1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,040 Hi everyone, this is Deb from Dying to be Found. 2 00:00:03,040 --> 00:00:12,340 Before we get started, I just wanted to say that episodes contain disturbing discussions on harmful acts and crimes against animals and or humankind. 3 00:00:12,340 --> 00:00:18,560 Recordings are not intended for young or sensitive audiences due to the content nature of this podcast. 4 00:00:18,560 --> 00:00:21,200 Listener discretion is strongly advised. 5 00:00:23,800 --> 00:00:25,700 Hi everyone, I'm Deb. 6 00:00:25,700 --> 00:00:26,840 And I'm Shelby. 7 00:00:26,840 --> 00:00:32,100 And we want to welcome you to episode number 50 of Dying to be Found. 8 00:00:32,100 --> 00:00:36,600 Shelby, we are just a couple of episodes away from finishing out this season. 9 00:00:36,600 --> 00:00:40,840 So to our listeners, be sure to tune in for our season finale. 10 00:00:40,840 --> 00:00:43,200 Shelby, I think it's really going to be a good one. 11 00:00:43,200 --> 00:00:45,300 I can't wait to tell you the story. 12 00:00:45,300 --> 00:00:46,500 I can't wait to hear it. 13 00:00:46,500 --> 00:00:51,100 I cannot believe that it's coming up on a year since we've been doing this. 14 00:00:51,100 --> 00:00:52,200 This is crazy. 15 00:00:52,200 --> 00:00:52,940 I'm loving it. 16 00:00:52,940 --> 00:00:56,000 And I was saying before we press the record button, 17 00:00:56,000 --> 00:01:01,400 I know this is my hobby, but I appreciate you being here with me because I'm really having a lot of fun. 18 00:01:01,400 --> 00:01:05,800 And I'm getting a lot of good feedback from our listeners to have my family members here. 19 00:01:05,800 --> 00:01:07,440 So thanks for coming on. 20 00:01:07,440 --> 00:01:08,500 I enjoy it. 21 00:01:08,500 --> 00:01:09,240 Aww. 22 00:01:09,240 --> 00:01:12,440 And I don't even feel like I've talked to you very much this week. 23 00:01:12,440 --> 00:01:15,300 I know. It has been so busy. 24 00:01:15,300 --> 00:01:17,500 Yeah, I have a conference coming up this week. 25 00:01:17,500 --> 00:01:19,700 So it's going to be nuts-a-rama. 26 00:01:19,700 --> 00:01:22,100 I'm going to be gone for three whole days. 27 00:01:22,100 --> 00:01:23,140 Wow. 28 00:01:23,140 --> 00:01:24,900 And we will see how that goes. 29 00:01:24,900 --> 00:01:27,100 It's got to be like a mini vacation though. 30 00:01:27,100 --> 00:01:34,400 Work was talking about they were bringing up the fact if any employees maybe want to start going on conference trips. 31 00:01:34,400 --> 00:01:37,300 And that's something that I'm very interested in doing. 32 00:01:37,300 --> 00:01:42,700 Oh my gosh. Really? Out of state or I mean, you know, hint, hint, Atlanta. 33 00:01:42,700 --> 00:01:44,500 Both. 34 00:01:44,500 --> 00:01:46,000 That's awesome. See, we haven't talked. 35 00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:47,500 You haven't even told me about that. 36 00:01:47,500 --> 00:01:48,600 That's great. 37 00:01:48,600 --> 00:01:50,200 Well, it just happened today. 38 00:01:50,200 --> 00:01:51,300 Well, no wonder. Okay. 39 00:01:51,300 --> 00:01:56,500 Yeah, we haven't talked very much, but I love going out on my trips and just having a little getaway. 40 00:01:56,500 --> 00:01:58,100 It's just a change of scenery. 41 00:01:58,100 --> 00:02:00,300 You get to see what different towns are like. 42 00:02:00,300 --> 00:02:04,600 I mean, it's just nice to get away every now and then even if it's business still great. 43 00:02:04,600 --> 00:02:05,300 Absolutely. 44 00:02:05,300 --> 00:02:09,500 I know some of the leadership are actually going to the Bahamas. 45 00:02:09,500 --> 00:02:11,100 Oh, are you going on that one? 46 00:02:11,100 --> 00:02:12,500 I wish I am not. 47 00:02:12,500 --> 00:02:14,800 Oh, well, maybe you should jump on board. 48 00:02:14,800 --> 00:02:17,300 I'll hide in their suitcase. 49 00:02:17,300 --> 00:02:18,400 Surprise. 50 00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:22,000 Could you imagine their faces when they open a suitcase and out you pop? 51 00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:26,500 I am probably the last person that they want to bring on that trip. 52 00:02:26,500 --> 00:02:27,400 Why is that? 53 00:02:27,400 --> 00:02:31,900 Oh, I tell them what they don't want to hear. 54 00:02:31,900 --> 00:02:35,100 Yes. Did I tell you what I told my boss today? 55 00:02:35,100 --> 00:02:36,800 No, you did not. 56 00:02:36,800 --> 00:02:44,200 I just told him that people were getting on my nerves in general today and he was standing not even in the room. 57 00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:51,700 So in my office, I have kind of a window where you can see in and out and he was like, I'm just no. 58 00:02:51,700 --> 00:02:55,200 He said I haven't even said anything and I'm like, yeah, well, you're standing there. 59 00:02:55,200 --> 00:02:59,200 And I'm just. 60 00:02:59,200 --> 00:03:00,800 You said that to your boss. 61 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:01,600 I did. 62 00:03:01,600 --> 00:03:02,600 Oh my gosh. 63 00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:09,100 We have that kind of relationship where he knows to just ignore me sometimes. 64 00:03:09,100 --> 00:03:10,900 My gosh, that's amazing. 65 00:03:10,900 --> 00:03:13,200 I love that and you're still employed to talk about it. 66 00:03:13,200 --> 00:03:14,100 That's awesome. 67 00:03:14,100 --> 00:03:14,600 Yes. 68 00:03:14,600 --> 00:03:17,200 Seven years later. 69 00:03:17,200 --> 00:03:17,700 All right. 70 00:03:17,700 --> 00:03:20,200 So I'm going to take you back to high school for a moment. 71 00:03:20,200 --> 00:03:22,100 How good are you at geometry? 72 00:03:22,100 --> 00:03:24,100 I don't think I'm good at geometry. 73 00:03:24,100 --> 00:03:28,700 All right, because I wanted you to go look up a right triangle for just a moment. 74 00:03:28,700 --> 00:03:35,100 It's an L. I actually know the acute, the right triangle and the obtuse. 75 00:03:35,100 --> 00:03:36,900 Are you kidding me? 76 00:03:36,900 --> 00:03:39,200 We might be talking about the acute. 77 00:03:39,200 --> 00:03:40,000 What's the obtuse? 78 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:41,100 Is that the long one? 79 00:03:41,100 --> 00:03:47,100 It's greater than 90 degrees less than 180 degrees. 80 00:03:47,100 --> 00:03:47,800 Oh my God. 81 00:03:47,800 --> 00:03:49,300 How did you retain that? 82 00:03:49,300 --> 00:03:50,900 That's virtually impossible. 83 00:03:50,900 --> 00:03:52,200 I have no idea. 84 00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:54,100 That's impressive. 85 00:03:54,100 --> 00:03:54,400 Okay. 86 00:03:54,400 --> 00:03:54,700 Yeah. 87 00:03:54,700 --> 00:03:56,000 So you don't have to go look that up. 88 00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:59,500 So today we're going to talk about Brandon Victor Swanson. 89 00:03:59,500 --> 00:04:06,200 He's a 19 year old man who disappeared in early morning hours of May 14th, 2008. 90 00:04:06,200 --> 00:04:11,800 And Brandon was born on January 30th, 1989 in Marshall, Minnesota. 91 00:04:11,800 --> 00:04:13,400 MN is Minnesota, right? 92 00:04:13,400 --> 00:04:14,000 Shulbs. 93 00:04:14,000 --> 00:04:15,000 I think so. 94 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:16,800 I always have to look those up. 95 00:04:16,800 --> 00:04:23,400 I know an obtuse triangle, but I don't know the abbreviations for the stage. 