Vanished: Three Disappearances Nobody Can Explain

This episode of The Why Files is brought. to you by BetterHelp. Gather round. This happened in Columbus, Ohio on April 1st, 2006. Brian Shaffer. walked into a bar at 1:15 in the morning. with two friends. One way in, one way. out. The building was covered in. cameras. Every exit monitored, every. door, all watched, all recorded. Brian. was a 27-year-old medical student. The. plan was med school, then residency,

then marry his girlfriend Alexis. But. that plan would never happen. In a building covered by security. cameras, surrounded by 200 witnesses, in. a room with one way in and one way out, Brian Shaffer vanished. >> Dad, you and I need to talk to you. There's something's very wrong with me.

>> Just one thing? >> I'm serious. I've been having these. episodes. Hot flashes, cold snaps. My. bowl fogged up three times today. I. yelled at Gertie for chewing too loud. and then I cried during a commercial for. gravel. >> Gravel? >> They poured it in slow motion, human. It. was beautiful. >> Have you considered that you might be. going through finopause? >> Excuse me. I am a virile, powerful. goldfish. This is [music] clearly a. government experiment. I'm being. targeted by psychotronic weapons. directed at me. Possibly harp.

>> It's not harp. >> So I tried to fix it myself. Healing. crystals, meditation app. I even went to. the Beaver Brothers Wellness Retreat. It's called the Beaver Oasis. >> Yeah, I'm not going to touch that. >> Yeah, neither did they. Worst massage of. my life. Virgins just slapped my bowl. with a branch for 40 minutes. I left. more stressed than when I went in. Oh, oh. Gertie started sleeping standing up. again. Uh Shelly does that when she. doesn't feel safe. >> You don't need to overhaul everything at. once. Sometimes you just need to talk to. someone, a therapist, someone who knows.

what they're doing. >> How did you just use my emotional. vulnerability to transition to today's. sponsor? >> I sure did. I'll be honest, doing this. show changed the way I think about. therapy. Every week I'm deep in cases. about missing people, unexplained. phenomena, government experiments. You. absorb more of that than you realize. I. kept telling myself I can just power. through it, that I had to figure it all. out on my own or not bother. But that. all or nothing thinking was keeping me. stuck. Taking one small step, just. talking to someone, can make all the. difference. Better Help makes starting.

therapy easier. You take a quiz, get. matched with a licensed therapist, and. you can communicate however you feel. comfortable, phone, video, or text. If. your therapist isn't the right fit, you. can switch anytime at no extra cost. Over 6 million people have gotten help. through Better Help, and it has a 4.8. out of five rating on the App Store. Click the link in the description or go. to betterhelp.com/yfiles. and get 10% off your first month of. therapy. >> Yeah, I can really do this by text. because I'm not great on video. Every.

time I'm on camera, I look like a. screensaver from 1997. >> Yes, you can text. >> Then maybe I'll try it, Fogarty. Actually, I just had a better idea. What. if I become a therapist? I already know. what's wrong with everybody. >> Don't. >> Dr. Heckle and Hyde Moriarty, licensed. to listen. Accepting new patients, cash. only or crypto. >> Please stop. >> Goody's my receptionist. Now I can. finally put a judgmental stare to use.

>> Two weeks earlier, Brian's mother died. Renee Schaefer lost her battle with a. rare cancer that destroys bone marrow. She was Brian's anchor, the one who. pushed him through undergraduate studies. in microbiology, the one who celebrated. when he got into Ohio State's medical. program. She died in March. Brian was at. her bedside holding her hand when she. passed. Two weeks later, he carried it. everywhere. Friends said he handled it. well, kept his grades up. He attended.

every lecture, but those closest to him. noticed the exhaustion, the way he'd. stare off during conversations, the. forced smile when people asked him how. he was doing. The night of March 31st, Brian had. dinner with his father Randy, just the. two of them. Brian looked drained, dark circles under. his eyes. Randy thought his son. shouldn't go out that night, thought he. should rest, but he didn't say it. He. would regret [music] that silence for. the rest of his life. After dinner, Brian called Alexis.

Wagner, his girlfriend of two years, [music]. also a medical student. She gone home to. Toledo to visit her parents. Brian asked. Alexis if they were still on for Miami. She said she couldn't wait. Brian was. excited, three days on South Beach, and. Brian planned to surprise her with a. proposal. The ring was already picked. out. He said he'd see her Monday, then. he called Clint Florence, his roommate, his closest friend. Time to celebrate. the start of spring break. They started at the Ugly Tuna around.

