashed his car in a ditch and called his parents for help. Brandons vehicle was located approximately 25 miles from Lynd, the town he erroneously thought he was outside of. The dogs followed his trail across an abandoned farm, and then along the Yellow Medicine River. This is so well-written & I WILL be back Thursday for your next story! Brandon Swanson The Disappearance Nineteen year old Brandon Swanson lived in Marshall, Minnesota with his parents. En route, he crashed into a ditch. Interestingly, they also picked up Swansons scent on a piece of farm equipment nearby, but the farmer to whom it belonged denied the request of the authorities to search his property. (Photo: The Search for Brandon Swanson blog). Brian and Annette Swanson never forgot about the nonchalance from law enforcement they encountered when they first reported their son missing. Shortly after midnight on May 14, 2008, Brandon Swanson (born January 30, 1989) of Marshall, Minnesota, United States, drove his car into a ditch on his way ho The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers to this website may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. On April 15, 2005, Centre County, Pennsylvania, District Attorney Ray Gricar went out for a drive and was never seen again. Law enforcement got involved that afternoon and located Brandon Swansons vehicle in an entirely different location than he believed he was when he initially placed the phone call to his parents. Brandon got mixed up in direction and met a tragic accidental end, with his body lost in nature-. He has not been seen or heard from since this incident. He took back roads on the way home.". 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. "We believe that he got disoriented, said Hasse. Unable to move his vehicle, he reached out to his parents for help. It is important to note is that, due to an eye injury he suffered as a child, Swanson was legally blind in his left eye, leading him to have depth perception issues, and had to wear glasses. 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. Asha has not been seen since. We dont dispute the reason why. "But he wasnt on it. Instead, Brandon was in the outskirts of the small towns Taunton and Porter, Minn., located about 20 miles northwest of Marshall; Lynd is about 10 miles south of Marshall (Weed, 2010; The Search for Brandon blog). An individual may have been driving home intoxicated and accidentally hit Brandon. Eventually, the dogs pointed them to farm fields north of Porter. I have covered a few cases that are not exactly unsolved murders but could be. While on his way, he accidentally drove his car off of the road and got it stuck in a ditch. It`s called Brandon`s Law. He was calling for help. Brian called Brandon back 6 times in a row, and each time the phone went straight to voicemail. That is near freezing, and indeed, anyone soaked through the bone by having fallen into the river would have suffered from . The dogs did follow what was believed to be Brandons scent to the river and that was it, Wallen said. Taunton is approximately a 15 minute straight drive from the party in Canby. Doesnt mean its not possible but mathematically speaking thats a big reduction in likelihood. Once we hit one clue well have it solved. 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. It happened in 2008 to Brandon Swanson, 2020 To Jason Landry, and 2021 to Daniel Robinson. So he did what I think most 19 year olds on their way home would do- he called his friends!! At around 2 a.m. on the morning of May 14th, Swanson called his parents . By morning, when the sun had risen, Brandons family knew it was time to file a missing persons report. ", "Its a straight shot down Highway 68, said Search Manager Jeff Hasse with Midwest Technical Rescue Training. If anyone has any information about Brandon . Search, Rescue and Recovery Resources of Minnesota is a source of information about a wide variety of established organizations that exist to provide search, rescue and recovery services. An investigation must also be done to determine what that persons status is. Divine, M. (2010, May 14). (LogOut/ Belt certainly knows that feeling. He assured them that both he and the car were fine and that he merely needed them to pick him up. Brian and Annette attempted to report their son missing that morning at 6:30 a.m., but because he was an adult, they did run into initial resistance. Theyve performed 1,900 K-9 missions, using 45 highly-trained dogs, led by 35 handlers from nine states. TW: graphic contentBrandon Swanson: Missing Horror, suspense, weirdness, ghost, UFO - Zassh. Question 1: What caused Brandon Swanson to vanish? This prompted Brandon to. Brandon Swanson vanished from his vehicle after a small accident just before 2am on May 14, 2008 near Canby, MN. Search efforts for Brandon Swanson will move forward when the weather allows, Anderson said and theyll continue to wait for access to areas that could hold answers to their investigation. The temperature at the time of his disappearance was 46 F, or 8 degrees Celsius, and dropped to 39 F, or 4 degrees Celsius. He ended up in Porter, which is only 10 minutes away from Canby. In 1912, a four-year-old boy named Bobby Dunbar went missing on a family trip, 8 months later he was found and reunited with his family. He disappeared outside of Marshall when he was 19. Both Swanson and his parents had agreed to flash their headlights on and off in order to signal to each other. It took him 30-40 minutes tops, and was a trek he made every single day for classes. Retrieved Nov. 18, 2010, from http://articles.cnn.com/2010-01-18/justice/grace.coldcase.swanson_1_searched-phone-father?