Brandon Swanson /// Missing /// Part 3 | Forensic Files

[music] [music] [music] Heat >> [music] >> Welcome to True Crime Garage. Wherever
you are, whatever you are doing, thanks for listening. I'm your host, Nick, and with me, [music] of course, as always,
from behind the glass is the man steering the ship. He is the captain and together we would like to point out that
only a total psychotic would listen to this show at two times the speed. Welcome to the show, Captain.
>> Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. It's good to be seen. It's good to see you. Thanks for listening and thanks for
telling a friend. This week we are drinking Annheiser Bush's Budweiser, an American logger and
an American classic. the one-time king of beers garage grade three bottle caps out of five. And this week, our fridge
is full. Thank you to all of you out there, but specifically first up, thanks to Laura P in Washington. And a big
shout out to Emily in Osage, Minnesota. >> Next up, we have Brian in Highlands Ranch, Colorado. And in Birmingham,
Alabama, we have Andrea. Cheers, mate. And next up, we have our friend Randy in Federal Way, Washington. And last, but
certainly not least, we have a long-distance cheers way out to Lauren in Port Talbet, Wales. Thank you to
everybody for helping us out with this week's show. If you want to contribute to future shows, go to true crimegar.com
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app. And we have a weekly show called Off the Record, so get hip to that. It's hip to be square. And that's enough
of the business. >> All right, Captain. Everybody gather around, grab a chair, grab a beer. Let's
talk some true crime. [music] >> All right, we're back with part three of Brandon Swanson.
>> It's like we never left. Yeah, some people cover this case in 10 minutes. We cover it in 10 hours.
>> 10 episodes. So, going through these theories here, Captain, we talked about how Thinking Sideways said it's
impossible for alien abduction. You said no time warp, no Sasquatch. Um, there are people, and I find this a
little strange, but it is something that you do have to consider anytime you have
a missing person's case, is that the individual chooses to be missing, that they decide to walk away from their
life. >> Yeah. And we both agree in this case, the fact that Brandon seemed to be lost
at some point. So, he's calling for help from friends, they don't answer. So then
he calls and gets a hold of the his parents and he's asking for help basically, >> right? And we agree that he didn't walk
away from his life based off of his actions leading up to his last known whereabouts,
>> right? And there's also >> it would make zero sense to call mom and dad >> and then decide to walk away that same
night. >> Yeah. And on top of that, there is no nothing of his past or anything that his
family is pointing to that this is a possibility. >> Mhm. One of the more plausible theories,
and this kind of branches into a couple different options here, is that Brandon perished in some type of accident
somewhere out there in that night. This theory seems to be again one of the more
likely ones, although it's the problem here in this case will continue to be that they've not ever found Brandon.
They've never found any evidence of him. clothing, a jacket, shoes, anything of his glasses, his phone, anything like
that. But let's get into this theory. Let's break it down, right? Brandon was disoriented and confused about where he
was. That is not a question. He was 20 miles from where he thought he was. >> We know he got his car stuck in a ditch.
We know he was frustrated based off of what his parents were saying. He decided to abandon the vehicle. He start started
walking. He took what he referred to as a more direct route across fields, farmland, off-road areas, terrain he was
not familiar with. >> Well, not initially. He was staying on the road initially and then he went off
path. >> Correct. He's walking along fences and he states to his father he can hear
running water. Meanwhile, what else do we know? He It's very dark that night. Brandon is blind in one eye. His father
heard him exclaim, "Oh shit." And then the phone on Brandon's side goes dead. >> So what happened here?
>> Well, no, it Let's be clear. It doesn't go dead. From our knowledge, there's a
disconnection. >> The call drops is what what I meant. Sorry about that. >> Uh and and it's just words, but you're
right. it. We need to clear that up because there is a hot debate about if his phone went dead or if it [snorts]
was still active. >> Yes. >> After he says, "Oh shit," the call ends on Brandon's end.
From here, a lot of people say Brandon could have fallen or could have walked into something. This would be the river,
a well, a sinkhole, >> or some other type of obstacle. Let's go through this because I think we can very
quickly eliminate some of these possibilities and this is based off of information that has come out and it's
pretty wild, you know, readily available. >> The sinkhole theories have basically
been debunked by Jeff Hassie. Remember, he's the search manager that we spoke about who methodically and meticulously
was searching for Brandon all these years. He stated that the radius where he calculated that Brandon could have
possibly walked from his car and this is even after the call went dead. According
to the blog that he maintained that we referenced yesterday that the sites details in the searches conducted for
Brandon provide you know making these public. He states that sinkholes form in karst or cave geology. Now, he also says
that the only car geology in Minnesota is in the southeastern part of the state. The area where Brandon went
