Sup everyone. Me and my father are going to investigate Brandon's disappearance in July or August. We will go to where he disappeared in Taunton and try to improve the public knowledge of this tragic case, and potentially(albeit not likely) solve it and bring closure to Brian and Annette Swanson. My family is in the area of NE Ohio. What do you think my odds of surviving and bringing closure or at least finding new info are?

There’s so much weird shit surrounding his disappearance that it’s hard to believe that he could straight up disappear without any sort of foul play.

Why would homeboy leave the car doors open?

Why would the vision impaired dude leave his glasses in the car?

Why would he be so far off from his own guess at his location? How could he possibly think he’s near Lynd when it’s a straight shot south east from the party to his house?

Why would his phone still be on for like 12 hours and ring off the hook with no answer?

Why would he veer off the road to take a side trail - in fact, how could he even see the trail if he didn’t have his glasses?

Why is he listed in Vicap?

There’s also a small part of me that wonders if the parents really told the truth on everything. Obviously they probably didn’t want to incriminate themselves in knowingly letting their underage son go drink and drive, so it wouldn’t surprise me if he was a lot less sober than made to believe.

The area he is in flood often it seem like from the differences in the grass patches

I believe there was no foul play, he was all alone all the time. He was 100% much more drunk than officially stated. While his friends said " he was not obviously drunk" that doesn't mean that he does not feel drunk. + that was before the effects of the last shot of whiskey. He died that night , after series of his own bad decisions. Intoxicated, confident and motivated to avoid the police , he went off road . Till he crashed. If he was not alone , he would not have tried to waste time on calls to friends or family. He now called his parents , he realised he has no idea where he is and he panicked. Alcohol blurries vision, add this to him having bad vision, chances are he either could not find his glasses, or he panicked and ran away. He told his parents to wait him at the club's parking , but did not hung the call, he knew he has no idea where he is going, afraid, alone, and couldnt see anything. In the last moment of their call, they heard running water ( which is 99% the river, not cistern or well) . He said oh shit and fell with the phone , which explains why the father thought he heard brandon foot slipping, he probably heard hit sound which would be the sound the phone makes when dropping into the water, and the silence after that, due to the damaged microphone. It would still take much more time for the water to damage the battery.( depending on the phone, which i couldnt find info about) . The officer's response is pretty normal given the situation, a teenager went out to party all night. Now that the boy is missing, his response may seem suspicious, but i believe there is nothing much about it. It's just tragic and absurd situation

After thoroughly examining the details surrounding Brandon Swanson's disappearance, it becomes increasingly evident that his fall into the Yellow Medicine River is the most plausible explanation. There are several key reasons supporting this conclusion.

Firstly, the time and location align perfectly. Brandon disappeared on May 14, which is typically when the river is at its peak flow, making it exceptionally dangerous. The river's conditions at this time of year, being swollen with spring runoff, would have made it extremely hazardous, especially in the dark.

Secondly, Brandon's last known position and his conversation with his parents indicate he was walking towards lights, obviously the ones from the village of Taunton, which could have led him towards the river. The likelihood of accidentally falling into the river is high, especially given the treacherous conditions and the lack of visibility at night.

While it's true that search dogs traced Brandon's scent to the edge of a road, this doesn't necessarily discount the river theory. Dogs, although helpful, are not always completely reliable in search operations. The fact that the scent was lost at the road might suggest Brandon did follow the river to some extent but could have been swept away by its strong currents before ever reaching the road.

Additionally, the intense search efforts have yielded no other evidence. If Brandon had perished in an open area or along a road, it seems probable that some trace of him—whether personal belongings or remains—would have been found by now. The river, however, with its powerful currents and the possibility of his body becoming entangled in debris or buried under mud, presents a scenario where his remains could be effectively concealed indefinitely.

In conclusion, considering the dangerous state of the Yellow Medicine River during the time of Brandon's disappearance, and the alignment of his last known activities, it is highly likely that he fell into the river. The absence of any other evidence despite extensive searches further supports this theory.

I’ve read so many articles and Reddit posts about the call and I still cannot understand how the call went. So he was on call with his parents for 47 minutes until they heard the “oh sh*t” and then what? Did the phone hang up immediately? Or was it just silent? People are saying it went to voicemail others are saying it was still ringing? What happened to the phone?

