Little Dickies.
Can you imagine being on the phone with your child lost, walking in the dark trying to stay calm while you guide him home?
Then you hear two words.
“Oh shit.”
And then nothing.
No Brandon. No footsteps. No explanation. Just background noise and then silence.
THE LAST KNOWN MOMENTS
On the night of May 13, 2008, nineteen-year-old Brandon Swanson left a gathering in Canby, Minnesota, intending to drive home to Marshall. He never arrived.
Sometime after midnight, Brandon’s car became stuck in a roadside ditch on a rural gravel road near the Lincoln–Lyon County line. The car was not wrecked. It was simply immobilized high-centered and unable to gain traction.
This detail matters.
There was no violent crash. No debris field. No sign of panic. Just a car that could not move and a young man who believed help was close.
Brandon Swanson, 19. Missing since May 14, 2008.
THE CALL THAT NEVER ENDED
At approximately 1:54 a.m., Brandon called his parents. He told them he was stuck in a ditch but uninjured.
Critically, Brandon believed he was near the town of Lynd, Minnesota.
He was wrong.
For the next forty-seven minutes, Brandon remained on the phone with his father, walking through darkness across farmland and fence lines.
He mentioned climbing fences. He mentioned hearing running water. He sounded frustrated but coherent.
At around 2:30 a.m., mid-sentence, Brandon said:
“Oh shit.”
The line went quiet.
His parents called back. The phone rang.
Brandon never answered.
THE CAR AND A COMMON MISCONCEPTION
Brandon’s car as found by authorities. Undamaged. Immobilized.
One detail has been repeatedly misreported over the years:
Brandon’s car doors were NOT found open.
Law enforcement summaries confirm the vehicle showed no signs of a struggle, no evidence of another person, and no indication of foul play at the scene.
His glasses were left inside the car. His keys were missing suggesting he intended to return.
THE MAP THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING
Brandon believed he was near Lynd. Cell tower data placed him miles away near Taunton/Porter.
Cell phone data later revealed the devastating truth: Brandon was not near Lynd at all.
He was miles north in a flat, rural agricultural area dominated by drainage ditches, flooded fields, and the Yellow Medicine River.
The lights Brandon believed were Lynd were most likely the red aviation lights on a distant grain elevator a visual illusion made worse by darkness, fatigue, and impaired depth perception.
THE RIVER, THE COLD, AND THE SCIENCE
The Yellow Medicine River was running high in May 2008. Cold. Fast. Unforgiving.
Cold water immersion triggers an immediate physiological reaction known as cold shock response.
It causes involuntary gasping, loss of breath control, and rapid muscle incapacitation often within seconds.
Even strong swimmers can drown quickly. Especially at night. Especially alone.
ABOUT THE DOGS AND WHY SCENT MISLEADS
Search dogs picked up Brandon’s scent in multiple areas, including points near and beyond the river.
This has led to years of speculation.
But scent does not move the way people think it does.
Human scent is made of skin cells. Those cells travel on wind, water, vegetation, and soil.
In flooded environments, scent can drift downstream, pool along banks, cling to brush, and reappear in places the person never physically reached.
This is especially true near rivers.
Multiple scent locations do not mean multiple destinations. They mean dispersion.
WHAT I BELIEVE HAPPENED
I believe Brandon Swanson never made it out of the water.
Not because it is dramatic but because it best fits what we know about cold shock, scent dispersion, and the silence that followed his final words.
I believe Brandon slipped into the Yellow Medicine River, triggering an immediate physiological crisis.
The phone may have landed on the bank. Or in shallow water. Or simply remained functional while Brandon could not.
Nature did the rest.
BRANDON’S LAW
Brandon’s disappearance changed Minnesota law.
After delays and dismissal by authorities, his family fought for reform. Minnesota now requires immediate action when adults go missing under dangerous circumstances.
His name became a safeguard.
THE TRUTH THAT REMAINS
Brandon Swanson did not vanish into myth.
He disappeared into a landscape that does not give answers easily.
His story is not a mystery for entertainment. It is a warning.
And it is unfinished.
WHAT COMES NEXT
Our next case takes us to Maine, where a pattern went unchecked and lives were lost.
We’ll be examining the crimes of James Rodney Hicks and the failures that allowed him to keep killing.
Thanks for Dicking around with Richie.
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