missing is in the southwestern part of Minnesota. >> Mhm. >> Basically, he's saying he couldn't have
fallen into a sinkhole because they're not there. >> Right. The other thing he points out too
regarding like wells, open wells and things of that nature on farmland, he points out that the farmland in this
area of the country is extremely valuable and that all old wells have been capped off or replaced per
Minnesota law. So the days of large wells with buckets that people could fall into, he's saying
are long gone, >> right? They could be capped off. And also in this area, these farmers and
these people that live in the area would hear about this kid going missing and they'd probably check their property for
any um signs of Brandon. >> Yes. He's stating that all the water sources on these industrial farms were
quote unquote high tech by 2008. Now, old sistns could exist, but again, if they do, the searchers
have never found one. >> That could leave us with the river. So, we have a local woman who participated
in the searches for Brandon. She posted that the terrain out there is riddled with swamps, bogs, caves, 6-ft tall
grasslands, wooded areas, and ponds. Cattails along the river banks are 8 feet tall at this time of year. Brandon
could have walked or fallen into, you know, the river or the swamps or the bogs at any point along this way.
His father says after Brandon says, "Oh shit," that he heard some type of what he describes as a
slipping sound. >> Mhm. And we know that the scent dogs tracked Brandon to the actual river and
then seem to indicate that he got back out of the river. So th this is goes into what you were talking about
earlier, Captain, where you have to wonder, is it possible that Brandon fall into the Yellow Medicine River?
And did something happen to his phone that he that he even maybe he didn't drown in the river? Or maybe he did.
Maybe he hit his head and drowned in the river. But you also have this theory that maybe he he slipped into the river,
he gets out, but his phone does not. >> Then the question is, would his phone continue to ring for a few days even
after submerged? Jeff Hassie says yes, this is a possibility that the the sound that the caller hears has nothing to do
with the condition of the actual phone. So this makes this a a very possible thing here, right?
>> Yeah. And sometimes when you're trying to call somebody, if you don't have great service, your phone will ring
multiple times before it actually tries to connect to them. >> Right. Right. So the idea being here
that maybe something happened to the phone. Here's [clears throat] here's the the thing that you really got to
consider. Right. If he did fall into the river, even if he got out, he very likely could be
soaking wet. Then we he's staggering along the road until he decides to stop and rest somewhere. Maybe this is a
hole, a field, or in the woods, or an abandoned barn. He could have died of hypothermia.
Temperatures dropped to 39° that night. We both agreed that he was wearing fairly warmth clothing for that evening.
The river was only 55°. Could Brandon have succumbed to the cold, especially if he was wet?
His body, having not been found yet, could be because it was either too obscured, or has been scattered by
animals, plowed under and broken up by heavy farm equipment. We have to remember that searchers were
not able to access all of the farmland in the area. Some of which were covered thickly with high tight crops. There's
some interesting things that Jeff Hassy states in his information that he's made
public when he's talking about, you know, we we reference how many dogs they used in the search for Brandon over the
years. Mhm. [clears throat] The problem is at certain times of the years the the
crops are at different heights and he says that the height of crops can make it extremely difficult if not impossible
for a dog to find the scent, >> right? And and it's just hard to search in general when you have obstacles like
that. You see that in a case like the Long Island serial killer case. Jeff Hassie also states that this region
receives nearly constant winds which can come from any direction. These winds move scent from the source and deposit
it into what he refers to as scent pools. >> Mhm. >> This can throw off the cadaavver dogs,
meaning they they won't be able to settle on an exact location of the remains. The other possibility too that
he points out is that the remains may have been scattered over a wide area. And this could be by predators, you
know, such as animals. >> Mhm. >> Or that they were moved by human activity such as farmers tilling their
fields or bailing hay or cornstcks, something like that. >> Mhm. >> Then again, we also have these access
issues. They've not been able to search everywhere that they would like to search.
They have been very careful to protect landowners property over the years, generally avoiding searching fields with
crops in them, even though he states there's a very likely chance that Brandon ended up in a field.
>> Right. >> He states that this Yeah, this only leaves spring and fall available for
them to search. >> And then we have the difficulty of how much land there is to search. Remember
he pointed out that you're prioritizing 98.5 square miles. >> Yeah. >> He says a lot of land.
>> Yeah. He says to effectively search a single 160 acre field, a team, a whole team of people must walk in excess of 10
miles in what he says is difficult footing. Along these same lines here, Captain, he points out that not all of
the private land own along these same lines here, Captain Jeff points out that not all of these private land owners
have agreed to searches because let's say Brandon attempted to seek shelter from the wind or from the cold, right?