9:00, a bar on the second floor of the. Gateway building near Ohio State. University. They had a round, then went bar hopping. through the Arena District and Short. North. One shot at each stop. Nothing. excessive, just two friends blowing off. steam after a brutal semester and the. worst month of Brian's life. Around midnight, they ran into Meredith. Reed, a friend of Clint's. She offered. to drive them to their next stop. Brian. said, "Back to the Tuna." The last place. Brian Shaffer would ever be seen alive. The last place he would ever be seen at.

all. >> [music]. >> The security camera captured them at. 1:15 a.m. Three friends riding the. escalator to the second floor. Brian. looked relaxed, happy even. The Ugly Tuna occupied the entire second. floor. Exposed brick, industrial.

lighting, the bar along one wall, tables. everywhere, a stage in the corner. The. place was packed with college students. celebrating spring break. Loud music and. louder conversations. Brian moved. through the crowd buying drinks, talking. to people. Witnesses later said he was. more outgoing than usual, more social, like he was working hard to have a good. time. Around 1:40 a.m. Brian and Clint stepped. out to the balcony area overlooking the. atrium. The camera caught them there. Brian leaning against the railing, Clint.

beside him. They talked for a few. minutes. But at some point during that. conversation, they got into an argument. The camera saw it all. They went back. inside. >> [music]. >> 15 minutes later, Brian was outside. again, alone. The camera recorded his final moments. He stood near the entrance talking to. two young women, blonde, early 20s. The. conversation lasted about 2 minutes. Brian smiled, the women laughed, nothing. seemed wrong. Those two women were never identified. Not Ohio State students, not locals.

anyone recognize. They appeared on no. other camera in the building or. surrounding area that night. 19 years. later, nobody knows who they were. Brian said goodbye and the camera showed. him turning, walking back toward the bar. entrance, moving off screen. That was. the last time anyone saw Brian Shaffer. At closing time, Clint and Meredith. searched the entire bar. Bathrooms, backrooms, storage areas. They asked the. staff. [music]. Nobody had seen him leave. 200 people came down the escalator as. the bar closed. Brian wasn't among them.

Clint called his cell phone. It went. straight to voicemail. They waited. outside until sunrise. Brian never came. out. >> [music]. >> Police reviewed every second of security. footage, every camera, every angle. The. lead detective tracked every person who. entered the bar that night, then tracked.

them leaving. Everyone was accounted. for, everyone except Brian. The detective told reporters, "I can say. with 100% certainty that Brian Shaffer. did not leave via the escalator. The. service elevator required a key card, only employees had access. Staff were on. camera using it all night, none matched. Brian's description." But the back exit. was more complicated than it first. appeared. A service door not far from. where Brian was last seen opened to a. first floor hallway that was connected. to an active construction area with its.

own exterior exit. Officers said. navigating it would be nearly impossible. drunk, but the cameras covering that. route weren't fixed. One panned back and. forth on a cycle, the other was manually. operated. There were gaps, not many, but. enough that a person could slip through. unseen. That was the only crack in a sealed box, and nobody can prove Brian went through. it. No witnesses saw anyone use the. exit, nobody saw anyone at the. construction site, but the gap existed.

In a case that seems impossible, every. detail matters. Police checked cameras at three other. nearby bars, none of them saw Brian. either. Wherever he went after walking. off camera at the Tuna, no other camera. spotted him. K9 units tracked Brian's [music] scent. from the street to the escalator, up to. the bar entrance. Then the dogs circled. the same spot near the door and sat. down. The trail [music] stopped, as if. Brian was there one minute, then gone. the next. Police organized search parties. Volunteers combed the campus,

construction sites, abandoned buildings. They searched the Olentangy River, which. runs through Columbus near the campus. They even convinced the city to let them. search the sewer system, dumpsters, every alley within miles. Brian's apartment was only six blocks. from the [music] bar. His car was parked. outside. Nothing inside was disturbed. Clothes in his closet, books on his. desk. Whatever Brian was planning, he. was planning on coming home. His phone went directly to voicemail. There's no GPS in 2006, so no way to.

track it. He had his wallet with him, but he didn't use his credit cards. He. didn't touch his bank account. No. activity on anything. Monday morning, Alexis' engagement ring. still sat in his apartment. She waited. at the airport, but Brian never showed. And the flight to Miami left without. him.