96 00:04:23,400 --> 00:04:27,100 Well, he was born to Annette and Brian Swanson. 97 00:04:27,100 --> 00:04:33,300 And growing up, Brandon was a typical boy with a kid sister, Jasmine, who eventually 98 00:04:33,300 --> 00:04:40,000 went on to Minnesota West Community and Technical College to study wind turbines and renewable 99 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:40,800 energy. 100 00:04:40,800 --> 00:04:42,200 I thought that was really cool. 101 00:04:42,200 --> 00:04:45,100 Don't you have a bunch of wind turbines near you? 102 00:04:45,100 --> 00:04:46,100 We do. 103 00:04:46,100 --> 00:04:47,800 And they're the coolest thing. 104 00:04:47,800 --> 00:04:51,700 They have a red light in the very center of them. 105 00:04:51,700 --> 00:04:56,900 And so when you're driving past them at nighttime, they all kind of blink sometimes in 106 00:04:56,900 --> 00:05:00,200 sync, sometimes a little bit apart, but they're really cool to see. 107 00:05:00,200 --> 00:05:01,900 Yeah, that is cool. 108 00:05:01,900 --> 00:05:07,700 Well, Brandon planned to transfer to Iowa Western College from the community college 109 00:05:07,700 --> 00:05:09,500 the next school year. 110 00:05:09,500 --> 00:05:14,900 And what was going on in his life is that he had just completed his freshman year from 111 00:05:14,900 --> 00:05:18,700 the community college on May 13th, 2008. 112 00:05:18,700 --> 00:05:24,900 Brandon actually went out that night to celebrate with some of his friends near Lind, Minnesota 113 00:05:24,900 --> 00:05:27,500 to celebrate obviously their accomplishments. 114 00:05:27,500 --> 00:05:29,900 They're done their very first year of college. 115 00:05:29,900 --> 00:05:31,700 They're going to be moving up to sophomore year. 116 00:05:31,700 --> 00:05:34,500 So, you know, they were all out having a good time that night. 117 00:05:34,500 --> 00:05:35,800 Nothing over the top. 118 00:05:35,800 --> 00:05:36,900 They weren't being crazy. 119 00:05:36,900 --> 00:05:39,900 They were just having a night of celebration only about six of them. 120 00:05:39,900 --> 00:05:44,300 So it wasn't like a huge party that was going to have cops called or anything like that. 121 00:05:44,300 --> 00:05:45,000 You know what I mean? 122 00:05:45,000 --> 00:05:45,700 I do. 123 00:05:45,700 --> 00:05:47,200 Around 11 p.m. 124 00:05:47,200 --> 00:05:53,200 on May 13th, Brandon told his friends that he was going to drive to Canby to see a friend 125 00:05:53,200 --> 00:05:54,300 and one on his way. 126 00:05:54,300 --> 00:05:55,900 So nothing unusual. 127 00:05:55,900 --> 00:06:00,600 He had stopped by made his appearance at the first party decided that he was going to go 128 00:06:00,600 --> 00:06:03,700 to another friend's house maybe for a couple hours. 129 00:06:03,700 --> 00:06:09,200 Although he'd been drinking friends later said that Brandon did not appear in any way 130 00:06:09,200 --> 00:06:10,700 to be intoxicated. 131 00:06:10,700 --> 00:06:13,400 So he probably just had a beverage and went on his way. 132 00:06:13,400 --> 00:06:15,300 Nothing unusual about that, right? 133 00:06:15,300 --> 00:06:15,600 No. 134 00:06:15,600 --> 00:06:21,800 By midnight Brandon began his journey home to Marshall, Minnesota where he had lived 135 00:06:21,800 --> 00:06:25,800 and this is where things get really interesting shelves because I feel like this is where 136 00:06:25,800 --> 00:06:27,800 the triangle is going to come in just a bit. 137 00:06:27,800 --> 00:06:34,500 When Brandon left Canby he should have taken Highway 68 which was the main thoroughfare 138 00:06:34,500 --> 00:06:36,100 between towns. 139 00:06:36,100 --> 00:06:42,000 However, instead of taking the main highway Brandon for one reason or another decided 140 00:06:42,000 --> 00:06:44,800 that he was just going to take some back roads instead. 141 00:06:44,800 --> 00:06:47,100 And I don't know how you are Shelbs. 142 00:06:47,100 --> 00:06:50,600 I know that you live in a more rural area than I do. 143 00:06:50,600 --> 00:06:54,100 I highly prefer back roads over the highways. 144 00:06:54,100 --> 00:06:55,100 I do too. 145 00:06:55,100 --> 00:06:57,800 And that sounds very similar to my area. 146 00:06:57,800 --> 00:07:01,000 Actually, we do have a main highway. 147 00:07:01,000 --> 00:07:03,000 There's nothing on it. 148 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:08,100 Never any traffic that we used to get in between the towns, but you can absolutely take the 149 00:07:08,100 --> 00:07:09,400 back roads as well. 150 00:07:09,400 --> 00:07:13,700 And when I find that when I take the back roads, I more often have no idea where I'm 151 00:07:13,700 --> 00:07:17,100 at because I'm not too terribly familiar with this area. 152 00:07:17,100 --> 00:07:18,900 Yeah, I need landmarks. 153 00:07:18,900 --> 00:07:20,400 Yeah, me too. 154 00:07:20,400 --> 00:07:26,100 The commute between Canby and Marshall was very familiar to Brandon because this is where 155 00:07:26,100 --> 00:07:30,800 that Minnesota West Community and Technical College was that Brandon had attended for 156 00:07:30,800 --> 00:07:31,800 the past year. 157 00:07:31,800 --> 00:07:34,000 So it's like you going back and forth to work. 158 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:36,700 You know your path, nothing unusual about it. 159 00:07:36,700 --> 00:07:41,300 He was very familiar with that pathway, but since he was traveling the back roads and 160 00:07:41,300 --> 00:07:46,200 it was dark, he may not have been quite as familiar with the roads he was on. 161 00:07:46,200 --> 00:07:47,200 I get it. 162 00:07:47,200 --> 00:07:48,200 I'm just like you. 163 00:07:48,200 --> 00:07:49,200 I'm just like him. 164 00:07:49,200 --> 00:07:52,100 My sense of direction is terrible. 165 00:07:52,100 --> 00:07:58,400 For me to even know where North, South, West, East is, unless I have a compass, I'm no good. 166 00:07:58,400 --> 00:08:01,600 Same, although I don't think I've ever used a compass. 167 00:08:01,600 --> 00:08:02,600 Never? 168 00:08:02,600 --> 00:08:03,600 You've never used one? 169 00:08:03,600 --> 00:08:10,700 I think the only time I have ever really seen or per se used a compass, I want to say it 170 00:08:10,700 --> 00:08:13,700 was the Ford Explorer that we had. 171 00:08:13,700 --> 00:08:20,520 There was a little gauge maybe at the top of the car where it literally did tell you 172 00:08:20,520 --> 00:08:22,240 which direction you were going in. 173 00:08:22,240 --> 00:08:23,720 I think it was the Explorer. 174 00:08:23,720 --> 00:08:24,720 I think it was. 175 00:08:24,720 --> 00:08:26,040 We had that one for a long time. 176 00:08:26,040 --> 00:08:27,200 I think you're right. 177 00:08:27,200 --> 00:08:28,200 Yeah. 178 00:08:28,200 --> 00:08:31,600 I still wouldn't be able to tell even if I would have to look at it to know which direction 179 00:08:31,600 --> 00:08:34,000 I was going in for sure. 180 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:35,000 Me too. 181 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:41,180 Well, around 1230 AM, Brandon had a minor car accident on that back road and ended up 182 00:08:41,180 --> 00:08:43,440 driving his car into a ditch. 183 00:08:43,440 --> 00:08:46,640 Don't know if something jumped out in front of him like a deer. 184 00:08:46,640 --> 00:08:51,600 I don't know if he was looking at his cell phone, but basically he landed in the ditch. 