Draft:Disappearance of Susan Swedell
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Submission declined on 18 February 2025 by Seraphimblade (talk). This submission does not appear to be written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. Entries should be written from a neutral point of view, and should refer to a range of independent, reliable, published sources. Please rewrite your submission in a more encyclopedic format. Please make sure to avoid peacock terms that promote the subject. Declined by Seraphimblade 5 days ago. | ![]() |
Comment: Please write the article in a formal tone TNM101 (chat) 14:53, 18 February 2025 (UTC)
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Susan Swedell | |
---|---|
Born | 1 January 1968 |
Disappeared | 19 February 1988 lake Elmo,Washington County, Minnesota,United states |
Status | Missing for 37 years, 1 month and 5 days |
Other names | Sue |
Susan Swedell was a 19-year-old woman living in Lake Elmo, Minnesota She was described as a friendly and responsible young woman.
On the night of her disappearance, she had plans to go home after work and possibly watch a movie with her mother and sister,sadly she never made it.[1][2] [3]
Swedell's case drew attention after Danny Heinrich was sentenced in connection with the Jacob Wetterling case. The Washington County Sheriff's Office created a cold-case unit to revisit the investigation.
Her disappearance has also been the subject of the podcast Still Missing, which focuses on the circumstances surrounding her disappearance.[4][5]
She had graduated from Stillwater High School and went on to study at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls for either one or two semesters before deciding that was not ready to attend college away from home. She was working two jobs when she disappeared though.
Susan was described as bubbly and social but very naive and trusting of others.
Her case, which dates back more than three decades, continues to be actively investigated by the Washington County Sheriff's Office.[2][6]
Susan frequently used chatlines, accumulating a phone bill of $300 in just a few weeks. She had mentioned a unknown man called Dale to her mother, describing him as a stripper and expressing an intention to introduce him.
However, it remains unclear if she ever met Dale in person or what his age was. At her workplace Kmart, Susan received frequent phone calls from a male individual leading her manager to issue a warning about the disruptive nature of the calls.
Disappearance
[edit]On the evening of her Disappearance,it was snowing causing dangerous driving conditions on the road,Susan call her mum to let her know planning to on coming home.
Just before leaving the store at the end of her shift,She changed her clothes from the red pantsuit she had worn for her shift and into a mini skirt.
Later, she drove into a gas station the clerk let her leave her car in the gas station because it was overheating on the corner of Manning Avenue and Highway 5.[7][8][9]
The Washington County Sheriff's Office reported that Swedell arrived at the gas station, another vehicle pulled in immediately behind her. The clerk described the car as a light-colored muscle car, possibly a Ford LTD or Thunderbird with distinctive wheels.
Swedell then left the station with a man described as tall, muscular, and having shoulder-length sandy hair. He was reportedly wearing jeans, a leather bomber jacket, and a knit hat.
Concerned by her failure to return home, her family contacted the Washington County Sheriff's Office at approximately 11:00 p.m. to report her disappearance and request assistance in locating vehicle.[10] [11]
Deputies located the car at the K Station, situated at the intersection of Manning Avenue and Minnesota Highway 5. It was not until the following day that investigators discovered she had departed the gas station accompanied by a man.[2] [12]
Once police learned Sue had voluntarily gotten into a car with a male, they essentially stopped their investigation.They told Kathy that Sue had likely run off with a boyfriend and would return home in a few days.
Since she was over the age of 18 and free to leave if she wanted, they felt no need to continue looking for her.
The car remained in front of the Swedell home for five days in the cold, snowy weather. Afraid the battery would die if the car sat idle for too long, Kathy decided to drive it to the grocery store.
After she had driven for a few miles, the car started to overheat, and she assumed that this was the problem Sue had encountered. Kathy had the car towed to a repair shop so it could be fixed.
While the car was in for repairs, a mechanic made a disturbing discovery. The car had overheated because the petcock, a small bolt that was located under the car’s radiator, had been loosened.
This caused all the water to drain out of the radiator, ensuring the car would overheat if it were driven for more than a couple miles.
Kathy reported this new development to police, and they began to think it was possible that Sue hasn’t voluntarily disappeared. [6]
Detective Sullivan stated in an interview with Dateline that DNA testing was conducted on the evidence multiple times, including in 2018 when he began working on the case.
He noted that advancements in technology prompted a reevaluation, but the tests yielded no results. Also, no other physical evidence linked to Sue's disappearance has been recovered.[13]
Later Developments
[edit]Susan Swedell’s case remains open, and her family continues to seek answers.
Authorities periodically review the case, hoping new evidence or advances in forensic technology will help solve the mystery.