Everyone who saw Brian that night was. asked to take a polygraph. His father. Randy took one and passed. Meredith Reed. took one, passed. Bar staff, other. friends, all agreed, all passed. All. except Clint [music] Florence. Clint was the only person to spend the. entire evening with Brian, the last. friend to see him alive, the one who. admitted they argued on the balcony but. wouldn't say why. When police asked him. to take a lie detector test, he refused. Then he hired an attorney. Later he was subpoenaed to appear before. a grand jury. He refused to answer.

questions there, too. Refusing a polygraph is legally smart. Defense attorneys tell clients to refuse. them because the machines are. unreliable. Clint's refusal doesn't make. him guilty, but in a case with zero. leads and zero evidence, it's the one. thread [music] that won't stop pulling. Meanwhile, the search spiraled outward. A psychic told Randy Shafer that Brian's. body was in water near a bridge pier. So. Randy and Derek, Brian's younger. brother, bought waders. They spent their. weekends in the Olentangy River.

searching under bridges. Randy had just. buried his wife, and now he was standing. knee-deep in freezing water searching. for the body of his son. Brian had a Pearl Jam tattoo on his arm. When the band played Cincinnati later. that year, Eddie Vedder stopped between. songs and asked 15,000 people for. information about Brian Shaffer. The. lead singer of one of the biggest rock. bands in the world, standing on stage, personally [music] asking for help. finding a missing fan. >> Chris.

He was in the barracks and. in there and uh he had a girlfriend. Alexis who loved him. They were planning. on getting married and. uh he was uh going to vet school and uh. he had a great dad and Randy. Uh he came to one of our shows a number. of years ago, maybe 7 or 8 years ago. Uh the website I think is trying to keep. the issue uh to the forefront and keep. reminding people that. be on the lookout. He had a He had a 6'. 2" handsome guy. He had a Pearl Jam. tattoo on his right arm.

>> [cheering]. >> So, the fans have been trying to. keep the issue afloat but nobody else. seems to. We just want to. We were taking a second back there. trying to figure out what to play and. uh we just want to. send this one out to him and and uh I. don't know where. wherever he is, we're still thinking of. him. >> Nobody had anything. 15,000 people in a.

stadium and not one useful lead. Then, in September, something happened. Alexis had been. calling Brian's phone every night before. bed. Every single night since April. The. same [music] thing every time, straight. to voicemail, straight to voicemail. But. then one night, 5 months after Brian. disappeared, his phone rang. >> [music]. >> For the first time in months, Brian.

Shaffer's cell phone rang, but nobody. answered. Singular, Brian's wireless. provider, said it was probably just. [music] a glitch. But a ping from the. phone was detected at a cell tower in. Hilliard, Ohio, 14 miles northwest of. Columbus. Something activated that. phone. The lead was never explained. The phone. went silent again. It never pinged. another tower. Some investigators looked at the. so-called smiley face killer theory. Some believe the serial killer was. targeting drunk college-age men in the. Midwest and dumping their bodies in.

rivers. Young men fitting Brian's. profile had turned up dead in waterways. across several states. Police looked. into it. The FBI looked into it. Both. rejected any connection. If the smiley face killer was real, and. most law enforcement said he isn't, Brian would be the only victim whose. body was never found. A possible sightings were reported in. Michigan, in Texas, in Sweden. A man matching Brian's. was seen at a bar in the Caribbean. Another was spotted at a bus station in.

the southwest. Police investigated every. single one, sent officers, >> [music]. >> compared photos, checked records. Nothing panned out. Randy Shaffer drove to Columbus every. weekend for 2 years, walked the streets. around the Gateway building, handed out. flyers, searched [music] the river, hired investigators, spent everything he. had. In 2008, 2 years after Brian. vanished, Randy was killed in a freak. accident when a branch broke from a tree. and fell on him. Derek Shaffer, Brian's younger brother,

inherited everything alone. The search, the questions, the weight of a family. that stopped existing one member at a. time. A mother, a brother, a father. Three people gone in 2 years. Derek kept. searching. He still does. Shortly after Randy's death, Clint. Florence's attorney sent a letter to a. private investigator working the case. In it, he wrote, "If Brian is alive, which is what I'm led to believe after. speaking with a detective involved, then. it is Brian and not Clint who's causing. his family pain and hardship.".