185 00:08:51,600 --> 00:08:58,600 And he first tried to call his friends, got no answer, but somewhere around 1 54 AM, this 186 00:08:58,600 --> 00:09:04,580 is another 40 minutes or so shelves after his car accident, Brandon ended up calling 187 00:09:04,580 --> 00:09:08,480 his parents in Marshall, Minnesota to let them know what happened. 188 00:09:08,480 --> 00:09:10,140 I mean, he's stranded. 189 00:09:10,140 --> 00:09:13,240 He's got no one that's answering their phone at this point in time. 190 00:09:13,240 --> 00:09:15,040 He's got to get somebody to come pick him up. 191 00:09:15,040 --> 00:09:21,080 So he calls his parents and Brandon told his parents, Brian and Annette, that he was not 192 00:09:21,080 --> 00:09:27,620 exactly sure where he was, but he believed that he was maybe 10 minutes outside of Lind. 193 00:09:27,620 --> 00:09:32,840 And that's where the original party was when he first went to go see his first set of friends. 194 00:09:32,840 --> 00:09:38,800 So Brandon thought that he was in Lind or 10 miles away from his parents' house. 195 00:09:38,800 --> 00:09:41,480 Not too far, but too far to walk at night. 196 00:09:41,480 --> 00:09:42,480 Right. 197 00:09:42,480 --> 00:09:43,640 Well, guess what? 198 00:09:43,640 --> 00:09:45,320 Here's where your geometry lesson comes in. 199 00:09:45,320 --> 00:09:46,320 I knew it was coming. 200 00:09:46,320 --> 00:09:51,040 It's been a while since I've looked at this, but Shelby, I am not that good at math. 201 00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:54,840 You did a good job of being able to tell me all about that triangle and I'm not going 202 00:09:54,840 --> 00:09:57,580 to go into all those logistics because you did it for me. 203 00:09:57,580 --> 00:09:58,580 So thanks. 204 00:09:58,580 --> 00:09:59,940 But all right. 205 00:09:59,940 --> 00:10:05,400 So I want you to envision a right triangle and I want you to get an idea of where Brandon 206 00:10:05,400 --> 00:10:10,900 traveled that night and where he thought he was when he called his parents to come pick 207 00:10:10,900 --> 00:10:11,900 him up. 208 00:10:11,900 --> 00:10:16,880 The party that Brandon attended was in Canby, Minnesota, which is at the top of the right 209 00:10:16,880 --> 00:10:17,880 triangle. 210 00:10:17,880 --> 00:10:22,920 If you are going to follow the line down to the 90 degree angle, are you doing it? 211 00:10:22,920 --> 00:10:24,320 You look like you are. 212 00:10:24,320 --> 00:10:28,840 I'm doing it. 213 00:10:28,840 --> 00:10:34,600 That's where the town is of Marshall, which is located where Brandon and his parents lived. 214 00:10:34,600 --> 00:10:41,680 So basically Shelbs is a straight shot between the towns, probably around 35 miles distance 215 00:10:41,680 --> 00:10:42,900 between each other. 216 00:10:42,900 --> 00:10:43,900 So it's a straight shot. 217 00:10:43,900 --> 00:10:46,260 I mean, you can't miss it. 218 00:10:46,260 --> 00:10:51,880 Brandon believed he was just left of Marshall near land where that party was at, which would 219 00:10:51,880 --> 00:10:54,000 have been at the base of the triangle. 220 00:10:54,000 --> 00:10:55,000 Does that make sense? 221 00:10:55,000 --> 00:10:56,000 It does. 222 00:10:56,000 --> 00:10:57,000 Okay. 223 00:10:57,000 --> 00:11:03,520 Now Brandon's car was not found along the 3,900 block of Lyon Lincoln Road. 224 00:11:03,520 --> 00:11:11,320 In actuality, it was 30 miles north of Taunton, Minnesota, which is between Canby and Marshall. 225 00:11:11,320 --> 00:11:17,360 And he thought he was on that straight path coming down towards his parents' house when 226 00:11:17,360 --> 00:11:19,240 he was actually east. 227 00:11:19,240 --> 00:11:20,240 Wow. 228 00:11:20,240 --> 00:11:22,120 So he was way, way off. 229 00:11:22,120 --> 00:11:27,040 I'm assuming when he was coming the back roads, he was doing a lot of zigzagging. 230 00:11:27,040 --> 00:11:30,300 I know that's pretty easy to do on back roads. 231 00:11:30,300 --> 00:11:34,020 And so he just got himself turned around somehow. 232 00:11:34,020 --> 00:11:39,120 As Brandon began describing his surroundings to Brian and Annette, he said that he could 233 00:11:39,120 --> 00:11:44,040 see something off of the distance that looked like maybe lights. 234 00:11:44,040 --> 00:11:48,300 Have you ever been driving down a really dark road, but you could see the bright lights 235 00:11:48,300 --> 00:11:49,840 of a city up ahead of you? 236 00:11:49,840 --> 00:11:50,840 I have. 237 00:11:50,840 --> 00:11:53,620 That's what he thought he was describing to his parents. 238 00:11:53,620 --> 00:11:59,520 So yeah, he probably had a pretty good idea in his head where he may have been. 239 00:11:59,520 --> 00:12:01,120 It just, anyway, you'll see. 240 00:12:01,120 --> 00:12:06,000 Brian and Annette thought they knew exactly where Brandon was and got in their car to 241 00:12:06,000 --> 00:12:07,000 go find him. 242 00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:09,000 So, okay, I know where you're at. 243 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:12,400 Let's go get you picked up and then we'll be back home in no time. 244 00:12:12,400 --> 00:12:14,280 You're only 10 minutes away. 245 00:12:14,280 --> 00:12:15,280 No big deal. 246 00:12:15,280 --> 00:12:16,280 Right? 247 00:12:16,280 --> 00:12:17,280 Right. 248 00:12:17,280 --> 00:12:21,320 Once they reached the spot where they thought Brandon would be, he wasn't there. 249 00:12:21,320 --> 00:12:26,200 And both Brandon and his parents were still talking on the phone and they both decided 250 00:12:26,200 --> 00:12:30,240 they were going to flash the headlights of the cars to see if they could see each other. 251 00:12:30,240 --> 00:12:32,080 So again, it's pitch black. 252 00:12:32,080 --> 00:12:35,300 I would be able to see if somebody is flashing their lights. 253 00:12:35,300 --> 00:12:40,280 So they both tried that shelves and neither one of them saw any lights flickering in the 254 00:12:40,280 --> 00:12:41,280 distance at all. 255 00:12:41,280 --> 00:12:42,280 Oh, wow. 256 00:12:42,280 --> 00:12:47,040 They honked their horns and neither of them heard each other even with that. 257 00:12:47,040 --> 00:12:49,560 So everything they tried, it just didn't work. 258 00:12:49,560 --> 00:12:54,800 Both Brandon and Annette got a little frustrated with each other during this conversation. 259 00:12:54,800 --> 00:13:00,520 Obviously they're in the dark, they're tired, it's past midnight, they're ready to get home. 260 00:13:00,520 --> 00:13:03,440 And I mean, obviously this conversation is going nowhere. 261 00:13:03,440 --> 00:13:08,840 Annette could hear the clicking sound of Brandon's flashing his lights, but neither one could 262 00:13:08,840 --> 00:13:10,460 see each other. 263 00:13:10,460 --> 00:13:16,480 So in his frustration, honestly, Brandon got really ticked off, asked Annette, do you not 264 00:13:16,480 --> 00:13:17,480 see me? 265 00:13:17,480 --> 00:13:18,640 And then he hung up the phone. 266 00:13:18,640 --> 00:13:19,880 He hung up on his mother. 267 00:13:19,880 --> 00:13:21,400 I can't imagine that. 268 00:13:21,400 --> 00:13:24,320 Says the woman who's going to hang up on her own mother. 269 00:13:24,320 --> 00:13:25,680 And I am talking about me. 270 00:13:25,680 --> 00:13:26,680 I'll do it in a heartbeat. 