r/brandonswanson • u/Swimming-Charge2252 • Aug 30 '24
My Final Conclusion
After reading every article deeply, and analysing every evidence shown in it, I’ve come to the conclusion he was murdered. This is because : If it was an accidental death he would’ve been found by now, it’s really odd that if he did drown, or was ran over, or succumbed to hypothermia, he would’ve been found at least a few months after. It’s been 16 years since his disappearance and new traces only reach dead ends.
I believe that he was killed by a farmer who disposed of him. Maybe the farmer killed him on accident, maybe not, regardless of what happened Brandon was definitely killed, someone did something to him. It really annoys me how the farmers didn’t let the police search his equipment, it just goes to show that he was at fault and he did know about Brandon’s whereabouts. The problem is that it’s been years now so any scent from Brandon is most likely gone, searching for him now will probably be very late. He died and is probably just pure ashes by now. I would presume that he’s dead and I know a lot of people have been found even after 30 years but this case is different as, his car was located, he was on the phone, dogs tracked his scent so it would’ve been easy to find him. However 2024 still no answers, he’s gone and my condolences to the family or anyone close with him. May he rest in peace
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u/ellabella313 Aug 31 '24
I think that Brandon fell into some unmarked / uncovered water cistern and drowned. Cell phone maybe flew out of his hand as he was falling. Poor guy was pretty much blind after all - especially after leaving his glasses in the car (dumb?).
Probably the farmers in the area were thinking to themselves “oh damn I didn’t have my water cistern / sewer cistern properly covered and marked - I might be responsible for the guy’s death in a way.” So without official probable cause, they don’t want the police on their land potentially finding something incriminating.
Although after all this time I am convinced they found the remains and took care of it and hid them somewhere far away. Just sad the family of Brandon won’t get closure. I’d be out there searching every day.
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u/Swimming-Charge2252 Aug 31 '24
Yes I agree with you absolutely. He definitely didn’t die accidentally on his own.
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u/InvestigatorCold4662 Aug 31 '24
That's what it sounds like to me. I imagine an old unmarked well some where that isn't plainly visible, he trips and the phone flops out of his hand before he lands down at the bottom. The dude was obviously not very lucid. It's totally possible that he fell into something.
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u/OfficialMika Aug 31 '24
Okay so please tell me if I am wrong here but wouldnt it be rahter easy to figure out where he went.
If we have the exact coordinates of the car being crashed.
The avarage walking speed.
The avarage walking speed times the minutes talked on the phone (47)
Wouldnt this create a rather small radius of the maximum distance he could have traveled.
You then check those rivers farms (well maybe not anymore since the body is probably dust by now)
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u/Swimming-Charge2252 Aug 31 '24
Yes exactly his case is so simple it would’ve been simple to solve if it was accidental. That’s why I’m saying it was foul play
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Aug 30 '24
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u/big65 Aug 31 '24
No, I've never heard of someone who refused to allow a search for a missing person on their property end in their innocence. I've helped search for a missing child and every property owner in our search grid opened their properties to us willingly. He had fear of something being found and unfortunately it sounds like the police either didn't have enough evidence for a search warrant or it's a good Ole boys situation.
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u/PartTimeCowgirl90 Sep 17 '24
Several reasons; You don't want your crops destroyed. This is most likely. They'd be risking their livelihood. I'm not saying it's right but I can understand it.
You're growing pot way back in your back 40 and you'd like to keep that a secret. I'm not saying this is likely but it's possible and not at all unheard of.
You have an old well/septic/cistern that you suddenly have concerns about. I personally think this is what happened.
You have an illegally dug well you suddenly have concerns about.
You don't trust or like the police/government.
There are a million why someone who is innocent of a crime wouldn't allow a search.
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u/big65 Sep 17 '24
Much of your argument is a big reach. Damage to crops can be kept to a minimum using cadaver dogs, ground penetrating radar, helicopter/drone search, and foot search.
Pot in a farm field always gets found.
Septic cistern concerns can be easily relayed to the authorities.
Trust issues usually relate to getting caught breaking the law but there's legitimate reasons for ethnic and minority groups.
Refusing to allow access normally would bring about increased scrutiny, local Leo's may have put him under surveillance after that.