The detective on the case believed Brian. was alive. In 2020, the Ohio Attorney General's. office digitally aged Brian's photo to. show what he might look like in his. mid-40s. Dateline covered the case. America's Most Wanted covered it. The. internet never let it go. There's a. subreddit dedicated to finding him. And. every year on April 1st, people share. his photo and ask the same question, "Where is Brian Shaffer?" He would be 46. years old today. 19 years have passed. His phone has never pinged another.

tower. His credit cards have never been. used. His social security number has. never appeared in any database. No. hospital records, >> [music]. >> no police reports, no death certificate. His body has never been found. The Ugly Tuna closed years ago. The. building still stands on North High. Street. [music] The cameras are gone. now. New businesses occupy the space, but the escalator still runs. But. somewhere in those final seconds, in a. narrow window between camera angles, between one frame and the next, a.

27-year-old medical student vanished. The footage is still there, archived in. police evidence, frame by frame, second. by second. Cameras prove that Brian. Shaffer entered that building. They also. prove that somehow [music]. he never left.

Gather 'round. This happened. In October. 2009, hunters found an abandoned pickup. truck on a dirt road deep in the Bois. Mountains of southeastern Oklahoma. The engine was cold. The doors were. unlocked. Inside a small terrier named. Macy was pressed against the seat. She. was barely alive. She was trapped in the. cab for days with no food, no water, and. no one coming back for her. They also. found two cell phones, two wallets, and.

a GPS unit. There were coats and jackets inside even. though the nights were dropping into the. 40s, and sitting in plain sight, $32,000. in cash. There were no footprints leading away. from the vehicle, no blood, no sign of a. struggle. The truck was owned by Bobby Jameson. He. drove to the mountains with his wife. Sherilyn and their 6-year-old daughter. Madison. For what reason the police never figured. it out. The only thing we know for sure. is the Jameson family [music].

is gone. >> [music]. >> Bobby and Sherilyn Jameson lived in. Eufaula, a quiet town on the shore of. Lake Eufaula in southeastern Oklahoma. Bobby was 44. A bad car accident years. earlier had left him with chronic back. pain. He lived on a disability. settlement. Sherilyn was 40. She.

suffered from bipolar disorder for. years. They fought. They struggled. But. they had their daughter Madison and made. a plan to get out. In the fall of 2009, the Jamesons found a 40-acre plot of. land near the town of Red Oak, about 30. miles from home. It was deep in the Sans. Bois Range, remote and wooded. The kind. of place where you could disappear from. the world. They wanted a fresh start, to. leave Eufaula and everything in it. behind. On October 8th, they loaded up. the truck and drove out to see the. property. Madison rode in the back seat.

with her dog Macy. This was the last day. anyone saw them alive. The truck was found a few days later by. hunters who reported it to the Latimer. County Sheriff. When deputies arrived, the first thing they noticed was the. dog. Macy was dehydrated and weak, but. alive. The second thing they noticed was. the money. About $32,000 in cash sitting. in plain sight. Nobody touched it. The. family's belongings also told a strange. story. Their IDs were still in the. truck. So were their phones. Their coats.

were still in the truck. And October. nights in the San Bois Range got cold. Wherever the Jamesons went after they. parked, they went without. identification, communication, money, or. the right clothes for the weather. They. took nothing. One detail the sheriff noticed from. security camera footage, at one point. Sherilyn placed a brown briefcase in the. truck. That briefcase was never. recovered. Neither was the .22 caliber. handgun that she stashed in it. The cash, all $32,000 of it, sat.

untouched when the truck was found. The. Jamesons weren't wealthy. They weren't. known for carrying cash. The disability. settlement may explain where the cash. came from, but it doesn't explain why. they brought every dollar they had to. look at a piece of land in the. mountains. But the security cameras at. their house recorded something that. investigators have never been able to. explain. The footage is timestamped the. morning they left. [music]. It shows Bobby and Sherilyn making trip. after trip between the house and the. truck, back and forth, loading boxes,

carrying bags. They don't speak to each. other. They don't look at each other. Between trips, they stop, stand. completely still, and stare at nothing. Not at the ground, not at the sky, just. somewhere in the middle distance. Then, after a few seconds, they start moving. again. Same pace, same silence, like. robots or zombies. The sheriff who reviewed the tape said. they looked like they were in a trance. Not arguing, not rushing, not behaving. like a normal couple packing for a day.

