Hayden Ian Lee Manis

• Missing Since 01/11/2020
• Missing From Muncie, Indiana
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Male
• Race White
• Date of Birth 05/18/2015 (9)
• Age 4 years old
• Height and Weight 3'4, 50 pounds
• Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Brown hair, blue eyes.

Details of Disappearance

Hayden's family last saw him at a gathering on Christmas Eve in 2019. Another witness reported seeing him on January 11, 2020. He has never been heard from again. He lived with his father, Dustin Gary Michael Manis, at the time of his disappearance, and Dustin never reported him missing.

Hayden had originally been removed from Dustin's care after a drug arrest in 2018 and placed with his paternal grandfather, Gary Manis. Hayden had a close relationship with his grandfather. A year and a half later, after Dustin completed probation and drug treatment, a judge ordered his son returned to his custody in spite of Gary's objections.

Dustin took Hayden to visit his grandfather, aunts, uncles and cousins regularly through 2018 and 2019. After Dustin and Gary had an argument, though, the visits got further apart, and stopped altogether after Christmas 2019. Hayden's family members kept texting him inviting him and Hayden to family events, but neither of them ever came.

In 2024, Hayden's two great-mothers realized that both sides of the family had been given different explanations as to what had happened to him. They spoke to Gary, who contacted the authorities and asked them to find Hayden and Dustin. The police were able to find only Dustin.

Dustin claimed that the Indiana Department of Child Services had taken Hayden in 2022 and placed the boy in his mother's custody, but this was untrue; Hayden's mother had no idea where he was. There was also no record of Hayden having ever been enrolled in school anywhere, although he graduated from a Head Start school readiness program in 2018.

A photo of Dustin is posted with this case summary; he is considered the primary person of interest in Hayden's disapppearance. He was arrested at a traffic stop in November 2024, as he was found to be in possession of heroin, methamphetamine and a syringe. He was charged with possession of a narcotic drug, possession of meth and possession of paraphernalia on December 4. Nine days later, while out on bond in the drug case, Dustin fatally overdosed.

Authorities believe other people who are still living may know what happened to Hayden. Foul play is possible in his case; many of his relatives believe he is dead. His case remains unsolved.