MN MN - Brandon Swanson, 19, Marshall, 14 May 2008

[Jupitersdaughter]

The father says he said oh **** and then heard a fall sound? Would it not be simultaneous or the slip sound come first if he had fallen into the water? And if the phone was dropped in the river, it would've went straight to voice mail everytime but it didn't, no?

This is so weird.

 

[Picachu]

Is that right? He had gone into the ditch and was still talking to his dad while walking across a field?

Yes, he had left the road to cut across the field just nearby;

At 2:33, he talks to his father for 47 minutes. He indicated that he was walking on a gravel road toward Lynd.
At a point, he leaves the road and cuts through fields. At 3:10AM, he says that he encountered two fences and that he could hear water nearby. Shortly after this, Brandon shouts “Oh, ****!”; his father could hear his feet slip and then the lines goes dead.

http://coralines-oddities.tumblr.com/post/130982611608/brandon-swanson

And:

At 2:23 a.m., Brandon and his father begin a 47-minute cell phone call. During this call, Brandon indicates that he was walking along a gravel road away from Marshall towards Lynd. At some point, he leaves the road and travels cross-country, stating that he is going to “cut across because it will be quicker than following the road.” He further stated that he had encountered two fence lines and noted that there was water nearby. Shortly after, Brandon exclaims; “Oh s***.” His father believes he hears Brandon’s foot slipping and the phone goes dead. This was at 3:10 a.m. No further contact was made, even after repeated attempts.

https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/User:Jeff_Hasse/Missing_Person_Case_Study_--_Brandon_Swanson

If it had not been because the theory that he fell into the river was ruled out during the search, it would sound as if he indeed fell into it:

Search dogs were brought onto the scene. The dogs led investigators to the Yellow Medicine River, which was high and flowing fast at the time. Investigators searched along the river to no avail, though the theory that he fell into the river was later ruled out, as his body would have washed up if he had fallen in and drowned.

http://coralines-oddities.tumblr.com/post/130982611608/brandon-swanson

 

[Sasquatch321]

Yes, he had left the road to cut across the field just nearby; http://coralines-oddities.tumblr.com/post/130982611608/brandon-swanson

And: https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/User:Jeff_Hasse/Missing_Person_Case_Study_--_Brandon_Swanson

If it had not been because the theory that he fell into the river was ruled out during the search, it would sound as if he indeed fell into it: http://coralines-oddities.tumblr.com/post/130982611608/brandon-swanson

Yeah you can't rule out that the river has had its way with this situation.

 

[Oller]

Picachu, I appreciate your point of view on this case.

I'm trying to think of other possibilities to explain what happened to Brandon. If he didn't get hit by a car, then did he fall into the river and get swept downstream? I feel like that theory has been exhausted. I don't think this is a random abduction, either. Was he set up by a "friend" for some reason?

This case blows me away. I hang onto hope for Brandon's safe retu n.

 

[neesaki]

Or he was disoriented because it was pitch black and he was legally blind on his right eye. Regarding the phone stopping working because of wetness, there are some question marks regarding that scenario as the phone did work and continued to ring the following days:"Dahl (LE) said law enforcement expected Brandon Swanson’s cell phone to not work but when they made calls to it during the day on Wednesday and Thursday, the phone rang and eventually calls were directed to his voice mail.Later Thursday, calls were immediately directed to Brandon Swanson’s voicemail, which likely meant the phone’s battery needed to be charged, Dahl said." http://webcache.googleusercontent.c...01860.html?nav=5015+&cd=2&hl=sv&ct=clnk&gl=seSo, given that it did work for days after brandon's disappearance but then suddenly did not, one must wonder what was the reason for that. It has been suggested that perhaps Brandon fell into some type of hole or cavity, which would then be the reason for the phone working, until supposedly, the battery went dead. Given that Neesaki described the predator as offering rides, he was obviously referring to a predator like William Bonin or Randy Kraft rather than an actual wolf or bear driving around offering lone walking youngsters rides.Although I guess the mere sight of a bear or huge wolf coming out from pitch darkness and with a big grin growling; "Want a ride?" could indeed have made quite a few people to shout "Oh sh*it!".

Regarding the cell phone questions: According to MTRTA Search Manager, here is what he has to say about that:

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...19-Marshall-14-May-2008&p=4677632#post4677632

"Regarding the Cell Phone Many inferences have been made regarding the fact that Brandon's cell phone rang for a time before it went straight to voice mail. Unfortunately, little can be accurately inferred from this. According to one of our members who is an executive at a regional telephone company, the ring that you hear when you call someone has little to do with what is happening at the other end (the recipient's phone). It is an artificial sound that is being generated at a switch in some building, not by the recipient's phone. It is a holdover from the old analog phone days.The way a phone handles voice-mail when it is turned off or disabled is entirely dependant on how this function is programmed at the phone carrier's computer systems. Therefore, there is a great deal of variability regarding how it works between carriers, calling plans, and even models of phones.While there are many possibilities regarding what happened at the end of Brandon's phone call to his father (the phone may have been lost, shorted out in water, battery dead, working but Brandon wasn't able to use it, etc.), the only thing that can accurately be inferred is that Brandon wasn't able to reestablish contact with his father after that point.Jeff"

 

[neesaki]

Is that right? He had gone into the ditch and was still talking to his dad while walking across a field?