trip. Just silent, mechanical. repetition. Like two people running on a. program. Like two people without free. will. >> [music]. >> The Jamesons were already in trouble. long before they disappeared. And every. layer of the investigators pulled back. revealed something darker. Bobby was. locked in a bitter legal battle with his. own father, Bob Dean Jameson. In 2008,

Bobby had filed a protective order. claiming his father had tried to run him. over with the car. Bobby's petition. described his father as a very dangerous. man. He accused him of being involved. with meth and other criminal activity. He said his father threatened to kill. him, his wife, and daughter. Then, there were the spirits. Bobby and Sherilyn had both visited. their pastor separately. They told him. the same thing. Something was living. inside their house, spirits, entities.

they could see but couldn't make leave. Bobby told the pastor he'd gone out and. bought a copy of the Satanic Bible. Not. to worship anything, he said, but to. find instructions for driving the. spirits out of the house. He asked if he. knew where to buy special bullets that. could shoot the entities off the roof. The pastor didn't know what to say to. that. Nobody did. A handyman who'd been staying with the. family in the weeks before they. disappeared had connections to white. supremacist groups. After the Jamesons.

vanished, investigators took a hard look. at him. They interviewed him multiple. times. They couldn't tie him to the. disappearance. On the property was a large metal. storage container the family planned to. move into while building on the new. land. Sherilyn had spray painted. messages across its sides. One line. said, "Witches don't like it when their. cats are killed." The neighbors didn't. know what to make of it. Neither did the. police. Inside the abandoned truck was an. 11-page letter from Sherilyn to Bobby, handwritten and full of rage. She called.

him a hermit. She said she resented him. She said she didn't need him. Friends who read it later said it wasn't. a goodbye note. It was angry and raw. The kind of thing you write at 3:00 in. the morning when you've had enough. And then there was the last photo. It. was on Bobby's phone, taken the day they. vanished. The image shows 6-year-old. Madison standing alone in the woods, not. smiling, not crying, just standing. perfectly still among the trees, looking. directly into the camera with a blank, hollow expression, like she was waiting.

for something to happen. Nobody knows who took that picture. It. was on Bobby's phone, but he wasn't in. it. Neither was Sherilyn. Madison is. alone. Trees behind her, dirt under her. feet. And whoever was holding that phone. was the last person to see that little. girl alive.

Search [music] teams covered hundreds of. acres. Dogs tracked scent trails that. went nowhere. Helicopters flew grid. patterns over the mountains. Volunteers. walked shoulder to shoulder through. dense brush. And still they found. nothing. Then 4 years passed. [music]. In November 2013, two deer hunters were. scouting remote part of Latimer County, dense oak forest, [music] rocky terrain, less than 3 miles from where the truck. was abandoned in 2009. One of them. stopped walking. Something pale on the. ground caught his eye. Half hidden in.

the underbrush were bones, scattered. across the forest floor by 4 years of. storms and animals. Two adults, one. child. In July 2014, the Oklahoma. medical examiner confirmed what everyone. already knew, but no one wanted to hear. Bobby Jameson, Sherilyn Jameson, Madison. Jameson. The official cause of death was. undetermined. And that word undetermined is rare. Medical examiners almost always find. something, a fracture, a puncture,

toxicology, something. But the Jamesons. gave nothing. No bullet damage to any of. the bones, no knife marks, no damage to. the hyoid bone, which means they weren't. strangled. Four years of Oklahoma heat, cold, rain, and wildlife destroyed the. evidence of whatever killed them. The case became national news. Hundreds. of tips came in over the years and none. of them led anywhere. >> [music]. >> Every theory fell apart. Meth, police. searched the house and found nothing. No. drugs, no paraphernalia, no evidence of.

dealing or using. Murder-suicide. But. Sherilyn's gun was missing and the. bodies were 3 mi of rough terrain from. the truck. Now, Bobby's father, he had. an alibi and died 2 months after the. family vanished. The handyman with white. supremacist ties was a person of. interest for a while, but nothing. connected him to the disappearance. Sherilyn's mother believed that the. family was pulled into a cult and she. never changed her story. The sheriff who worked the case said one. thing stayed with him above everything.

else. Not the money, not the letter, not. the photo of Madison in the woods. It. was the footage. Bobby and Sherilyn moving through their. house like they were sleepwalking, loading that truck in total silence, stopping to stare at nothing, then. starting again over and over and over. He said he watched it more than 100. times and every time [music] it looked. less like a family packing for a trip. and more like robots running a program. [music].