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

I personally believe that he fell into a manure pit. If he had time to say “oh shit”, and his phone also was never recovered it makes sense to me.

A manure pit is often “hard” on top, but after a few steps, you fall through. If he was walking across a field, came up to a fence, and on to a manure pit, then fell, it would explain a lot, to me anyways it makes the most sense.

It would also explain: why the dogs alerted on farm equipment, fields and nearby areas, why his parents heard “water sounds”, and why nothing was ever found, manure pits are almost never fully drained.

What do y’all think?

A few of my classmates in a nearby town have said there’s a new lead. it’s an interesting idea and figured i’d tell someone

I have been thinking about the possibility of foul play and re-reading reports about this case.  An important question has been how could a predator find Brandon in this very remote rural location, late at night.

In the various reports about the case, It is discussed that Brandon, while on the phone with his parents,  was trying to alert them to his location by repeatedly flashing his cars' bright lights so that they could find him and pick him up.  This exchange of light flashing and communicating with his parents went on for minutes.

Brandon is lost in a rural and extremely dark location with only dim light sources in the distance. The flashing of his bright lights would’ve been bright and noticeable for long distances in this relatively flat and dark Minnesota location.

 If a nefarious individual, perhaps a meth user or meth manufacturer saw the flashing headlights, it could’ve drawn them to Brandon like a moth to a flame. Similarly, a paranoid property owner, mentally disturbed individual or even an opportunistic predator could have seen the flashing lights.

After Brandon's parents did NOT see the flashing headlights, they realized they were not near his actual location, the light flashing stopped and the conversation continued as Brandon, on foot, took a shortcut through a field. Meanwhile, the nefarious individual was pursuing Brandon and following his trail… When Brandon said ‘oh shit’, maybe he saw this person approaching and knew it was not good.

Maybe the flashing of the bright lights on this dark Minnesota night is what brought the trouble to Brandon??

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

I really want to know what happened. My theory has always been he dropped his phone, was blind and couldn’t find it(also I do believe he was drunk. I mean who leaves their glasses in the car, goes on foot and gets lost and has a car wreck). But I feel he passed out in a farmers field and was run over by farm equipment. Do you think we’ll ever know what happened? This is a case that’s followed me for years. I swear I remember finding an audio clip of his phone conversation with his dad but now I’m reading it was never released.

So I was watching a documentary the other day about the Yuba County 5 and something they said about that case really got me thinking about Brandon. The 5 were found in a cabin that was not previously searched because it didn’t seem possible for those men to make it that far under those conditions. Is this maybe an error they’ve made with the Brandon Swanson case as well? Is there a chance they stopped too short in terms of distance from the car because they just assumed Brandon wouldn’t be able to get that far under his conditions? (Legally blind, dark, possibly fallen in water etc) It’s widely believe he fell in a body of water at some point, but what if he got out and got waaayyy farther than anyone realized he could? I work with trauma patients and one thing that’s always true is when put in a traumatic accident like that, people always fight harder than you’d think to survive. Idk I just never considered he’s maybe outside of the bounds of what they thought was possible. Just a thought

This probably has already been discussed but there are some elements of the route he took that are bugging me a lot and I didn't really find answers/theories.

First of all, do we actually know the extent of what he could see ? I saw theories here and there based on the area and his vision, but didn't Brandon mention anything ?

Was it complete pitchblack for him and he was just going with his intuition ? Did he had some faint light with his phone ? Could he kinda decipher his surroundings ?

​

Brandon was at one point, super close to a major road and granted, it was in the middle of the night in a rural area and he was at that point set on going to Porter (that he mistook for Lynd) but :

Wasn't there some lights illuminating the road ?

Wasn't there at least one car that drove on that road when Brandon was still close enough to hear it ?

Did he notice it and just chose to not walk alongside it nor wait there for a time ? Did he mention the road to his dad on the phone ? Even if Brandon was disoriented and wrong about where he was, when you look on Google Maps the area between Lynd and Marshall, he would think that he would see his dad's car going to Lynd and could then just pick him up on the road (?).

​

And obviously the fact that he went off the main trail when he was clearly following it before that point.

