MN MN - Susan Swedell, 19, Lake Elmo, 19 Jan 1988

[jenn_1586]

I found this news story from Jan. 2017

http://kstp.com/news/missing-minnesotans-susan-swedell-lake-elmo-oak-park-heights/4371913/

 

[stillmissingpodcast]

We are producing a podcast on Susan's disappearance. Does anyone have any information or theories they can share with me?

 

[brado]

Is anyone actively looking into Susan's disappearance? Does anyone have any police information they can give me? I remember this happening and would like to help in the case. I was 15 at the time and she lived 45 minutes from me (less now with new Hwy's). It was about the same time that a guy showed up on the gravel road, outside our house, where I grew up. Scary things were happening in Minnesota at that time.

I'm not sure how actively anyone is searching. There seems to be confusion with the New York Jane Doe, but CarlK stated Susan was ruled out as a match by the Westchester, NY PD. If CarlK says she's ruled out, then she's ruled out. More information is needed on "Dale". More detail is needed from the clerk at the gas station.

Can you elaborate on what was happening in your neighborhood at the time?

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

30 years ago, a Lake Elmo teen vanished. Now her case is getting new eyes and a podcast

https://www.twincities.com/2018/01/06/lake-elmo-teenager-vanished-susan-swedell-cold-case-1998-30-years-ago/

For months, Swedell’s family put up posters and distributed fliers. Law enforcement officers canvassed the area. A $25,000 reward was offered for information leading to her whereabouts. How could a 19-year-old girl disappear off the face of the Earth?

Thirty years later, the question remains.

“We don’t know what happened that night,” said Kathy Swedell, Sue’s mother. “She was telling us that she was going to come home because it was an all-out Minnesota blizzard. When I looked out our window, I could barely see across the street, and here she was driving home. We didn’t know if she had stopped someplace or tried to walk. It was terrible. No sign of Susan. No call. Nothing. Officers did go out and look for her, but by the time they found her car, there was no sign of Susan.

Led by Washington County Sheriff’s Office Cmdr. Andy Ellickson, the unit is “relooking at everything from Day 1,” Starry said. That includes reviewing all evidence and re-interviewing Swedell’s acquaintances.

Investigators have traveled to Arizona, California and Michigan in the past few months to conduct interviews. “People have moved, and we want to make sure we look at everything,” Starry said. “We’re relooking at acquaintances — anyone with a connection to this case — making sure we understand their story and seeing if they have anything new.”

The $25,000 reward still stands, and a two-week billboard campaign is planned. Clear Channel Outdoor has offered free space on digital billboards statewide, Washington County Chief Deputy Brian Mueller said.

Podcaster Kara Thannert began researching the Swedell case in July. The first three episodes of her “Still Missing” podcast, which is devoted to Swedell, were released on Nov. 26; subsequent episodes are being released every other Tuesday.

 

[thenotebook]

The whole thing with someone (either the abductor or Susan) returning to the house a few days later just baffles me.

The pants found under her bed. Was the mom absolutely sure they weren't there before she went missing (assuming she had more than one pair of red work pants?) I just thought it seemed odd that she'd check under her bed, so made me wonder if the pants had been there for awhile.

Why would this person bother to cook food and leave dirty dishes?!? That is so strange. If the abductor came back you'd think he would have been in and out very quickly.

I also read that the key was found in a different spot than normal, which suggests that it was not Susan, as she would have been careful to put the key back in it's normal position.

 

[JerseyGirl]

We are producing a podcast on Susan's disappearance. Does anyone have any information or theories they can share with me?

Case of Lake Elmo teen missing 30 years revived by authorities, podcast

http://www.startribune.com/case-of-...ars-revived-by-authorities-podcast/468470073/

The Washington County Sheriff’s Office has formed a cold-case unit to investigate the disappearance of the 19-year-old Lake Elmo woman who was last seen getting into a man’s car at a gas station at Hwy. 5 and Manning Avenue on Jan. 19, 1988.

Others interested in solving the case have launched a podcast series called “Still Missing” to dig up and share information on old, dormant cold cases.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

https://www.twincities.com/2018/01/10/tips-surge-in-lake-elmo-teen-susan-swedells-1988-disappearance/

New tips concerning Susan Swedell, who went missing during a blizzard in Lake Elmo on Jan. 19, 1988, have been coming in to the Washington County sheriff’s office after a Pioneer Press report on the case was published Sunday.

Sheriff Dan Starry said his office has received eight tips this week about Swedell; her case has been getting renewed attention as the 30th anniversary of her disappearance nears.

The tips range from people calling with information “that they feel could help the investigation” to a person who came to the office and asked to be interviewed about the case, Starry said. He would not give additional details.

 

[Gardener1850]

[h=1]Aggressive search launched for Lake Elmo woman missing for 30 years[/h]

Washington County Sheriff Dan Starry held a news conference Friday to announce that solving the mystery is the first task for his new cold case unit. "Today is about Susan," he said. "Today is about hope. We're determined to find a resolution for the family."

Joining Starry at the news conference, in addition to Christine Swedell, were Chief Deputy Brian Mueller, Investigations Commander Andrew Ellickson, County Attorney Pete Orput, County Commissioner Gary Kriesel, Superintendent Drew Evans of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and three detectives working on the case.

