Washington County asks for any leads on birthday of woman missing since 1988
Courtesy: Washington County Sheriff's Office
Over 37 years after 19-year-old Susan Swedell disappeared, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office says the case is still open and active.
Swedell would be 57 years old on Thursday, according to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office; instead, she remains the subject of a mystery still unsolved decades after she went missing.
According to the sheriff’s office, on January 19, 1988, Swedell had finished her shift at a local K-Mart in Oak Park Heights and called her mother, Kathy, to let her know she was planning to head home.
The sheriff’s office said Swedell had started to make her way back home just past 9:00 p.m. However, blizzard conditions that night made travel difficult.
Swedell was last seen stopping at a gas station in Lake Elmo, where she was seen speaking to a man described as being tall, “well built,” white-skinned, with shoulder-length sandy-brown hair and wearing a leather bomber jacket.
She reportedly entered the gas station and asked the attendant if she could leave her car, described as a maroon 1975 Oldsmobile, at the gas station due to vehicle troubles she was experiencing.
The attendant allowed it, so long as she moved the car to another area so the snow plow could make its way through.
After moving the car, Swedell reportedly got into a vehicle described as being similar to a late 70’s Ford LTD with the man she had been speaking to, and the two drove off.
She has not been seen since.
When Swedell didn’t return home by 11:00 p.m., her mom and sister became worried and called the Sheriff’s Office. Her car, along with her purse, was found the next morning at the gas station.
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office says they are still looking into leads, stating “someone knows something,” and the case remains open.
A $25,000 reward is still being offered by Spotlight on Crime.
If you have information about this case, please contact the Washington County Sheriff’s Office at 651-430-7850 or the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension’s tip line at 651-793-7000 or bca.tips@state.mn.us. Tips can remain anonymous.