Where is Hayden? Mystery after boy, 9, has been missing for five years but was just recently reported to police

Hayden Manis’s grandfather last saw him on Christmas Eve, 2019 - (Gary Manis)

On December 24, 2019, the Manis family gathered in Muncie, Indiana for a Christmas celebration.

Among them was four-year-old Hayden Manis — a “happy little boy,” his great aunt Barbara Phillips said. He spent the day enjoying Christmas, opening gifts, being his “typical self,” his grandfather Gary Manis added.

“Typical Hayden, running back and forth from a grandparent to me to aunt to great grandparents, back to aunt and to uncle,” Gary told The Independent. “I noticed nothing wrong, nothing at all.”

But the day would soon take on a different tone, as that would be the last time many of his family members would see Hayden. Now, police say the boy is missing — and has been since 2020 — but no one realized until just months ago.

“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 13News.

“I can’t ever remember something quite like this,” Delaware County Prosecutor Eric Hoffman told 13News. “It haunts me every day.”

Here’s what we know about Hayden Manis’s disappearance:

Hayden Manis loved to go to the park and 'try to skateboard,' his family members told The Independent (Gary Manis)

Hayden’s life before his disappearance

When Hayden was just a year old in 2016, his father Dustin Manis and his mother Terri Williams lost custody after they were arrested on drug-related charges, Gary told The Independent.

Williams did not respond to The Independent’s request for comment.

That’s when Hayden went into Gary’s custody.

“All he ever wanted to do was just be with me, no matter what I was doing,” Gary said of Hayden. “Working on the car, he wanted to do that. Fixing something around the house, he wanted to be right beside me.”

“He loved trying to skateboard,” he added.

Phillips, Hayden’s great aunt, described him as a “regular, happy little boy.”

“We were always together,” she told The Independent. “He loved to go to the park.”

Hayden Manis's grandfather took custody of him for over a year after his father's arrest (Gary Manis)

But over a year later, a judge returned Hayden to Dustin’s custody after he completed court-ordered probation, drug treatment and counseling, 13News reports. Hayden’s mother was still incarcerated at the time, Gary said. The Independent has been unable to verify this claim.

Gary told The Independent he “completely disagreed” with officials’ decision to return the child to Dustin, noting his history of drug use.

But Phillips had a different view, adding that Dustin was always good with children — especially Hayden.

“He had already done everything that they've asked him to do, and he was not with Hayden's mother when he got custody back,” she said. “So I thought, okay, maybe he's on the mend and everything's all right.”

At first, Gary didn’t see Hayden or Dustin. But soon enough, Dustin needed more help with the young boy, and Gary and other family members regularly saw the pair.

That is, until things fell apart after that fateful Christmas Eve celebration in 2019.

Hayden went back into his father's custody after spending over a year with his grandfather (Gary Manis)

Hayden’s relatives grow concerned

After Christmas 2019, Phillips continued to keep in touch with Dustin and would invite him to family events via Facebook Messenger. But he never showed.

Then, Phillips received one final message from Dustin on May 18, 2023.

“Hey aunt barb, I promise on everything all is well,” he wrote,“[I] promise [I’ve] just been having a lot going on try to work on my family that I am making and what not I appreciate u reaching out and checking.”

Dustin Manis's final message to Barbara Phillips (Barbara Phillips)

No one heard from Dustin after that. But then, Hayden’s great-grandparents happened to meet up over a year later and the story began to unravel, according to Gary.

Hayden’s great-grandmothers ran into each other at a grocery store in September. One asked how Hayden was doing, and the other responded Dustin said he was put in his mother’s custody not long after he moved, Gary told The Independent.

But the story didn’t add up, Gary said. Family members contacted the police, who later went to interview Dustin. He told them a similar story, claiming Hayden was with his mother — but authorities later confirmed that was a lie and the Department of Child Services never placed Hayden with her, 13News reports.

Williams even posted about her Hayden’s disappearance on Facebook in September.

“I never thought i would have to make a post like this but if anyone has any information on the where abouts of my son Hayden Manis please contact me or the Delaware county police department,” she wrote.

“The last known location I have for him is in the Muncie, Indiana area,” she added. “I am begging anyone that knows anything about Hayden to please come forward.”

Police investigate Hayden’s disappearance

Police have searched a home in Eaton, where Dustin lived as recently as last year, 13News reports. Police also searched a home in Muncie where Hayden and Dustin reportedly lived along with Dustin’s former girlfriend and her family, according to 13News.

But they never found Hayden.

Dustin’s former girlfriend and her father have since sold that Muncie home and moved out of state, 13News reports. The move was planned long before the investigation started and they have both cooperated with investigators, her father told 13News.

In November 2024, Muncie police arrested Dustin on drug charges. He then died on December 15 from a drug overdose — leaving police in an even more difficult situation.

Hayden will be ten years old in May of this year.

But investigators are still hopeful — and are still working to find him.

“Just because Dustin Manis is dead does not mean the investigation is dead. We’re still going forward,” Hoffman, the Delaware County prosecutor, told 13News.

The investigation is also complicated by the fact that police believe Hayden has been missing for five years now — and may be dead, given no one has been able to locate him.

Hoffman told 13News he no longer believes the boy is alive.

“It’s haunting. It’s definitely haunting, some of the facts of this case,” Hoffman said.

“There are very few days I come to this office and I don’t think about Hayden Manis,” he continued. “This case is on my mind, and it’s on the investigators’ minds on a daily basis. We’re not going to stop until we get to an answer. We need to know the truth.”

When contacted by The Independent, the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office declined to share additional information, citing the ongoing investigation. Hoffman was also unable to provide any updates to The Independent.

Anyone with information on Hayden should contact the Delaware County Sheriff’s Investigations Division at 765-747-7881.