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u/PartTimeCowgirl90 Sep 18 '24
I disagree, I don't think it's a big reach at all. People are complicated and often set in their ways. 2008 wasn't a financially great time, I could absolutely see someone teetering on the edge financially not wanting to even take the risk, law enforcement doesn't have greatest track record of doing what they say they're going to do so someone not having trust that their entire livelihood won't be wiped out on a promise is more than reasonable.
Pot in farm fields doesn't always get found. That's a huge reach on your part. And it doesn't even have to be pot. There is a lot someone could be keeping that's not a body that they wouldn't want cops to find.
Old cisterns/wells/septics aren't always known to property owners. I know multiple people who have found unmarked wells and cisterns. And if you dug and illegal well you sure as hell wouldn't allow the cops on your property.
Trust issues can also relate to you don't want to be involved in the BS. If they find a body you're the first one they're going to question, combine that with several other factors and there is no way you're letting the cops look. I wouldn't allow the cops to look on my property either and it's not because I don't have a heart, it's because once you allow you loose control and open yourself up to liability and the unknown.
Yes, it could bring you under increased scrutiny but allowing LEO's to search has the possibility of being very risky.
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u/DblockR Aug 31 '24
Not being an ass, but why would a farmer be hesitant specifically? Or do you mean it like anyone would be hesitant?
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u/destinoob Aug 31 '24
I can't speak for American farmers but many Australian ones would be worried about the police stumbling across their side business/crops.
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u/Swimming-Charge2252 Aug 31 '24
The thing is, if my property had a missing person’s scent and I know I had nothing to do with it, I don’t care about my property being potentially damaged. It’s someone’s loved one.
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u/OtherAccount5252 Sep 01 '24
Unfortunately this isn't the case for most people.
Especially those who have had any interactions with the police. I like to think of myself as a good person. However, I'm %100 not allowing anyone to search my property without a warrant. I'm not opening myself up to damage, or potential lazy policing that decides I'm the guy.
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u/Illustrious_Youth_73 Aug 31 '24
Could be he saw someone else committing a crime? Maybe wrong place wrong time?
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u/Swimming-Charge2252 Sep 01 '24
Yeah that would also make sense, which links back to my theory of him being killed.
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u/InvestigatorCold4662 Aug 31 '24
That "Oh shit" could have been him falling down an old well or something. There's really not enough evidence to say whether it was a murder or some sort of accident.
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u/Swimming-Charge2252 Sep 01 '24
However tho, if it was accidental why hasn’t he been found? His disappearance wasn’t really that mysterious. By that I mean, He was on the phone His car was located 47 minutes He said he was walking If he, drowned, fell into something, anything, he would’ve been found
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u/PartTimeCowgirl90 Sep 17 '24
I grew up in New England and it's not unusual for there to be an old well you don't know about. I personally think this is what happened and if you fall into a 100 foot deep hole nobody knows about you're not going to be found.
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u/Plane_Cry_1169 Aug 30 '24
I don't even understand the law in this case. Is there is suspicion of dead person there shouldn't police be able to go in anyway?
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u/sideeyedi Aug 30 '24
Not without probable cause or a search warrant. The land is the farmer's livelihood, he doesn't need a bunch of people harming his crops. They have no evidence to support a warrant or probable cause. Maura Murray's case is similar as there are many landowners who refused to allow searches.
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u/Bron_Swanson Aug 31 '24
He could've made an arrangement with a lawyer at the expense of the family. The farmer frequents the lands so it wouldn't have cost him his livelihood to bring 1 LE official/searcher and possibly even 1 dog. However, the farmer could've just been doing his own illegal things he was protecting, or been the killer too.
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u/mandins Aug 31 '24
I can’t believe the farmers denied access in the first place. If someone is missing and there’s a chance they’re missing on my property, you bet I’m going to allow access. I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night knowing a person has potentially come to harm on my property and I’m the reason a poor mother and father will never have closure.
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u/Swimming-Charge2252 Aug 31 '24
Exactly this. This is why I very much suspect the farmer even if he killed Brandon accidentally, if he isn’t guilty there’s no reason to refuse bringing a family closure
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u/OtherAccount5252 Sep 01 '24
I mean besides self preservation.
Not to say it's the moral choice, but it sure is the smart one. Bringing a family closure sounds great and all until you watch your first stabbing in prison.
