BOY, 4, VANISHES 5 YEARS AGO WITHOUT FAMILY REALIZING: WHERE'S HAYDEN
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace
iHeartPodcasts and CrimeOnline
4.2 • 8.1K Ratings
🗓️ 19 February 2025
⏱️ 40 minutes
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Summary
Recent reports of a missing child have many Muncie, Indiana residents asking, how does a little boy disappear without anyone realizing for nearly 5 years? Hayden Manis, now just a few months from his 10th birthday, was last seen in early 2020. The little boy believed to be living with his father, Dustin Manis, but a chance run in between two relatives reveals Manis has told several conflicting stories about Hayden’s whereabouts. Law enforcement now trying to recover from a years-long delay following the death of the main person of interest, Dad Dustin Manis.
Early September 2024, more than a year after Dustin’s last text to a family member, two of Hayden’s great-grandmothers run into each other at the grocery store and get to talking about Dustin and his son. One says Dustin told her DCS gave Dustin’s mom full custody in 2022..but the other had heard nothing about that. After some discussion, the extremely concerned family reaches out to both DCS and police, asking for a welfare check for Hayden.
Nearly 5 years after he’s last seen, now 9-year-old Hayden Manis is reported missing. While family last saw Hayden on Christmas Eve 2019, investigators say they have a verified sighting by someone other than his father on January 11, 2020.
Delaware County Sheriffs are desperate to locate Hayden Manis and are asking the public for help. Hayden has brown hair and blue eyes. The then 4-year-old was 3’4” and weighed roughly 50 pounds at the time of his disappearance, but would now be almost 10, his birthday coming up in May. If you have any information on Hayden Manis, missing from Muncie, Indiana please call the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office at (765) 747-7885.
Joining Nancy Grace today:
- Eric Hoffman - Prosecuting Attorney, 46th Judicial Circuit of Indiana, Delaware County Prosecutor’s Office, www.co.delaware.in.us/department/?fDD=16-0, Facebook: www.facebook.com/Delacopros, Twitter: @ProsecutorDelCo,
- Ben Powers - Criminal Defense Attorney, Facebook: Legal Powers PLLC, https://legalpowers.com
- Brian Fitzgibbons - Director of Operations for USPA Nationwide Security, Leads a team of investigators specializing in locating missing persons, website: www.uspasecurity.com, Instagram: @uspa_nationwide_security
- Dr. Cheryl Arutt - Licensed Clinical and Forensic Psychologist specializing in Trauma Recovery, PTSD and EMDR, askdrcheryl.com, CreativeEMDR.com , IG: @askdrcheryl
- Douglas Walker - Crime and Justice Reporter from The Star Press, website: thestarpress.com; Twitter: @DouglasWalkerSP
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. |
| 0:03.0 | A little boy just four vanishes five years ago without family realizing he's gone. |
| 0:17.0 | Tonight where's Hayden? |
| 0:21.2 | I'm Nancy Grace. |
| 0:22.0 | This is crime stories. |
| 0:23.4 | Thank you for being with us. |
| 0:25.1 | Where is four-year-old Hayden Manus from Indiana? |
| 0:28.7 | The young child reportedly last seen at a family Christmas gathering in 2019. |
| 0:34.5 | He's not been seen since. |
| 0:44.8 | Mystery swirling around a little boy, just four years old at the time he was last seen alive. |
| 0:53.4 | How is it that family doesn't realize he's missing for five years? |
| 1:00.3 | Police now playing catch up in a missing child case. Let it sink in. |
| 1:10.3 | Four-year-old Hayden was last seen at a Christmas gathering five years ago. Any and all leads are probably cold by now. How can we find Hayden? Let's see pictures of Hayden right now. |
| 1:18.6 | This is all coming out of Muncie, Indiana, this four-year-old little boy last seen five years ago. Hayden, Ian Lee Maness, joining me an all-star panel |
| 1:33.3 | to make sense of what we are hearing tonight. That is from the Awareness, Inc. on Facebook, |
| 1:39.7 | everybody. If you want to find out more about Hayden and how you can help find him, is Hayden Manis, age |
| 1:48.1 | four, Indiana. |
| 1:50.4 | First of all, take a listen to this. |
| 1:52.1 | Recent reports of a missing child have many Muncie Indiana residents asking, how does a little |
| 1:57.4 | boy disappear without anyone realizing for nearly five years? |
| 2:02.1 | Hayden Manus, now just a few months from his 10th birthday, was last seen in early 2020. |
| 2:07.4 | The little boy believed to be living with his father, Dustin Manus. |
... |
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