YOU GUYS. I just listened to the podcast again,this time more closely, while scouring Google Maps and it got my gears turning.I HAVE SO MUCH TO SHARE. And I have chills.
As Ive mentioned, Ive been frustrated notknowing the details of Brandons conversation with his father or the pathsalready followed for searches. So what Im trying to focus on is the route thatBrandon took based on what we do know, and hoping that somehow leads us to answers.
My greatest hope is this leads to a renewedeffort for searchers. It might turn out to be a rehashing of already exhaustedefforts, but I dont know for sure until I put it out there.
Brandon left Canby at approximately 12:30a.m. We assume he took back roads instead of driving directly to Marshall viaRoute 68 because he had been drinking (not necessarily to the point he couldntdrive, but he was underage and didnt want to be pulled over by police with anyamount of alcohol in his system). After an undetermined amount of time on anunknown route, they say he eventually travelled south, then turned right(west), and then attempted to turn left (south) on to Lyon Lincoln County Roadnear Taunton. He turned too soon and went in the ditch instead. The onlyroad accessing LLCR there is 390th St, and zooming in onsatellite view on the map, it looks like it's a feasible spot for that tohappen. It also correlates to the zoomed out map showing the cars location.
Brandon called around to friends before callinghis parents at 1:54 a.m. He stayed in his car while his parents left Marshallto find him. Both parties thought he was near Lynd. Why? There is a LLCR near Lynd (by the south branch of Yellow MedicineRiver) as well as near Taunton (by the north branch of Yellow Medicine River).It is possible Brandon told his parents he turned onto LLCR and he or hisparents assumed that he was near Lynd.
We have to remember that the terrain in thisgeneral area was extremely uniform. We dont know how familiar Brandon was withall the little back roads, but we do know that things looked similar enough indaytime that they would be even less distinguishable at night. There were roadsigns, but not in abundance. Most of the roads were dirt/gravel. The land wasprimarily flat fields with numerous water features bordered by clumps of treesand brush.
Brandon had been drinking underage, crashedhis car, and had to call his parents in the wee hours of the morning. Takingall of that in to consideration, we can assume his parents were worried butalso not pleased. Everyone was agitated for their own reasons. Now we have bothparties on LLCR flashing their headlights, but they cant see each otherbecause they dont realize how far apart they actually are. Tensions continueto mount, and Brandons father drops his mother off at home because of thebickering.
At 2:23 a.m. Brandons father goes back outto search. He and Brandon are on the phone for 47 minutes (tensions likelystill mounting). Since travelling on LLCR isnt working, one or both decidesBrandon should try walking to find his bearings while they are on the phonetogether.
We know Brandon had seen city lights fromwhere his car was stuck. Taunton is the closest town to where he was stuck, soit would make sense for him to walk in that direction. He may have alsoreasoned that since he had turned off a paved road, the best thing would be towalk back the way he came, which, incidentally, is east and toward the lightsof town (Taunton).
We dont know the path that Brandon took andhow he and his father communicated. But it is possible that as Brandon cameacross road signs, his father thought he was still in the area of LLCR nearLynd because of how similar the road names are. Ive attached maps with thecorresponding roads highlighted so you can see this for yourself. If Brandonsfather is providing him with directions based on the Lynd area, then Brandonmost likely was moving toward Porter. (I dont think this is the case.)
I figure that in 47 minutes Brandon couldhave maybe walked one or two miles at the most. I feel that he couldnt havecrossed Route 68 at any point because he would have known and reported as much(since it was a paved road with signage). We know that he was walking roughlyparallel to a waterway. We know that at some point he felt like the road wasleading him further away from the town, and so he cut through a field headingdirectly for the city lights. We know that this shortcut was through anabandoned farm and there was a fence.
None of this tells us with any certaintywhether he was headed for Taunton or Porter. But there are only so many pathsthat fit with what we do know at this time. Ive also attached another map ofthe area showing some possible routes that Brandon could have taken that fitthe knowns listed above.
Still,my gut tells me that Brandon headed toward Taunton. Here is my theory of how hetravelled based on everything I considered above (all JMO, and I stronglyencourage you to look at my or Google maps to follow along):
(1) Brandon saw the lights of Taunton fromthe ditch where his car was stuck. There is no sense in walking away from thoselights and more than twice the distance into the darkness toward Porter.
