At the same time Brian and Annette Swanson heard Gov. Tim Pawlenty would sign Brandon's Law officially as a law today, they were also dealing with a rumor that sickened them.
Annette Swanson cried Wednesday as she said her family was still dealing with the rumor her son Brandon's body had been found in a field near Taunton or St. Leo.
"It just sucks," she said.
The family was in Mankato on Wednesday to celebrate Annette's birthday and to get away.
The persistent rumor, which appears to have started Tuesday, followed them on Wednesday.
"My family is struggling with this," Swanson said.
She and her husband were getting communications about the rumor, as was their daughter Jamine.
"Jamine is getting text messages saying, 'This is what we heard,'" Swanson said. "It's not just me dealing with it, it's our whole family."
The Independent as well as at least one other medium heard the rumor Tuesday. The Independent called the sheriff's departments in Lincoln and Lyon counties and was told the same thing: Swanson had not been found.
Swanson believed the rumor would disappear once the public knew there were no news reports on finding her son.
It didn't.
"This is just painful. We need to squash this thing," Swanson said.
Brandon Swanson has been missing since May 14, 2008, after a cell phone conversation with his parents ended abruptly. His car was found in a ditch near Taunton along the border road of Lincoln and Lyon counties near the Yellow Medicine River. Multiple searches have not resulted in any of Swanson's clothes or other evidence, although search dogs have shown interest in several areas.
Swanson has been in the news recently because his parents have been working on a law that would allow a more aggressive response from law enforcement when young adults up to 21 are reported missing or when older adults are reported missing in dangerous circumstances.
The law was supported by the parents of Dan Zamlen, whose body was found in the Mississippi River in St. Paul last week. Zamlen, a college student, was reported missing in April and his parents shared with the media their frustration with the response from law enforcement.
Swanson said the media coverage of Brandon's Law, the discovery of Zamlen's body and the upcoming one-year anniversary of her son's disappearance may have caused the rumor, but the details of the rumor make her also believe differently.
The rumor includes a body found by a farmer near St. Leo or Taunton.
"I just wish people would realize what this puts a family through," Swanson said. "It just spread like wildfire."