Yes, that is what's been reported.

 

[Picachu]

Picachu, I appreciate your point of view on this case.

I'm trying to think of other possibilities to explain what happened to Brandon. If he didn't get hit by a car, then did he fall into the river and get swept downstream? I feel like that theory has been exhausted. I don't think this is a random abduction, either. Was he set up by a "friend" for some reason?

This case blows me away. I hang onto hope for Brandon's safe retu n.

I totally understand you, the case is a mystery.
Regarding the river scenario, I would have believed that was most likely what happened had it not been because the investigators deemed it unlikely, which they based on that they would have found him flushed away in the areas they searched of it or flushed up and stranded if that had happened. However I pondered the possibility whether he might possibly have become lodged in some underwater crevice or the like.:/

What would have been of really great help in this case would have been to know whether his phone was water safe or not water safe, as this would explain whether it is possible he fell into the river or not, as his phone did continue ringing during the day(s) after his disappearance, and did not switch over to voice mail until on late Thursday. If the phone was water tight, it could potentially have ended up in the water, and nevertheless continued functioning, but if it was not water tight, it would have stopped working if it fell into the river and not continued ringing the days after.
I wonder if the parents might know.

There is however the following information contradicting that his final destination would have been the river:

While initial attempts at obtaining a direction of travel using trailing dogs failed, once they switched to another scent article, one of the dogs was able to pick up a trail. From Brandon’s vehicle, it traveled ½ mile south then turned west onto 390th St. where it continued for a mile. There, the trail turned north onto Co. Rd. 16. The trail continued north for ½ mile then turned west onto the driveway of an abandoned farm. It continued west for approximately ¼ of a mile and then left the driveway and roughly followed the course of the Yellow Medicine River heading northwest. At one point the bloodhound jumped into the Yellow Medicine River and then exited it. The handler interpreted this behavior as possibly indicating that Brandon might have fallen into the river at that point. However, the trail continued past this point to a drainage, where it continued north towards the gravel road forming the boundary between Lincoln and Yellow Medicine Counties. The dog was unable to trail any further.

https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/User:Jeff_Hasse/Missing_Person_Case_Study_--_Brandon_Swanson

So, if understanding it right, the trail continued towards that gravel road but never actually reached it. Very odd.:/

I wondered if he could have fallen into some type of hole or something similar, and yet, apparently that is a very unlikely possibility as well:

• Modern well casings for residential use are generally 4-6” in diameter. Small enough for a puppy to fall into, but not a human. Municipal and commercial casing are often in the range of 16-20” in diameter, which is large enough to fall into. However, there are none in the area that aren’t enclosed in buildings. The only well that is large enough for an adult male to fall into that would have been accessible to Brandon is a hand-dug brick or timber lined well. Any in the area would be over 100 years old and most likely be collapsed. An intact pioneer well is an exceptionally rare thing in this area (if they are in the area at all). The likelihood that he found the one intact pioneer well in the entire region is extremely low.
• For many years, Minnesota law has required that old wells and cisterns be filled in and/or capped.
• A more likely possibility is falling into a cistern. Many, if not most, old farms in the area had one. Windmills would pump water into a cistern where it is more readily accessible. They are often covered with a wooden covering which can rot away. While all the teams have been looking for them, none have been found.
• There just aren’t a lot of abandoned farms within the search area. We have found at least three old farmsteads on the map that have been completely wiped off the land. The farmland in this area is so valuable that every footing, cistern, and piece of concrete has been removed.
• All of the search teams that I have worked with on this search are aware of old cisterns and the like. The three or four abandoned farms we have found have been searched thoroughly.

• https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/User:Jeff_Hasse/Missing_Person_Case_Study_--_Brandon_Swanson

As said, the case is a mystery.

 

[neesaki]

Yeah you can't rule out that the river has had its way with this situation.

Except that according to MTRTA Search Manager, Jeffe Hasse, in his Missing Person Case Study: https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/User:Jeff_Hasse/Missing_Person_Case_Study_--_Brandon_Swanson

Based on the bloodhound trail, a presumption was made that Brandon fell into the water and drowned. Much of the search effort from this point on is directed towards this scenario. While this was a reasonable scenario to explore, other scenarios exist, such as Brandon stumbled, lost or broke his phone, and continued walking. In fact, the bloodhound evidence is more suggestive of the second scenario. While the dog did at one point jump into the Yellow Medicine River, it came out again and continued with good purpose of movement, suggesting the trail continued. The dog was able to follow the trail until just shy of another gravel road. When a dog stops trailing, this doesn’t necessarily mean the trail "ends;" it may simply mean that the dog is at the end of its "nose time." This was over a three-mile trail, which is a relatively long trail.

All I can say, is that this case keeps me up nights.

 

[TroyinTX]

I don 't buy that someone hit him and then decided to dispose of the body. That rarely, if ever, actually happens. In most cases, the driver panics and takes off. Most are not going to stop, pick the body up, put it in their vehicle, and take the time and be in the frame of mind to hide the body so well that is has never been found.