(2)Brandonand his parents thought he was on LLCR near Lynd. Brandon and his father decidehe should travel east, back the way he came he heads toward Taunton, but boththink he is heading toward Lynd. So, Brandontravels east on 390[SUP]th[/SUP] St, back the way he drove in, two miles to 120[SUP]th[/SUP]Ave.
(3A) Im not sure if there was signage or if Brandon knewhe was on 390[SUP]th[/SUP] St. If he did and told his father this, then maybehis father thought he meant 190[SUP]th[/SUP] St, which connects LLCR and 120[SUP]th[/SUP]Ave southwest of Lynd. If he didnt, perhaps his father still thought hereached 120[SUP]th[/SUP] Ave west of Lynd. 390[SUP]th[/SUP] St is a dirt road,and so is 110[SUP]th[/SUP] Ave, whereas 120[SUP]th[/SUP] Ave is paved, and youcan get a street view on Google maps and see the street sign at theintersection of 390[SUP]th[/SUP] St and 120[SUP]th[/SUP] Ave in Taunton. So itspossible Brandon didnt have his bearings until he reached this intersection. Brandonsfather tells him to cross 120[SUP]th[/SUP] Ave, thinking he is heading towardLynd.
(3B) I find it hard to believe Brandons father wouldagree on a rendezvous point in Lynd if he thought Brandon was that far away andknew his location. Plus, 120[SUP]th[/SUP] Ave near Lynd is a dirt road, notpaved like Tauntons 120[SUP]th[/SUP] Ave, and it doesnt intersect withanother 390[SUP]th[/SUP] St. Its possible that Brandon reported being on 390[SUP]th[/SUP]St but wasnt 100% certain and, judging by how close he was to Taunton, Brandonsfather thought he was on 190[SUP]th[/SUP] Ave heading right in to Lynd. Both were frustrated with trying to locateeach other on the road and, thinking they were both close to and headed towardLynd, decided the tavern in Lynd would be a more reliable meeting point thancontinuing to talk road numbers.
(5) Brandon now has renewed confidence because he found apaved road with a street sign. He spent 47 minutes walking two miles on a dirtroad parallel to the river in the cold in the dead of night with the lights ofTaunton to this right. He was getting closer to those lights, but now he is somewhatpast them. He makes a right on to 120[SUP]th[/SUP]Ave and walks down it for a time, crossing the bridge over Yellow MedicineRiver. Sense tells him to stay on the paved road thats headed towardTaunton, but hes exhausted, frustrated, and desperate. After that bridge hecrosses, there is what appears to be a rundown barn to his right (you can seethis on Google maps street view). Except for a clump of trees south of thatbarn, its just about a mile of open fieldsbetween Brandon and Taunton. So Brandon decides to cut across those fields.
This theory is plausible, but not perfect. There are somany directions he could have gone I chose this one because it led to theclosest town and fit the criteria of known facts. Its also possible thatBrandon didnt know what road he was on at all, and my connection between thetwo LLCRs is misguided. Without knowing what geographical information Brandonwas giving to his father, its impossible to say with certainty.
Even so, while I dont know the area personally, it seemsmore likely that Brandon was seeing the lights of Taunton and headed thatdirection. I know that some of the search dogs headed to 160[SUP]th[/SUP] Aveand toward Porter, but that is not conclusive evidence of Brandons path thatnight. If it hasnt already been done, Iwould focus a search in the area north and northeast of Taunton.
None of this indicates what happened to Brandon after hiscall was cut off. IMO, theres not enough evidence to even begin speculating.We have no idea what he encountered or how much further he got in his travels.Im no expert in LE, missing persons, or search parties, but this is where myresearch has led me. Hopefully it can prove useful to someone who can actuallydo something with the information!
I've never heard that there are any persons of interest. If there are, they haven't been released. Since the FBI has Brandon in VICAP rather than just Kidnappings and Missing Persons, I have to assume they did so because they believe there was possibly foul play. Idk, maybe I'm reading more into it than there is. jmo