at some point along his journey. Maybe he crawls into an out building or under some old machinery and then passes
there. He he says that they've not searched all of the farmsteads. In fact, they've only
searched very few of the farmsteads in the area. >> Well, you said there was that radius
that they had to search and there's a what what was the percentage like they've only been able to search about
60%. 60% of the area that they've prioritized. Yes. >> Well, and to go back to the cadaavver
dogs, too. If you have like a a small pond of water, but it has a drains into something
>> Mhm. >> that the cadaavver dogs normally do not hit inside the pond like the body could
be in the middle of the pond. The cadaavver dogs normally hit where the water is draining because that's where
the scent is um more dominant. He also points out the conditions in Minnesota at that time of year. And
by his all of his knowledge and all of his experience, it's his opinion that a body could become fully skeletonized
within a week. >> Mhm. So that's very quick out there. Even calculating that Brandon's body was
likely fully disarticulated by mid July of 2008. and he says this would be very likely at the latest. And one of the
things that makes this case so much more fascinating is like you've been talking
about is the documentation of the search >> that really changes everything with as
far as like the Brandon Lawson case or or like even like Mara Murray like >> we don't have um as detailed records of
the searches that happened and in those cases >> right and so what is fascinating here
and really educating at the same time is all the information about the searches throughout the years. Detailed
information where we have a complete understanding of look so many so many shows and so many news articles and so
many website forums and message boards they keep coming back to the idea that something weird had to
have happened because they've not found Brandon. >> Right. The problem here is we have the
the search manager, the guy in charge in his team that is very publicly stating we had this huge area to search. We went
over the difficulties of the search or what could have happened throughout the the the years wherever Brandon may be
that adds to the difficulty level of the search. And yet we have them saying there's still almost 40% of the
prioritized area that we have not been able to get to. >> Yeah. Which is sad because this is
somebody's child. This is people's friends. The you know and I understand why some of the places haven't been
searched but it's kind of sad. >> Yes. I mean there's there's a a multitude of reasons why certain areas
have not been searched and some of it is just happen stance. Some of it is just the lay of the land itself. What do we
think happened here, Captain? We We could spin our tires all day long on the possibilities and the searches and what
has taken place over the course of 11 years >> or almost, you know, 11 years now. What
do we think happened? And >> well, well, let's take a quick beer break so we can gather our thoughts and
[music] gather some beers. >> [music] [music] >> All right. Got that [music] king of
beer. >> King of beer. Kings. King of beers. >> What did I say? >> I don't know. Uh, I I'm looking at my
notes and trying to talk at the same time. >> I'm doing the same thing. I'm moving
some things around. Would you like to go first, my friend? >> Yeah, I can. I think um
to me it's where does the evidence take us? I think one with this search, we we will find,
you know, with a the abandoned car. We're going to find him within this area. I think where the the initial
scent dogs hit into the river. That's the yellow medicine river. >> Correct. >> Um where they hit there and then came
out of the river. I think they should have just probably stayed in the river. Um that's what my what my gut is telling
me is the Oh [ __ ] Again, when he was talking to his father, he's saying I'm I'm along this fence line. I can hear
water and then boom. Oh [ __ ] Um, we have no signs of foul play, but that does not mean that further down the
line, you know, uh, if the send dogs just stopped that further down the line, there wouldn't be maybe something, but
we have had no reports of that. So, I think where the car was with possibly being tired, I think with um possibly
being, you know, let's say buzzed, I think there's some evidence that he, you know,
had a few drinks. He was frustrated. He was tired. He was walking. Uh he was trying to get help. He was
definitely lost uh or not in the area that he thought he was. I think that area is very easy to be confused and I
think you're going to dive into that more. But I think, like I said, the dogs take
us to that area. I think his conversation with his father uh on the phone points to being in that area and
to be be around that that river. >> Mhm. >> We have not found his body. Now, I think
that is a leap. Like you said, maybe 60% of this area has been searched, 40 hasn't. So, could you find his body
somewhere else? Yes. And I understand that they also search this river. I think it'd be a lot harder to find his
body in water in general. So, I I I I just think that kind of leads to it. And I know, like I said, I know that's a
leap to say, well, we haven't found his body on land, so therefore it puts him into water. But I think there's other,
like I said, there's other pieces of evidence kind of points us in the direction that there could have been an
accident that happened uh along that that water line. >> Mhm. Mhm. I want to address a few
different things that I think are confusing this whole situation from all of the armchair detectives, all the
