The Vanishing of Brandon Swanson: 16 Years Without Answers
A Minnesota teenager disappeared during a late-night phone call with his parents, sparking legal reform and an unsolved mystery that haunts investigators
Quick Facts
Brandon Victor Swanson, a 19-year-old from Marshall, Minnesota, vanished in the early hours of May 14, 2008, under circumstances that remain unexplained more than a decade and a half later. His disappearance became one of America's most haunting missing-person cases and prompted legislative reform across the United States.
On the night of May 13–14, 2008, Swanson drove his car into a ditch near Taunton, Minnesota, along State Highway 68—roughly 25 miles northwest of his hometown. The 5'6", brown-haired teenager, who wore black wire-framed glasses due to being legally blind in his left eye, was uninjured. At approximately 12:30 a.m., he called his parents, Brian and Annette Swanson, telling them he believed he was near Lynd, Minnesota, about 10 miles from home.
The parents made the decision to drive out and search for their son while keeping him on the phone. Brandon reportedly stayed with his vehicle initially, flashing the car headlights—sounds his parents heard through the receiver. Cell phone records would later reveal a critical discrepancy: the phone pings placed Brandon near Taunton, not Lynd, suggesting he was significantly more disoriented than he realized.
At some point during the call, Brandon decided to start walking toward lights he could see in the distance. For approximately 47 minutes, his parents remained on the line with him. Then, shortly after 2:30 a.m., Brandon suddenly exclaimed "Oh, shit!"—and the line went dead. His parents called back repeatedly, but there was no answer.
Unable to reach their son and facing growing concern, Brian and Annette Swanson searched the area with friends until around 6:30 a.m., when they contacted the Lyon County Sheriff's Department. Initial police response proved frustratingly slow: investigators advised the parents to wait, treating the disappearance as routine for a 19-year-old male. The Lynd Police Department conducted a search of the town itself but found nothing. Eventually, the Lyon County Sheriff's Department, under Sheriff Joel Dahl, became involved. Later that day, authorities located Brandon's car in the ditch where he had called from, its doors open and keys missing.
