It was snowing hard on January 19, 1988, when Susan Swedell finished her shift at Kmart in Oak Park Heights and headed home to Lake Elmo around 9 p.m.
Half an hour later, a gas station attendant gave the 19-year-old permission to leave her overheated maroon 1975 Oldsmobile Cutlass at the K Station, at the corner of Manning Avenue and Minnesota 5, a mile from her home. The clerk said she saw Swedell talking to a man and then getting into his light-colored, older-model car.
She has not been seen since.
When police searched Swedell’s car the next day, they found her glasses, driver’s license and wallet.
On Tuesday, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office plans to share details about Swedell’s disappearance with inmates at the Washington County Jail in Stillwater through their Securus tablets. Each prisoner is given an internal tablet after entering prison; The tablets allow them to stay in touch with family through phone calls and messages, as well as view messages and announcements issued by the sheriff’s office.
“The disappearance of Susan Swedell remains an open and active case with detectives following up on tips and re-investigating old ones,” the sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post. “This year, detectives hope technology at the county jail can provide the one clue they need to finally bring some peace to the Swedell family.”
Christine Swedell, 53, said Monday she is glad the sheriff’s office continues to work to solve her sister’s disappearance. “If that’s what they need to do to get things going, then I’m probably for it,” she said. “Anything we can do to move forward and find Sue, I’m for it.”
She and her mother, Kathy, 81, lit a candle at 9pm on Sunday to mark the 37th anniversary of Sue’s disappearance, she said.
“What’s hard is not closing,” Christine said. ‘Generations of our family have died without knowing what happened to Sue, and I fear I will be one of them. There is constant talk of non-closure, but of course we always have hope. We will always continue to do that.”
A reward of $25,000 is being offered for information leading to the closure of the case.
Anyone with information about Swedell’s disappearance can call the sheriff’s tip line at 651-430-7850 or the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension tip line at 651-793-7000 or email bca.tips@state. mn.us. Tipsters can remain anonymous.