Brandon Swanson Cries Out on Phone and Is Gone — No Trace Found

In the early hours of May 14, 2008, 19-year-old Brandon Swanson drove his car into a ditch on a rural Minnesota road after a night out with friends. Uninjured, he called his parents and stayed on the line with his father for 47 continuous minutes as they drove out to find him. Brandon told them he was near Lynd, Minnesota, but despite headlights from both cars being visible from miles away in the flat prairie landscape, they could not locate each other. Then, without warning, Brandon said "Oh, shit!" — and the call went dead. He never called back. His car was found the next day not near Lynd, but near Taunton, roughly 20 miles away — his cell signal had been pinging a tower near Taunton the entire time. Search dogs tracked his scent from the car across a field and to the edge of the Yellow Medicine River, where the trail ended abruptly at the riverbank. No body has ever been recovered from the river or its surroundings. No phone, no wallet, no clothing, no remains. 122 square miles were searched. The Yellow Medicine River was dragged multiple times. His parents drove along the ditch lines of every road in the county. Brandon Swanson has never been found. His case directly led to the passage of Brandon's Law in Minnesota, requiring immediate searches for missing young adults.