Foreword

By Patty Wetterling

I was devastated when I heard Jon was missing.

I knew a lot about missing children, the response needed, how to work with law enforcement, how to engage the media.  These things I had learned through Jacob’s kidnapping and working with so many…way too many other searching families.  But Jon’s disappearance was different.  As much as I wanted to help, I knew little about finding a missing adult on a mountain.

David captures brilliantly the many stages of the search, of their grief and of their process of remembering.  If there was a person or a resource to help anywhere…this amazing family found it and now offer that knowledge to others.

The world lost an amazing person on the Grand Mogul. But no mountain, no person; no accident can take away Jon’s spirit and love… and the energy that he poured into his life.  We can all carry that forward in our own lives with those we care about.

This is an amazing story of love and commitment honoring the promise that we make to our children.  I’ll always be here for you.  They did it.  They brought Jon home

I wish I had met Jon.  This book allows me to meet him and live my life a little deeper because of him.  Thank you, David.

Patty Wetterling
Child Safety Advocate
Jacob Wetterling Resource Center
www.jwrc.org

“Bringing Jon Home, the Wilderness Search for Jon Francis, is my first hand account of the long and complex wilderness search for our son, Jon, and the story of Jon’s remarkable life, sudden disappearance, and inspiring legacy.

On Saturday morning, July 15, 2006, Jon Francis, climbed to the summit of the Grand Mogul, in the Sawtooth Mountain Range of Central Idaho.  He never returned.  Law enforcement searched for only 29 hours. After the evening search team briefing, on July 17, 2006, the Incident Commander, approached me and said; “David, you need to give your son up to the mountain.”

Feeling helpless and abandoned the Francis family gathered that evening and committed to continue the search.  We knew very little about mountain climbing or search and rescue, but we would learn and utilize the hundreds of volunteers who were streaming into Idaho to find Jon.

While I relentlessly pursued the search for my son, I also made wonderful discoveries about him.   Jon Francis was a remarkable young man. He touched and inspired others.  He loved deeply and was deeply loved.

I wrote Bringing Jon Home to help others, to expose the lack of public sector resources dedicated to finding missing adults, and finally to let people know that an uncommon young man, named Jon Francis, once lived and loved among us.”  –David Francis

Available in June 2010 on: www.bringingjonhome.com

Dear Friends:                                                                                           August 2010 

The Jon Francis Scholarship Fund was created in 2007, by friends of Jon, to continue his youth ministry.  They felt it was appropriate to hold a race in his honor, to celebrate his life and ministry, and to raise money for camp scholarships.  JFF has committed its support to the scholarship fund.   

Jon loved teaching and mentoring children in the beauty of God’s creation. The Jon Francis Scholarship Fund will provide children, of limited means, the incredible experience of a week at Luther Heights Bible Camp, in the beautiful Sawtooth National Recreation Area (SNRA), near Ketchum, Idaho. www.lutherheights.org.   

You can provide a camp scholarship by adopting a runner in the 2nd annual Jon Francis Race to Alturas, on August 14, 2010.  Competitive running was an important contributor to Jon’s remarkable character and the source of many of our memories of him.  And Jon’s many summers at Luther Heights Bible Camp strengthened his faith and ministry.  

Consider adopting a runner for $25.00.  A week at Luther Heights costs around $250.00.   The race is limited to 100 runners by SNRA Forest Service Rules. Ten supporters will send one child to camp.  If all 100 runners are adopted, we will have 10 happy campers!

           Your gift is tax deductible and greatly appreciated.  You can even donate on-line at www.jonfrancis.org.  Thank you for caring and for passing on Jon’s legacy of love and service. 

Best Regards,        David Francis  

 Adopt-A-Runner

Jon Francis Foundation is an approved Minnesota, nonprofit, IRS tax exempt, 501(c) (3) corporation.

A helping hand during trying times; Jon Francis Foundation works to pass legislation; help families find missing loved ones

By KRIS JANISCH
kjanisch@acnpapers.com

After 36 hours, authorities told Brian Swanson they were giving up the search for his 19-year-old son Brandon, who went missing near Taunton, Minn., on May 14.

Faced with the difficult task of continuing the search on his own, Swanson turned to Stillwater resident David Francis, who endured a similar ordeal when his son Jon went missing in 2006 and has since founded the Jon Francis Foundation to help families find loved ones lost in the wilderness.

