Missing 411: Brandon Swanson’s Strange Location

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In May of 2008, 19 year old Brandon Swanson had just finished his freshman year at West Minnesota Community and Technical college. He bounced around parties in Canby, MN for a few hours before driving home around midnight. From there, what happened is truly anyone’s guess, with Brandon’s name adding to the list of cases fitting the Missing 411 profile. Welcome back to The Lore Lodge…
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0:00 - Intro
0:40 - Scentbird Ad
3:02 - Regional History
7:38 - Brandon Swanson's Midnight Drive
10:15 - Search and Rescue
20:38 - Theories
33:41 - Conclusion and Outro

[@nataliemartinez7957]

One thing you didn't mention is that Brandon was legally blind in 1 eye due to an accident. I am also legally blind in 1 eye. I can't do well with depth. And also using 1 eye, the good eye gets "tired" from time to time. Add on to that him having a few drinks? Super easy to get lost.

[@nathanrosman-bakehouse359]

Being partially blind gives the added perk of being half daredevil. He would have been able to hear the river from 50% further away.

[@CristyB66]

But allowed to drive?

[@13crazydaisies]

Great point... didn't know that.

[@borjaslamic]

​@@CristyB66 I guess it was good enough for a licence. Also we're talking about rural America, if you don't have a car and therefore a licence you're either dependent on others or a prisoner in your own home.

[@peanutgallery4]

​@@nathanrosman-bakehouse359Wow😮

[@justoneperson4019]

Falling into an abandoned well or cistern or even a deep hole of some kind sounds plausible to me. My house/property has been a homestead for at least 130 years so probably has multiple old wells near the house I have no idea about. I do know that the last one drilled is 180 ft deep. He could have fallen without his father hearing the fall. I once dropped my phone down an entire flight of stairs and the person on the other end was still talking when I got to it. They didn't hear my phone banging down the steps. Also, when someone falls they don't have to scream or make any noise. When I was a teenager I fell (mostly slid) down a ravine covered in wet leaves about 60 ft and besides the initial "whoa" (which I didn't say loudly) I never made a sound on the way down.

[@lula-kester]

This right here! Also, in other comments people are saying that he was legally blind/had diminished vision in one eye. In the day time or when well rested and completely sober, he probably did just fine. But at 2am in the dark after big day and a few beers, I'm betting his vision wasn't the best. That easily explains the car running off the road too.

[@jmass4207]

That’s fairly terrifying. Wells should have some kind of long-lasting sign or landmark next to them so they don’t get forgotten.

[@carloschristanio4709]

With the degree of how much people have combed the area do you think they would have found something

[@deborahpage308]

I agree. I'm originally from Des Moines, Iowa. My family owned cattle ranches and farmland. There are wells that have been covered cheaply by plywood that deteriorates over the years and forgotten. So this is plausible but terrifying to think of happening. Would be a terrible way to go. I do not understand why, why he wouldn't have stayed put after calling his parents!

[@contractzero1194]

Scent ends at an abandoned farm? Sounds like someone snatched him up and drove away

[@jameshollands7004]

When I was 10, my family was visiting friends in upstate NY. Our friends lived in an old farmhouse. I was playing out back in the field and just didappeared. My brother said one minute I was behind him, and the next minute, I was gone. He went and got our parents and they all started to look for me. After a mins they said they hear me but not see me. Finally they came apon a metel disk on the ground. When they moved it, they saw me standing in a room under the ground. I was far enough down that needed to get a ladder to get me out. I had fallen into an old food preserveited bunker. I don't know how else to explain it. I've learned that many old farm had these rooms as a place to keep their food so it wouldn't go bad. Obviously it's a long shot but something like this may have happened to Brandon, but he didn't land on his feet like I did, and he was either hurt or was not able to get out. When I fell in, the metel disk just flipped and went back to its original position. So by looking, you could not tell anything had happened. The last thing is that this room was so old, no one had any idea it even existed.

[@laurieclarkson9180]

That's interesting! See, that's why I love the comments. There's always someone out there that has had a personal experience that sheds light on possibilities. Thanks for sharing!

[@jenn8208]

Wow, creepy. How many mysteries have I heard where simple run-ins with functional or abandoned spaces/machinery turned deadly... Glad you made it out.

[@squirrelorama]

Sounds like an old root cellar. Pretty common in Northern areas for year round food preservation. Although usually they are not built straight down like that.

[@bioemiliano]

That's scary as fuck

[@loki48209]

Damn.. you may have helped solve this in a major way. Maybe someone could check if they already checked all the known food holes

[@MegCazalet]

This is the case often confused with Brandon Lawson who went missing in west Texas. He was missing for years, with similar elements to his story. They traced him to some areas where the property owners wouldn’t let anyone search. Finally the property changed owners, the new owner allowed a search, and Lawson’s partial remains and bits of clothes were found. Look him up because for ages it was A BIG MYSTERY including a very weird phone call he made to 911 while he was lost.

[@90sajen]

@@PoeLemic wtf...

[@taylororourke2525]

@@90sajen I know right.. This is America. 😁

[@worldbfree7576]

satire

[@janeistired3921]

​​@@worldbfree7576 gotta be. edit: read dude's other comments, i dont think it is💀

[@jrolls38]

Poe lemic that's BS u shooting at ppl not knowing situation that brought them there. U shoot at me unwarranted I'll show you the fire in your firearm.

[@Boxman2.0]

I’ve always wondered HOW he said “Oh shit”. Was it a yell, sounding fearful or startled? Did he say it casually, like he’d stubbed his toe or he’d forgotten something? Or was the tone awestruck, like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing? I’ve heard this case many times, but that seems to be an elusive piece of the puzzle that nobody can answer other than his parents, and their interviews don’t make it clear. Great job on the coverage, by the way. I appreciate your style and your thoroughness. Subscribed.

[@ibdalia69]

Yes, that was my question too.

[@karnerblue7658]

I've always wondered that, too. Wish we could get that detail.

[@herstoryanimated]

Would even be good to know how loud it was - did is sound like he was getting further away whilst saying it (more likely dropping down 180ft well shaft) or not (more likely sliding down a river bank)

[@koolkel00]

The thing that sticks in my craw about this one, is that he was literally on the phone with his father up until the very second he disappeared. Just talking normally until "oh shit" then silence. The dad didn't hear anything strange, no loud noises like he got hit by a car, no splashing in the river, just complete silence. That bugs the hell out of me. Like he just disappeared into thin air just doesnt make any sense. Unless he somehow perfectly stepped into a sink hole and disappeared instantly leaving no noise at all, that's all I can imagine.

[@ybunnygurl]

Or maybe a abandoned well

[@koolkel00]

@@ybunnygurl it's not impossible, but then why did the phone go silent and we heard no tumbling with the phone? Still that or a sinkhole are the only things I can think of

[@dropdeaddrawing]

i get the same weird feeling. At first learning about this case i thought for sure he was shot by a farmer in the night. I grew up in a farm community just like this my whole childhood and that exact thing happened at least 3 times in the 18years i was their. But the dad should have heard a gun shot over the phone right?

[@user-mf8hs8rx4n]

Hey, I live in the area! An explanation I may be able to provide is that the area he went missing in (Taunton to Minneota) is kind of a deadzone. And that's just today, so I can only imagine back then. It's not out of the question he lost reception. I drive that highway a lot and reception/data is VERY crappy.

[@dropdeaddrawing]

@@user-mf8hs8rx4n interesting that could be it as well! I guess i thought that the phone would like,,,, have some cell stuttering before that. But if it was a deadzone it would most likely just cut off like that.