The $32,000 is still in an evidence. locker. The briefcase has never been. found. Sherilyn's gun has never been. found and nobody's ever explained what. made Bobby and Sherilyn load that truck. like zombies on the last morning of. their lives. And most likely, nobody. ever will.

>> Gather around. This happened. Marshall, Minnesota, May 14th, 2008, 1:54 a.m. Brandon Swanson called his parents from. the side of a dark road. He was 19 years. old, last day of college. His car was in. a ditch. He just needed a ride. His. father, Brian, drove out looking for. him. They stayed on the phone for 47. minutes. Brandon saw lights in the. distance. He started walking toward what. he thought was town. Then on the phone. with his father, he said, "Oh, sh.

Then the line went dead, and Brandon. vanished. >> [music]. >> Brandon told his parents he crashed near. Lynd, a small town about 7 miles from. Marshall. That's where his father. searched, up and down those roads, looking for a gray Chevy Lumina in a. ditch, looking for his son walking along. the road. But, he found nothing.

At 6:30 a.m., the Swansons reported. Brandon missing. The officer wasn't. concerned. Young guy, last day of. school, been out drinking, probably. sleeping it off somewhere. One cop told. Annette Swanson that her son had a right. to be [music] missing. She didn't accept. that. She pushed. She demanded they. check the cell records. Well, the. records told a different story. Brandon's last call didn't ping a tower. near Lynd. It [music] pinged near. Porter, 25 miles in the opposite.

direction. Brandon was completely wrong. about where he was. He thought he was 7. miles from home. He was 30 miles away, on a gravel road in the middle of. farmland, surrounded by fields and. darkness. No streetlights, no houses, nothing but flat ground and sky in every. direction. Yellow Medicine County sits in. southwestern Minnesota. It's prairie. land. The kind of place where you can. see headlights from 10 mi away on a. clear night. And in May, the corn hasn't. come up yet. The fields are bare dirt. and stubble. There's nothing to hide.

behind. There's nothing to fall into. There's nothing that should swallow a. person whole. Police found his car that afternoon, stuck up on an incline near a bridge on. a county road. Doors open, keys gone. Brandon had taken them with him when he. started walking. The nearest town was Porter, population. 178, but Brandon never made it. Now, think about that. Brandon grew up. in Marshall. He'd driven these roads his. whole life. And somehow, after his car. went into the ditch, he was convinced he. was near Lynd, a town he knew. He.

recognized nothing around him because. there was nothing to recognize, just. gravel and darkness and the flat line of. the horizon. And here's where it gets. strange. The lights Brandon saw in the. distance, the one he walked towards, were probably a red beacon on a grain. elevator in Taunton. A single light on. top of a tall metal structure, visible. for miles across the flat prairie. [music] Now, from that distance through. the darkness, it looked like a town. It. looked like safety. It wasn't.

Between Brandon and that light was 3 mi. of open farmland, the Yellow Medicine. River, and nothing else. No roads. leading where he was going. No. buildings. Just black earth under a. pitch-black sky. Brandon walked into the night, phone. pressed to his ear, [music] convinced he. was heading towards civilization. He was. heading into miles of empty fields. [music]. Then he cursed into his phone. Then the line went dead.

>> [music]. >> Searches started at first light. Helicopters overhead, officers walking. the roads and ditches, volunteers combed. the fields. They brought in dogs trained. to track human scent across miles of. open ground. Canine units with hundreds. of successful tracks between them. Dogs. that had found bodies buried under 6 ft. of soil. The dogs picked up Brandon's. trail near his car and followed it west. northwest along field roads. 3 miles. through darkness, past barbed wire.

fences and drainage ditches. Then to an. abandoned farm, buildings dark, doors. hanging open, no one living there for. years. Then the trail turned south and followed. the Yellow Medicine River, a shallow. waterway that cuts through the farmland. Muddy banks, thick brush on both sides. And Brandon had mentioned hearing water. during his call. He mentioned passing. fences. He told his father the ground. was getting uneven and harder to walk. on. The details matched perfectly. The handlers expected the trail to end.

