Onopgeloste Mysterie: Brandon Swanson

Of course, I have another mystery for you this week. This time not a very long one, but one where I really don't understand what happened. No one knows that, because he was ultimately never found. His name is Brandon Swanson, and he was last seen on May 14, 2008. He was nineteen years old at the time.

Brandon was studying at Minnesota West Community and Technical College and celebrated the end of the semester with classmates in May. They did this on the Canby campus, which was part of the school. However, Brandon still lived at home and drove back.

Before he took his car, he was seen at two different parties, where several people reported seeing him with alcohol. His friends confirmed that, but also stated that he hadn't drunk enough to actually be drunk.

Whether it was due to the alcohol or something else is unclear, but Brandon ended up in a ditch with his car. He was fine, but he couldn't get his car out. He called his parents with his mobile phone to ask them to pick him up, he just didn't know exactly where he was. From the lights of the houses further away, he thought he was near the town of Lynd.

He was on the phone with his parents for about an hour while he walked around, looking for a landmark. Then his parents suddenly heard ‘oh shit!’ on the other end of the line and the connection was lost. And that's the last they ever heard from Brandon. The calls after that went unanswered.

What is certain is that Brandon was startled by something. But by what? Did he trip? Was he surprised by a person? Whatever it was, it must have been serious enough that he couldn't answer his phone afterward. And that phone was unfortunately never found either, just like Brandon himself.

His parents immediately reported Brandon missing the next morning and went looking for his car. They found it about 25 miles (40 kilometers) from where Brandon thought he was. His judgment was clearly not clear anymore, but whether that was due to the alcohol or simply because it was the middle of the night, we do not know.

Many people assume that he drowned, which is also the most logical explanation. But then there is one question: where is his body? The police have searched everything in the area and the search dogs picked up his scent: it went further past the river. This could mean that he made it to the other side of the river alive, because that is the only explanation for why the dogs reacted beyond the other side.

Then there is a grimmer, and especially a very grim, explanation of what could have happened. He could have made it to the other side, but collapsed in the grass there, owned by one of the farmers who have land there. Given that it was only four degrees that night, he could have died from hypothermia.

What is grim about that? That the farmers simply used their machines the next day and may not have realized that they drove over a body. This theory is supported by the fact that the search dogs also reacted to one specific machine. Wow.

Unfortunately, Brandon's parents have not been able to get an answer about what happened to him to this day, although the chance of him being found alive is virtually nil. Will his body ever be found? Unfortunately, that chance is getting smaller by the day.