[@ThatOddChickenHippie]

He probably fell into an undocumented well, a sinkhole, or some other type of hole. When i was little, i was on a nature walk with my dad and grandpa through a meadow with lots of wildflowers and very tall grass. I was off the narrow, unmarked, dirt trail a bit looking at flowers and chasing butterflies while dad and grandpa were strolling on the path and talking. At some point, i fell into a hole that was at least half full of water, but i never touched the bottom, so i have no idea how deep it actually was. I had managed to catch myself on the lip of the hole, but my body was still half submerged in the murky water. I screamed for my dad and grandpa to help me, but they had gotten ahead a bit, so it took them a moment to realize the weird sound they were faintly hearing was a 3-4 year old me screaming for my life (i couldn't swim at the time, so if i fell in fully, i would have died easily). They looked around and couldn't see me, so they started calling out to me and followed my voice to find me. If i hadn't managed to catch myself so i could scream, they wouldn't have been able to find the hole because the grass totally obscured it. Dogs might have been able to find me if they could manage to get police to the same general area in this random meadow, but i would have been dead by then.

[@Renbacktome]

I'm glad your alive 🙏 that's scary tbh

[@chuckzamzow]

He was by the Yellow Medicine River. Having lived within an hour of where this happened most of my life - I've explored different waterways in the area and sinkholes are very common. I've seen some as big as 20 feet across and at least 10 feet deep.

[@Heavyisthecrown]

This is CRAZY! My daughter is 3 and I cannot imagine this happening to her 😢

[@darth_kal-el]

Nope.

[@smm855]

As someone that got lost in a city area (in my car) for 3 hours looking for a street that was less than half a mile from where I started...I feel like you guys might be giving Brandon a lot of credit for *definitely* knowing where he was. He obviously got confused and happened to think he was near Lynd. It could have also been a situation where he was saying he was near Lynd, but what he actually meant was he was near Tauton, and was just mixing up the names. I've had whole conversations with people where I was saying a different name but I didn't catch that it was the wrong name because I knew what I was talking about and it only occurred to me I was saying the wrong thing because the person called me out and said 'wait I think you mean ____' and that was when I'd realized I'd been saying the wrong name the whole time. Either way...still weird they never found his remains.

[@wrongturnVfor]

Is it just possible that he was near Lynd but then someone ditched his car where it was found. I mean that would suggest fouplay. IDK this case, I am just asking

[@samsalamander8147]

I recently left my new job and forgot my phone there and tried to find my way back and was so lost it was actually terrifying. Luckily I was actually in my friends van, my car was in the shop and she had one of those old fashioned GPS’s in her glove compartment it took me 30 minutes to get a signal but it saved me! I was stuck in rural west bum f u q and lost worst than I ever was in my life. After driving around two hours I stopped the van and took stalk of what I had I was actually in tears and luckily I found the old gps and charger or I might still be there now! I know the area better now but it genuinely scared me.

[@FearEeatsTheSoul]

Do you know your North,East,South,West? So, You could spin me in a circle and drop me in a new city, and I don’t know How but I know what direction is what 90% of the time. An Driving can be a problem if you don’t know these things. Sometimes I wonder how certain people get around.

[@bellab9286]

@@FearEeatsTheSoul I’m the same way, somehow I just know which way to go. I grew up on the gulf in Florida and as a kid my dad would teach me the directions and ask me all the time “which way is the gulf”, and that’s how I knew where west was….. I believe this helped. Or maybe you either got that sense or you don’t, idk. But we moved to Tennessee almost five years ago and my husband still puts the gps on to get to the store….. it baffles me

[@hattarapilvi]

​@@FearEeatsTheSoul google maps bro

[@gutterrat1357]

Im an outdoorsman and even ive beem lost. Ive always been the group navigator and im pretty good at it. A confused man after a crash that doesnt take note of his surroundings because hes not an outdoorsman or traveler can very very easily get confused and lost. Echos, lights, sounds, anything can lure you the wrong way if dont know what youre looking for

[@TaylorWilmes]

This isn’t the great outdoors. This is a rural area surrounded by farms.

[@MrCrunch808]

@@TaylorWilmes Still easy to get lost

[@gatedude07]

@@TaylorWilmes It's entirely possible to get turned around and lost in any setting, from a city to a national park. Especially at night, and especially again if you've been drinking.

[@kevincoble912]

Have you looked at the area? It's flat as a pancake and wide open, almost no time or hills to speak of, just flat pasture ground. Even if you got lost, what's the chances you wouldn't be dropped from the air? Almost 0

[@vVPrototypeVv]

Not to mention he was drunk.

[@vampirefrompluto9788]

Coming from a VERY rural part of Iowa & having driven many back roads in all kinds of weather: it's easier to get lost than people think. I've been completely sober driving back roads in the daylight & gotten lost because I wasn't watching the street signs but was counting the cross roads. This is a pretty common thing where I grew up. "You go right off the highway 3 cross roads out, count 5 cross roads, turn left, it'll be the 2nd farm on the right." That's a pretty common style of directions to give in rural areas. This also means if you miss count you can easily end up on the wrong road. Also if a bridge is out & you have to detour around that can throw you off too. Add in being tired/drunk & you can quickly get off course. Brandon might very well have thought he was closer to Lynd than he actually was. Beyond that cutting through fields at night isn't wise. If the cows aren't well socialized to people they can & will charge at you. He might have gotten chased (the "oh shit") & lost his phone. Yes, he was walking for 45 minutes but was he walking straight? Did he walk along a fence line until he found a good place to climb over? Did he hurt himself climbing over? There are a million factors in how far he could have gotten & where he thought that he was. Also do we KNOW that he was flashing his head lights or do we just have the dad's words? Not saying he's lying but he could have misremembered or Brandon could have been lying since he knew he was farther away than he actually was & was worried about getting in trouble. He might have planned to go to a friends' house for help & go home the next day. We may never know.

[@gutterrat1357]

My friends get lost on the way to my house that theyve been too before. People dont understand how easy it is to get lost

[@turned2him4life]

That's an interesting way of giving directions. I'm from rural ND and I've never heard of that. We always use distinctive buildings (that one really weird barn, old one room school house, broken down tractor that never moves, so and so's place, the big cross on the hill). Sometimes the farm yards are pretty spaced out but there's always something you can reference unless you start cutting through land.

[@EveTater]

From foresty/hilly CT but we always reference street names here which makes it unlikely you'll get lost... Also GPS. Life is impossible without GPS. Anyone who claims they lived before it was invented is lying.

[@vampirefrompluto9788]

@@turned2him4life Sometimes we would do that too but what I said was fairly common.

[@Jeff-jl2xc]

Speak for yourself most people aren't that dumb

[@KazmaKit]

I read a theory once that he may have fell into an illegal well, and therefore won't be found unless the well is found. Don't know how likely that is, but always thought it was an interesting out of the box theory that fits nicely in the circumstances of the disappearance. EDIT: I wanted to clarify a few things regarding wells in Minnesota since my comment has blown up. First off, "[u]nless you have a Well Maintenance Permit, Minnesota law (statues 103I. 301) requires the sealing of abandoned wells." So (barring that exception) the distinction between an unsealed abandoned well and illegal well may not mean much, at least in MN. Second, a list of well locations in the area probably exists, assuming someone didn't illegally drill one themself without notifying the comissioner. That list I imagine is privately maintained only by the commissioner. I can't imagine a FOIA would be useful in this regard, but maybe someone with a legal background can shed light on this. The following laws pertain to wells in Minnesota. "In Minnesota, all wells must be installed by contractors licensed by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), except that an individual may construct a well for personal use on land owned or leased by that individual, and used by the individual for farming or agricultural purposes or for the individual’s place of abode. In all cases, the well must be constructed according to the requirements of Minnesota Statutes, chapter 103I, and Minnesota Rules, chapter 4725." MN statutes 103I.205 WELL CONSTRUCTION subsection b: "The property owner, the property owner's agent, or the licensed contractor where a well is to be located must file the well notification with the commissioner."