people on the outside looking in. I think first I want to address the issue of I'm not totally discrediting or
discounting the possibility of foul play. But what I do want to discredit is the thought that because his name is on
VCAP means that he met with foul play. And people keep going back to that. Well,
law enforcement must know something that we don't know because they put him on VCAP.
>> That that that is a possibility that they know something that we don't. It's definitely a possibility, but looking
into that specific situation, what I gathered from the database is that VCAP was alerted of Brandon
Swanson's situation on March 5th of 2010. And then it was released to the public as being part of the VCAP
database on April 7th of 2010. Now, remember what we reported earlier that back in March of 2010, the Minnesota
Bureau of Criminal Apprehension became the lead investigating agency on the case. New eyes looking at a cold case.
What I'm getting to here, Captain, is it's my thought that the reason that Brandon is on Vicap is not because there
is evidence of foul play or that he was met with violence. It's simply because a
new agency took over his case and decided to ask it to be applied to Viccap as something that it it can't
hurt to put him on the database. >> Right. The only thing it could hurt is the rumor mill.
>> Mhm. And then I also want to address the issue of him being disoriented or you know why he
got lost that whole situation. First of all, I question one, how well he would have known any of these areas outside of
Route 68 and Route 23. I I seriously question that. First of all, how experienced of a driver is he? He's only
19 years old, and we have some stories that may indicate that he might have even lost his license at one point.
And then people point out that well he traveled this route for a full school year to and from Marshall and Cami where
his school was. I take I take a little issue with that too because this the typical school year
at this school is late August to miday. It's not really a full year one and they
take about a monthlong break in the middle of the winter. So, it's not a full year, first of all. And then second
of all, why would he know the areas off of Route 68? Route 68 takes him to and from school. So, I really question how
well he knew this area. Then on top of that, we have some confusion confusing things going on regarding the lay of the
land. Mhm. >> So, anybody that has seen this area on a map will know that the the streets and
the roads, the country roads out there are laid out basically like a square grid.
>> Yeah, I believe there's a simple version of this map uh on Wikipedia. Yeah, I
would I would encourage anybody to look up that simple version of the map and then use your own map app to really zoom
in on some areas and go through that trail that we discussed in detail regarding the dogs movements when they
were following or believed to be following Brandon's movements. >> Now, what you will see here is
regarding this map. Okay. So, picture a square. If you're not looking at it, picture a square. Route 68 runs
diagonally from the northwest corner of that square to the southeast corner of that square.
>> Mhm. >> Above Route 68 and below Route 68, you have country roads that are laid out in
a grid. Now, north of 68, we have street names and avenue names such as they're all kind of numbers.
There are some that are named, but the overwhelming majority of them are just numbers. Meaning like 360th Street,
280th Avenue, 110th Street, 150th Avenue, so on and so forth. You get what I'm talking about?
Now, north of Route 68, all of the numbered roads, if they're going east to west,
>> Mhm. They are an avenue. If they're going north to south or south to north, they are streets.
If you get south of 68, it flip-flops where all of the numbered country roads going north to south are avenues and
east to west are streets. What I'm getting at here is you would only have to take one wrong turn
to end up going the wrong way. If you, let's say you are somewhat familiar with the area and you are aware that, oh,
avenues run east to west, streets run north to south. Even though I'm lost, I'm going to use that information to
guide me back to where I think I need to get to. Well, if you make one wrong turn, basically take that whole square
map that I just described and turn it on its side because now the streets are going east to west and the avenues are
going north to south. It's a very tricky area. So, I I completely understand why somebody, anyone, regardless of
their situation, how much they've had to drink, how little they've had to drink,
what they've ingested or not, would get turned around and confused in this situation. And again, as we pointed out,
there are indicators to him that he is right in his statement >> where he sees, I got to go across a
major road. There is a river that runs into that town. I must be where I think I am.
>> Right? And the simple fact of the matter is the people that say, "Well, he knew
this area." Well, he didn't because where he told his family he was, he was not.
>> Mhm. >> And that's all the proof that you need that he didn't know where he was at.
Maybe he does know that area well, but that night, um, no, he didn't know where he was at.
The other thing too that I think gets in the way of really sorting through all of
this is the oh [ __ ] moment, right? So this this case, oddly enough, made me think back to my childhood. Okay, I'm a
child of the '9s. And what I'm talking about here, Captain, is the song The Things That Make You Go Hm by CNC Music
Factory. This was a 1990 release. >> Things that make you go, "What?" Mhm. >> Mhm.
>> Don't bother looking up the song. It's as bad as you expect it to be. >> Mhm.