271 00:13:26,680 --> 00:13:31,960 And you know, I will. 272 00:13:31,960 --> 00:13:35,320 Well Annette, obviously she felt bad. 273 00:13:35,320 --> 00:13:38,840 She immediately called Brandon back to apologize. 274 00:13:38,840 --> 00:13:42,960 But Brandon said at this point in time, he was just going to walk back to Lind and he 275 00:13:42,960 --> 00:13:44,800 just meet his parents there. 276 00:13:44,800 --> 00:13:51,720 So at this hour, it was around 2.30 in the morning and Brian drove Annette home. 277 00:13:51,720 --> 00:13:55,480 Obviously it was time for her to go back to bed, but he said he was going to go out and 278 00:13:55,480 --> 00:13:56,720 look for Brandon. 279 00:13:56,720 --> 00:14:02,240 So he went back out looking for his son and got back on the phone with Brandon, just as 280 00:14:02,240 --> 00:14:03,840 you probably would. 281 00:14:03,840 --> 00:14:05,640 Thank God for technology, you know? 282 00:14:05,640 --> 00:14:06,640 For sure. 283 00:14:06,640 --> 00:14:07,640 2.30 in the morning. 284 00:14:07,640 --> 00:14:11,560 I can only imagine how tired they all are. 285 00:14:11,560 --> 00:14:16,320 Well Brandon told his dad that he was going to take a shortcut through the fields and 286 00:14:16,320 --> 00:14:18,400 climb over some fences. 287 00:14:18,400 --> 00:14:24,280 And as he continued to talk to his dad, Brandon described some landmarks where he saw a gravel 288 00:14:24,280 --> 00:14:30,940 road, some fence posts, and it sounded like some flowing water, like a river was nearby. 289 00:14:30,940 --> 00:14:33,720 So he was giving all these descriptives. 290 00:14:33,720 --> 00:14:40,000 Around 3.10 a.m. shelves, Brandon said that he had reached another fence. 291 00:14:40,000 --> 00:14:44,680 And by this time, it seemed to annoy him because it just seemed like all he was doing is walking 292 00:14:44,680 --> 00:14:48,040 and then climbing fences, walking and climbing fences. 293 00:14:48,040 --> 00:14:49,040 I mean, I get it. 294 00:14:49,040 --> 00:14:50,480 I'd be frustrated too. 295 00:14:50,480 --> 00:14:51,920 I'd be ready to get home. 296 00:14:51,920 --> 00:14:54,760 You know, by this time he's out there for a couple hours. 297 00:14:54,760 --> 00:14:55,760 For sure. 298 00:14:55,760 --> 00:14:56,760 It's 2008. 299 00:14:56,760 --> 00:15:01,980 He couldn't call 911 and they couldn't find his location that way. 300 00:15:01,980 --> 00:15:06,060 The only guess that I have shelves is he thought he was 10 minutes from the house. 301 00:15:06,060 --> 00:15:08,160 So why call AAA? 302 00:15:08,160 --> 00:15:10,240 Why call a tow truck at that hour? 303 00:15:10,240 --> 00:15:11,480 Yeah, that's true. 304 00:15:11,480 --> 00:15:14,040 They would just go pick the car up the next day. 305 00:15:14,040 --> 00:15:15,040 That's true. 306 00:15:15,040 --> 00:15:16,040 Yeah. 307 00:15:16,040 --> 00:15:21,120 So Brandon stayed on the phone the entire time and they clocked it somewhere around 308 00:15:21,120 --> 00:15:27,520 47 minutes when all of a sudden Brian heard Brandon say, oh shit. 309 00:15:27,520 --> 00:15:28,520 And the phone went dead. 310 00:15:28,520 --> 00:15:31,520 Oh no, I kind of figured that might happen. 311 00:15:31,520 --> 00:15:32,520 Wow. 312 00:15:32,520 --> 00:15:33,520 Have you heard this story before? 313 00:15:33,520 --> 00:15:34,520 No. 314 00:15:34,520 --> 00:15:37,040 I mean, it's just three o'clock in the morning. 315 00:15:37,040 --> 00:15:40,520 And by that time, I mean, he probably had it all day. 316 00:15:40,520 --> 00:15:43,040 It was about time for it to die, you know? 317 00:15:43,040 --> 00:15:44,040 Yep. 318 00:15:44,040 --> 00:15:45,040 Okay. 319 00:15:45,040 --> 00:15:49,560 Brian thought Brandon had just fallen and tried calling back around five or six times, 320 00:15:49,560 --> 00:15:53,000 but Brandon never picked up after that. 321 00:15:53,000 --> 00:15:56,920 So he's talking to his dad for two hours out in the boondocks. 322 00:15:56,920 --> 00:15:58,320 He's climbing fences. 323 00:15:58,320 --> 00:16:05,200 He's walking through fields and all of a sudden he curses and the phone goes dead and Brian 324 00:16:05,200 --> 00:16:07,480 can't get in touch with Brandon after that. 325 00:16:07,480 --> 00:16:14,480 Brian continued to drive around and call some of Brandon's friends who all joined in on 326 00:16:14,480 --> 00:16:20,600 the search, but as of 6.30 the next morning, nobody was able to find him or get in touch 327 00:16:20,600 --> 00:16:21,600 with him. 328 00:16:21,600 --> 00:16:27,380 Annette ended up calling the police that morning to report him missing around that 6.30 hour. 329 00:16:27,380 --> 00:16:32,680 As the usual response shelves, police told Annette to wait a couple of hours to see if 330 00:16:32,680 --> 00:16:36,280 Brandon would show up, which of course did not happen. 331 00:16:36,280 --> 00:16:39,340 After all, he was at a party the night before. 332 00:16:39,340 --> 00:16:45,420 It was not unusual for a 19 year old to stay out all night after finishing their college 333 00:16:45,420 --> 00:16:52,000 classes and the police went on to add that Brandon had every right as a 19 year old to 334 00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:55,900 go out and just make himself missing if he wanted to. 335 00:16:55,900 --> 00:16:56,900 Could you imagine? 336 00:16:56,900 --> 00:16:57,900 No. 337 00:16:57,900 --> 00:17:03,160 I mean, if they spent two hours on the phone, they're flashing lights, they're honking 338 00:17:03,160 --> 00:17:10,600 horns trying to find each other, what 19 year old would just spend two to three hours trying 339 00:17:10,600 --> 00:17:15,280 to get somebody to find them at those three hours of the night? 340 00:17:15,280 --> 00:17:17,200 That just doesn't make any sense to me. 341 00:17:17,200 --> 00:17:18,200 Exactly. 342 00:17:18,200 --> 00:17:24,060 A search and rescue was sent out at 12.30 PM on May 14th, 2008. 343 00:17:24,060 --> 00:17:29,040 Police were able to use cell phone towers to ping Brandon's location and they were able 344 00:17:29,040 --> 00:17:35,680 to locate his green Chevy Lumina in the ditch near Taunton, Minnesota on the border of Lincoln 345 00:17:35,680 --> 00:17:42,520 County and Yellow Medicine County, which was about 25 miles from Lind where Brandon told 346 00:17:42,520 --> 00:17:45,280 his parents he believed he was at. 347 00:17:45,280 --> 00:17:52,400 So he was 25 miles away from where he believed he was when he called his parents. 348 00:17:52,400 --> 00:17:53,400 Wow. 349 00:17:53,400 --> 00:17:58,920 Although there was no damage to the vehicle, it was pretty evident that Brandon would not 350 00:17:58,920 --> 00:18:03,440 have been able to get out of that ditch with the car because if you've ever seen a car 351 00:18:03,440 --> 00:18:08,800 in a ditch Shelby where the tires are kind of up in the air, even if they turned, they 352 00:18:08,800 --> 00:18:11,480 would not get traction on the ground. 353 00:18:11,480 --> 00:18:13,320 And that's kind of how he landed. 354 00:18:13,320 --> 00:18:18,120 So there was no way he was going to get that car out of the ditch without a tow truck or 355 00:18:18,120 --> 00:18:20,680 somebody pulling him out. 356 00:18:20,680 --> 00:18:25,360 The driver's side of the door was open and the keys were missing from the ignition. 