In 2008, This 19-Year-Old College Student Began Driving Home From An End-Of-Year Party When He Crashed His Car: His Parents Attempted To Pick Him Up, But They Were Given The Wrong Directions And Never Heard From Their Son Again
In 2008, Brandon Swanson of Marshall, Minnesota, was just starting out his adult life. The 19-year-old graduated from Marshall Senior High School in 2007. Then, following that milestone, he enrolled as a freshman in a one-year Wind Turbines program at Minnesota West Community and Technical College in Canby.
So, by May 13, 2008, Brandon’s academic year had finally ended. And to celebrate finishing his program, he decided to attend two parties being thrown by friends.
The first gathering was held in Lynd, Minnesota, which was about seven miles away from Brandon’s home. Later, after spending some time at that party, he left to attend a different get-together that was a 40-minute drive away in Canby.
According to friends who were at both parties, Brandon did consume alcohol that evening. However, they also claimed that he was not visibly intoxicated.
So, by midnight, Brandon decided to leave the party and drive home by himself. He grew up in the area, so he knew the directions to get back.
However, at one point during his drive, he got into a minor car accident. While driving his Chevy Lumina, Brandon accidentally crashed into a small ditch.
The 19-year-old was uninjured. But he was also unable to get his car back on the road.
This prompted Brandon to phone his parents, Brian and Annette, at 1:45 a.m., asking to be picked up. He provided directions and claimed that he was located midway between Lynd and Marshall– which was a 30-minute drive from his house.
So, both Brian and Annette hopped in their car and drove to the area Brandon directed them to. Once supposedly arriving, though, they could not see their son.
National Center For Missing & Exploited Children – pictured above is Brandon
At that point, Brian phoned Brandon again to ask if he could see their headlights or hear their horn honks. The 19-year-old revealed he saw and heard nothing, though, and at that moment, Brian and Annette knew they had been given the wrong directions.
Brandon, however, was reportedly very frustrated since he was confident that he had provided accurate directions. After a short while, though, the 19-year-old decided to stay on the phone with his mom while he left his car behind and began walking toward lights in the distance– which were assumed to be a part of the town of Lynd.
Brandon and his parents ultimately stayed on the phone together for 47 minutes until, at about 2:30 a.m., the 19-year-old screamed. Afterward, the call ended, and despite Brandon’s father’s repeated attempts to call back, the teen never picked up.
By 6:30 a.m., Brian and Annette contacted the police to report their son missing. Beforehand, they had searched for hours and never heard from Brandon again.
The parents received a lot of pushback from authorities, though. In fact, since Brandon was 19 and considered of adult age, the officers did not take the missing person report seriously.
Still, later that day, the police did eventually agree to open up a missing person case and launched a search party. Investigators also obtained Brandon’s cell phone records and concluded that he had never been in Lynd. Instead, they revealed the 19-year-old had been nowhere close and was instead in a small town known as Taunton– which was 25 miles away from Lynd.
After uncovering this information, officers were dispatched to the area, and Brandon’s car was located in the ditch. This confirmation prompted a ground search to be launched, which included both bloodhounds and helicopters.
The canines ultimately followed a scent trail past fields and through an abandoned farm that led to the Yellow Medicine River– which had a water depth of about 15 feet at the time.
This pushed authorities to speculate that Brandon may have fallen into the river. However, investigators never discovered any evidence of the 19-year-old in the area, and Annette did not believe in the river theory.
“A dog actually jumped in the river, jumped back up, worked the trail up to another gravel road, and then lost the scent,” she said.
So, in 2010, Brandon’s case was given to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Investigation, and a tip line was set up. Then, by 2015, approximately 90 leads had been reported– although none led to any new evidence or answers.
Back in 2008, though, the teen’s disappearance did spark legislation change. Brandon’s Law was passed that year and required Minnesota police to immediately begin searching for any missing adults under the age of 21, as well as any older adults who go missing under suspicious circumstances.
This year, Brandon would have celebrated his thirty-fourth birthday on January 30. Tragically, though, his case has remained unsolved.
National Center For Missing & Exploited Children – pictured above is an age-progressed photo of what Brandon might look like at 30-years-old
If you have any information regarding Brandon’s case, you are urged to contact the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department at (507) 694-1664 or FBI ViCAP at (800) 634-4097.
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