MISSING 5 YEARS: Brandon Swanson, 19 - Marshall, MINNESOTA
It's been five years, but Brian and Annette Swanson parents still keep the porch light burning for their missing son.
The Swansons turned on the light May 14, 2008 -- the night Brandon Swanson disappeared while driving home to Marshall, Minn.
"There's no reason to turn it off now," Brian Swanson said Monday, May 13. "I'm pretty sure we're not going to find him alive, but I still want to believe that we will find him. That's probably a stretch, but I still want to believe that."
Brandon Swanson, who was 19 when he disappeared, went into a ditch on a gravel road. He called home at 1:54 a.m. and asked his parents to pick him up near Lynd, a small town southwest of Marshall. He said he would walk toward town.
As Brian and Annette Swanson drove toward Lynd, Brian talked to Brandon on his cellphone. "I talked to him for 47 minutes, and all of a sudden, he said, 'Oh, s---!' and the phone went dead," Brian Swanson said. "There was nothing after that."
Authorities originally suspected Brandon Swanson had fallen into the Yellow Medicine River but later concentrated on an area near Mud Creek, a few miles northwest of Porter. The last official search was conducted in October 2011.
Since becoming the lead law-enforcement agency on the case in 2010, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension has received 75 tips about Brandon, said Drew Evans, assistant superintendent for the BCA. The agency has received three tips since April 1, including one just two weeks ago, he said.
"We continue to follow up on any and all tips we receive," Evans said. "Our goal is the same goal as everybody else: we want to see Brandon brought home, and we want to find him. We will continue to keep this as an active investigation until we have answers."
More than 500 volunteers, including 34 dog handlers from nine different states, spent more than 120 days searching for Brandon and covered part of 120 square miles, said Jeff Hasse, the search manager.
"It's by far the biggest search I've ever been involved in terms of length of time, number of missions and number of searchers involved," said Hasse, founder of Midwest Technical Rescue Training Associates, a nonprofit organization that teaches technical rescue skills to public-safety providers."I think time favors the search," Hasse said. "I think eventually something will be found. I am hopeful."
Brandon graduated from Marshall High School in 2007 and spent a year studying wind energy at Minnesota West Community College in Canby.
He was last seen wearing baggy jeans, a blue-striped polo shirt, a black hooded sweatshirt, a white Twins baseball cap, wire-rimmed glasses and a sterling-silver chain necklace. His green Chevy Lumina was found near Taunton, between Marshall and Canby, not anywhere near where he told his parents he thought he was. His parents believe he became confused wandering around in the dark.
Officials say there is no evidence of foul play. There also is no indication that Brandon staged his own disappearance. Brian Swanson agrees. "We were very close, and that's not something he would have done," he said.
A year after Brandon's disappearance, the Minnesota Legislature passed a law requiring law-enforcement authorities to respond more aggressively to cases in which adults disappear under suspicious or dangerous circumstances. Brandon's Law requires a more aggressive response for missing adults up to age 21 and older adults who disappear under suspicious circumstances.
As for the five-year anniversary on Tuesday, Brian and Annette Swanson have nothing major planned, he said.
"I know that we'll give each other a long hug," he said. "It's not that we have forgotten Brandon or anything like that. It's just that we searched extensively for 3-1/2 to 4 years ... It hurts."
TO HELP
Anyone with information about Brandon Swanson's disappearance is asked to call the BCA Tip Line at 1-877-996-6222 or email bca.coldcase@state.mn.us.
Source: http://www.twincities.com/ci_23233985/five-years-after-brandon-swansons-disappearance-porch-lights
Respectfully,
Amy Kinney,
Distribution List Manager
LostNMissing, Inc.
Phone: 603.965.4621
Cell: 603.548.6548
LostNMissing, Inc. is an all volunteer state and federally recognized 501c(3) Non-Profit charitable organization to assist law enforcement and the families of missing. We never charge a fee for our services. All Support Members, Board of Directors, Officers and Owner are Volunteers.