At an annual fundraiser for Stillwater area Boy Scouts at the Lowell Inn on Thursday morning, Francis outlined the latest efforts of the foundation, which he said was founded "to mold our sorrow into hope and purpose."

Francis is now working with Swanson to pass legislation that would require a quicker response when young adults are reported missing.

The bill, known as "Brandon's Law," was previously passed unanimously by the state House of Representatives; the state Senate approved it unanimously on Thursday.

Francis and Swanson hope Gov. Tim Pawlenty will sign the bill on May 14, a year after Brandon Swanson disappeared. The JFF is helping fund the law enforcement training associated with the bill; without that funding, Francis said, the bill likely would not have received full support from lawmakers.

For Swanson - who has stayed with Francis and his wife Linda when he has been in the Twin Cities to support the bill - the help from the Jon Francis Foundation has been invaluable.

"They've helped us get a hold of people who know how to get things in order to conduct a search," Swanson said. "(Francis) has also helped us with some of the emotional issues; helping us work through our grief."

Jon's story

Francis began his presentation Thursday by showing family photos of Jon and spoke of his son's love of the outdoors and commitment to his faith.

A member of the 1997 Stillwater Area High School state champion track team and three-sport athlete, Jon also ran at Augustana College, where he earned degrees in Spanish, international studies and religion. Jon found his calling in religion and became a youth minister at Luther Heights Bible Camp near Ketchum, Idaho, in 2006.

After Jon's passing, those who worked with him told the family, "Your son was a gift ... he had an authentic faith," Francis said.

As an avid outdoorsman, Jon became a "very capable mountain climber," Francis said. Jon went missing during a solo climb up the rugged, 9,733-foot Grand Mogul peak in Idaho's Sawtooth Mountains.

"We were thrown into deep darkness and despair," he said.

When local search efforts were called off, Francis continued on his own and, with the help of volunteers, found Jon's remains on July 24, 2007.

At the time, Francis expressed his frustration with Idaho authorities, one of whom told him that he should simply accept that Jon would never be found.

"We could not give our son up to the mountain," Francis said.

Since then, Francis has turned the tragedy into an opportunity, founding the JFF as a way to educate and support other families facing similar situations. He has also written a book, "Bringing Jon Home: A Father's Journey of Unconditional Love and Unresolved Loss."

A logbook atop Grand Mogul captured Jon's final words: "07/15/06. Jon Francis, *LHBC and Ogden Utah. Climbed avalanche field to east face and east ridge. Great times bouldering! All Glory to God for the climb and the beautiful Sawtooths."

"I know he was close to the creator at the summit," Francis said.

Still running

Jon Francis and his father often participated in Lumberjack Days races, and when news of a Stillwater marathon broke, Francis approached organizer Dave Eckberg about naming one of the events after his late son.

"It's great that we're able to honor the Francis family," Eckberg said."(Jon) was just such a spectacular young man and an amazing person."

As a young man, Jon's running hero was Steve Prefontaine, who is often credited with sparking the running boom in the 1970s.

"Jon was a frontrunner, he would get out front and leave nothing on the track," Francis said.

Francis started to train for the half marathon, but some thought he would be better served as a greeter.

"That gave me an excuse not to run," he said.

The Stillwater Marathon will be held Sunday, May 24. For more information visit www.stillwatermarathon.com.

Scouting

While Francis gave the keynote address during Thursday morning's fundraiser, speaker Jack Piepel, a retired Andersen Windows vice president, talked about the benefits of Scouting.

Scouting activities help young people learn how to better interact and solve problems, tools they will need as they become tomorrow's leaders, Piepel said. And the community projects of Eagle Scouts are especially helpful during the current economic strife, he said.

Stillwater Mayor Ken Harycki, donning his Scout uniform, also praised Scouts' work and the dedication of adult volunteers. He also mentioned Councilman Jim Roush's son, who is planning to build a canoe launch on Stillwater's Lake McKusick as part of an Eagle Scout project. Harycki's son, who is also pursuing his Eagle badge, is looking into updating the decorative snowflakes that adorn the lampposts in downtown Stillwater during the winter months.

As for Francis, he was a Cub Scout for one year; Jon lasted two.

