$1,000 reward offered for location of Muncie boy missing for 5 years

MUNCIE, Ind. — In a collaboration between The Delaware County Sheriff’s Office and the Muncie Police Department, Muncie Crime Stoppers is requesting the public’s help in locating a nine-year-old boy who has been missing for five years.

According to previous reports, Hayden Manis was last seen on Jan. 11, 2020. He was added to the registry of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in early February.

If Manis is found, tipsters can receive a reward of up to $1,000, Muncie Crime Stoppers said.

Initially, Manis’s father was marked as the primary suspect connected to the boy’s disappearance, but the father died on Dec. 15, 2024, from a drug overdose.

However, the Delaware County Prosecutor’s Office stated that this death does not rule out all possible suspects nor put an end to the investigation.

Those with information on Manis’s whereabouts are encouraged to call the Delaware County Sheriff’s Department at (765) 747-7885. The phone number for their investigative division is (765) 747-7881.

Those wishing to remain anonymous can also contact Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at (317) 262-TIPS (8477).