"We're never going to let go of this until we can hold someone accountable to answer the questions," Orput said.
To draw more attention to the Swedell case, a walk will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at Maplewood Mall, starting near the entrance to Kohl's, Starry said.

http://www.startribune.com/aggressi...ke-elmo-woman-missing-for-30-years/470143803/

 

[Trino]

Here is a link to a UID found in NY on Feb. 14, 1988. Very close in height, weight, eye color, hair. I did not want to post the photo as I don't know how to do a graphic warning. This UID was created in Namus on May 3rd and modified on May 15th. Dentals have not been entered yet.


https://identifyus.org/en/cases/10229

I think this is an amazing likeness.

 

[Tippy Lynn]

Here is a link to a UID found in NY on Feb. 14, 1988. Very close in height, weight, eye color, hair. I did not want to post the photo as I don't know how to do a graphic warning. This UID was created in Namus on May 3rd and modified on May 15th. Dentals have not been entered yet.


https://identifyus.org/en/cases/10229

I don’t think the shape Susan’s eyes are a match. SS’s eye’s slant downwards and this UID eyes don’t.

 

[thenotebook]

It's extremely unlikely that she would have ended up in NYC.

 

[folieadeuxnola]

National Missing Children's Day: Find Missing Minnesota Kids



Susan Swedell went missing in her home town of Lake Elmo on Jan. 15, 1988. The 19-year-old had finished her shift at the Oak Park Heights Kmart at 9 p.m. and left in the midst of a blizzard.

On her way home, Swedell's car overheated on Stillwater Boulevard. After leaving her vehicle at a gas station, the clerk said he saw her get into another car with a man, and she hasn't been seen since.

 

[folieadeuxnola]

She disappeared in 1988. Now Lake Elmo gatherings set to stir new clues – Twin Cities

Friends and family of Susan Swedell are hoping a ceremony this weekend will help bring attention to her case.

Susan Swedell is shown in a photo taken about a month before she went missing in 1988.
Swedell, 19, went missing during a blizzard in Lake Elmo on Jan. 19, 1988, and hasn’t been seen since.

At 11 a.m. Sunday, Swedell’s friends and family will gather at Christ Lutheran Church in Lake Elmo and plant a crabapple tree in her memory. A social gathering will follow in the church atrium.

 

[cybervampira]

Family of missing Lake Elmo woman holds out hope for her return

 

[tiffkinsadder]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.tw...usan-swedell-cold-case-1998-30-years-ago/amp/

 

[PommyMommy]

JAN 19, 2019
Closs' return brings hope to family of missing Washington County girl
The Washington County Sheriff's Office shared one family's message as they continue searching for Susan Swedell, who went missing in 1988.

"There is no way to truly know how devastating it is to have a loved one missing unless you have lived it. That uncertainty, that fear. The persistent hope. The recent return of Jayme Closs is an amazing, uplifting reminder that some families do receive answers," the department wrote on Facebook.

According to the sheriff's office, the family wrote the following message for Sue:

"January 19th, 2019, marks 31 years that our dear Sue has been missing
31 years of not having enough information to find her
31 years of life being turned upside down
31 years of living in a nightmare
To those around us, 31 years looks like she couldn’t possibly be still around—but when you are living through this, the not knowing, you don’t think that way, you still have and cling onto the hope, because yes, there is still hope. Please keep searching for Sue. Please keep the hope. Mom and I are lost without her.
~We love you dearly Sue~"

 

[BethAnn777]

Sue’s FB page

Swedell Strong

 

[PommyMommy]

Spotlight On Crime - Home

Missing person flyer with age-progessed photo to 48 years old (from the link):

 

[PommyMommy]

BCA, Washington County Sheriff’s Office Seek Information on Missing Lake Elmo Woman’s Cold Case File
January 17, 2014
BCA, Washington County Sheriff's Office Seek Information on Missing Lake Elmo Woman's Cold Case File - Stillwater Current

Also from the link:

It was snowing heavily 26 years ago this Sunday night, a message on the BCA’s Facebook page states. Susan Swedell, then 19, finished her shift at the Oak Park Heights K-Mart and called her mom to say she was on her way to their Lake Elmo home.

“She stopped at a gas station about mile from home and asked the attendant if she could leave her car there because she was having car trouble,” the BCA post reads. “She got into another car with a man and was never seen again.”

 

[PommyMommy]

I found this news story from Jan. 2017

Missing Minnesotans: Susan Swedell

From the link:

Nineteen- year-old Susan Swedell disappeared from Lake Elmo 29 years ago this week. To her family she is very much alive. And to law enforcement, the case is active.

After almost three decades, the Washington County Sheriff's Office still stays in touch with Susan Swedell's family.

KSTP was there when they met with her mother Kathy and sister Christine at the Jacob Wetterling Resource Enter.

"You know it's still an active, open investigation," said Det. Chuck Aldean. "Cold case is kind of a misnomer."

In fact, Aldean says they received a tip about Susan recently. "There's been members of the public that have come forward with information that we feel is credible to follow up on."

While he wouldn't elaborate on the lead, the news gives the Swedell family hope. Twenty-nine years is a long time. Susan's younger sister Christine says "It's been a nightmare. Nothing makes sense."