>> Okay. Now, look, this case, of course, this is a tragic case here of this young
man, but it's truly a big question mark. And why so many people are fascinated by
this case is that it's a big question mark. Now, if you look at the lyrics for that song, the things that make you go,
hm. The lyrics in that song is listing out very simply the things that make you go hm. Now, there are a lot of questions
in this case, but what I was really looking at regarding the phone call, he says, "Oh shit." And then the phone call
ends, I was really thinking to myself, what are the things that would make me go, "Oh shit." Right? And so, we're
going to put ourselves in Brandon's shoes here, so to speak. Now, that could have been any number of things. It could
have been some type of accident. He could have hurt himself. You know, people people say a car,
>> stepped in a pile of [ __ ] >> right? Whatever. But the the problem is the call ends after this takes place.
So, you can't you can't just look at this and go, "Oh, what would make me say, "Oh, shit." What would make me say,
"Oh, shit." And then the phone the phone call ends. You have to put those two things together because that's what took
place. Now, of course, it could have been some type of accident. He could have fallen into the river. The river
kills his phone. But the other thing just as simple could be his phone is going to die,
>> right? >> The phone is losing its charge. It has no battery life left. His phone
according to what you can the specs that you can find online has 400 minutes of call time of talk time.
>> We know that this one phone call, the last phone call took up 47 minutes of talk time. That's 1/8 of the whole
battery life right there. Now, on top of that, he's had >> That wasn't a good phone.
>> On top of that, he's had multiple calls with mom and dad before this last one.
>> Mhm. He's also gone to two parties that night. >> I mean, this phone is basically a rock
with an antenna. >> He left his home by all accounts around 6:00 p.m. that night. So, he's been
gone, it's now 3:00 in the morning. He's been gone like 9 hours. So, what I'm getting at here is
>> car charger though could >> that's very possible. But what I'm getting at here is it's very likely that
he could have been talking and talking and talking, pulled the phone away, looked at the screen and went, "Oh
shit." Or got some kind of notification that he heard on his end, but his father
didn't hear. >> Mhm. >> And goes, "Oh shit." And then the phone goes dead simply because the battery
life ran out. The thing here is that doesn't get us any closer to what happened to Brandon. But what I'm
getting at is what I think is is so polarizing about that case, this case is that phone call where I think it's just
kind of confusing and it's really clouding the whole situation. The phone call and him
saying, "Oh shit," may mean nothing at all. Could be something super small, something as simple as his phone dying
and then whatever took place took place after he no longer had the use of his phone. I do think that there's some type
of accident that took place out there that led to his demise >> that he probably did succumb to the
elements at some point that evening and I think it's very likely that he is somewhere in that area that they've been
unable to search for any number of reasons. That's 40% of the area. >> Mhm. >> I think that's I think that's what what
happened here. I think everything that the people that are closest to this case are saying is probably exactly what
happened. He wasn't that messed up. He just he got disoriented because the area itself is confusing.
>> No, >> it's late at night. It's not well marked. It's it would be confusing for
anybody traveling in that area. >> Right. >> He he tried to turn around because he
knew he had to go an extra mile or two to get to the next intersection. and he was frustrated and upset that he wasn't
home already and he just wanted to turn around as quickly as possible and he ran
into the bad luck of getting his car hung up in the ditch and then he ran into further bad luck of having
indicators pointing out to him that he may in fact be where he thinks he is. I think this is just a one of those tragic
cases and and unfortunately I've heard statements from his mother and from his sister that are just
heartbreaking where his mother says I'm kind of come to the conclusion that we won't find Brandon in my lifetime
and then his sister adds to that by going I'm starting to think we won't find him in my lifetime.
>> Yeah. And because even if you take, like I said, my theory, I lean more towards
the idea that he ended up in that river. Well, we know what what the water can do
to to bodies and and speed up the composition, you know, decomposition of the body. Not to mention the weather out
there being a little more extreme and and um colder weather. And then it and then also if you're right that he is
somewhere in this 40% that they haven't been able to search like you talked about you have farm equipment you have
you know a lot of this machinery that's going to be coming through you have animals you you have the the weather
uh you have all these things stacked up against you to actually find his remains.
>> Mhm. Right. And I the thing I want to point out here too, Captain, is look, I'm sure there's a lot of us out
there listening to this and going, "Well, whatever happened to Brandon would never happen to me. I have GPS on
my phone. I have a much different phone than what Brandon had to carry back in 2008."
Let's Let's be smarter than that. Let's take this a step further. Put some things in your vehicle. put
some safety precautions in your vehicle. Flashlights. >> Yeah. And he he might have had some.