[@HiFiAwardTour]

Makes sense to me. He was in an area that there is no way to get truly lost in.

[@Zildawolf]

Oh yknow what maybe that’s it

[@debbiewhite3601]

That does make sense. Though it seems like the cadaver dogs still could have found him...unless his body was completely submerged?

[@Toolness1]

@@debbiewhite3601 Cadaver dogs are supposed to be able to smell a cadaver that is several years old under 30 meters of water so seems like they would get a scent

[@Zildawolf]

@@debbiewhite3601 there wouldn’t be much, if any, airflow into and out of the well so I could see that

[@thor8491]

Just thought of something else… While MN is not known for sink holes like other states (e.g. Florida), in the 1970s MN crop farmers started a large scale effort to trench & tile their fields to drain low spots. In fact, most fields are probably tiled. Brandon may have been walking along flat terrain and encountered a sink hole that was created when underground water flow from a broken tile system undermined the terrain… It wouldn’t take much of a hole to trap someone his size.

[@blackjack1923]

most likely not, those type of sinkholes aren't usually big enough to trap a person and they happen slowly, not all at once. Though it isn't entirely out of the question

[@snailart9214]

​@@blackjack1923 hey there we actually just recently had a car sized sink hole not far from the twin cities. It's not COMMON but not impossible. I had a cow fall into a sinkhole, I'm in southern Minnesota so we're closer to the driftless zone.

[@blackjack1923]

@@snailart9214 that's up by the twin cities, not southern MN. 2 different locations

[@SnailHatan]

Cadaver dogs can smell 15 feet underground.

[@ThePortalTheory]

Ok so there is an exact time that he said shit and phone went down. Start at car walk until that time limit. Keep walking from the car out til the time runs out. Circle 45min walking from car. I've always wanted to try this experiment everytime I hear this case. Great video.

[@lmsendit9531]

Make sense to me because if you walk out the 45 minutes An then make a circle all the way around the car on a map in every direction that should be you're search area for him

[@icantthinkofaname15]

​@@lmsendit9531 ya, but probably should go way further in every direction because he could be an actual missing 411

[@laurieclarkson9180]

I started walking about 2 weeks ago and as an out of shape person, I walk a mile in about 18-25 minutes. I walk at a somewhat faster pace than some people. I was shocked to see I could get that far in such a short amount of time. It helped put some of these cases into perspective.

[@borjaslamic]

True and honestly sounds like an interesting thing to try, but the 45 minutes were til contact was lost, so it is possible he could've kept on walking for hours after that.

[@vladraduandrei5227]

@@borjaslamic I mean no, that makes 0 sense, why tf wouldn t he answer his phone then ? why did he say oh shit and then complete silence?your theory is sensless.

[@goosegirl941]

I can’t imagine how his family must feel :( to be on the phone with him and then he just vanishes. Terrible.

[@myron-ut2nf]

I got into an argument with my girlfriend and left her appointment at 11pm after drinking a pint and half of Brandy during a level 3 ice storm. My place was 23mi away, I got 4mi from home and ran out of gas. I had no choice but to walk the rest of the way but because I was wasted I ended up walking 8mi in the opposite direction. If I didn't come along my friends apartment complex I would have died. I didn't see a single person the whole time and understand how something like this can happen.

[@AH6X710]

You sound bright

[@harismyname]

you mean a mega pint?

[@randybaumery5090]

"But because I was wasted". (Yet another reason that I'm glad I don't get wasted.)

[@smittysmeee]

My 9 year old cousin was killed by a drunk driver. You are a real pos.

[@13crazydaisies]

One thing I want to say (because I often hear this used in a point in various missing persons cases) is that not everyone shows it when they are wasted. I can be absolutely drunk to the point of getting sick and I don't stumble, slur, or any of the typical signs of a drunk person. My body temp goes up, I get comfortable and perhaps flushed, but over the phone in particular no one I know would be able to tell the difference. I communicate just as coherently. So I'm leary when people say someone didn't appear to be drunk. Unfortunately we don't know Brandon's personal telltale signs, but if it's possible his choices were due to him trying avoid the police due to being intoxicated, it's possible he was more intoxicated than his parents guessed. Not that that that solves his disappearance or anything, I just think people tend to over assume that everyone can tell when someone is sloshed.

[@AbraSings]

Exactly. You can speak clearly and still be intoxicated.

[@MrBombastic302]

Also alcohol doesn't take effect immediately, so depending on how much and when he drank he could have become more intoxicated as he drove.

[@PetarPopara]

Very pertinent point. Speech impairment needn't be the most telltale sign.

[@silentpoet75]

The highest alcohol drug screen I ever saw(when working child welfare cases) was something like 3-4 times the legal limit. The man showed no signs of intoxication.

[@hattarapilvi]

exactly! i slur my words when i'm drunk but i can definitely talk normally and sound sober if i concentrate. so if i'm calling my parents completely wasted, i can sound perfectly sober for the short phone call.

[@Bellaneph]

He said "Oh, Shit." I would start from there. That can only mean he slipped, saw something, some animal popped out or a number of other bad variables. The father didn't hear a yell or a scuffle. Just start with what we actually know and work it from there.

[@miiilowo]

yeah, that's something that really bothers me about this one, ESPECIALLY the fact it's not really addressed. clearly, something happened, something abrupt, he didn't just slowly wander off somewhere or lose signal

[@SwedeProof]

His "Oh shit!" then instantly not continuing talking with his Dad has haunted my thoughts from the get go. Yes, something VERY sudden and overwhelming occurred, It's baffling, and terribly tragic. But wow, incredibly dedicated search effort by so many!

[@settame1]

I wonder if he fell in the creek, phone got wet or floated down away from him and he was separated from his phone yet was fine.

[@louies5988]

Obviously, the “oh shit” is where something went wrong. He either saw something like others have suggested, fell suddenly, or something else happened, that’s the most pivotal part of the whole situation. If he fell into a well or sink hole, he couldve fell with the phone and just immediately died.

[@ibdalia69]

@@louies5988 In a well or sink hole there would be no sigal. Hence phone going to messagebank.

[@alaiciaredhail7678]

I think it’s important to mention that Brandon was legally blind in one eye which is why his parents were worried(along with the whole situation is general obviously) and when his car was found, it was in a ditch with one tire up off the ground.

[@TheLoreLodge]

That was a detail that I had in my notes and just lost it

[@alaiciaredhail7678]

@@TheLoreLodge no worries! It happens to the best of us. 🖤 If you haven’t already, you should look into the disappearance of Daniel Robinson. He hasn’t been seen since leaving his job site in Buckeye, Arizona in 2021.

[@wizard_of_poz4413]

Love how aiden has absolutely no idea how farms work at all

[@thomasthompson4101]

I don’t get how they could have possibly gotten the gates out across the river in time for his body not to float past if they had to wait to start the search

[@jamesknapp64]

Its a simple calculate the speed of the river and go downstream enough. This was small and slow rivers could easily be done.

[@jmac888]

​@@jamesknapp64 video state that river was high so it was certainly faster. His body prob washed out to sea

[@Trev-jz6yw]

Especially if the water was higher and flowing faster than normal. He’d already be gone the very first night!!

