A family in Indiana is desperately searching for answers about a missing boy in their family. The boy hasn’t been seen by his extended family since 2019, and they fear the boy has been killed or died in some other way. The missing boy was last seen with his father in early 2020, but since then, the father stopped communicating with his family.
Despite repeated attempts, they have not been able to establish if the boy is OK. And now that his father has died, things have become more complicated.
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Hayden Manis was last seen by members of his extended family on Christmas Eve 2019.
“I didn’t notice anything wrong,” the boy’s grandfather, Gary Manis, told WTHR. “He was getting presents. He was excited,” great aunt Barbara Phillips added.
When the then 4½-year-old left his great-grandmother’s house that night with his father, Dustin Manis, no one knew that was the last time they’d see the little boy.
The family described Dustin Manis as “so sweet and good with children,” but also acknowledged his troubled past with drugs and alcohol. Both Dustin Manis and Hayden’s mother had substance abuse issues, leading to the boy being removed from their home in 2016, and placed in the care of Gary Manis.
A year and a half after Hayden began living with his grandfather, he was placed back in his father’s care. Dustin Manis had served his court -ordered probation, as well as completed drug treatment and counseling. Despite DCS taking the boy away from his father, he was given back to him.
“He’s a drug addict. I told them, I begged them, not to give him back. Wasn’t my choice. Wouldn’t even let me speak in court,” Gary Manis said. Initially, Dustin Manis communicated with his family. But after a fight with Gary Mansi in 2019, that communication slowed.
After that Christmas, family continued to invite Dustin and Hayden to family gatherings, but they never showed up. “He would respond with, ‘We’ll try. I’ll try. Everything’s fine. We’re OK. Hayden’s fine. We’ll try to make it.’ But we never did get to see him. He never came to anything,” aunt Shellie Sewell said.
Dustin sent one final text to Phillips in May 2023. “Hey aunt barb I promise on everything all is well I promise u (I’ve) just been having a lot going on … I’m doing good and I’m doing right and I’m working on making the family I’ve always wanted,” he wrote.
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The family just assumed that Dustin wanted nothing to do with them. But then a few months ago, two family members randomly met at a grocery store in Muncie, Indiana, and got to talking about Dustin and Hayden. One relative mentioned that Dustin had told her he lost custody of Hayden in 2022. The boy was in the care of DCS.
“She sounded worried, like something didn’t sound right, so I went to CPS the next day,” Gary said. Another family member called the police.
The police found Dustin. But they did not find Hayden. Dustin told them that Hayden had been returned to his mother’s custody by DCS in 2022, but that story didn’t add up.
“Where’s Hayden? Nobody can come up with Hayden. The last person who was responsible for him … could not provide any information about where he was. And that’s when we realized, I think …” Sewell said.
The family fears that Hayden Manis is dead, but still, no one has been able to find out for sure.
“We think he actually went missing sometime in 2020 but, so far, we have not been able to pinpoint an actual date,” Delaware County Sheriff Chief Deputy Jeff Stanley told WTHR.
⚠️ WARNING: This post contains descriptions of a missing child case
— True Crime Updates (@TrueCrimeUpdat) February 7, 2025
The search continues for Hayden Manis, now 9 years old, who has been missing from Muncie, Indiana since January 11, 2020. Hayden was last seen by family members at a Christmas gathering in 2019, when he was 4… pic.twitter.com/RjNuJhxZgH
To further complicate matters, Dustin Manis died of a drug overdose on December 15, 2024, weeks after police questioned him again about his son’s whereabouts.
“Kids aren’t like that. Kids Hayden’s age don’t just go somewhere. A child can only go missing in very few ways — none of which are voluntary,” Delaware County Prosecutor Eric Hoffman told the outlet.
“I don’t believe he’s alive,” Sewell said. “I do not think he’s alive — not after talking with police, I don’t. Not after some of the rumors I’ve heard,” Gary Manis added.
“It’s haunting. It’s definitely haunting, some of the facts of this case,” said Hoffman, who told the outlet he believes the missing boy is dead. “There are very few days I come to this office and I don’t think about Hayden Manis. This case is on my mind, and it’s on the investigators’ minds on a daily basis.”
The investigation into Hayden Manis’ disappearance is ongoing.