at the river's edge, confirming Brandon. fell in and drowned. But the dogs didn't stop. They waded. across the Yellow Medicine River, waist-deep in places. The current strong. enough to push against their legs. The. dogs picked up the scent on the opposite. bank. Brandon had crossed the river in. the dark. He didn't fall in. He didn't. drown. He made it to the other side and. kept walking. The dogs kept going north along a gravel. road until they hit the Yellow Medicine. County line. Then the trail ended. Not.

at the river, not at a body. It stopped. in the middle of nowhere. Open farmland, no structures, no landmarks. As if. Brandon had been lifted off the face of. the earth. Now searches continued for years. Every. spring after snowmelt, when the frozen. ground thawed and the rivers dropped low. enough to wade. Every fall after. harvest, when the fields were cut and. you can see the ground for miles. Volunteers walked in lines across the. prairie. They covered 122 square miles. They walked every inch of the river.

They drained ponds. They searched. abandoned farm buildings one by one. Barns with collapsed roofs. Root cellars. filled with standing water, grain bins. that hadn't been opened in decades. Nothing. No body, no clothes, no phone, no keys, not a single thread. Brandon. Swanson walked into the darkness that. night and disappeared. >> [music].

>> The official story is Brandon drowned in. the Yellow Medicine River. Walking in. the dark disoriented, he stumbled into. the water, and that's the simplest. explanation. But the evidence doesn't. support it. The bloodhounds tracked his. scent across the river, not into it. If. Brandon had drowned, the trail would. have ended at the water's edge, but it. didn't. The dogs picked up his scent on. the opposite bank and kept following it. north. His father talked to him for 47. minutes. Brian Swanson says his son. didn't sound drunk or confused. He.

sounded like himself, frustrated about. the car and eager to get home, but. coherent. He was navigating by. landmarks. He was making decisions, not. stumbling blind through the night. And then there's the final words, "Oh, sh. So, listen to what that phrase is and. what it isn't. It wasn't a scream. It. wasn't a cry for help. It was surprise, the kind of thing you say when you see. something unexpected. Brandon saw. something in the darkness. He reacted, then he was gone.

Foul play has never been ruled out. The. area is remote, miles of empty farmland, isolated roads, abandoned properties. Someone could have been out there. Could. have seen his headlights from the road, watched him crash, and followed him into. the fields on foot. At 2:30 in the. morning in that kind of darkness, you. wouldn't see them coming. You wouldn't. hear them over the wind. But there's no evidence of that. No. witnesses, no suspects, no motive, no. DNA, no tire tracks, no sign of a. struggle, just a trail that ends in the. middle of nowhere.

Brandon's parents never moved. They kept. their porch light on every single night. for years. Annette left his bedroom. exactly the way it was. Bed unmade, clothes on the floor, textbooks stacked. on the desk. She said she wanted it. ready for when he finally came home. Brian Swanson replayed that phone call. in his head a thousand times. 47 minutes. of his son's voice. The last 47 minutes. anyone heard Brandon alive. He told. reporters the hardest part wasn't the. silence after the swear, it was the 47.

minutes before it. The normalcy. The. casual frustration of a kid whose car. slid off a road. Father and son talking. like it was any other night. Like. everything was going to be fine. The Swansons lobby the Minnesota. government. They testified, they pushed. In 2009, Minnesota passed Brandon's Law. Police now have to investigate missing. adults immediately. No more waiting. periods. No more right to be missing. Every state should have that law, but. most don't. Brandon's case was reclassified from.

missing person to endangered missing. person, then to suspected homicide. But. no arrest has ever been made. No person. of interest has never been named. >> [music]. >> The case file remains open with the. Lincoln County Sheriff's Office. The. Yellow Medicine River still runs through. that farmland. The grain elevator in. Taunton still has its red light. The. gravel roads are still empty at night. And if you drive County Road 10 past. Porter at 2:00 a.m., you'll see exactly. what Brandon saw. Darkness so complete, it swallows your headlights 30 ft ahead.

And somewhere out there, in the space. between Porter and nowhere, is the. answer to what Brandon Swanson saw in. the last moment of his phone call. A. surprise swear, and then silence. He's. been out there almost 18 years, and he's. still out there. And his family is still. waiting.

