Brandon Swanson

* Living photo
* Age progressed

**Brandon Victor Swanson** was a young man who disappeared after a party in 2008.

## Case

On the evening of May 13, 2008, Brandon and some friends went to two parties to celebrate the end of the semester at Minnesota West Community and Technical College. While his friends observed him consume a few alcoholic drinks, they said it was not enough to make him appear intoxicated. Brandon left the party around midnight and set off for the 30 mile drive back home. Right before 2 a.m., he called his parents telling them he drove the car into a ditch and could not get out. His parents then got into their truck to drive to pick him up. They drove out to the location Brandon believed he was in while staying on the phone with him. He said he was flashing his lights, but his parents could not see anything. Brandon then told his parents that he was going to walk over to the lights that he saw in the town of Lynd (7 miles from Marshall). His dad told him to go and wait in the parking lot of a bar in town. A little after 2:30 a.m., Brandon interrupted himself on the call and yelled out an exclamation. He was then completely silent. His parents hung up and tried to several times to call him back, but he never answered. This was the last time Brandon was heard from.

At 6:30 a.m., Brandon's parents reported him missing. They were told by police officers that it was common for men of Brandon's age to stay out late, and that it was his "right to be missing." The search for Brandon began later that morning, but nothing turned up in the initial search. The county sheriff then joined the search and obtained Brandon's cell phone records. They then realized that Brandon had called from Taunton, MN which was about 25 miles northwest of Marshall. Brandon had been mistaken about his location while on the call with his parents. While searching the area of the call, police discovered Brandon's abandoned car in the ditch on the line of Lynd and Lincoln county.

On May 15, authorities discovered that the call came from the 5 mile radius of a certain cell tower. The sheriff noted that there was a grain elevator with a red light on top could be spotted, and this was most likely the light Brandon had claimed he saw, and he mistook it for the town of Lynd. A team of police dogs picked up Brandon's scent along the Yellow Medicine River, and the scent ended at a point that entered the water. The river had points that were up to 15 feet deep. The search ended after no other sign of Brandon was discovered, and later searches did not uncover much evidence.

Many believe that Brandon accidently fell into the river and drowned that night. However, he was not found in the river and there was no other evidence to support this. Brandon's mother, Annette Swanson, believes that foul play was involved, and that someone was hiding along the river and took him. Some believe Brandon left on his own terms and is still alive, but authorities believe this is not very likely.

In July 2009, Minnesota signed Brandon's Law into effect. This law mandates that MN police are to immediately search for missing persons under 21.

## Characteristics

* Brown hair.
* Blue eyes.
* Black wire-framed glasses.
* Pierced ears.
* Small scar above his left eye.
* He's legally blind in his left eye.

## Clothing

* White t-shirt.
* Blue striped polo sweatshirt.
* Baggy blue jeans.
* Black zip-up jacket with a hood and emblem on the back.
* White Minnesota Twins baseball cap.
* White sneakers.
* Heavy sterling silver necklace.
* One stud earring in each ear.

## Sources

* Brandon Swanson at the *Charley Project*
* Brandon Swanson at the *Doe Network*
* Brandon Swanson at *NamUs*
* Brandon Swanson at *NCMEC*
* Brandon Swanson on Wikipedia