Inmates’ help sought in Lake Elmo woman’s 1988 disappearance

ST. PAUL — It was snowing hard on Jan. 19, 1988, when Susan Swedell finished her shift at Kmart in Oak Park Heights and headed toward home in Lake Elmo around 9 p.m.

A half-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 watched Swedell speak with a man and then get into his light-colored, older-model car.

She hasn’t been seen since .

When police searched Swedell’s car the next day, they found her glasses, driver’s license and purse.

On Tuesday, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office plans to share details of Swedell’s disappearance with inmates in the Washington County Jail in Stillwater via their Securus tablets. Each inmate is issued an in-house tablet after they enter jail; 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.

“Susan Swedell’s disappearance is still an open and active case, with detectives following up on tips and re-examining old ones,” the sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post . “This year, detectives are hoping that technology within the county jail may generate the one lead they need to finally bring some peace to the Swedell family.”

Christine Swedell, 53, said Monday she is happy the sheriff’s office continues to work on solving her sister’s disappearance.

“If that’s what they need to do to get going on things, I guess I’m for it,” she said. “Anything that we can do to progress forward and to find Sue, I’m for it.”

Jean Pieri / Pioneer Press

She and her mother, Kathy, 81, lit a candle at 9 p.m. Sunday to mark the 37th anniversary of Sue’s disappearance, she said.

“What’s hard is the non-closure,” Christine said. “Generations of our family have died without knowing what happened to Sue, and I fear I’m going to be one of them. There’s the constant non-closure, but we always have hope, of course. We always will.”

A $25,000 reward 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’s tip line at 651-793-7000 or email bca.tips@state.mn.us. Tipsters can remain anonymous.