Brandon Swanson
Graduation Night
Brandon Swanson graduated from Minnesota West Community and Technical College on May 13, 2008. That night, he and his friends celebrated his graduation, and they also had a send-off party for one of their classmates.
At this party, it was reported that there was alcohol, but Swanson’s friends claimed that he did not appear to be intoxicated at this party when he left just after midnight on May 14. He claimed to be driving home to his parent’s house–about a 30 commute from the party.
At around 1:15 am, Swanson crashed his car into a ditch. He called his friends for help but they claimed they never received the calls. At 1:54 am, Brandon called his parents and told them that his car was stuck in a ditch on the side of a gravel road. He told his parents that he would wait in his car until they arrived, but when they did, Brandon and his car were not in sight.
The Phone Call
While waiting for his parents to arrive, Brandon was on the phone with his father. Brandon said that he could see flashes in the distance and said that he could walk the rest of the way to meet up with his parents. Swanson decided to take a shortcut instead of walking on the main road. He told his dad that he passed some fences and gravel roads and also that he heard water flowing in the distance.
Brandon and his father were on the phone for about 47 minutes before Brandon shouted “Oh Shit!” and dropped the call. Brandon’s father and mother tried calling him back several times, but their son never answered. They continued driving around but never saw any traces of him or his vehicle.
Chevrolet Lumina
Officials started their search for Brandon before noon. At 12:30 pm, they found his Chevrolet Lumina in a ditch on the borders of Lincoln and Yellow Medicine. Officials say the vehicle was in a position to where it could not get enough traction to get out of the ditch, but there was no damage to the car and no indications that Brandon was hurt.
In the following months, police continued searching for Brandon on foot, on horseback, and all-terrain vehicles–they even used search dogs and searched various bodies of water but to no avail.
Theories Regarding Brandon’s Disappearance
#1: Brandon Swanson fell into a river and made it back out
Since the river was examined and Brandon’s body was never found, officials believe that he made it back out of the water and resumed walking. If this was the case, it is probable that Swanson died of hypothermia, as the temperature was just under 40 degrees.
This theory has been both not approved and heavily criticized as his phone appeared to be working after the call with his father was disconnected. If he had been in water with his phone, all of the calls would have gone straight to voicemail.
#2: The Darrin E. Delzer theory
A volunteer firefighter Darrin E. Delzer stated that he has a different theory based on information about the case. Swanson was legally blind from his left eye and always wore glasses, but on the morning he disappeared, he forgot his glasses in the car. Delzer proposed that Swanson could have slipped into an unmarked well (normal in rural areas)
#3: Brandon Swanson planned his own disappearance
It is also likely that Swanson left the area independently and is now living under a new name, but this is not expected. Since he called his friends and family, it seemed that he wanted to be found.
Unsolved
Swanson’s disappearance has not been resolved yet after 14 years. The case remains unsolved as officials have not found his body nor his personal belongings.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Brandon_Swanson
March 28, 2022 at 6:26 pm
A cold case murder mystery- Brandon Swanson. Here are my thoughts on the three possibilities you pose:
Considering that the temperature was 40 degrees, having been completely submerged in water and with no source of heat or shelter nearby, Brandon’s chances of survival would have been extremely low. Despite this, I find it strange that his body wasn’t found– if he was suffering from hypothermia, he likely could not have gotten far, so some outside source must have moved his body out of range somehow.
The unmarked well theory I suppose seems the most plausible of the three; as unlikely as it is that he happened upon an unused well on his left side, it provides an easy explanation for the disappearance of his body.
The last option is the option that no one expects- much like the Spanish Inquisition.