357 00:18:25,360 --> 00:18:27,480 So it looks like he did take the keys with him. 358 00:18:27,480 --> 00:18:34,040 Now, interestingly enough here, shelves Brandon apparently left his glasses inside the vehicle, 359 00:18:34,040 --> 00:18:39,880 which was really strange because he was legally blind due to an eye injury that he received 360 00:18:39,880 --> 00:18:41,080 as a child. 361 00:18:41,080 --> 00:18:45,280 So in all the pictures that I saw, he always had his glasses on. 362 00:18:45,280 --> 00:18:46,280 Oh wow. 363 00:18:46,280 --> 00:18:47,280 Yeah. 364 00:18:47,280 --> 00:18:50,800 I don't understand if he knew he was about to take a hike, why he would leave without 365 00:18:50,800 --> 00:18:51,800 his glasses. 366 00:18:51,800 --> 00:18:53,440 Yeah, absolutely. 367 00:18:53,440 --> 00:18:59,320 There were no footprints surrounding the vehicle to even give an indication on the direction 368 00:18:59,320 --> 00:19:00,320 that he went. 369 00:19:00,320 --> 00:19:05,080 I don't remember seeing anything about it being raining outside or anything that would 370 00:19:05,080 --> 00:19:09,840 have set his footprints in a field or what have you. 371 00:19:09,840 --> 00:19:13,340 There was just no indication in which direction he started walking. 372 00:19:13,340 --> 00:19:18,480 But do you remember when I told you that Brandon saw those lights up ahead like they were coming 373 00:19:18,480 --> 00:19:19,800 from a town nearby? 374 00:19:19,800 --> 00:19:20,800 I do. 375 00:19:20,800 --> 00:19:26,880 And it turns out Brandon's call came from a cell tower within a five mile radius near 376 00:19:26,880 --> 00:19:32,300 a grain elevator, which I don't know if you've ever seen one of those, Shelby. 377 00:19:32,300 --> 00:19:38,480 It's just one of those really big metal buildings that you would see on a farm. 378 00:19:38,480 --> 00:19:39,640 Have you ever passed one of those? 379 00:19:39,640 --> 00:19:43,220 Don't you know where I live? 380 00:19:43,220 --> 00:19:45,960 Which is why I think you probably should have seen one. 381 00:19:45,960 --> 00:19:46,960 Oh, yes. 382 00:19:46,960 --> 00:19:50,960 Yeah, I always thought those were like silos. 383 00:19:50,960 --> 00:19:53,580 Yeah, that's another term for a silo. 384 00:19:53,580 --> 00:19:55,600 But now I know they're called grain elevators. 385 00:19:55,600 --> 00:19:56,600 Yeah. 386 00:19:56,600 --> 00:19:58,080 Well, I call them a silo. 387 00:19:58,080 --> 00:19:59,080 Oh, okay. 388 00:19:59,080 --> 00:20:00,080 Okay. 389 00:20:00,080 --> 00:20:01,080 Yeah. 390 00:20:01,080 --> 00:20:03,280 Now they're known to have a red light on them. 391 00:20:03,280 --> 00:20:08,240 I mean, when you have that type of building shelves, a lot of the time you're going to 392 00:20:08,240 --> 00:20:14,160 have smaller airplanes that might be flying the area, like maybe in a very small rural 393 00:20:14,160 --> 00:20:16,160 airport. 394 00:20:16,160 --> 00:20:19,280 So they're going to have that red light flashing on it. 395 00:20:19,280 --> 00:20:25,680 And some experts believe that this might be what Brandon had seen and he mistook it for 396 00:20:25,680 --> 00:20:28,040 the town of Lind nearby. 397 00:20:28,040 --> 00:20:29,560 Oh, wow. 398 00:20:29,560 --> 00:20:31,320 So he didn't have his glasses on. 399 00:20:31,320 --> 00:20:33,640 He saw this light flashing up ahead. 400 00:20:33,640 --> 00:20:38,720 He just assumed it was the town of Lind, which was a 10 minute walk. 401 00:20:38,720 --> 00:20:42,160 And that's probably what he was thinking he was headed towards. 402 00:20:42,160 --> 00:20:44,840 Oh, well, you definitely educated me. 403 00:20:44,840 --> 00:20:50,560 I have about 11 of them right within a 30 mile radius of me. 404 00:20:50,560 --> 00:20:51,560 Absolutely. 405 00:20:51,560 --> 00:20:53,880 So now I know what they're called. 406 00:20:53,880 --> 00:20:55,280 I'm so glad I could do that. 407 00:20:55,280 --> 00:20:59,840 And thank you for educating me on the right triangle because it's been a long time. 408 00:20:59,840 --> 00:21:02,700 You're welcome. 409 00:21:02,700 --> 00:21:11,080 The search for Brandon continued for several months in a 122 square mile or 316 square 410 00:21:11,080 --> 00:21:15,360 kilometer radius, which mainly consists of rural land. 411 00:21:15,360 --> 00:21:22,200 And you get that some land owners and farmers refuse to allow law enforcement to bring cadaver 412 00:21:22,200 --> 00:21:26,560 dogs onto their property during harvest season. 413 00:21:26,560 --> 00:21:31,000 Or they simply thought that the dogs were going to interfere with their cattle, which 414 00:21:31,000 --> 00:21:34,920 obviously left a very large gap in the search area. 415 00:21:34,920 --> 00:21:38,920 Because if the farmers are not going to let them on the land, surely you're not going 416 00:21:38,920 --> 00:21:41,880 to be able to see if Brandon was anywhere nearby. 417 00:21:41,880 --> 00:21:44,600 I kind of get that to a certain extent. 418 00:21:44,600 --> 00:21:50,880 And the way I look at this is that how many people disappear on your land or around your 419 00:21:50,880 --> 00:21:55,560 property in any given time, almost zero to none, right? 420 00:21:55,560 --> 00:21:56,560 That's right. 421 00:21:56,560 --> 00:21:59,300 And they wouldn't let these cadaver dogs come on their property. 422 00:21:59,300 --> 00:22:00,560 That makes no sense to me. 423 00:22:00,560 --> 00:22:03,120 No, it doesn't make any sense. 424 00:22:03,120 --> 00:22:04,120 But to each his own. 425 00:22:04,120 --> 00:22:05,560 I get it because they had cattle. 426 00:22:05,560 --> 00:22:06,560 They didn't want to startle. 427 00:22:06,560 --> 00:22:07,960 Yeah, I understand that. 428 00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:12,880 I'm not saying there's a lot of people who decline law enforcement to come on their property. 429 00:22:12,880 --> 00:22:18,160 If any of our listeners know why, farmers would not let that happen. 430 00:22:18,160 --> 00:22:19,960 By all means, email me. 431 00:22:19,960 --> 00:22:21,200 That's just my ignorance. 432 00:22:21,200 --> 00:22:23,200 It's not that I'm saying that they shouldn't allow them. 433 00:22:23,200 --> 00:22:25,360 I know there's got to be reasons for that. 434 00:22:25,360 --> 00:22:28,360 It has to have been more than cattle farming. 435 00:22:28,360 --> 00:22:32,000 I mean, they had to have had some kind of crops in there. 436 00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:33,240 Oh yeah. 437 00:22:33,240 --> 00:22:39,880 And you know, I understand farmers should be held to a certain standard when they sell 438 00:22:39,880 --> 00:22:41,100 that product. 439 00:22:41,100 --> 00:22:43,560 So that could be a huge thing. 440 00:22:43,560 --> 00:22:52,280 I know Chris's family owns one of the largest farms on the East Coast of the Mississippi. 441 00:22:52,280 --> 00:22:53,280 Wow. 442 00:22:53,280 --> 00:22:54,280 Yeah. 443 00:22:54,280 --> 00:22:59,160 They do a lot of grain, but they had actually had several cotton fields that somebody had 444 00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:00,160 come in. 445 00:23:00,160 --> 00:23:05,080 I'm not sure you know, you know when you drive by cotton fields after they have, what's it 446 00:23:05,080 --> 00:23:08,320 called when they roll all the cotton into the harvest? 447 00:23:08,320 --> 00:23:13,640 Yeah, when they harvest the cotton into those very large circles. 