"They didn't play enough baseball and football," he said.

Lowell Inn owner Dick Anderson provided the facility and breakfast for Thursday's event.

MINNESOTA HOUSE AND SENATE PROVIDE NATIONAL LEADERSHIP BY PASSING MISSING PERSONS’ LEGISLATION BRANDON’S LAW
 
BRANDON’S LAW WILL HELP MINNESOTA FAMILIES BY BROADENING STATE’S MISSING PERSONS’ STATUTE
 
Saint Paul, Minnesota, April 30, 2009—Today the Minnesota Senate unanimously passed the Minnesota Missing Persons’ Act (HF 1242) or Brandon’s Law, named in honor of 19 year old Brandon Swanson, missing near Marshall, Minnesota since May 14, 2008.  Passage of this legislation will have a positive impact on those who suffer the misfortune of having a loved one go missing.  Brandon’s law will broaden Minnesota’s Missing Persons Statute that up until today focused on missing children and will create criteria and protocols for clear guidance and standards to law enforcement officials when confronted with a missing persons’case.
 
“The law expands the definition of a missing person, acknowledging the rest of humanity–those over 18 years of age and endangered persons, adults missing under dangerous or precarious circumstances.  David Francis, president of the Jon Francis Foundation, a family advocate said. “We are pleased that Brandon’s Law has been passed. I believe that this is good public policy that resulted from the leadership of Minnesota lawmakers and law enforcement, and particularly families and individuals who are suffering because of our growing number of unsolved missing person’s cases.”
 
“I hope that Brandon’s Law will save others from the pain that I encountered when local law enforcement resisted filing a missing persons’ report and said to me, ‘well ma’am your son is 19 and he has a right to go missing,’” said Annette Swanson, mother of Brandon, who initiated this legislative effort.
 
Key criteria that law enforcement would consider to determine if a missing person is endangered include:
 

    * The person is missing as a result of a confirmed abduction or under circumstances that indicate that the person’s disappearance was not voluntary.

    * The person is missing under known dangerous circumstances such as near a lake or river.

    * There is evidence that the missing person is in need of medical attention or prescription medication such that there will be serious, adverse effect on the person’s health if he or she does not receive medical care.

    * The missing person is mentally impaired.

    * The missing person has been the subject of past threats or acts of violence.

    * Evidence that the missing person is lost in the wilderness, back country, or outdoors where survival is precarious, presenting a critical situation that requires an immediate and effective investigation and search and rescue efforts.

 
Brandon’s Law allows room for law enforcement discretion in determining if a missing person is endangered during process of gathering and reviewing evidence and looking at other possible factors.  In addition, Brandon’s Law requires that law enforcement file a detailed and standardized missing persons report “without delay” and begin an investigation.
 
The standardized report of a missing person will be sent to the state’s clearinghouse for missing persons’ information located at the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension’s (BCA) Criminal Justice Information System.  Reported information will then be sent to the National Crime Information Center (NCIC).  Currently in Minnesota, there are a significant number of unsolved missing persons’ cases and unidentified remains cases.  This sharing of missing persons’ information will help solve missing persons’ cases.
 
Brandon’s Law implements effective, consistent and streamlined procedures that will ultimately help law enforcement solve missing persons’ cases and will ease the burden on families and individuals who suffer the grief and unresolved loss resulting from a missing loved one.


The Jon Francis Foundation

The mission of The Jon Francis Foundation (JFF) is to support and empower others, coping with the disappearance of a loved one, by providing hope, knowledge and resources and to reduce incidents of loss through wilderness safety training and information. Jon Francis Foundation is an approved Minnesota, nonprofit, IRS tax exempt, 501(c) (3) corporation.

David Francis and Brian Swanson are separated by 181 miles and 20 years but connected by heartache no father should have to bear. Each has searched for a lost son.  Francis, who lives in Stillwater, spent more than a year looking for his son, Jon, who disappeared while climbing in Idaho's Sawtooth Mountains in 2006.

Now Francis is helping Swanson, of Marshall, Minn., find his son.  Nineteen-year-old Brandon Swanson was returning home May 14 after a party in Canby, Minn., when his car went into a ditch on a gravel road. He called home at 1:54 a.m. and asked his parents to pick him up near Lynd. He said he would walk toward town.