There are several theories about Susan Swedell’s disappearance, but due to the lack of physical evidence, none have been confirmed.
Here are the most commonly discussed possibilities:
Some believe that Susan may have left willingly with the unidentified man at the gas station. She had been reportedly seeing an older man, which raises the possibility that she left to start a new life.
However, her family insists she had no reason to disappear, and she never accessed her bank accounts or contacted loved ones after that night.
The severe snowstorm also makes it unlikely that she had planned to leave under such difficult conditions.
Given that Susan left the gas station with a man in a car, it is possible she was abducted.
If she initially trusted the man but later realized she was in danger, she may have been unable to escape. The fact that her car was locked and tampered with suggests someone may have returned later, possibly to remove evidence.
Given the harsh weather conditions on the night she disappeared, some wonder if Susan, disoriented or stranded, suffered from exposure to the elements and was never found.
However, this theory is weakened by the fact that she was last seen leaving in a car with another person, meaning she was not alone in the storm.[14] [15]
References
[edit]- ^ "Lake Elmo, Minnesota, authorities dedicated to solving 1988 disappearance of Sue Swedell: 'It's been too long'". NBC News. 27 January 2024.
- ^ a b c "Investigators are still searching for the man last seen driving away in 1988 with Susan Swedell". InForum. 18 July 2024.
- ^ "Susan Anne Swedell – The Charley Project". Retrieved 10 December 2024.
- ^ name="j652">Divine, Mary (13 January 2018). "Minnesota reopens 30-year-old missing woman investigation". AP News. Retrieved 3 December 2024.
- ^ https://zeroabuseproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/986bb31e-jwrc-susan-swedell-poster.pdf
- ^ a b Baxter, Jenn (17 April 2021). "The Bizarre Disappearance of Susan Swedell".
- ^ "The DoeNetwork - #missing Susan Anne Swedell, Lake Elmo,..." Facebook.
- ^ "Have you seen this child? Susan Anne Swedell".
- ^ Olson, Rob (19 January 2022). "Susan Swedell disappearance: 34 years later, family and deputies haven't given up". FOX 9.
- ^ "Officials Renew Call For Help In 30-Year-Old Cold Case - CBS Minnesota". www.cbsnews.com. 19 January 2018.
- ^ "Swedell Strong - Everybody look at this sketch again, does he look familiar from somebody you knew in 1988? Even briefly? Someone you may have known that liked to chat on phones with anonymous people? That mentioned a Sue or maybe the Stillwater area? That mentioned that he might be seeing her? He may have been a male stripper at that time. Was Dale his real name or a stage name? 1-976 chatlines/posing as or was a stripper/January 1988. Keep looking at the sketch. Or maybe he had a double life? The last person that Sue mentioned was a man named Dale. He was brought up with both Mom the day before (18th), and with a friend the day of (19th) inbetween jobs at the St. Croix Mall in Stillwater. Both times referred to as a stripper. Both times Sue was heavily warned to be careful. She only knew this man possibly less than a week. I know it's 30 years later, but don't let that get in the way of helping us figure this out. I don't know if he lived in Washington County, but had to live in the twin cities/greater twin cities area or Wisconsin. Or could these 1-976 chatlines that aired on TV after the 10pm News in Minnesota at that time have had a wider span going further out into different states? Think of a friend that may have been hooked on a chatline. Look at this sketch and reflect back again. Here is the description of him in the most current poster for Sue: "Susan then got into a car with an unknown man. Witnesses describe him as unshaven, tall with shoulder length curly hair, and wearing a leather jacket. Susan, who was wearing a mini skirt and black down jacket, has not been heard from since" Yes I know that is an incredibly vague description, but thankfully we have this sketch that was created the week of Sues disappearance which easily could be the key to it all **He also would've been driving a car that had sport wheels/mag wheels https://dps.mn.gov/divisions/bca/bca-divisions/administrative/Documents/SwedellSusan.pdf | Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
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- ^ "It's been decades since Hang Lee and Susan Swedell disappeared. What happened to the teens?". 14 January 2023.
- ^ Divine, Mary (13 January 2018). "Minnesota reopens 30-year-old missing woman investigation". The Washington Times. Retrieved 2 December 2024.
- ^ Pattee, Ryan (13 February 2025). "Washington County asks for any leads on birthday of woman missing since 1988". KSTP.com 5 Eyewitness News. Retrieved 18 February 2025.
- ^ Podcast, Weeknight Mysteries (18 August 2021). "The Disappearance of Susan Swedell #108 – Weeknight Mysteries Podcast – Podcast". Podtail. Retrieved 18 February 2025.