[@truracer20]

@@jmac888 but the video also contradicts that by saying it was narrow and shallow, only knee deep even.

[@cbass04]

@@jmac888sea?

[@Niosesore]

I've read somewhere recently that audiobooks fulfill the social need for people to hear a story from another person, the sharing-things-around-the-campfire experience. For me it's Lore Lodge definitely! :)

[@theConquerersMama]

During lockdown I definitely turned to this kind of storytelling and reaction videos. I needed to see humans being more casual than scripted shows. Aiden is like listening to a friend talk. A knowledgeable friend.

[@scribeslendy595]

One important thing to note on the river theory; it's mentioned earlier on that they could hear him cycling his headlights over the cellphone. So, with the audio quality being established, wouldn't it be pretty clear that a creek is being approached from his dad's end of the call? I mean, a creek running heavily is gonna be noisy, especially not being very wide. The bugs and frogs make a HELL of a noise too. Source: grew up in the sticks. Prolly gonna die in the sticks.

[@elysiumdreaming8404]

RIGHT!! I dont know why this wasn't talked about more, how did the dad not hear any other sounds of distress/pain/danger

[@igethacked23]

@@elysiumdreaming8404 yeah it was just “oh shit!” Then complete silence with nothing, the phone doesn’t even appear to have been dropped

[@truracer20]

It all depends. My area has a creek similar to the one described except it's very rocky and therefore turbulent, we have another that is mud bottomed and smooth flowing. One is loud during heavy flows the other is quiet.

[@TinFoilCat90]

The story I saw said that the river was extremely low that year and round that time. That he would have been able to walk across it pretty much anywhere long it.

[@Pushing_Pixels]

@@TinFoilCat90 This video said the river was high and fast flowing.

[@poetrymafia27]

As someone who grew up in Minnesota and studied MN history a LOT in school… your introduction taught me things I didn’t know about the Dakota uprising. Thanks for the education!

[@JayceeElle]

A note about the cattle farms: I'm a microbiologist who studied silage fed to cows on many different farms. I travelled around and collected both alfalfa and corn silage from many farms with different storage techniques and took samples each season over several years to see microbiological changes in the food. Why is this relevant? Well, it is absolutely not unreasonable to think that a person could be harvested by mistake and composted in a silo where it degrades to nothing because animals end up mixed into silage all the time. The silage ferments in the silo (sometimes for a year or more depending on their storage and removal methods which vary a lot). I've personally seen a case where a farm lost many dairy cattle of illness which we traced to bacteria in the feed that was indicative of animal contamination bringing in the wrong microbes. You can't "see" the remains, but the testing reveals it and the owners admit that animals in the field do get combined by mistake. Dairy farmers often grow their own fields of crops to harvest for silage to feed the cattle and there are typically 3 harvests a year; early, mid, and late. They also often work in the fields at like 3-4 am when it is still dark out and you'd definitely fail to see anything laying in the fields. Those combines are ruthless and a person wouldn't stand a chance if caught in that. If I was a farmer there (and financially motivated) and knew I had accidentally combined an animal but wasn't sure what kind, and then suddenly someone was looking for a missing kid, I'd not want them searching my farm for fear of losses. The farmer would likely lose all their years of silage and maybe all their cattle if people thought they'd eaten human. That risk wouldn't be financially worth it and could ruin them. Do I believe that's what happened here? I really don't know but it is absolutely possible, in my opinion.

[@JayceeElle]

Additional note: the silage fermenting creates a lot of heat and microbiological activity that would greatly accelerate decomposition. The farmers rely on the right combination of microbes (which they often inoculate extra into the silage to ensure balance) to keep the dangerous microbes from growing out of proportion. However, as I mentioned before, sometimes some weird stuff gets mixed in and everything is done mechanically these days and there aren't always people to notice most of the time.

[@lunarvision]

Wow, that’s informative and horrifying.

[@jackr2287]

Thinking on the harvesters I've seen, they're fairly loud and lit up. I would think even a drunk guy stumbling through a field would be able to get out of the path, unless truly unlucky. But perhaps not, under the right conditions.

[@bradysmart2804]

I’ve faked sober and fell into a large creek while intoxicated. Had it been cold I’d have been screwed. My theory is “oh shit” falls and gets wet, freezes

[@Lololeelee]

I agree.

[@DomRhoades]

So I'm from southwest Missouri, and to me it sounds like a sink hole. So he is on the phone with his dad, says, "oh shit," the phone is heard falling then nothing. This sounds like he was walking, and as he stepped forward the ground opened up and he fell into a sinkhole that possibly connected to a cave system. And sinkholes aren't always meters across, they may not have found it because it's only a couple feet wide.

[@bishop9368]

As someone who regularly takes back roads, simply for the fact they are more enjoyable to drive, i can absolutly, and definitively say that any time i take friends or co-workers for back road drives, it is extremely easy for them to get lost and have no clue where they are, even if they are close to their own house, if they are not paying attention. That is also during daylight. If he was taking roads he was unfamiliar with at night and wasn't focused on the road, like he was on his phone, or was more under the influance than he thought. It would have been easy for him to get his location that wrong.

[@ADAMCODYMUSICPROJECT]

As a person that grew up in a rural area, can confirm that farmers not wanting people on their land is 100% normal behavior. Most would say, "I know the land best, and I can check it myself and will let u guys know if i find anything"

[@jlo7770]

I can agree to that 100%. I've seen some crazy CRAZY land owners over the years too. I've been shot at driving on lease roads before, some people are just that hateful. In the same token however I'd be apprehensive about letting people onto my land as well.. people aren't particularly decent when it comes to respecting other people's property. Id hope that being it a kid, I'd probably let a few people on my property with supervision, but I wouldn't let law enforcement on my property. I just have 0 respect for 99% of LE and have no need for them, especially don't need then rummaging through my property for them to take notes and come back and fine me or do some other shady stuff that rural LE is regularly known for.

[@Gundus1000]

He flashed his headlights because he thought his parents would come from the direction he was travelling to. So it would be logical to follow the direction he was travelling with his car. And yes, I guess he fall into a cowpiss filled gully, used for fertilizer. It is hard to be found in there, because the sewage is denser than water and a body stays submerged, at the ground. That already happened.

[@svenskanorsk]

I was living a few miles just down the highway from where Brandon went missing. It was so bizarre…no heavy forests there just open fields.

[@Lololeelee]

And what was it, a rushing river or just a creek? 🤷‍♀️

[@LadyViscera]

I love that you go into detail about the Native American history of the area featured in each episode. Being a result of the British education system, I know very little about American history, so I’m incredibly grateful.

[@gryaznygreeb]

They wouldn't teach you this much about them in American Schools. We learn generally about how they lived and how we fought and traded with them, but we are rarely taught specifics about any tribes. This guy does a great job of educating us Americans too. If you ever visit the states, I highly recommend you check out some of the native American ruins and petroglyphs. I learned more from visiting places like that than I did in school.

[@michaeltudyk8660]

That's gotta be the worst part.

[@settame1]

Having taken a Minnesota history course in college the Dakota wars are basically a black hole for our history. As far as you hear in classes and books the natives were very abused by the new German settlers, then for “no reason” 38 were hanged at Fort Snelling in the largest mass execution in US history, mostly due to the racism of the early settlers and fear of Indians because they looked different and had strange culture. It wasn’t until digging into it you find out they basically came in and just wiped out entire cities, including one where they unprovoked killed about 800 settlers in one day. One settlement was written about extensively by the survivors, was made into a state park and it’s really terrifying their accounts but they have taken all those books out of the libraries/bookstores/online resources and even removed the signs from the state parks, so now they’ll have markers that are just there, with no explanation of what they mean. I got one of the books when I was about 10 after a visit to the park and as far as I can tell it’s no longer around anywhere. It was considered to be giving the Dakota bad press to say what happened during the Dakota wars. Not saying the settlers did no wrong, but the history in the Dakota wars is actively being rewritten by both sides.

