Brandon Victor Swanson

Status:

Open

Jurisdiction:

Lincoln County Sheriffs Office (MN)

Missing From:

Marshall, Minnesota

Summary:

Shortly after midnight on May 14, 2008, Brandon Swanson of Marshall, Minnesota, drove his car into a ditch on his way home from celebrating the end of the spring semester. Uninjured, he called his parents but remained on the phone with them until he went silent 47 minutes later after exclaiming 'Oh, shit!' and has not been seen or heard from since.

Vital Statistics

Circumstances of Disappearance:

Shortly after midnight on May 14, 2008, Brandon Swanson drove his car into a ditch on his way home from celebrating the end of the spring semester with fellow students from Minnesota West Community and Technical College's Canby campus. Uninjured, he got out and called his parents on his cellphone. Unsure of his exact location, he told them he believed he was near Lynd, and they drove out to pick him up; however, they were unable to locate him or his vehicle. Swanson remained on the phone with them until he went silent 47 minutes later after exclaiming "Oh, shit!" Later that day, the circumstances of his disappearance became more complicated when his cell phone records showed he had been near Porter, 25 miles from where Swanson had said he was. The sheriff's office obtained Brandon's cell phone records, which revealed that Brandon had been calling from the vicinity of Taunton, along State Highway 68, the main route to Canby, northwest of Marshall—25 miles from Lynd. Deputies discovered Brandon's abandoned car in a ditch off a gravel road along the Lincoln County line one mile north of Highway 68.

Additional Details:

In the morning, Swanson's parents reported him missing to police, who advised them to wait as such behavior was not uncommon for young men his age. Foul play has not been ruled out, but it has also been proposed that he might have accidentally fallen into the Yellow Medicine River, near where his car was found, and drowned, although extensive searches have not found a body. Land searches, with dogs, continued in the area for several years. His parents successfully lobbied the state legislature to pass Brandon's Law, which requires that police begin investigations of missing adults promptly. After it passed both houses, including unanimously in the lower chamber, in May 2009, Governor Tim Pawlenty signed it into law with the Swansons and their daughter Jamine in attendance at the ceremony. In 2010, ownership of the case was given to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. In an effort to pump some life into the case, they set up a tipline, which has yielded nearly a hundred viable tips since its inception. In 2015, official searches of the area resumed, focusing on the Yellow Medicine River and its branches.

Case Last Updated:

Apr 29, 2026