Brandon Swanson — a deep dive into his disappearance

Imagine being on the phone with someone you love at the exact moment they disappear from the world, never again to be seen or heard from.

Seems incomprehensible, doesn't it?

was the reality of the parents of Brandon Swanson, a nineteen-year-old student at the Minnesota West Community and Technical College.

Brandon went to two different parties on the 13th of May 2008 celebrating the end of the spring semester in the town Canby. He was seen drinking in both of these parties but did not appear overly intoxicated according to his fellow partygoers.

Around midnight Brandon decided to take his car home, a route from Canby to Marshall which he knew well owing to his driving there every day. But for some reason, he chose not the take the Minnesota State Highway 68 as usual but ventured instead for the back roads.

On his way home, Brandon lost control of the car and drove it directly into a ditch. He then called his parents to tell them what had happened. Brandon felt sure he was close to the town Lynd because he could see lights from a city ahead and he agreed with his parents that they would come and pick him up.

They also agreed to flash headlights on and off to signal to each other, but after a while of the Swansons driving back and forth along the route without finding their son, they came up with a new plan.

Brandon would walk to Lynd, since he could see it clearly, and meet them in a popular nightclub there. He chose not to stay on the road but went directly through a field.

Brandon and his parents were continuously talking on the phone while he was walking to Lynd, but 47 minutes into the call, they heard Brandon say “Oh shit” followed up by silence. They asked him what happened, but no response came.

After a while, they decided to hang up and call him again. They did this several times but Brandon didn’t pick up, and his swear words were the last words he ever spoke to his family.

At 6:30 in the morning, his parents filed a missing persons report with the police but were initially told there was no reason to worry, and that Brandon would come home hungover when he was ready.

When the search for him finally did commence later the same day, the police pulled Brandon's phone records to better track him and they showed something odd.