448 00:23:13,640 --> 00:23:16,200 I don't know what I'm talking about. 449 00:23:16,200 --> 00:23:18,920 Oh, you're talking about the cotton bricks. 450 00:23:18,920 --> 00:23:19,920 The cotton. 451 00:23:19,920 --> 00:23:20,920 Yes. 452 00:23:20,920 --> 00:23:21,920 Yes. 453 00:23:21,920 --> 00:23:22,920 That's exactly what they are. 454 00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:29,280 They had several of their bricks vandalized in which somebody had actually cut open the 455 00:23:29,280 --> 00:23:30,560 plastic that was holding. 456 00:23:30,560 --> 00:23:35,240 I don't know if it was plastic, but I'm just going to assume they had people cut open that 457 00:23:35,240 --> 00:23:38,800 plastic and they basically had to do away with it. 458 00:23:38,800 --> 00:23:40,960 Why would someone do that? 459 00:23:40,960 --> 00:23:41,960 That's a good question. 460 00:23:41,960 --> 00:23:46,320 I don't know if they've ever found out who it was yet, but anyway. 461 00:23:46,320 --> 00:23:47,320 That's awful. 462 00:23:47,320 --> 00:23:48,320 Well yeah. 463 00:23:48,320 --> 00:23:53,120 The articles that I read, they did say the farmers because of harvest season did not 464 00:23:53,120 --> 00:23:55,440 want the cadaver dogs to come on. 465 00:23:55,440 --> 00:24:00,200 I can understand if you're even growing corn and you're going to have to trample through 466 00:24:00,200 --> 00:24:01,520 the corn to look through. 467 00:24:01,520 --> 00:24:02,520 I get all that. 468 00:24:02,520 --> 00:24:03,520 I do. 469 00:24:03,520 --> 00:24:04,520 I understand that. 470 00:24:04,520 --> 00:24:05,520 Sure. 471 00:24:05,520 --> 00:24:06,520 It's their way of life. 472 00:24:06,520 --> 00:24:11,160 So if somebody was to come through my office, I probably wouldn't be too happy. 473 00:24:11,160 --> 00:24:14,480 So I can understand where both sides were coming from. 474 00:24:14,480 --> 00:24:15,480 Oh sure. 475 00:24:15,480 --> 00:24:22,160 Well, for the areas that authorities could search, they did so by air, horseback, boat, 476 00:24:22,160 --> 00:24:27,480 and all-terrain vehicles along all those country lines where Brandon's car was found. 477 00:24:27,480 --> 00:24:32,560 Unfortunately shelves, they never could find any sign of Brandon. 478 00:24:32,560 --> 00:24:39,880 There was a river nearby and that area was known to flow knee deep in some areas, maybe 479 00:24:39,880 --> 00:24:42,500 as much as 15 feet deep in others. 480 00:24:42,500 --> 00:24:47,080 Think about how many times you've come up here and gone tubing down the river with me. 481 00:24:47,080 --> 00:24:49,800 Sometimes you can stand up and it's only knee high. 482 00:24:49,800 --> 00:24:51,720 Sometimes it's a little deeper than that. 483 00:24:51,720 --> 00:24:52,720 Absolutely. 484 00:24:52,720 --> 00:24:53,720 Yeah. 485 00:24:53,720 --> 00:24:56,440 And given the time of year, the river was flowing pretty fast. 486 00:24:56,440 --> 00:24:58,040 So think about it. 487 00:24:58,040 --> 00:25:02,480 If it's late at night, he could have easily fallen in and been swept away. 488 00:25:02,480 --> 00:25:10,200 Search crews walked a two mile radius of the river every day for 30 days, but found nothing. 489 00:25:10,200 --> 00:25:16,360 Search dogs followed Brandon set along the river and continued to walk along the banks, 490 00:25:16,360 --> 00:25:22,080 causing the dogs handlers to believe that Brandon had fallen into the water and regained 491 00:25:22,080 --> 00:25:25,680 his footing afterwards and kept traveling by foot. 492 00:25:25,680 --> 00:25:31,400 One bloodhound followed another scent from Brandon's car down that gravel road that 493 00:25:31,400 --> 00:25:36,500 Brandon had described to his family over to an abandoned farm. 494 00:25:36,500 --> 00:25:41,820 This may have been where Brandon was at when he told his dad that he heard the water flowing. 495 00:25:41,820 --> 00:25:48,080 As the bloodhound jumped into the nearby river, he immediately jumped right back out and followed 496 00:25:48,080 --> 00:25:51,980 the trail for just a minute or two before the scent was lost. 497 00:25:51,980 --> 00:25:56,680 So no clear direction on what was going on, but the dogs did pick up something. 498 00:25:56,680 --> 00:25:57,680 Wow. 499 00:25:57,680 --> 00:26:01,400 Now there are several theories on Brandon's disappearance. 500 00:26:01,400 --> 00:26:03,800 Number one, there is a river nearby. 501 00:26:03,800 --> 00:26:09,360 Police do think that Brandon could have fallen in and drowned or could possibly have even 502 00:26:09,360 --> 00:26:12,120 gotten himself out and just kept walking. 503 00:26:12,120 --> 00:26:17,100 But I want to bring to your attention shelves to what the weather was like that night. 504 00:26:17,100 --> 00:26:18,800 This happened in May. 505 00:26:18,800 --> 00:26:25,120 Average May temperatures at night in Minnesota run in the mid forties Fahrenheit or below 506 00:26:25,120 --> 00:26:31,200 nine degrees Celsius, but it was somewhere around 39 degrees Fahrenheit, four degrees 507 00:26:31,200 --> 00:26:33,840 Celsius the night that Brandon disappeared. 508 00:26:33,840 --> 00:26:36,360 To me shelves, yes, it was chilly. 509 00:26:36,360 --> 00:26:42,440 If he fell into that water, he could have been soaking wet and succumb to hypothermia. 510 00:26:42,440 --> 00:26:45,440 Even if he got out of the water, Shelby had just kept walking. 511 00:26:45,440 --> 00:26:49,480 He is soaking wet and walking and it is very close to freezing. 512 00:26:49,480 --> 00:26:50,480 For sure. 513 00:26:50,480 --> 00:26:51,880 Water is very cold. 514 00:26:51,880 --> 00:26:57,680 And with him being legally blind and not having his glasses, it may have been pretty difficult 515 00:26:57,680 --> 00:27:01,840 for him to see where the bank was and where the actual water was. 516 00:27:01,840 --> 00:27:04,280 So I mean, that's possible. 517 00:27:04,280 --> 00:27:09,360 And most people suffer from hypothermia when temperatures are between 30 and 50 degrees 518 00:27:09,360 --> 00:27:13,240 Fahrenheit or negative one to 10 degrees Celsius. 519 00:27:13,240 --> 00:27:15,140 I can see that could be plausible. 520 00:27:15,140 --> 00:27:18,160 But my next question is, is where's his body? 521 00:27:18,160 --> 00:27:19,680 Yeah, absolutely. 522 00:27:19,680 --> 00:27:25,080 Some people, including Brandon's parents, don't believe that he drowned because Brian, 523 00:27:25,080 --> 00:27:30,020 his father tried to call him back five or six times after the phone went dead and the 524 00:27:30,020 --> 00:27:33,120 line rang several times before going to voicemail. 525 00:27:33,120 --> 00:27:37,120 So if he had fallen into the water and his phone went with them, Shelby, it would have 526 00:27:37,120 --> 00:27:39,000 gone directly to voicemail. 527 00:27:39,000 --> 00:27:40,000 That's true. 528 00:27:40,000 --> 00:27:45,640 But maybe, I guess it depends maybe how far the top of the bank is. 529 00:27:45,640 --> 00:27:52,360 I was thinking maybe it was possible for when he did say that swear word that he maybe had 530 00:27:52,360 --> 00:27:57,360 fallen down the bank, dropped his phone and the phone had just eventually been washed 531 00:27:57,360 --> 00:27:58,360 away. 532 00:27:58,360 --> 00:27:59,360 Oh, true. 533 00:27:59,360 --> 00:28:00,360 Yeah. 534 00:28:00,360 --> 00:28:02,360 It would have caught up or the bank would have caught up with it. 535 00:28:02,360 --> 00:28:04,240 Yeah, that makes sense too. 536 00:28:04,240 --> 00:28:09,360 One of the firefighters who was working the case stated that the area where Brandon had 537 00:28:09,360 --> 00:28:14,980 disappeared contained unmarked cisterns or otherwise known as wells, which are pretty 538 00:28:14,980 --> 00:28:17,080 standard in rural Minnesota. 