 

[Sasquatch321]

Just curious if any drug use has been speculated. I don't understand the decision to leave a road and start cutting across a field. You have a phone and a road why leave?

 

[neesaki]

Just curious if any drug use has been speculated. I don't understand the decision to leave a road and start cutting across a field. You have a phone and a road why leave?

It was such bad judgement for such a bright young man, I have to believe that drug use is possible, IMO. Or could he have been drugged unknowingly. Have also wondered if someone was after him and that's why he cut across the field. It makes no logical sense why he would do it otherwise , especially considering his bad vision, and How dark it was that night.

 

[Picachu]

Regarding the cell phone questions: According to MTRTA Search Manager, here is what he has to say about that:

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...19-Marshall-14-May-2008&p=4677632#post4677632

Thanks Neesaki!
Yes, I saw that but did not feel it really cleared the mystery regarding the river scenario, as it do say that it is still possible the phone was made inoperable by falling in the water, so that part it is still somewhat of an mystery. :/

Just curious if any drug use has been speculated. I don't understand the decision to leave a road and start cutting across a field. You have a phone and a road why leave?

It say that he made the ddecision to cut through the field as he believed it would be a shortcut:

At some point, he leaves the road and travels cross-country, stating that he is going to “cut across because it will be quicker than following the road.”

https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/User:Jeff_Hasse/Missing_Person_Case_Study_--_Brandon_Swanson

Regarding drugs, it is stated in one of the earlier links that a pipe was also found, but that it was unclear whether it had been used for drugs or if it was even Brandon's:

Officials also found a pipe that apparently could be used for drugs, but it has not yet been tested for drugs and it is not known if the pipe was Swanson’s or if it was used for drugs, Dahl said.

http://webcache.googleusercontent.c...01860.html?nav=5015+&cd=2&hl=sv&ct=clnk&gl=se

As nothing more has ever been heard of this pipe, I guess it was perhaps nothing to it that was considered relevant for the case, then.

 

[Oller]

I don 't buy that someone hit him and then decided to dispose of the body. That rarely, if ever, actually happens. In most cases, the driver panics and takes off. Most are not going to stop, pick the body up, put it in their vehicle, and take the time and be in the frame of mind to hide the body so well that is has never been found.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. While I respect your opinion, I disagree with what you've stated. I believe that there are more hit-and-hauls (for lack of a better term) than one would think. Adrenaline makes people do outlandish things, and even though people (hopefully) feel bad when they get into a vehicle/pedestrian accident, people also want to stay out of trouble with the law. JMO, MOO, all of it.

 

[thenotebook]

Any updates on the request for information on the case??

Also, I noticed in that short youtube clip that the picture of his car had all the doors CLOSED with police tape around it. If one or more doors had been left open, would they (the police) tape around the open doors or would they shut them and then tape the car?

If all 4 doors were open that is very strange. That would make me think someone went back to his car after the fact and looked for wallets, etc to steal and then left the doors open.

 

[neesaki]

Any updates on the request for information on the case??

Also, I noticed in that short youtube clip that the picture of his car had all the doors CLOSED with police tape around it. If one or more doors had been left open, would they (the police) tape around the open doors or would they shut them and then tape the car?

If all 4 doors were open that is very strange. That would make me think someone went back to his car after the fact and looked for wallets, etc to steal and then left the doors open.

Which youtube video was that, do you have a link? I'd like to see it. TIA

 

[thenotebook]

Just this one that was posted earlier in the thread: https://youtu.be/McLMOf1n-AY?t=59

 

[thenotebook]

I listed to the Thinking Sideways podcast episode about Brandon's case. This was the first time I'd listen to one of their podcasts and it struck me as a little odd the way they were joking around throughout the show. I haven't heard a podcast with that tone before discussing a missing person case.

 

[neesaki]

I'm still intrigued by the "tiger" and "dog" comment made over on Reddit. Anyone new here that may have a clue ?

 

[neesaki]

I lean more and more toward foul play, especially since Brandon is listed under FBI's VICAP. And the tips that continue to come in. Tips of what, possible suspects? And as most of us here know, unfortunately there's not always evidence of foul play. It also states on the FBI page that Brandon's car was found with all the doors open. Why on earth would he open all the car doors.That makes no sense.
https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/vicap/missing-persons/brandon-victor-swanson

Tips have continued to come forward, but authorities say there is no evidence of foul play

http://www.marshallindependent.com/...on-search-spans-entire-Saturday.html?nav=5015

 

[Picachu]

I'm still intrigued by the "tiger" and "dog" comment made over on Reddit. Anyone new here that may have a clue ?

Now I found what you meant. No idea, but some posters are saying that the "Tiger" refers to a mascot, and that Brandon's High school where he graduated is located on Tiger Drive: https://www.reddit.com/r/Unresolved...n_thread_that_really/?st=iuisltvr&sh=67bb7f01

Another poster suggested it was something from a psychic reading, which would actually explain the cryptic nature of the statement.
God, I hate when people are cryptic. Why not simply just spill it out?