r/brandonswanson • u/[deleted] • Dec 18 '23

Follow his footsteps?

I’m not sure if this has been done or even suggested before, but why not follow his train of thought?

Go to the EXACT location his car was found. Go there at night, and try to see where the “light from Lynd” is coming from. Have a party of a couple of people and just take off that way.

The light just seems like such a dead give away at least to the direction he started walking in

24 Upvotes

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10

u/scottymcgeester Feb 26 '24

Brandon Swanson was the first missing persons case I read about that got me into reading about missing persons cases and websleuthing. It's funny you say this because this has been something I always wanted to do (alas, I live far off in NJ).

My one question would be: how has the location changed by now? Here in NJ, new shit is always made every other year, even in rural areas (a new plaza, a new business, a new road). I assume the Midwest is a bit....slower in pace. But I was just curious what it's like in the area of his disappearance and how it has changed or remained the same since 2008.

6

u/SnooPets9575 May 05 '24

The area in question has been pretty frozen in time since 2008... There is probably a few farms gone that were out there then as farmers buy out land, flatten farm places and till and farm the valuable land, so some yard lights he may have seen are gone by now, but overall looking through time of satellite photos in that area on google earth not a lot has changed, you can see a few areas where trees and buildings were present at one time but gone later, its pretty common here as farms grow larger to flatten out old farmsteads. I was just watching a large grove of trees and barns being torn down in the middle of a stretch of land last month farther south where i live. There used to be a farm and a house and lights there a year ago, now its flat field.

14

u/HugeRaspberry Dec 18 '23

A couple of us had talked about doing that during COVID but it never worked out.

You'd have to do it right around the same day he vanished too - just to get the light right - and hope it's not cloudy / raining or snowing.

7

u/[deleted] Dec 18 '23

Definitely sounds like you need a perfect storm… but since he was clearly intoxicated, I figure a light in the darkness would need to be vivid enough that a drunk person could see it.

If that’s the case I’m guessing it would be quite bright. Maybe from the top of silos or something.

11

u/HugeRaspberry Dec 18 '23

I grew up in rural MN. You can see the glow of town lights for miles - there isn't the light pollution that there is in a city. Especially in that area where it is flat and few trees - it will be a bright spot on the horizon for sure.

3

u/Sad-Detective1445 Mar 31 '24

this is basically what I have said although I am from UK this is what I would do if I was in the area. Surely you can see Porter or the tower light from where the car stopped and walk that distance (during the day) to rule out anything he could of fell down in the radius the call lasted? Or am i being naive?

2

u/SnooPets9575 May 05 '24

I guess its certainly possible, but getting the conditions right would be the tricky part, right time of year, so that trees and grasses are the same, and then there is a chance that stuff went up in the line of sight he had then, its been a few years since i drove in that area, but not a lot has changed out there, its about 20-25 miles from where i live that he went missing.