The Bizarre Vanishing of Brandon Swanson

It was late when Brandon Victor Swanson called his parents to come pick him up–a little before 2 am. He had been out partying the night of May 13, 2008, and now that the calendar had rolled over to May 14, he was ready to go home.

**Photograph of Brandon Swanson and his missing person poster.**

Unfortunately for Brandon, he had driven his Chevrolet Lumina into a ditch and was stuck. He called his parents and told them he was near the city of Lynd. They stayed on the phone as he flashed his lights to signal them.

They never saw the lights or their son.

After 47 minutes on the phone, Brandon Swanson yelled, “Oh, sh*t!” and the line went silent. Despite calling their son’s name, he never came back on the line.

Here, we will dive into the mysterious disappearance of Brandon Swanson and his chilling last words.

What happened to Brandon that fateful night, and why is he still missing after all this time?

The Disappearance Of Brandon Swanson

The night Brandon Swanson disappeared, he had been quite busy. With school letting out, parties were happening all over the place, and Brandon was keen to be included.

He attended his first party in Lynd, Minnesota. His friends had rented a house, and the party was said to be “low-key”.

Brandon drank, but witnesses at the first party said he wasn’t intoxicated when he left for the second get-together between 10:30 and 11 pm.

He made it to the house party in Canby, Minnesota, and stayed for a short time. It was noted he took at least one shot while he was there but, again, wasn’t noted as being intoxicated.

Between 12 and 12:30 am, Brandon left the second party in Canby to head back home to his residence in Marshall, Minnesota.

Brandon was passingly familiar with the area, but he was at a disadvantage at night. He was legally blind in his left eye, which skewed his depth perception in the dark.

Sometime during his drive home, Brandon drove his Chevrolet Lumina into a ditch and was unable to free it. He tried to call a few of his friends, not wanting to bother his parents at such a late hour, but no one picked up.

With no one else to call, he called his parents, Annette and Brian Swanson, at 1:54 am. They agreed to come and pick him up, and he described his location.

According to Brandon, he was just outside of Lynd, in a ditch on the left side of the road just off Highway 23. His parents head toward this location, and Brandon tells them he will flash his lights so they will be able to see him.

The problem was that Brandon’s parents never saw the flashing lights. At 2:17 am, he spoke to his mother and told her that he was going to walk towards Lynd, following the lights, and that they should pick him up at a bar in town.

**Brandon Swanson’s car was found like this.**

He stayed on the phone with his father at this point, not wanting to lose the tenuous connection after the call had been dropped multiple times.

They had been on the phone for 47 minutes when everything took a turn for the sinister.

At approximately 2:30 am, while still walking towards the lights of the town he believed was Lynd, Brandon suddenly yelped, “Oh, sh*t!” and nothing else was said.

Brandon’s father would say he heard what he believed was his son slipping in the gravel. At first, his parents didn’t hang up, yelling for Brandon, hoping he could hear them, but Brandon never came back on the line.

It would be the last time they ever heard from their son.

The Search For Brandon Swanson

Wasting no time, Brandon’s parents reported him missing at 6:30 am. They made this report to the Lynd police, following Brandon’s previous directions, stating he was near Lynd when he crashed.

The police tried to dismiss the panicked parents at first, saying young men like Brandon often stayed out overnight.

Infamously, one officer told Mr. Swanson that his son “had a right to be missing”.

Despite this, the Lynd police department began the search for Brandon Swanson that morning. With the help of the local sheriff Joel Dahl, they were able to get Brandon’s phone records to see approximately his last location.

Brandon Swanson’s cell phone was last pinged near Highway 68 close to the city of Taunton, over 25 miles from Lynd.

Not long after, Brandon’s car was found in a ditch a mile north of Highway 68. He had been driving on gravel roads instead of the main roads, which could have been why he was wrong about his location the night before.

Brandon was not in his car, and no obvious tracks were leading away from it in any direction.

Using the last tower Brandon’s cell phone had been routed through, it was determined that he had been in a 5-mile radius of the tower when he made his final call.

Bloodhounds were brought out to search for Brandson Swanson, and they were able to pick up a scent trail that ran for 3 miles. This scent trail led to the Yellow Medicine River before disappearing.

The river, nearby farms, and everywhere else in the vicinity were searched. Boats, foot searches, and drones were used, but no trace of Brandon Swanson could be found.

Theories Surrounding Brandon Swanson’s Disappearance

Brandon Swanson’s haunting last words and the mysteriousness of his disappearance caught the attention of the media and true crime aficionados almost immediately.

There are several theories regarding Brandon’s eventual whereabouts, but none of them have provided a conclusive answer.

**Age progressed photo of Brandon Swanson via Reddit.**

The most popular theory is that Brandon Swanson fell into the Yellow Medicine River, or one of the streams branching off the river.

This theory holds the most weight because of the river’s proximity to Brandon’s abandoned car and the bloodhound’s trail leading to the water. Brandon’s sudden exclamation of “Oh, sh*t!” and the sound of his feet skidding also line up with this theory.

Many extensive searches were done of the river and the riverbanks, but nothing was ever found. Still, it’s possible Brandon’s body could have been taken further downstream or caught on the bottom of the river, where it may still remain.

Linked to the possibility that Brandon may have fallen into the Yellow Medicine River is the idea that he perished from hypothermia.

It was a cold night, but not deadly cold–40 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s unlikely Brandon died from exposure in this weather.

Unless that is, he was soaking wet.

This theory hinges on the possibility of Brandon falling into the Yellow Medicine River and crawling out onto the shore. Exhausted, and in soaking wet clothes, he could have quickly died from hypothermia.

The area where Brandon Swanson went missing is covered in farmland, much of which contains abandoned wells and cisterns. Brandon Swanson could have fallen into one of these.

This would explain why no trace of him has ever been found, but it doesn’t make sense when we consider the scent dog’s trail.

Considering how shocked Brandon’s last words sounded, some believe he may have fallen victim to foul play. Brandson disappeared in an incredibly rural area, so he might have fallen victim to a robbery gone wrong.

There is little to no evidence for this theory, and it has been dismissed by authorities.

Brandon Swanson’s Legacy – Brandon’s Law

As the years passed with no sign of Brandon, his parents found comfort in advocating for other missing persons. Their biggest crusade was pushing for legislation requiring authorities to immediately search for missing adults, regardless of age.

Annette Swanson was shaken by the initial assumption that Brandon had “a right to be missing”. This led her to meet with Marty Seifert, minority leader of the Minnesota House of Representatives to discuss her son’s case.

Inspired by Annette, Seifert introduced a bill for “Brandon’s Law”, which would forever change how missing adult cases were handled in Minnesota.

Under Brandon’s law, cases of missing adults would be treated with urgency and not dismissed the way Brandon Swanson initially was.

Was Brandon Swanson Ever Found?

No, Brandon Swanson has never been found.

The Swanson family still holds out hope that they will find answers regarding their son’s disappearance, and his case has fascinated people enough to keep it in the public’s mind.

With new technologies and the improvement of search methods like aerial drone footage, it’s still possible we may discover just what happened to Brandon Swanson.