[@jlo7770]

​@@settame1seems like the Germans have a long history of hating other people that aren't "pure german" I recall a couple conflicts in europe that stemmed from that issue as well.

[@Spiral.Dynamics]

I really enjoy your added historical references to the indigenous populations. It’s something that we did not know we needed, but we definitely did.

[@Milkman4279]

And completely irrelevant to the case

[@iamsemjaza]

You underestimate how lost some people can get. I was lost for 3 hours in Kalamazoo, MI when I was 18.

[@Lololeelee]

I was lost in the woods. Not fun. A sheriff was waiting for me at the trailhead.

[@Steve_V1066]

I've been on searches in cold weather where people get so cold they try to burrow under/between tree roots to keep warm, just using that last bit of energy they have to try and protect themselves from the cold. It makes it quite difficult to find them if they are not responsive.

[@Lololeelee]

Hyperthermia could be the answer. Floyd Skeleton died in the BWCA and that might be the reason why he died.

[@karenj4854]

@stevev69 but that's why they brought in search dogs

[@tullyDT]

I travel for work a lot and one thing I can say about rural roads is they can easily disorientate you especially in the dark. I've had occasions where I've travelled back the way I came and managed to miss a turn in the dark and gotten lost. If you add in the shock of a car accident it's not unbelievable to me that Branden was confused about were he was. Also just because you can hear things in the dark doesn't mean you can locate them easily, you could be right on top of the source of a noise before you realise it is in front of you. Other factors to consider are that Brandon possibly had alcohol in his system, he might have been coming down from and adrenaline high following the crash which could make him unsteady on his feet. He was also using is hone when the last call dropped he could have wander toward the creek and tripped because he was detracted, the light from the phone would have also prevented his eyes from adjusting to the dark

[@poetrymafia27]

I agree 100%. Even stone cold sober I could get lost in the dark on the prairie not far from where I lived. Not a lot of big landmarks out there!

[@tullyDT]

@@poetrymafia27 Being lost in the dark with no landmarks? That would drive me mad!

[@Pushing_Pixels]

Apparently he was legally blind in one eye. Add that into the mix and he could easily stumble into something. Personally I like the "fell down an abandoned well" theory.

[@user-xy6wu3xg2c]

Have gotten lost at night in familiar areas of my own hometown, where I've lived my entire life. You tend to pick up on certain landmarks, and if you can't see them, everything looks totally unfamiliar. Also the whole thing about how "he should've known he wasn't in the right area because he was on 300 streets and not 200" -- dude, I barely know the road names around my house. If me finding my way home came down to knowing the road naming conventions of a different town I'm aware of, I'd be thoroughly f'd. Who knows if he could even see the street signs. Personally though, if I drove my car off the road and my parents couldn't find me where I thought I was, no way in hell I'm leaving it to go wander around looking for my own way in the middle of the night. I'll call the police or wait until morning, thanks.

[@Jared_Wignall]

Such a bizarre case that hopefully we’ll find the the answer to what happened to Brandon, especially for his family. Great job covering this Aidan, keep up the great work!

[@918Mitchell]

I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation. How far is the nearest politician's house?

[@a15thcenturysuitofgothicarmor]

🎯

[@yeet-qi7ys]

honestly though…

[@WideAwakeHuman]

I’m slow - what do u mean?

[@yeet-qi7ys]

@@WideAwakeHuman pedo

[@twb7691]

@@WideAwakeHuman I am going out on a limb and say he might be referring to the Paul Pelosi sex slave thing from October 28, 2022. If not, I have no idea.

[@Silver_Girl178]

I'd say he stumbled onto something- drug operation, pot farm, something like that- and someone suddenly stepped out of the dark and held a gun on him- but it sounds more like he just didn't see an embankment coming and fell into the underbrush somewhere.

[@thebluepigeon_5019]

Considering I once got lost while walking my dog in brought daylight and while sober and ended up 4 hours later in the next town over and only found my way home because I had a smartwatch with a compass with me I don’t think it’s too unlikely he didn’t actually know where he was. Add on top that he had just been in a crash which at the very least must have been a stressful situation if it didn’t also cause him some degree of injuries to his brain

[@whereskeyser]

One thing about the farmers - it’s not that they would be in cahoots, but rather that if someone died in their property, they probably don’t want the legal headache of having to deal with having a crime scene in their land. Usually bad for business. Not that they would be concealing it either, I remember reading years ago a guy saying the areas are so huge it’s entirely possible they never found him.

[@dylanvickers7953]

Knowing what is known about this case and what I know about rural Midwest culture specifically in Wisconsin and Minnesota I think it’s pretty safe to say that a couple beers for us for a pretty small guy at 19 years old his Midwest speak for this guy crushed a six pack, well sitting down, got up and drove Wyatt home. He was probably fairly drunk. He literally ran his car off the road into a ditch. He was going through back roads to avoid cops because of his previous DUI. He was definitely drunk he didn’t know where he was when he crashed because he was drunk he was with drunkenly, stumbling through the brush, trying to find his way to get his dad and got lost probably fell into whatever that running body of water to get here was needed his phone out not in that and then dies because he fell into a fucking Creek drunk at night. That’s just my thought.

[@snailart9214]

Yeah Midwest drinking culture is pretty intense. A "few" drinks here usually means like 3-4 if not more, especially at a party

[@bellab9286]

And you are correct. He’s in that river, he either floated further than they expected or got pinned down under something along that river. The oh shit was him falling in and even the dogs hit on the river.

[@hattarapilvi]

​@@snailart9214 thats intense? 😂😂 laughs in finnish

[@Lololeelee]

I don’t think he drowned in the creek, it was too small and the body would have been caught by a gate, as said in the video.

[@jaynestrange]

I'm not from Minnesota, but I have been to college, and in my experience whenever you ask a college guy how many beers he (or a friend) drank, he'll always say "a few". A guy can be so wasted he can barely stand, if you ask how many he's had it'll still just be "a few beers".

[@writerlairchannel2636]

Some people in the comments here said about the illegal well and the more i think about the more it makes perfect sense - one of the farmers who's property wasn't searched made an illegal well on their property, they denied the access because they could be charged for the well and the cover up of the dead body which could give them a lot of time behind bars

[@bergstrom716]

If he would of just stayed with his car we would of been fine

[@Snowymae]

I’ve lived in rural farmland and it gets DARK so it seems ridiculous for him to not stay on a road. Especially since you can give your general location or if you walk along it you will eventually find a house or other structure

[@j.k1688]

Perhaps he fell into a concealed well where other critters also died. Lots of farms have old wells and subsided underground mines. A cadaver dog may miss a human scent if combined with other decaying animals.

[@poetrymafia27]

That’s a good point - they say that’s the best way to hide a dead body, bury it under a dead animal.

[@ArchFiendAF]

if it wasent mentioned that he was walking through fields my honest thought would be that he got hit by a car based on what the story sounded like happened. just talking to his dad then suddenly "oh shit" drops phone, never picks it up, but its clear the phone worked for a time after he dropped it. i dont think the phone would ring if he fell into water. so something happened to him on dry land.