As Brian and Annette Swanson drove toward Lynd, Brian talked to Brandon on his cell phone.  "I talked to him for 47 minutes, and all of a sudden, he said, 'Oh, s—-!' and the phone went dead," Brian Swanson said.  It was 3:10 a.m.

"We haven't been able to get in contact with him since," he said.  The Swansons kept calling but got his voice mail. About 6:30 a.m., they called the sheriff's office and reported their son missing.

They've been searching ever since. David Francis is convinced Brandon will be found.

"We'll find him. We'll find Brandon," he said. "But it's harder than we thought it would be. ... The ground teams have not found a single clue. We have no article of clothing, have no footprints, have no clear idea which direction he was traveling."

David Francis said he is focusing on the moment that Brandon's phone cut off.  "I'm looking for the 'Oh, s---!' spot," he said. "Where in his walk he might have slipped into the river, an abandoned cistern or a trench. I'm looking for the spot where we believe we had a mishap."


ADVICE, COMFORT

David Francis and his wife, Linda, joined the search for Brandon around Memorial Day. A volunteer who had helped them search for Jon was helping the Swansons, too, and he put the families in touch with each other. After Jon disappeared in July 2006, the Francis family launched the Jon Francis Foundation, which is dedicated to getting information and advice to families searching for people missing in the wild.

David Francis, 64, is a former Navy captain and retired businessman who ran unsuccessfully for the Minnesota Senate in 2006. To help in the search for Jon, he raised money, took search-and-rescue classes, bought equipment and learned to climb. Two mountain guides found Jon's body in July 2007 on Grand Mogul Mountain, about 1,500 feet below the summit Jon had climbed.

The Francis’ have visited the Swansons three times and regularly communicate with the couple and offer advice. They made the trip to southwestern Minnesota again last weekend and helped organize a massive search that included 114 volunteers.

The official search for Brandon was called off six days after he disappeared. The Francis’ helped make "Missing" posters and suggested ways to organize food and water for volunteers and to raise money for the "Search for Brandon Swanson" fund. They also put the Swansons in touch with canine search teams and a professionally trained search manager, Gary Peterson, who is leading the search for Brandon.

When David Francis spotted Brian Swanson writing checks at the search headquarters last weekend, he said: "Brian, you've got to get a treasurer."  David Francis' organizational and search-and-rescue skills have been invaluable, Brian Swanson said, and Linda Francis has been a comforting presence.

"They've been very supportive. They talked with us, they listened to us," Brian Swanson said.

"Emotionally, that has really helped. Coming from somebody who has gone through this terrible situation. I hope nobody else ever has to go through this — I wish it would never happen again to anybody. It's just so painful."

Annette Swanson said she immediately felt better after talking to Linda Francis for the first time.

"When you're thrown into this — and you're literally just thrown into this — there's not a lot of people, especially in our rural area, who can comprehend what this is and how difficult it is," she said. "To be able to connect with Linda was such a comfort. Unfortunately, she's been through it, but that enabled her to offer words of advice, words of comfort and just be there."

Linda Francis said both women cried during their first phone conversation. "I said, 'This is crummy. Nobody should have to go through this, but here we are,' " Francis said. "I just validated what she was feeling — been there, done that. It's just important to show up. That's the important part. Just to show up, and hold her hand, and give her a hug."

'BE SAFE'

Annette Swanson said her greatest fear is that people will forget her son.

"I want people to remember Brandon," she said. "Talk about Brandon. Brandon is a real person. He touched a lot of lives, and don't forget him."

He has a smile that lights up his whole face, his mother said, and is big-hearted and kind and really believed in doing the right thing.

Brandon graduated from Marshall High School in 2007 and spent the past school year studying wind energy at Minnesota West Community College in Canby. He planned to transfer this fall to Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and major in science.

On May 13, Brandon went to Lynd to visit friends and then drove to Canby to say goodbye to another friend from school. He was wearing baggy jeans, a blue-striped polo shirt, a black hooded sweat shirt, a white Twins baseball cap, wire-rimmed glasses and a silver necklace.

Brian Swanson, 44, was taking a class in St. Cloud on May 13, so only Annette was home when Brandon popped in to say goodbye. The couple also has a daughter, Jamine, 17, who just graduated from Marshall High School.