539 00:28:17,080 --> 00:28:22,240 I don't know if you have a ton of wells where you're at, Shelbs, but these are all unmarked 540 00:28:22,240 --> 00:28:25,120 in the Minnesota area where he was at. 541 00:28:25,120 --> 00:28:29,080 To differentiate between a cistern and a well, I actually went to look this up because I 542 00:28:29,080 --> 00:28:32,600 wanted to know the difference and inquiring minds want to know like me. 543 00:28:32,600 --> 00:28:33,600 Me too. 544 00:28:33,600 --> 00:28:35,960 Well, good. 545 00:28:35,960 --> 00:28:41,720 Cisterns are built either above or below ground and it's intended to store water, sort of 546 00:28:41,720 --> 00:28:47,000 like a, what do you call those water towers that you see only it's just at ground level. 547 00:28:47,000 --> 00:28:48,000 Oh, wow. 548 00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:49,000 Yep. 549 00:28:49,000 --> 00:28:52,080 A well on the other hand taps into groundwater. 550 00:28:52,080 --> 00:28:56,520 So that is the supply of water that is an underground stream. 551 00:28:56,520 --> 00:29:01,760 So they kind of built the well to go around that tapped in resource and then the well 552 00:29:01,760 --> 00:29:03,600 will fill up with water. 553 00:29:03,600 --> 00:29:04,600 Does that make sense? 554 00:29:04,600 --> 00:29:05,600 It does. 555 00:29:05,600 --> 00:29:06,600 Okay. 556 00:29:06,600 --> 00:29:11,600 So the firefighter suggested that given the time of night that Brandon was walking, plus 557 00:29:11,600 --> 00:29:17,560 the fact that he was legally blind in one eye and was not wearing his glasses, he would 558 00:29:17,560 --> 00:29:22,920 not have seen a cistern or well that he could have easily fallen into. 559 00:29:22,920 --> 00:29:23,920 That makes sense. 560 00:29:23,920 --> 00:29:26,320 I've heard of people falling into wells. 561 00:29:26,320 --> 00:29:31,840 According to the Minnesota Department of Health, unused wells act like a drain, which contributes 562 00:29:31,840 --> 00:29:33,880 to surface water runoff. 563 00:29:33,880 --> 00:29:40,360 Now snowfall usually ends in April, but the ground would have been very moist due to the 564 00:29:40,360 --> 00:29:41,360 melting. 565 00:29:41,360 --> 00:29:46,680 The running water sounds that Brandon described to his dad could have been that of an uncovered 566 00:29:46,680 --> 00:29:51,600 well and since it was dark, Brandon could have accidentally fallen in as well. 567 00:29:51,600 --> 00:29:52,600 All right. 568 00:29:52,600 --> 00:29:54,400 So let's move on to the next theory. 569 00:29:54,400 --> 00:29:56,280 Brandon planned to disappear. 570 00:29:56,280 --> 00:30:00,840 There's not a lot of substance to this because Brandon, why would you be on the phone with 571 00:30:00,840 --> 00:30:03,760 your father for two or three hours trying to get home? 572 00:30:03,760 --> 00:30:05,480 That doesn't make sense to me. 573 00:30:05,480 --> 00:30:07,000 It didn't make sense to his parents. 574 00:30:07,000 --> 00:30:12,880 That's what I said when, when his parents tried to file the missing persons report. 575 00:30:12,880 --> 00:30:13,880 Exactly. 576 00:30:13,880 --> 00:30:17,280 So others say there could have been foul play. 577 00:30:17,280 --> 00:30:23,160 Brandon could have happened upon someone or something in that desolate area. 578 00:30:23,160 --> 00:30:29,600 I mean, I'm thinking if he's going onto somebody's property, if there's a no trespassing sign 579 00:30:29,600 --> 00:30:34,280 and he, even though he probably didn't realize that he could have been trespassing, so he 580 00:30:34,280 --> 00:30:37,160 could have happened upon someone. 581 00:30:37,160 --> 00:30:40,560 But like theory number three, there's no substance to that. 582 00:30:40,560 --> 00:30:45,980 And obviously the police didn't really find much to go on with that theory. 583 00:30:45,980 --> 00:30:47,780 So they reached a dead end on that. 584 00:30:47,780 --> 00:30:54,120 And then finally, some say that Brandon may have had a mental breakdown because obviously 585 00:30:54,120 --> 00:31:00,600 he was becoming very agitated about his circumstances when he was on the phone with his parents. 586 00:31:00,600 --> 00:31:06,000 But this theory seems unlikely because Brandon's friends and family said that there were no 587 00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:10,640 flags to say that he was facing any mental health issues. 588 00:31:10,640 --> 00:31:12,200 Does that make sense? 589 00:31:12,200 --> 00:31:13,200 It does. 590 00:31:13,200 --> 00:31:14,200 Yeah. 591 00:31:14,200 --> 00:31:22,880 On May 7th, 2009, Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty signed Brandon's law into effect, which now 592 00:31:22,880 --> 00:31:29,300 requires law enforcement to take a missing persons report immediately when someone is 593 00:31:29,300 --> 00:31:32,120 reported missing under dangerous circumstances. 594 00:31:32,120 --> 00:31:34,400 Oh, that gave me goosebumps. 595 00:31:34,400 --> 00:31:38,360 Oh, well, I didn't mean to do that. 596 00:31:38,360 --> 00:31:39,720 I'm not crying. 597 00:31:39,720 --> 00:31:40,720 Are you? 598 00:31:40,720 --> 00:31:41,720 No, I'm not. 599 00:31:41,720 --> 00:31:42,720 Okay, good. 600 00:31:42,720 --> 00:31:43,720 That just gave me goosebumps. 601 00:31:43,720 --> 00:31:45,000 Oh, okay. 602 00:31:45,000 --> 00:31:50,600 So in other words, Shelby, police cannot tell a concerned friend, family member, and so 603 00:31:50,600 --> 00:31:55,440 on that they need to wait a few hours to see if somebody will show up. 604 00:31:55,440 --> 00:32:01,560 It does not matter if they were 19 years or not, and they have the right to stay out. 605 00:32:01,560 --> 00:32:04,760 Brandon was obviously under some dangerous circumstances. 606 00:32:04,760 --> 00:32:06,640 The temperatures had dropped. 607 00:32:06,640 --> 00:32:08,580 He was legally blind. 608 00:32:08,580 --> 00:32:12,640 There wasn't a ton of distress other than him getting a little ticked off with his parents 609 00:32:12,640 --> 00:32:14,040 because he was getting aggravated. 610 00:32:14,040 --> 00:32:15,180 I get that. 611 00:32:15,180 --> 00:32:20,840 Police agencies are now required to conduct a preliminary investigation, reach a reasonable 612 00:32:20,840 --> 00:32:26,600 conclusion that someone is endangered, then contact whatever law enforcement agencies 613 00:32:26,600 --> 00:32:29,560 that are fit for the area. 614 00:32:29,560 --> 00:32:33,840 Could be local, could be city, could be state, it could be county. 615 00:32:33,840 --> 00:32:34,840 It doesn't matter. 616 00:32:34,840 --> 00:32:39,760 They're going to have to contact some law enforcement agency immediately to look into 617 00:32:39,760 --> 00:32:41,240 somebody's disappearance. 618 00:32:41,240 --> 00:32:43,520 So we have Brandon's law in place now. 619 00:32:43,520 --> 00:32:44,520 Good. 620 00:32:44,520 --> 00:32:45,520 Yeah. 621 00:32:45,520 --> 00:32:51,040 Well, to end this story, Shelbs, Brandon is described as a white male, age 19. 