[@kilroywashere9343]

Honestly this makes a lot of sense, just makes you wonder what happened to his body after wards

[@bltn7469]

He was hit by a truck . Thrown in the back and thrown down a mine shaft

[@greengoblin876]

@@bltn7469 glad you have come forward after killing him , the fbi and local police will no doubt be in touch with you soon.

[@ibdalia69]

I have poor reception and my calls don't ring just go straight to voicemail. Then I get a message much later saying I have a message.

[@Fearsomehero]

I think the idea that he fell into some kind of well that was fairly hidden is a good possiblilty. I've been thinking about retracing his steps based on the knowledge that is available.

[@thatothermainprotagonist4956]

It's not to uncommon in cattle farms (at least where I live) for small pit traps to naturally form next to water. If he were to attempt to escape it could collapse on the dude.

[@Lololeelee]

Good point.

[@geminidream4347]

The only thing that leaves me with thought of abduction, was his last message of "Oh shit", then nothing. Had if have been a person, I'm sure he would of said that to his dad. Had he of fallen into the river, his dad would have heard a splash at the very least, then water before the phone would have died. It's that abrupt stop that just doesn't make any kind of sense to me.

[@NoahBLance]

This is why I love you Aidan. I had watched pretty much every video on this story I could. I also read a few reddit threads. Not a single one mentioned the facts about the farmers denying searches. They all make it seem much more ambiguous like it's most likely a farmer/farmers that did it and denied entry. They fail to mention almost every farm in the vicinity had also denied access.

[@Lololeelee]

Yes. I think that is an important aspect to the story.

[@chaostourist2951]

disappearing or turning up dead in rural areas like this always makes me think of the boys on the tracks.

[@RD24LFG]

What are/is that?

[@chaostourist2951]

@@RD24LFG back in the 80s in arkansas two boys went hunting and turned up dead on train tracks and were run over by a train. It's complicated and I'd suggest watching Wendigoon's video on it titled "the boys on the tracks" but the belief is they stumbled onto a drug pick up in the woods and got murdered for it.

[@kimswansonlinner6889]

Im from MN and followed all the reports. I was also in our county sheriffs search and rescue. Our unit was not called out. I think the searchers did a great job. There is so much info on Brandon's phone calls to his dad. Had it been me as a parent, I would have advised that he sleep in his car till morning. It was May, he probably had enough cold weather gear. Certainly he would be better off than hiking to "a nearby town" at 2:30 in the morning. A plausible is that he fell into a sink hole or abandoned well. The "oh, shit" was a huge clue. He was, presumably, in the middle of a field or close to an abandoned farm. Thats where I would have focused. Foul play? Possible, especially if the farm was being used for nefarious reasons. So sad to not have closure.

[@sunnybunny1976]

Lyon County is pronounced "Lion". Also Lyon County is on the south dakota side of the state the southwest side.

[@moondog573]

i know a guy. very first time he did mushrooms was with a group of friends. all the friends are tripping balls, and the hero of our story is just watching. Everyone else is having a great time. Nothing is happening for our hero. He asks his friend "hey man, are yall sure about this? I'm not feeling anything" "oh man, too bad" his friend says "here, have some more" Time continues to pass. Our hero grows bored of watching the other friends talk to the lights on the christmas tree or deeply inspect the blades of grass and he decides to drive home. "you shouldnt do that" his friends say. He assures them he is fine, it has been hours since he ate any mushrooms and everyone else is tripping balls and he doesnt feel anything. Against all advice he drives home. About half way home our hero is no longer driving a car. He is piloting a rocket ship at warp speed through the multiverse. Drive sober people. It is important.

[@Lololeelee]

Yikes.

[@niraku321]

On mushrooms? Doubt it ..

[@wintersking4290]

A while ago, In cooperation with the state police and FBI, the Minnesota Wolf research center helped with experiments on how long a human body can last in the woods. They found that the bones were picked clean within about 7-9 days. And that the bones themselves were gone within a month. Have personally seen squirrels hauling deer bones up trees to eat for the calcium.

[@rosebudssudsasmr4545]

Lived my whole life in MN & WI. A few beers is anything under double digits for most of us. Even after just two or three alcoholic beverages, everybody I know avoids all main roads. The fact that he was willing to leave the vehicle right away, leads me to believe that he was fairly intoxicated. Most people would wait for their ride at their vehicle, unless they knew that if they were caught by their vehicle they would be catching a ride from an officer. I myself have witnessed friends or family rushing to "leave the scene of an accident" (even if its just a little nose into the ditch) because they knew theyd be getting into more trouble if they stayed. Now i also wanna say that ive gotten alot of roads mixed up myself because my vision at night is terrible. So if the landscape looked similar around the road he said he was at vs the road his car was at , i think its just a simple misunderstanding. I dont think the river theory really makes sense becaus of the same reasons you pointed out. As some other people mentioned i think it would be a good idea to start a search (with many people) at the point of where his car was found a each person walks for 45-60 minutes (about the same length of his phone call+time for veriations in walking speeds) and then back to the car looking for any evidence or even a body. Have it set up kind of how a 3rd grader draws a sun ya know- a big circle with lines and dashes all around- the people being the lines and dashes and the car the circle. If he was known to wear any jewelry or if he had jeans on or had any metal on his body have somebody searching with a metal detector and put a little flag into the ground whereever they get a ping so it can be looked further into once the first stages of the search are completed.

[@Pixelkip]

lolll you lost me

[@Lololeelee]

Makes total sense to me.

[@Heavyisthecrown]

I feel so bad for Brandon’s parents. Omg if my son called me for help and I got up to help and talked for 47 mins then I heard oh shit and nothing else ever again 😢😢😢😢😢 I can’t imagine their agony. The not knowing….. they must be amazing people to take such pain and turn it into something that helps so many people. ❤

[@sethstine4698]

Why is he sitting on the lap of an Afgani woman in this episode??

[@jennifermoe3474]

I’ve heard this story summarized quite a bit as I grew up because Brandon was my mothers cousins kid and I just hope they find something to give them closure.

[@Lololeelee]

I feel so bad for Brandon and his family ❤

[@Wittlockstudios]

I actually had an uncle who DID die from falling asleep in a field and being run over by a tractor when he was a teenager. It's a surprisingly common type of farm-accident fatality.

[@owenlee5587]

I always love how you acknowledge the indigenous people that lived in the region of each video

[@distilledfreedom1840]

It's actually pretty irrelevant and ridiculous.

[@Milkman4279]

​@distilledfreedom1840 - totally agree. If you want to find out about indigenous history, read a book!!! Aiden's like, 'Let me talk for 10 minutes about something that has absolutely nothing to do with the reason you clicked on this video'.

[@tylerrobinson7383]

Who actually gives a rats ass? This is about a missing person

[@decay09]

one minor thing that bugged me: bloodhounds are only a breed of dog, while search and rescue (SAR) and cadaver (HRD) dogs are individual jobs. SAR and HRD dogs can be any breed of dog, not just bloodhounds, and plenty of bloodhounds make for terrible rescue dogs. not sure if it's just a dialect thing but i wanted to point it out :)

[@Tom_riddle-hw5jq]

I think it’s a dialect thing, I’m from the south and we use the term “bloodhound” to describe any search / sniffing dog. Ive seen SAR officers call German Shepards bloodhounds

[@MeanBeanComedy]

​@@Tom_riddle-hw5jqHa! Yup. And all cola is Coke! 😁👍🏻

[@tiko4621]

@@Tom_riddle-hw5jqI will never understand the south’s need to dumb shit down, and the Brit’s need to make everything sound gay as hell.

[@mobiusone6994]

@@tiko4621 the simpler it is the quicker you can say it and move on The british are just cringe though.