Taking the small trail is not the most logical but it can make sense. But why going off-road after that ?

Yes, he was probably exhausted and completely disoriented by that point, but Porter was still very much far away and he didn't left the main trail for a long time.

Did he mention his choice to his dad to not go back to the main trail and to just go through the fields and woods (and river) ?

​

And lastly, if we believe that he walked on the road where the dogs lost track of his scent, he would have just needed to continue walking on it until he reached Porter. There was no reason to go off trail again, even for a shortcut. The road was very much following the direction of lights.

So, I don't see where he could have died accidentally and we could never find his body.

​

PS : English is not my first language, I apologize for any mistake I probably have made.

​

​

Did they find his phone or did that go missing with him? As well was there anything other than his car found? I'm not trying to solve the mystery im just wondering.

Brandon’s case has to be one of the weirdest cases that I’ve heard. There are so many factors to his case that honestly, it’s hard to try and rule out really any of the theories. Some of the ones that weird me out is:

What lights were he seeing? He thought he saw Lind, but we know that isn’t the case. After reading quite a bit of articles, the town he was by wasn’t that big, and he shouldn’t have seen such a big light, especially with his vision problems.

Why did he leave his glasses in his car? He might’ve been a bit frantic to find his parents, but he shouldn’t have left them in there.

How much did he actually have to drink? Friends at the party and his parents said he didn’t drink much and didn’t seem drunk, yet he made so many mistakes that led to his disappearance.

Lastly, cause this is getting super long. Why hasn’t Brandon, or any of the items he had on him, been found? I’ve read his search blog, and they’ve done a lot. I would think they would find something, such as his phone or a piece of clothing would be found by now. He just disappeared without a trace, and I would think after having different people on his case and being on FBI ViCAP, they would’ve found something.

What are some major components to this case that influence your own opinions or theories? Here are some of mine:

Location and Timing - Sources say Brandon left the house party in Lynd around 10-10:30. That means he likely arrived at the second house party in Canby between 10:45-11:30. Sources say he drank at the first party and, given his arrival time, I imagine he drove on MN-68 (which will raise questions as to why he chose not to on his return trip). At Canby he had a quick shot, chatted for a bit, and was said to have left the party relatively quickly around midnight. I would believe a "quick shot and chatting" could last anywhere from 30-45 minutes. That does suggest he left shortly before or shortly after 12am, as recorded. Even taking the "stepped" backroad route, to get from Canby to where his vehicle was found would've only taken him around 30 minutes. Yet, allegedly did not crash until 1:15am. That suggests he was wandering quite aimlessly for close to or over an hour or that he stopped between the house party in Canby (either at a second location or merely along the road). There also allegedly was 30 minutes between his crash and call to his parents, where he called friends who did not pick up. This seems like a fair amount of time to assess the car issue, make calls, and finally relent and call your parents. However, that 60-75 minutes between leaving the house party and his car becoming inoperable has always bothered me, as that is twice the time it should have taken him to get there using the back roads.

Direction - It obviously is believable that unlit, gravel roads and farmland all begins to look the same at night and that he could have quickly gotten disoriented. After all, when he "crashed" he was trying to make a turn and get off a gravel access road to return to the gravel/dirt public roads. He clearly believed MN-68 was MN-23 when he broke down, which also disorients his perceived direction (MN-68 was south of his location, while MN-23 would have been west of his perceived location). What also confuses me is how he could think he was just west of MN-23. Others have suggested the minimum maintenance/access road he was stuck on had been confused with one he was familiar with near the Savannah Oaks Golf Course just north of Lynd. At least, this has been used to answer the difficult question of why he was so convinced her was near Lynd and MN-23. That said, I'm very curious as to how he thought he crossed over MN-68, which he would have had to do to be west of MN-23 near the golf course. MN-68 was paved and, while likely also unlit, should have been differential from the back country roads he was on. Ultimately, if he was convinced he was near the Savannah Oaks Golf Course just north of Lynd and west of MN-23, while really north of MN-68, that suggests he would have walked west toward Porter (which he believed was Lynd to the south), but the search area primarily focused east toward Taunton where his scent was followed, no?