>> He he may he may have, but >> he was a young kid. >> This I think this is just a this was a
friendly reminder to me or an unfriendly reminder, however you want to look at it. A reminder to me that it's a good
idea to have things like a flashlight, first aid kit, flares, however far you want to take this thing.
Blankets. Some people put bottles of water >> in their vehicle. This can happen to any
of us. And if you're better prepared, you might have a different outcome. >> Yeah. And even though I I really think
my my gut feeling is correct. And then even if it's not correct, then I I'd lean more towards the idea. Okay. Well,
maybe he made it out of the water and now uh we just haven't found him in that that 40% that hasn't been searched.
I can go with that. The one of the things that really makes me ponder this case more
is the vehicles left and both doors are open. >> Mhm. >> That doesn't make a lot of sense to me.
>> It seems one super strange to me and a bit creepy and scary at the same time.
>> Mhm. That's the only indicator throughout this whole story that whatever Brandon was telling his father
and his mother that something totally different could have been going on. That's the only indicator to me. One one
way that I've tried to apply some just very basic logic to why the the car doors would be open. Obviously, if
somebody came along and tried to wanted to steal something or look for something
of value in the car, that's an obvious thing, >> right? But I also wondered if look, they
were trying to use lights earlier in in this whole thing as a way of finding one another by flashing the lights.
>> Part of me wonders if Brandon Look, we know he was a smart guy. There's nobody
disputing that. >> I wonder if while he's troubleshoot shooting his problem here, if he
thought, you know what, I'm going to head off on foot walking northwest towards this town. Yes, I'm going to
meet my father there. But he's still under the belief at that time that he is in the area of where his father is
searching. Right? So, is it possible that he thought I'll take this a step further and leave the car door open or
doors open? This leaving on the light inside of the car >> that my father might see. So if he
doesn't find me, at least he finds the car and I can we can use that as a landmarker to meet up. So I I kind of
thought that the only thing that that that makes that punches a hole in that thought and theory is that you think
this might have been discussed between Brandon and his father and it wasn't as far as we know.
>> Yeah, it see that detail to me seems like something that's going to keep this
mystery around for a while. >> Right. and his father and mother not only led the search that night and
really pushed to get law enforcement involved as quickly as possible, but they've continued to lead the search for
all these years. >> Yeah. And all missing children cases are difficult. I I think there's an element
of the fact that you both were get getting up that night to go help him makes it even more difficult.
>> Mhm. Well, and I hope and pray that his mother and sister are wrong in their thought and their belief that they've
kind of come to the idea that they may never know what happened to Brandon in throughout their the course of their
lifetime. I hope that they're wrong with that. The the family, this has got to be
haunting for them. And they've already kind of come to the idea and somewhat accepted the idea that Brandon's very
likely no longer with us. But to have some answers would would be very big for them in this situation. Now there is a
thing today called Brandon's law and this is because of Brandon's parents. Annette and Brian Swanson are
responsible for the enactment of Brandon's law which became effective in Minnesota on July 1st, 2009.
This law requires Minnesota police to begin an immediate search for missing adults under 21 as well as older adults
who are missing under suspicious circumstances. And Brandon's situation certainly falls into that regardless of
what theory you favor or believe. The Swanson have kept the porch light on for their son. They have burned through many
light bulbs in the 11 years he has been missing. Brian Swanson has acknowledged that the family likely won't find
Brandon alive, but they still want to find him. There has never been a memorial service for Brandon. Brandon's
sister is now married, and Brandon now has two nephews, which he has never met. The Swanson's want to know what happened
to their son. They say, quote, "You know, people don't just vanish into thin air, but it sure seems like he [music]
did. All >> [music] >> right, Captain. Before we wrap things up this week, how about a little
recommended reading? We have one from our good friend, good friend of the show, Billy Jensen. His new book called
Chase Darkness with Me. Captain, you and I hung out with Billy at Crime Con, and
he was kind enough to send a couple of copies of Chase Darkness with Me to the garage. We can't wait to read it. That's
by Billy Jensen. You don't have to write that title down though because you can go to true crimegar.com,
click on the recommended page and we will have that title there for you along with other recommendations.
>> Yeah. And I think he owed us the book because he thought that uh Bob Ruff was
going to outdrink me. But um but like we know like everybody knows Bob Ruff said
good night therefore disqualifying himself and making me the winner of the drinking contest at Crime Con. So thank
you Billy and thank you Bob for quitting on the drinking contest. >> That's right. All right. Until next week
everybody out there. Be good, be kind, and don't litter. Heat. Heat. [music] [music]