[@Wreckingballblu]

Definitely a dialect thing, but not just for the south. I've heard people in NY call them Bloodhounds, I've just settled on people not knowing the exact term and Bloodhounds being often known for sniffing.

[@earlsweatshirtfan3351]

This is horrifying im sure there’s thousands of reasons I can’t help but think something unnatural happened

[@mrbigshoworelse]

One wrong step in a field where a house once was years before will take you down an old well, but that doesn't make sense if he was close to a river.

[@possumaintdead]

A good example of why map reading is an important skill, and everyone should keep a map in the car. I always keep an atlas and local map (which are increasingly difficult to find) in the car. Wouldn’t help with the accident but he could have figured out where he was.

[@settame1]

I think he probably knew where he was, or at least knew he wasn’t where he told his dad was because he didn’t want to get a lecture. He figured he could meet his dad after he sobered up a little.

[@haywirediakit8194]

I think the most likely ones that line up with what he last said on the call and being in a field is that either a bull was charging at him or a farmer shot at him thinking he was a trespasser or a troublemaker looking to mess with their cows. Falling into a hole of some sort is possible but you don’t really get to say anything before falling, life isn’t exactly a loony toon after all.

[@TheeCambion]

This guy was so drunk he left his car after willingly driving on back roads in the middle of night. Chance's are he tripped fell and injured himself and died of exposure.

[@annanicole5494]

@@TheeCambionbut he would’ve been found

[@karenj4854]

Or, not a bull but a pitbull

[@settame1]

Cows are loud if someone gets in their pen. The dad would have heard something

[@jacobgoron482]

A flathead catfish could have sucked him down into a hide? Just spit balling. Good video glad I caught the premier.

[@cwavt8849]

The commenter who said that he was legally blind in one eye Does add another level to this story. He was a young man who, according to his history, had a habit of getting drunk. Probably didn't use much discretion, probably didn't pay much attention to his surroundings making the blindness a much bigger factor. At night, under the influence, blind... I think that there is a bidy waiting to be found, but, those factors make where he ended up a total mystery

[@NikkiC777]

I have always found this case so disturbing. The whole thing is just so strange.

[@johnnyrules3]

Have they ever searched near Lind? What if Brandon was right about where he was at? Perhaps his car was moved after something terrible happened to him.

[@betzybrethour334]

Great point

[@littletee3649]

I've wondered too if someone moved his vehicle from where it was originally. However, I don't think it was ever where Brandon thought it, and he was. His parents never saw his headlights that night. I wonder if he was on the opposite side of Lind-being visually impaired at night, could easily cause Brandon to be off on his exact location. I fear that he met with foul play of some kind that took his life.

[@Renbacktome]

I want to go to that area and search for myself! It drives me nuts

[@hollyjollyxmas]

They traced his location via his phone records which showed he used his cell phone at that area, not just the car.

[@danielelindsey2213]

I'm with you on this

[@Strype13]

Aside from the gates they put downstream to catch a drifting body, did they ever have divers actually get in and do a thorough underwater search of the entire relevant section of river? To see if his body, perhaps, got snagged on something in one of the deeper areas? I have a feeling they probably did, but for some reason, I have never heard it mentioned while researching and/or watching presentations covering this case. Aside from that, I'm just as clueless as everybody else. This case has always been extremely baffling -- because if his body isn't caught up on something in the river, it really does seem like he just disappeared from the face of the Earth. Very perplexing case, indeed.

[@ugh1230]

Saw a few people talk about how he probably tried to cross the river and got caught or sunk. But wouldn't his parents have been able to hear the running water or him walking in it or the struggle at least in the beginning of him drowning?

[@Lololeelee]

And was it a rushing river or a small creek. They would have found the body.

[@bryanwendland235]

IMO in most of these cases I think they just get the search area wrong.

[@imbadatgames568]

if he was taking back roads he may have made a wrong turn somewhere, not realized it, and gotten disoriented thinking he was miles away from where I was. the only reason I even think this is a possibility is because I've done it. I thought I was maybe 10 miles from where I was trying to get two, turns out I was damn near 40 minutes and driving in the complete wrong direction.

[@snailart9214]

I do this all the time lol, and he was only 18 too. I've only been driving for about a year regularly and I get disoriented all the time

[@twistiebabes]

Absolutely love the continuous big foot ad storyline

[@bellab9286]

The River makes the most sense, there have been plenty of cases where the person’s body was found a lot further down the river than they had thought it could travel. Also bodies can get stuck on debris under the water.

[@judeiz2203]

Brandon was legally blind in his left eye due to a childhood accident and unfortunately he left his glasses in his car on the night of the accident. 😢

[@Melon_414]

I can't believe I never heard of this. This isn't too far from where I live. Plus not much happens in my area

[@PoeLemic]

If you a Good Person, then not much happens for you. But, if you're on the other side of the coin (like me), there is a lot happening that others are involved and you don't know about.

[@Balrog-tf3bg]

@@PoeLemic corn field mafia?

[@scottdpugnificent]

​@Balrog 1999 the camo kids, atleast their Wisconsin chapter went by that name.

[@rorilee9791]

I think it’s far easier for people to get turned around and lost than we might like to think-also people can convince themselves that they are absolutely correct when ALL evidence points to the contrary. I feel horrible for his parents.

[@HolldollMcG]

Please be aware that you do *NOT* have to wait to report someone missing. That is simply the police being lazy and not wanting to bother doing their job. The moment you realize yhey aren't where they should be, report them and *INSIST* that the police file the report.

[@soberserotonin1850]

They won’t just break policy because someone decides to “insist” they break policy. That is why Brandon’s Law is such a wonderful thing, since it changes the policy.

[@William.Kelly7]

You didn't watch the video or are lacking in the brains department...

[@davidbeale3474]

After listening to another amazing episode I'll finally comment on this one. Just for background i am a former soldier and private military contractor. So a little bit of experience in land nav and hostile situations in the woods. Out of all the theories I've heard the one i didn't really hear was what if he wasn't lost, what if he was where he said he was. Last thing heard on the phone was "oh shit" and the phone did not go dead. So whatever happened happened very quickly. Without having done an active trace on his phone then Police would only be able to trace his calls to the closest tower not an exact location. The amount of time between the call and the beginning of the search means there is plenty of time to move the car and leave trails. If the car was only stuck then it's not hard to move given a truck and a rope. Can't say for sure but i would start looking where he said he was not where the vehicle was found.

[@sally180]

Ah shit I just commented the same thing 😂 You’d make a good investigator

[@davidbeale3474]

@@sally180 well working as a war crime investigator in Ukraine right now 😅. So thank you for your belief.

[@moonsaf28]

​@@davidbeale3474 as a person from Ukraine, i would like to thank you for your work 💛💙

[@addydhd]

Exactly what I was thinking, it smells more of foul play due to the lack of evidence being found- and the certainty he had of where he was. Moving a vehicle isn't difficult. I would also reckon that a farmer may be very protective of their live stock and if they were experiencing difficulty with trespassers, aggressive wildlife or whatever else- they may have shot first and realized their mistake after. In my opinion, being shot makes sense with the sudden drop/disconnect, the "oh shit" would have coincided with him seeing the individual, and the lack of evidence would be due to the sufficient amount of time the crime scene by displacing the vehicle. The final indication for me is how the police have kept this an open case despite the time passed, and seemingly lack of evidence- there is likely a lot not being released to the public. Glad I'm not the only one thinking like this!

[@Novsev9069]

I was thinking the same thing Great minds think alike😂😂

[@bravotwozero535]

He probably tripped and accelerated forward in time like when you drop a small screw and look everywhere but it shows up later right where you dropped it.