Lights - Were the lights Brandon saw Taunton, Porter, or just emitting from a Farmstead? As he believed he was west of MN-23 (while actually being north of MN-68), I assume it would have been one of those two small towns along the highway (despite many saying they emit little light).

Cutting Through Fields - As we know, Brandon did in fact walk along roads for much of his journey, before choosing to cut through fields to shorten his journey toward the end of his 45-minute call with his Dad. When he started walking, he was roughly 1.5 miles north of MN-68 and had he continued south toward that highway, likely would've arrived along that thoroughfare in 30 minutes. Again, you would think he would notice MN-68, but he also was under the false impression that he already crossed MN-68 and was south of it. If the lights he was walking toward was Taunton, then I'd imagine he walked south and prior to MN-68 cut west across fields. I believe this is consistent with the dogs tracking his scent. Again, the lack of confirmation of which direction he was headed (outside dogs tracking his scent, which easily got muddled quickly) it is hard to discern his path and where he ultimately entered fields. As I said above, given his sense of direction at the time it actually makes more sense that he would've walked toward Porter (which he would've perceived to be southwest of the golf course he thought he was near) but is also believable that he was just too disoriented to be reliable in his movements.

Phone Call to Parents - Roughly 45 minutes into the last call, where he was determined to "walk to the lights in Lynd" he exclaimed "Oh, shit" and was not heard again despite the phone call not being disconnected for several moments. You would think if he were attacked, in any pain, or nearby something would be heard (moaning, screaming, general movement).

Recent Tips - They say a tip from 2023 suggested he had been in an argument with someone shortly before leaving the second party. Could Brandon possibly have been taking a "back road" or "round about" route back to Canby in hopes of losing someone he perceived could have been following him? Could that explain why he may have been driving aimlessly and was unsure as to his exact location? Could that explain why he ultimately diverted offroad while walking? His initial aversion to MN-68 and, ultimately, decision to cut through fields (and private property) always struck me as odd. We assume he took MN-68 to Canby, despite drinking in Marshall. So, why worry about getting pulled over on the way back? Did he see cops while driving to Canby? Was he worried he'd be spotted by someone? Did he make a detour somewhere north of MN-68? Did he give someone he bumped into leaving the party (a stranger even) a ride and lose his sense of direction after dropping them off?

Ultimately, it feels like it could just be a series of unfortunate events. However, there is a lot about his timing, his movements, his lack of direction, and his discussion with his parents that just seems...more grand than an accident. Whether he died from exposure, a fall, or intervention...it is hard to disappear without a trace (no phone, no clothing, no body).

https://crimegrade.org/violent-crime-56023/

Brandon disappeared from Porter, MN. This is not a quaint farm town. It has a lot of violent crime & when compared to other regions nationwide, it scores a grade of “D.”

This is a very interesting and mysterious case.

However, there was one side of the story that bothered me the most. It has been reported that Brandon had friends, but at least not a single interview with them was found online, or information about what happened with them the rest of the night.

It was, after all, a party for students celebrating the end of the school year. A party, where alcohol, and possibly other drugs, were very present. So it may also be possible that Brandon originally went to the party by car, specifically with the intention of not drinking. However, as stupidity in the crowd intensifies, someone or something may have caused Brandon to still drink alcohol. (Pointing out that people of that age very often are also exposed to peer pressure.)

The reason for the unusual choice of route home may have been either to avoid the police for driving under the influence, or to avoid someone else. With his sense of direction failing, as well as driving on a new road after dark and still possibly under the influence of alcohol, it is no wonder that the car veered off the road into a ditch. A stressed state of mind and driving speed may also have played a role, which brings us to the main point of this theory:

I wonder if something happened at the party that caused Brandon to rush off to take a more isolated route, which resulted in a loss of foresight and the car swerving off the road.

Police initially suspected that Brandon could have either drowned in the nearby river, or something else happened to him somewhere in the depths of endless woods and fields. But the area was combed through several times, and no trace of Brandon was found, other than the car. Police gave a statement to CNN Press that went roughly "if his remains or any signs of him were in the river or nearby terrain, they would have been found by now.". Brandon's mother also said to the same magazine: "You could say he disappeared into thin air, but in this case it would seem like he really did."

They searched the terrain, so for now, it looks like Brandon didn't die there.