"I said the things I normally say to him," Annette said. " 'See you later.  " 'Be safe.' "


TRAGIC ACCIDENT LIKELY

Saturday marked the one-month anniversary of Brandon's disappearance.

When Brandon called his parents May 14, he said he had crashed his green Chevy Lumina outside Lynd, a small town southwest of Marshall. As the Swansons drove toward Lynd, and Brian and Brandon talked by cell phone, Brandon said he was getting impatient and would meet them in Lynd. He talked about walking on a gravel road, taking a shortcut through a field and hearing water running.

After tracing Brandon's last cell phone call to a cell phone tower in Minneota, officials found Brandon's car about 2:30 p.m. near Taunton, about 30 miles from Lynd.

Since then, hundreds of volunteers have searched for Brandon, using cadaver dogs, horses, boats and ultralight aircraft. For the most part, the search has concentrated on areas in and around the Yellow Medicine River.

Since Brandon's car was found near the Lincoln-Lyon county line, law enforcement officials from both counties were involved in the search. Officials say there is no evidence of foul play or that Brandon staged his own disappearance.

"If I had to lay any money down, I'd say we're missing him somewhere in the water," said Lyon County Sheriff Joel Dahl. "He's in an eddy somewhere, being held down by a log. He's got to be here. Everything is consistent that he was walking and something happened to him."

Lincoln County Sheriff Jack Vizecky said Brandon was likely the victim of a tragic accident. If Brandon, who was 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighed about 125 pounds, went into the Yellow Medicine River, it could take weeks for the body to emerge from the cold water, he said.

"I would say every day that goes by, hope is extremely diminished," Vizecky said. "I would like to bring some closure to the family."

Vizecky said the Jon Francis Foundation's involvement in the search has been helpful. "It's certainly given us the ability to look longer," he said. "We've had more eyes and ears since we had to formally stop this. We want to find Brandon, and that's the whole thing."

"I just keep thinking he's got to be out there somewhere," Annette Swanson said. "We want to bring him home."

"We're going to keep looking," said Brian Swanson. "That's all we can do until we find him. There's no way I could stop until I know where he is. Either way it ends, it's closure."

LIGHT LEFT ON FOR HIM

Brian Swanson said no large organized search would be held this weekend, the first without one since Brian's disappearance. He, however, will be out looking.

It is Father's Day, after all, and he wants to be with his son.  "It is awful," he said. "Every day has been awful, to be honest with you.  "But we're going to find him eventually, and hopefully, he'll be OK. Maybe somebody's found him, and they're taking care of him, and they don't know he's missing."

But after more than a month, reality is setting in.  "If he's no longer with us, which, unfortunately, is the most likely scenario, that hurts," Brian Swanson. He said he gets some comfort from knowing that Brandon "really enjoyed the life that he lived."

Annette Swanson said she clings to a thread of hope that Brandon is alive.  "I do still hope," she said.
"There are times when I think maybe I don't, and then, all of a sudden, somebody says something, and I'll think, 'but he could still be out there.' Sometimes I surprise myself with it."

But she has stopped searching.  "I just can't be the one who should come across him," she said. "That's not how I want to remember him."

Annette Swanson has gone back to work at Southwestern Center for Independent Living in Marshall. Brian, who previously worked in construction, is studying to be an insurance salesman.

Jamine's high-school graduation party, originally scheduled for the end of May, will be held next month.

"We're very proud of her, of course, and Brandon, if he were here, he would be, too," Annette Swanson said. "We felt that her reception should be a time of celebration for her, for her achievements. We're hoping that in (mid-July) that that's what it can be — a celebration for her."

In the meantime, the Swansons will leave the porch light on for their son. It's been burning since May 14.

"That morning when we left, we turned the porch light on for him," Annette Swanson said. "Well, we haven't turned it off since. We're leaving it on till he comes home."

The Swansons hope other families in Marshall will do the same.

"We want to continue to remind people that he's still missing and that we're working so hard to bring him home," she said.

"Turn your porch lights on for him and light his way."

One hundred and eighty-one miles away in Stillwater, David and Linda Francis have an automatic porch light that comes on when the sun goes down. So no, Linda said, they have not turned on a porch light for Brandon.

"We wait and sit on the same bench together," she said.

Mary Divine can be reached at 651-228-5443.