_s=PM:CRIME. As his parents left their home to lend him a hand, Brandon directed them to exactly where he was: about midway between Lynd and Marshall. 01:13:04. Its all based on science. But still, nothing. Unfortunately, on the way home, he ran into a bit of car trouble when his car veered a bit off the side of a gravel road and got stuck in a ditch. Johns University in St. Joseph, Minnesota. Please enable javascript and refresh the page to continue reading local news. 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. So we are really confident that hes somewhere in this watershed. Another possibility is that this could be a case of vehicular homicide. The following analysis by Rebecca Klein, senior psychology major at the College of Saint Benedict in St. Joseph, Minn., was prepared in fall 2010 as part of a senior research project titled Brandon Swanson: Missing Without a Trace, submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the capstone course Psychology Seminar on Personality Assessment in Criminal and Political Psychology by Aubrey Immelman, Ph.D. 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 cold. #truecrime #truecrimetiktok #crimetok #missing #unsolved #brandonswanson #justice #fyp #minnesota #missing411". Its believed he died of exposure. This involves walking furrows in 15-20 foot increments which is quite energy intensive and time-consuming. With no body and very little evidence, it is impossible to know what happened to Brandon, leaving every possibility open for speculation. KSTP was there in May of 2008 as several agencies looked for Brandon. Brandon had been partying and drinking that night, but many witnesses have confirmed that he was not visibly intoxicated or incoherent in any way. The Search for Brandon At 6:30 a.m., Brandon's parents called police to report him missing. On Wednesday, May 6, 2009, Gov. Her work is primarily featured on The Vault. Around 10:30 pm, he left the gathering to drive to Canby, which is 30 miles away . Someone had to have picked him up or hidden him. Where is that unaccounted for hour and a half to two hours? Authorities immediately assumed that Brandon had fallen into the Yellow Medicine River. Still on the phone with their son they say ok, were going to flash out lights, can you see us? Tim Pawlenty signed the bill into law. Missing Tennessee college student Jasmine Pace was found dead. At around 2:30am, Brandon suddenly yelped oh shit! and the phone disconnected. Search dogs picked up his scent on a trail near the river, which they followed to the water and which lead them to the other side of the river (lending credence to the idea that he had, at some point, fallen in), after which they continued north along the riverbank, towards the Yellow Medicine County line, where the trail suddenly ended. The authorities joined the search later that morning after realizing the seriousness of the situation (Chang, 2008; Weed, 2010). After that, the dogs could no longer pick up his scent. 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. One positive thing that came out of Brandons disappearance is "Brandons Law.". But Annette says her son was actually in a completely different place than he was telling them. It was almost as if he vanished into thin air. 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). Annette and Brian Swanson were there when it was signed by the Governor in 2009. His parents attest to this as well based on the phone calls they had with him. If given the opportunity to move onto cattle property that has not yet been searched, Anderson said theyd be quick to accept that offer. Brandon had been celebrating the end of the spring semester with friends from Minnesota West Community and Technical College's Canby campus. Finally Swanson decided on a different course of action. The disappearance. It is possible a possible hit-and-run driver panicked and in fear of going to prison took and disposed of Brandons body to avoid detection. Your email address will not be published. But when they didnt answer, he had no choice but to call his Dad at about 1:54 am to come assist him. Brandon Victor Swanson was born January 30th 1989 in Marshall Minnesota to mom Anette, and dad Brian. Early Life On January 30, 1989, he was born in Marshall, the seat of Lyon County in southwestern Minnesota. The present search is now focusing on another body of water in the area, Mud Creek. Family and friends indicated that Brandon had always been a high-functioning and emotionally stable individual and for his whereabouts not to be discovered for nearly three years makes the mental breakdown explanation highly unlikely. 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