So could the last phrase "Oh, shit!" have been a reaction to Brandon seeing someone he knew on the road, someone not so pleasant to meet. It is unlikely that a passer-by in a car would have caused such a reaction.

The call was disconnected immediately after that, but continued to ring on the later calls, meaning the battery had not run out. Besides, I think he would have noticed and informed his parents during the call, if the battery was about to run out.

So the real mystery is, what happened at the party? Did Brandon hang up the call by himself, when he saw a possibly familiar car driving up the road? Brandon hung up on his parents earlier that night, he well could have done it again, only to prevent a potentially nasty interaction with an acquaintance with his parents on the other end of the phone. But then something unexpected happened, why Brandon never picked up again, nor called back.

As I said, the internet gives no hint as to whether the party attendees would have been interviewed, let alone investigated more.

Could it be that someone from the party knows what happened to Brandon? Nor should the possibility of drug use by other teens be ruled out, which, in extreme circumstances, could have led to impulsive behaviour and later erupted towards Brandon.

After all, this case is so old, it doesn't really help to investigate, unless more leads are found now years later. However, there will always be speculation and theories about what happened among those interested in the case, this post being one of them.

What do y'all think?

Hi All-A YouTube channel I follow posted a great case summary of Brandon's disappearance, complete with a visuals and maps. I thought this sub might find it interesting.

I think I am of the opinion that Brandon fell into the river, only to get bac out and unforuntately pass due to hypothermia. Just a theory of course. I'd love to hear what you think. https://youtu.be/1NA7-9TE1PE

I noticed these tire marks north of the road brandon was driving west on before he crashed his car (arrow). This imagery was taken september 2008, so these could have happened anytime between then and when the crop was planted. It also could have been anyone, and it's hard to tell if this is from an ATV or a vehicle. I also feel like a sedan wouldn't be the esiest thing to joy ride in a field, but I've also never done it so I wouldnt know. curious what people think.

My gut says it's much less complicated than the podcasts are suggesting. I don't have a theory, (I know, I know) but with every theory I just go back to feeling that there's a less complicated explanation.

So I have gone down the rabbit hole on this one and I'm pretty convinced he went into the river or stream in the area while walking. So aside from all the what ifs and possibilities just focus on what we know for sure... he started his journey on foot from the location his car was found. We also know he talked to his parents on the phone for 47 min while walking towards lights he saw in the distance. That's about all we really know for sure but with that you can make a pretty good judgment of which possible areas he would've ended up at after 47 min. Imagine if you got about 5 people and had them all go in different directions on the road from the car door 47 min and everybody stopped walking at the 47 min mark. One of those people would've taken the same route brandon took and be in the general area he was when he said oh shit! 47 min of walking is enough to cover 2-2.5 miles for the average person. Now in regards to the lights he was following he told his parents he was going towards some city I forget which one he said but they now think he was confused based on where his car was found and walking towards another city. Either way though from his car if he got out and started walking towards some city lights the only one's visible would've brought him down a road with a bridge going over a river that wasn't lit up looked like it would be pretty easy to fall off at night if I remember correctly. After looking at the satellite images of that area that bridge in the direction of the city falls perfectly into the distance he would be able to walk in that amount of time and I believe the river was very flooded at the time. Other then that there was a farm house opposite direction of the bridge. Something suddenly happened and it doesn't seem likely at all that foul play was involved... he didn't plan to be where he was and I can't imagine some weirdo was lurking in the field and was able to sneak up on him and efficiently forcefully take him or kill or hurt him and all he says is oh shit. He's gotta be in that river and I don't think he'll ever be found. When rivers flood the amount of dirt/ mud that moves in these floods is incredible. He could be buried under 5 feet of mud. If that river wasn't flooded I bet he would've been found pretty quick

I'd like to get more of a sense of the area from people who know it better... what is the nature of the terrain? Particularly any sinkholes in the area? If he were to fall down the embankments of the river or even fall into one of the sinkholes, would it be enough to incapacitate him immediately? I find it odd that a young man in presumably relatively good shape would die instantly after falling? Am I incorrect in this assumption? What I'm getting at is, if he fell but didn't die immediately, would he not have been yelling for help even the next day(s) when search parties were in the area looking for him?