622 00:32:51,040 --> 00:32:58,920 He is 5'6", 120 pounds when he was last seen on May 14th, 2008. 623 00:32:58,920 --> 00:33:00,160 That's 15 years ago. 624 00:33:00,160 --> 00:33:01,680 So he would be how old now? 625 00:33:01,680 --> 00:33:02,680 34. 626 00:33:02,680 --> 00:33:05,340 Yeah, he'd be in his mid thirties by now. 627 00:33:05,340 --> 00:33:08,960 When Brandon was last seen, he had brown hair, blue eyes. 628 00:33:08,960 --> 00:33:13,220 He was wearing glasses and had both of his ears pierced. 629 00:33:13,220 --> 00:33:18,140 So if any of our listeners have information on Brandon's whereabouts, please call the 630 00:33:18,140 --> 00:33:25,400 Lincoln County Sheriff's Department at 507-694-1664. 631 00:33:25,400 --> 00:33:30,560 And Shelby, that is the story of Brandon Swanson from Minnesota. 632 00:33:30,560 --> 00:33:31,560 Wow. 633 00:33:31,560 --> 00:33:32,880 That was a good one. 634 00:33:32,880 --> 00:33:36,080 I do hope that somebody is able to shed some light. 635 00:33:36,080 --> 00:33:38,040 That was a, that was a good one. 636 00:33:38,040 --> 00:33:39,040 Yeah, thanks. 637 00:33:39,040 --> 00:33:44,160 I like to hear feedback from our listeners on our storylines and I'm really finding that 638 00:33:44,160 --> 00:33:49,440 I'm migrating towards hopefully being a little bit more helpful as far as opening up cases 639 00:33:49,440 --> 00:33:51,560 that may be going cold. 640 00:33:51,560 --> 00:33:54,520 They may not be out there very often. 641 00:33:54,520 --> 00:33:58,600 I mean, I just, I feel like I need to keep some of these cases alive. 642 00:33:58,600 --> 00:34:02,440 So I'm glad that I came across this one to share with you today, Shelbs. 643 00:34:02,440 --> 00:34:06,520 So yeah, if our listeners have any feedback on this, let us know. 644 00:34:06,520 --> 00:34:07,520 For sure. 645 00:34:07,520 --> 00:34:13,200 And I think we should also tell him happy early birthday because it is a week from today, 646 00:34:13,200 --> 00:34:14,560 January 30th. 647 00:34:14,560 --> 00:34:16,160 Oh my gosh. 648 00:34:16,160 --> 00:34:17,160 Yep. 649 00:34:17,160 --> 00:34:18,160 You're right. 650 00:34:18,160 --> 00:34:19,160 You're right. 651 00:34:19,160 --> 00:34:24,080 Wouldn't that be amazing if we could bring him home for his birthday? 652 00:34:24,080 --> 00:34:25,640 Thanks for picking up on that. 653 00:34:25,640 --> 00:34:26,640 That's amazing. 654 00:34:26,640 --> 00:34:27,640 Absolutely. 655 00:34:27,640 --> 00:34:28,960 All right. 656 00:34:28,960 --> 00:34:30,440 So there you have it. 657 00:34:30,440 --> 00:34:32,000 That's Brandon Swanson. 658 00:34:32,000 --> 00:34:33,000 Thank you for sharing. 659 00:34:33,000 --> 00:34:35,200 Do you have a teachable moment for us today? 660 00:34:35,200 --> 00:34:36,200 Of course I do. 661 00:34:36,200 --> 00:34:41,440 I say stay put and what I mean by that, it's a big scary world out there. 662 00:34:41,440 --> 00:34:46,000 Whether you're 19, 29, 59, it does not matter. 663 00:34:46,000 --> 00:34:48,880 The most sensible thing to do Shelby is stay put. 664 00:34:48,880 --> 00:34:51,120 In today's day and age, stay put. 665 00:34:51,120 --> 00:34:56,080 It's easier to find someone when they're stationary, even if it takes a couple hours to do so. 666 00:34:56,080 --> 00:35:01,080 And in this instance, it's understandable that Brandon thought he was just a short walk 667 00:35:01,080 --> 00:35:08,320 away from town, but he was still in an unfamiliar area and walking through the woods or through 668 00:35:08,320 --> 00:35:14,200 a field in the dark is never a good idea, even if somebody's on the phone with you. 669 00:35:14,200 --> 00:35:19,380 But definitely get that call out to whoever it is that you need to, but stay put, stay 670 00:35:19,380 --> 00:35:22,320 on the phone until help is on the way. 671 00:35:22,320 --> 00:35:26,960 If anything, Shelbs, I know I was talking to Corey last week and he told me that he 672 00:35:26,960 --> 00:35:29,440 recently put a blanket in the trunk of the car. 673 00:35:29,440 --> 00:35:34,720 I don't care if it's 90 degrees outside, you should probably put a blanket in the car. 674 00:35:34,720 --> 00:35:39,120 So if it's summer or winter, at least you're going to have something and you do have that 675 00:35:39,120 --> 00:35:44,600 vehicle itself to keep the elements off of yourself until somebody does come along. 676 00:35:44,600 --> 00:35:47,060 Somebody will eventually drive down that road. 677 00:35:47,060 --> 00:35:52,480 Make sure to call the police, a friend or a family member, and then just stay put until 678 00:35:52,480 --> 00:35:53,800 they come to get you. 679 00:35:53,800 --> 00:35:59,400 Even on rural roads, someone is bound to drive by and see that you're in trouble, especially 680 00:35:59,400 --> 00:36:01,800 if you see your car is in the ditch. 681 00:36:01,800 --> 00:36:07,160 And it could be a minor nuisance to sleep in that car for the night, but take the stroll 682 00:36:07,160 --> 00:36:09,380 in daylight if you have to. 683 00:36:09,380 --> 00:36:14,480 It's much better than doing something on unfamiliar territory in the middle of the night for sure. 684 00:36:14,480 --> 00:36:16,080 So that's my teachable moment. 685 00:36:16,080 --> 00:36:21,040 I 100% agree with the blanket and the trunk. 686 00:36:21,040 --> 00:36:22,520 That's so crazy that you said that. 687 00:36:22,520 --> 00:36:28,440 I know that there was something that had occurred, I want to say it was in Michigan, where a 688 00:36:28,440 --> 00:36:35,040 young lady was stuck in the storm blizzards and was found in her car. 689 00:36:35,040 --> 00:36:40,200 And so I do, I keep blankets in the back of my trunk for sure. 690 00:36:40,200 --> 00:36:42,360 Yeah, that's a good idea or a jacket. 691 00:36:42,360 --> 00:36:45,480 It doesn't matter, something to keep the elements off of you. 692 00:36:45,480 --> 00:36:47,960 Just need the extra layer. 693 00:36:47,960 --> 00:36:52,820 Well to our listeners, let us know what you think about today's episode and make sure 694 00:36:52,820 --> 00:36:59,160 you DM us on Instagram or let us know if you have any information on Brandon's case. 695 00:36:59,160 --> 00:37:00,360 And that's it for now. 696 00:37:00,360 --> 00:37:04,960 So we will bid adieu and talk to you all next week. 697 00:37:04,960 --> 00:37:06,360 Thanks guys. 698 00:37:06,360 --> 00:37:08,640 Thanks for listening to Dying to be Found. 699 00:37:08,640 --> 00:37:13,660 Before we go, we would love for you to leave a review on your favorite podcast platform. 700 00:37:13,660 --> 00:37:19,360 Be sure to follow us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest at Dying to be Found. 701 00:37:19,360 --> 00:37:25,240 You can access our website, email, social media, and storyline request form by clicking 702 00:37:25,240 --> 00:37:28,000 on our Linktree account found in our show notes. 703 00:37:28,000 --> 00:37:33,520 If you like our episodes, consider buying us a coffee at BuyMeACoffee.com slash Dying 704 00:37:33,520 --> 00:37:36,760 to be Found spelled just like you see it on our logo. 705 00:37:36,760 --> 00:37:41,400 Feel free to message us on Instagram and let us know how we're doing or if you'd like a 706 00:37:41,400 --> 00:37:42,400 sticker. 707 00:37:42,400 --> 00:37:46,900 With that, be sure to check us out every Thursday wherever you get your podcasts. 708 00:37:46,900 --> 00:38:02,200 We will talk to you all next week.