[@Jack-ny7kn]

I'm ashamed to say I made similar trips home when in high school and college, and I can totally believe he got lost on back roads and had no idea where he was. One thing they probably can't rule out is him taking a puff of something. I was in college around the same time, and I don't remember ever going to any house party where there wasn't something being passed around. So despite not being drunk, he might have been high and a bit tipsy on top of that. A puff of the good stuff and a few beers can really put you in a different headspace, believe me. You don't slur your speech and especially people on the phone would swear you're completely sober, but in reality you're halfway to another galaxy level stoned. But yea, I digress...but anyways, been there done that and yes it's not hard to get turned around when you're in that frame of mind. As far as what actually happened to him, I think the only plausible explanation is water. Walking in the pitch dark, probably shivering, talking on the phone...highly possible that a dude with one eye could fall into a body of water. As far as not finding the body, you would be amazed how long bodies can go undiscovered in relatively well-trafficked areas. They found a body of a hunter in my home town right near a busy intersection, just a few hundred yards away in a stand of trees next to a field that was being farmed. And the body stayed there for several years until it was finally found by other hunters.

[@matchesburn]

I have a question: They had access to his cell phone data and he was on the phone up until the time he went missing. Why couldn't they track and triangulate that? Even in 2008 that should have been somewhat possible, at least in the ballpark region of where he was.

[@RadioStaring]

Rural NW US can result in gigantic triangulations due to the lack of tower density.

[@tdarkhorse4]

in 2008 it was certainly possible, but as the other reply here points out the rural midwest doesn't exactly have a huge amount of cell phone towers, and the ones that do exist would only point you to an even broader version of the area that was searched because while in bigger cities there are a ton of towers and you can track phones down to a few feet bc of the higher density of towers, what triangulation does is it narrows parameters down based on the nearest ones so it's kinda useless in cases like this.

[@matchesburn]

@@tdarkhorse4 Even two cell phone towers can narrow down the search area from what they were originally working with. And given that he had enough cell reception to walk through the woods, it obviously isn't as bad of coverage as you two are making it out to be. Then again, when I ask about "ballpark area for search" and you start talking about like how I'm thinking this will lead to within *_literal feet of his phone..._*

[@zacross8504]

⁠​⁠​⁠@@matchesburn would also help give an idea of what direction he was going. It seems they were searching based on the original dogs scent trail. I imagine 45~ minutes of walking would be enough to see in what rough direction he was heading.

[@kingpaddy9009]

@@zacross8504 I wondered to, why they haven't have made a circle on a map of foot range in every direction and define this as a search area instead of basing their search on unreliable scent.

[@mishap00]

Has anyone ever wondered if the car was moved? I live in a rural area and if Brandon ran into somebody running a meth lab for example I can see them moving the car and putting it in a ditch somewhere else. Has there been night searches to see where Lind can be seen from?

[@AJOlaks]

I’ve experienced something similar, I am a boyscout, and was going to find some boys that had walked off, I found them and started heading back, after not seeing any turns for what felt like longer then I had walked initially, I realized I was lost, eventually I found my way back. But I don’t know how I got lost

[@chuckzamzow]

On Wikipedia they mention that his scent stopped at a gravel road - they are basically saying that someone picked him up. I live about 50 miles from where this happened. You don't drive on gravel roads at night unless you are very familiar with the road - it's a very dangerous thing to do. Most people around here are only familiar with roads that are within a 10 mile radius and possibly up to a 20 mile radius. This also happened before GPS navigation/maps was a common thing for everyone to have at their finger tips.

[@settame1]

Half the time the long gravel roads turn out to be driveways, that’s why you don’t drive down them. On the other hand he may have decided to follow one thinking he could get help

[@vampire9545]

The oh shit puts doubt on being picked up. And as he said dirt roads obscure scent. Also the dad would of heard that on the phone.

[@auriebrighton115]

Correction from a Minnesotan in SE MN: You've highlighted Goodhue County on your map, Lyon County is about 6 counties straight west.

[@brando3312]

I don't know a lot about MN but my thought would be that maybe he fell into a sinkhole/cavern/abandoned mine. I remember someone telling a story about how he and his friends were riding bikes and all of a sudden he hit something, flipped over his bike, and when he looked back the bike had just vanished. It turned out the area they were in had some abandoned mines and his bike had fallen in a shaft that was mostly covered with rocks and vegetation. That would explain the "oh shit" over the phone and why they couldn't find anything. Again, I don't know how likely this is or what the history of that area of MN is in regards to mines or geology, but it's what came to mind.

[@sarahlangdon1965]

You have been more thorough with details than any other person reporting on the details of this case. Thank love.

[@carstontoedter1333]

As a souther Minnesota boy born and raised its very interesting hearing all these places i grew up with and around (Canby, Leon County, Yellow medicine river, Minnesota West community college) talked about like this.

[@markjedlicka2122]

He might have been walking on a river bank when the dirt over a beaver den collapsed and he fell into the den, and was covered forever in several feet of dirt, mud. Beaver dens are very deep and can be several feet from where the river water meets the bank.

[@poetrymafia27]

An interesting theory but I imagine the investigators would notice a beaver den in the area? Unless he was in a completely different area than he - and they - thought he was

[@izzyxblades]

Dude I want to work with someone who has the same names as me and is always supportive

[@hazey_bass]

Welcome to Minnesota, we have lots of crazy happenings 🙃

[@Pacific.cow17]

As a farmer myself…a lot of us cattle farmers do plant crops for the cattle. But I would never let a search party near the cattle either, cows spook easily and it could cause a cow to fall and break a leg

[@sunneinsplendour8459]

I recently discovered your channel and have been binging your videos. Really enjoyable content with fantastic delivery.

[@Lololeelee]

I just happened on your fine channel. Appreciate your opening on Sioux history. I grew up in northern Minnesota and my family told me there were Native American burial mounds on our land in a certain area. I never went there because I was too spooked and wanted to respect the area. I have no idea if it’s true. I feel so sorry for Brandon and his family. I can only guess at maybe hyperthermia or wells. ❤

[@MNJim1966]

First, well done presentation. I know that area a little. It's extremly flat. Very easy to search. Little tree cover. The idea he fell into a well and searchers or cadaver dogs wouldn't have found him is just silly. But yet people seem to insist that's what happened. Law enforcement and searchers are smart people. They wouldn't have overlooked this. Repeated searches and historical documents would reveal at least most wells. Seems to me the real mystery is Brandon likely dropping the phone and saying "oh shit!" What happened? Both he and his phone were never seen or heard from again. The fact his phone wasn't discovered means he and his phone seem to have vanished together. This is a great mystery and reminds me of the outdoor version of Brian Shaeffer's disappearance. Imagine how his parents must feel. What a horrible ordeal.

[@AbraSings]

I get turned around VERY easily. When I was younger, before smart phones were a thing, I got so confused driving at night SUPER close to the house where I was raised. My dad bought me a Garmin (a GPS thing) because of it. If I go to a restaurant, it's easy for me to not know which way I need to turn when driving away from the restaurant. I use GPS all the time, but there are rare occasions when I think it's simple enough for me to get to the highway based on memory, and then I ended up driving miles out of the way before I realize I went the wrong way. All this to say, maybe it being dark and him possibly being a bit intoxicated was enough for him to get completely turned around.

[@Lololeelee]

Yes. Very easy to get lost, especially after drinking.

[@kingvinoda3896]

He saw the lights of a UFO and thought they were the lights of the town. I think.

[@ashleybrooke5199]

this case has always baffled me..and as always..great coverage of this case Aidan!