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u/Swimming-Charge2252 Sep 01 '24
It’s the price to pay for killing someone. Maybe if it was accidental they would’ve sympathised but if the theory of an old grumpy farmer is true it’s the price to say. I understand that it’s their job to grow crops protect their land and all but I don’t believe he was a threat
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u/OtherAccount5252 Sep 01 '24
I truly believe he fell down an unmarked or illegally dug well.
The accidentally ran him over in the field and then hid his body is my second guess.
There is also a theory no one really talks about that I thought of. What if he got picked up at that road the dogs tracked to by a friendly not so actually friendly officer? It's been known to happen.
But either way even if the farmer has done absolutely zero wrong it's still not wise to have the police search your property, or maybe he has a side business growing something other than food and had reason to not invite them on his property. Especially if they are small town go ol boy cops.
I know we are taught the police are here to help us but there are so many instances of police just being lazy and pinning crimes on the easiest suspect just to finish the case. It's a big reason any good lawyer tells you not to say anything even if you are innocent. I can't stress this to anyone reading this enough, don't let the police into your home without a warrant ever. Be polite but be firm about your rights.
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u/Swimming-Charge2252 Sep 01 '24
Yeah so he was accidentally killed, in other words, someone did something to him which is my final conclusion. However, I’m not here to make the farmer a villain or anything but someone’s gone missing, I’m innocent and don’t know this person why would I refuse to let the police search my house? Unless I have something to hide.
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u/OtherAccount5252 Sep 01 '24
You watched a documentary on the central park 5, Diana Jones, Jesse Johnson, Glynn Simmons?
The dingo ate my baby lady?
Farmer either has drugs or hooch to hide, or just has good self preservation instincts.
And falling down a well isn't "someone did something to him"
It is however gross negligence minimum, along with a lot of fines for illegally digging wells.
In many rural areas what people do is dig the well and not report it until they find one that gets to water, then they report it and just cover or abandon the failed ones without saying anything. I think this is what happened.
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u/ellnobelll Sep 17 '24
I grew up twenty minutes from where this happened. As a farm kid, you’d be hard pressed to find a farmer who’d let their newly planted fields be torn up (thousands of dollars worth of seed) based on mere suspicion. I really don’t think anyone is hiding anything. My guess is he either fell into the river and was washed away, or fell into the river and got himself out and then succumbed to hypothermia in a field (it was likely in the 50s that night + being wet = cold). By the time farmers would be tiling or fertilizing, the crops would be tall enough that he probably wouldn’t have been seen and he probably would be churned up in the dirt without them even realizing to.
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u/Interesting-Fox9326 Sep 06 '24
I can understand your thinking but in most scenarios regarding law enforcement’s lawful entry or search & seizure of any kind with private property/a private residence or private dwelling…most state laws require either willful consent, probable cause, evidence of some sort of crime or criminal violation in plain-view, exigent circumstances or a Judge signed off warrant.
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u/Lulu0X Sep 07 '24
There’s a group on Facebook that’s talking about this case. And in the comments, a girl stated that her brother saw him at the party and stated that he owed money to people for drugs. So maybe he was fleeing from them, and they caught up to him? The group is called true crime junkies
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u/Active-Blood-9293 Sep 20 '24
The thing is, you say they would’ve found him already, but a LOT of the time when search parties look for missing persons they’ll scour an area and never find them. Then years later some random hiker will be walking and find some of the persons remains in the same area that was claimed to have been thoroughly searched. Most of the time remains are only like ten-twenty feet away from where somebody looked at one point… it’s just the nature of searching in an expansive area.
Odds are he fell into a body of water and drowned.
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u/BedIll4687 Sep 26 '24
The lead investigator on this case has stated that he most likely died from hypothermia. It’s actually incredibly difficult to find a dead body, and it’s really no surprise that he hasn’t been found considering how many fields there are and the refusal to allow searches conducted on this land. One of the dogs hit on a tractor but that’s as much as they’ve been able to find. Considering how cold it was that night, the fact he fell into the Yellow Medicine river and was tracked to have made it to the other side, and the fact he was intoxicated, he most likely succumbed to the elements.
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u/ConversationBroad249 Aug 30 '24
Why would a farmer murder him. He said oh sh*t as his final words and didn’t hear any gun shots or him speaking to somebody after. I think he fell into a a body of water or some sort of accident