>> Thank you so much for hanging out today. My name is AJ. This is the Wi Files and. that was a campfire story. No debunking, no analysis, just a creepy story to. scare you and the kids. And that one is. true and [music] unsolved. If you had. fun, I'd appreciate if you can like, subscribe, comment and share. That stuff. really helps. And like most topics we. cover here, today's was recommended by. you. So if there's a story you'd like to. see, go to the wifiles.com/tips or send. us an email. We'd love to cover that. story. And if you'd like to hear any of. these campfire stories expanded into a. full episode, there's a few I'd like to.

do, then definitely let me know. Remember, the Wi Files is also a. podcast. You can take us on the road. I. post deep dives into the stories we. cover on the channel. I also post. episodes that wouldn't be allowed on the. channel. Podcast is called the Wi Files. Operation Podcast and it's available. everywhere. And if you're listening on. an audio platform, do me a favor, hit. the thumbs up or the like or the [music]. follow or whatever those buttons are. Those really do help. Now if you need. more Wi Files in your life, check out. our Discord. We're about to hit 100,000. members over there. It's a lot of fun. It's a really supportive community.

There's someone on there 24/7 and it's. free to join. >> [music]. >> Speaking of 24/7, check out our 24/7 I'm. I'm plowing through the plugs. Speaking. of 24/7, make sure you check out our. 24/7 stream in the Wi Files Backstage. Over there we run episodes back-to-back. with some fun content in between [music]. and the live chat is super super fun. Special thanks to our patrons who made. this channel possible and make every. episode of the Wi Files happen. >> [music]. >> Every episode is dedicated to our. Patreon members. I could not do this. without you. If you'd like to support. the channel, keep us going, consider. becoming a member on Patreon. For as. little as three bucks a month, get.

access to perks like videos early with. no commercials, exclusive merch and two. private live streams every week just for. you. To hear the whistle in my teeth, it's cuz I'm [music] going too fast. The. The private live streams are a lot of. fun, for members only. Um my webcam is on. Everyone on the team has their [music]. camera on. You can talk to all of us. Turn your camera on, jump up on stage, ask a question. It's a lot of I think. it's the best perk there is. Another. great way to support the channel, grab. something from the Wi-Fi store. [music]. That is shopthewifiles.com. You'll find it. But if you're going to.

buy merch, become a member on YouTube. YouTube members get 10% off everything. in the Wi-Fi store [music] forever. So. if you got to spend 40 bucks on t-shirts. and festival mugs, become a member on. YouTube for three bucks, pays for. itself. [music] And that money goes to. the team, not to me. Those are the. plugs. I got through them as fast as I. could. And that's going to do it. Till. next time, be safe, be kind, and know. that you are appreciated. >> [music].

[music]. >> Oh, oh, oh. I played [music] billiards in Area 51. A. secret code inside the Bible [music]. said I was. I love my UFOs and paranormal [music]. fun, as well as music. Songs sang in the. light I shine. But then [music] another conspiracy. theory becomes the truth, my friends.

And it [music] never ends. [singing]. No, it never ends. >> [music]. >> I fear the crap that I got stuck inside. Mel's hole with them chaos truck. I've. been [music] lonely too aware. Did Stanley Kubrick [music]. fake the moon landing alone on a film. set? Or were the shadow [music] people.

there? The Roswell alien spoke to the smiling. [singing] man, I'm told. And his name was cold. But [music] I can't believe. I'm dancing with the. phantoms. Head full of fish Thursday nights. [music] with AJ. and the wild ones. on the beat. all through the night. All I ever wanted [music] was to just. hear the truth. So the wild ones on the.

beat. all through the night. >> [music]. >> The Mothman sightings and the [music]. solar storm still come to Agartha, the. secret city underground.

Mysterious number stations, planets. [music] are both true. Project Stargate. and what the dark watchers found. [music]. We're in a simulation, don't you worry. though. The black magic satellite has shown me. >> [music]. >> so. I can't believe. I'm dancing with the. >> [music]. >> Hexafish on Thursday nights with AJ. and the wild ones on the beat. all through the night.

All I ever wanted was to just [music]. hear the truth. So the wild ones on the. beat. all through the night. Hexafish on Thursday [music] nights with. AJ. and the wild ones on the beat. all through the night. All I ever wanted was [music] to just. hear the truth. So the wild ones on the. beat. all through the. night. Giving it up.

>> [music]. >> Giving it up. Giving it up. Giving it up. Giving it up. Giving it up. >> [music]. >> Giving it up. to dance. on the dance floor. because [music] she is a camel. and camels love to dance. when the feeling. is right. or wasting. time. Curry [music] loves to dance. Curry loves to dance.

>> [music].