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  • From: Una Smith <una.smith@att.net>
  • To: msar-riders@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [MSAR] Request for Help--Brandon Swanson Search
  • Date: Fri, 29 Jan 2010 15:09:26 -0700

Below is a forwarded e-mail from the original sender, Jeff Hasse, dated
Friday, Jan 29, 2010. This is my second try; my first try had a typo
in the To: field and was undeliverable.

Una

----------------------------- snip here --------------------------------

Colleagues,

We have a very difficult missing person case here in Minnesota that
I hope might interest you. On May 14th, 2008, 19-year-old Brandon
Swanson of Marshall, MN disappeared while walking in a rural area of
southwestern MN. He had been at a gathering of friends that evening and
was on his way home when the car he was driving became stuck in a ditch.
He contacted his parents to come get him but was apparently quite
disoriented and gave them directions to a location 20 miles away from
his position. He became frustrated with the wait and began walking
towards what he thought was a nearby tavern and directed his parents
there. During a 47-minute cell-phone conversation with his father, he
described walking down gravel roads, then leaving the road to travel
cross-country. The phone call ended when--according to his father--it
sounded like he slipped, uttered "Oh S***," and the phone went dead.
He hasn't been seen or heard from since.

The local Sheriff's Offices (there were three counties involved),
community volunteers, and the family conducted a large search for
approximately two weeks before we were asked to become involved. None
of the local resources had any formal SAR training. While a formal
Search Manager became involved in the search about a week and a half
into the search, he only had had a single search management course and
very little experience. Initial search efforts focused on the Yellow
Medicine River. Our teams conducted nine days of searching throughout
the summer and fall of 2008 working with the family's Search Manager
and the Sheriffs directly. By late fall of 2008, the family had lost
confidence in the initial Search Manager and asked that I take over
the search with the Sheriff's consent.

We conducted an extensive reconstruction of the search efforts to
date throughout the winter of 2008-2009. In February of 2009, a number
of experienced Search Managers met for a planning meeting which
included a review of the circumstances of his disappearance, subject
profile, scenario analysis, containment analysis, etc. A Search Plan
was established.

In March of 2009, we resumed our limited continuous search
conducting 25 days of searching over the spring, summer, and fall. At
this point, we are primarily using Human Remains Detection (HRD) dogs
in the search. The remains are fully disarticulated and likely well
hidden by tall grass, water, or possibly even soil as his remains may
have been tilled into one of the many farm fields in the area, so HRD
dogs are our best sensors for the conditions. The dogs have amassed a
huge body of evidence suggesting that his remains are located to the
northwest of the LKP (his abandoned car). However, we have not been
able to physically locate any remains as of yet. The search is
currently suspended due to deep snow in the area.

During this winter, we are taking another look at all our data
hoping to narrow the search. This is why I am writing you. This has
been a very large search (over 120 square miles searched) with very
frustrating results (lots of canine interest, but unable to pinpoint
the source). The management team thought it would be a good idea to
add your expertise to the mix. Have any of you ever been involved in
a search with this amount of canine interest from so far away? Does
the pattern of interest suggest anything to you? Have we missed
anything? We would be interested in your thoughts.

All of the briefing materials, search plan, and summary reports
are available on a Box.net site.

[Please e-mail Jeff for links. --Una]

Both the family and the Sheriff to whom I report have approved the
release of this information. However, since it is an active case, I
ask that you treat it as confidential. If you would like to share the
links with anyone, please email me.

I will be happy to answer your questions regarding the case. I am
currently working on an overall Case Summary which I will post when
I complete it. Your comments can be directed to the list or to me
directly at jhasse@comcast.net. Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Jeff Hasse
President, Midwest Technical Rescue Training Associates
Vice-President, Search, Rescue, and Recovery Resources of Minnesota
Director, Jon Francis Foundation






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