Brandon Swanson /// Missing /// Part 3

Part 3 of 3

Original Release: 9-2-2019

In May 2008, 19-year-old college student Brandon Swanson vanished without a trace after a late-night drive through rural Minnesota. In True Crime Garage Episode 332, Nic and the Captain dive deep into one of the most haunting and perplexing missing person cases in modern true crime history.

After attending a small gathering with friends, Brandon called his parents in the early morning hours to report that he had accidentally driven his car into a ditch. Believing he was near the town of Lynd, Minnesota, Brandon stayed on the phone with his father while attempting to walk toward distant town lights for help. What followed was a chilling and unforgettable moment. During the call, Brandon suddenly exclaimed, “Oh, shit!” before the line abruptly went silent. He was never heard from again.

In this episode, True Crime Garage carefully examines the timeline of Brandon Swanson’s final movements, the extensive search efforts across treacherous farmland and waterways, and the investigative challenges that have left this case unsolved for nearly two decades. Nic and the Captain also discuss the lasting impact Brandon’s disappearance has had on his family and how the case led to the creation of Brandon’s Law, which changed missing persons reporting procedures in Minnesota.

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Brief Summary

Brandon Swanson's case is examined, focusing on theories of his disappearance and the challenges in search efforts.

Key points

Welcome to True Crime Garage. Hosts Nick and the Captain introduce the show and thank listeners for their support.
Theories on Brandon's Disappearance. Exploring various theories about what happened to Brandon Swanson after he went missing.
The Search for Brandon. Discussion on the challenges faced during the search for Brandon Swanson and the areas that remain unsearched.
Brandon's Law Enacted. Brandon's parents advocate for immediate searches for missing adults under 21, leading to new legislation.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Only a total psychotic would listen to this show at two times the speed.

Introduction to the show

0:53WatchFeb 5, 2026

Tension

65/ 100Some tension

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