IN IN- Hayden Ian lee Manis, 9, reported missing 4.5+ years later, Muncie

[Aurora90]

If it's true and the POI confessed to being complicit in his death and is still walking free, I hope that ends and soon. Investigators learning about his disappearance 4 years after the fact certainly doesn't help.

If there really was an ungodly terrible smell at a truck stop where Crystal and him worked, well that just breaks my heart.

 

[Aurora90]

quoting myself here because I want to know what witness prosecutor is referring to and what specifically they said/know and how they know it and yet never reported it before now.

I think its the girlfriend.

 

[Aurora90]

I disbelieve Mr. Grandpa. He lived adjacent to his daughter, Dustin and Hayden. The likelihood that his daughter wasn't also engaged in heavy drug abuse is slim to non IMO. Being right next door I find it incredible to me that he was unaware of that activity in a home that shares a wall with their living quarters. JMO

And yes, Crystal Hall is absolutely a POI in this case. (per the county prosecutor at the video mark 7:32)

I dislike the teasing of the next installment documentary but am very curious to hear what she has to say in tomorrow's episode.

Crystal stated that she she has information but she won't talk about it with media and that she has cooperated with police.

Who are the anonymous sources that the reporters spoke to? I wonder if the anonymous sources are Hayden's aunts and his PawPaw?

Multiple anonymous sources told the reporter that when law enforcement arrived at the house to interview Crystal she confessed that she helped dispose of Hayden in a trash compactor at a flying J truck stop. [ Crystal and Justin actually did in fact work at a few truck stops in the area]. When the reporter asked if this was true, Crystal says that is not what she told police and continued to state that she has cooperated and continues to be cooperative with police. Was she implying it was Justin that was the one who disposed of Hayden instead of her? (ugh, I bet there no footage now considering it's been 4 years!)

Much like the Asha Degree case, could Crystal be trying to put all culpability onto a dead guy (Justin) who's no longer here in order to simply close the case and move forward? Even if Crystal did not hurt Hayden herself, keeping quiet about something like this is also grounds for prison time.

Not that I agree with this at all, but If she is a mother and has children of her own then maybe that is preventing her from being honest about her part in all of this. Leaving her children without their mother wont bring Hayden back. Maybe that is what she is thinking to herself?

Sounds like she moved to another state, possibly got clean and is staying clean and is turning her life around. Good for her. I'm sure something like this is helping her see there are consequences to her actions. But if she knew and said nothing for 4 entire years, she deserves to be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.

 

[Aurora90]

IMO the interview with Crystal and Justin's former truck stop coworker really solidifies it for me. Because in late summer of that year she and her fellow co-workers noticed that the dumpster started to smell awful. More so that usual.

"It smelled awful and I have smelled truck stop trash [snip]this was beyond more than what it normally was and it was like that for a few weeks [snip] I think it was Hayden"

The fact that her and her father have conflicting and inconsistent stories make me think she knows more than she does. But that he honestly doesn't. Not telling her father what really happened makes me think just maybe it's because he would do the right thing. Far too late for it mean anything, but you know what I mean.

Very interesting interaction at 16:30. I cannot understate how much I appreciate the reporter pressing Crystal's father!

Could it be that there is a bit of cognitive dissonance happening there? Similar to the daughters of Suzanne Morphew? I am choosing to hope that is the case here instead of assuming there is malice here. I hope he isn't another person in the way of Justice for Hayden.

According to Crystal's father, Law Enforcement " took a little tiny section of a the floor out of the master closet that was in the mother in law's quarters" (Is he referring to his daughter here? its such a weird way to say it)

Did anyone catch the mention of forensic testing at the 30:00 mark? Does anyone know if you can be charged with murder without a body in the state of Indiana? Google has given me conflicting answers and I don't do ChatGPT.

I really really appreciate the investigative reporting done here. I just hope it does not impede the investigation and justice for Hayden <3

 

[legalmomma]

13 Investigates: New details suggest missing Muncie boy is dead, body put in trash compactor 13 Investigates reported the Muncie child had been missing for nearly five years before anyone brought his disappearance to the attention of police.
13 Investigates: New details suggest missing Muncie boy is dead, body put in trash compactor

 

[truthfinder2019]

The video from 13Investigates briefly shows Hayden’s father in his car. Clearly an addict, his front teeth partially missing and those remaining rotten. Unfortunately I’ve seen this before in persons taking heavy drugs as eroin. How the child could be given back to him really I cannot understand. We discussed this before but seeing the video just made me furious again.

 

[Aurora90]

This case reminds me of Tiana Neshelle Martin. Only she had siblings to tell her story. She was beaten to death over the summer and her death was uncovered months later. She was put in the trash and ended up in the Frenso Landfill. Her body was never found worry Hayden’s body won’t be found either.

Tiana Neshelle Martin - Charley Project

 

[wary]

IMO the interview with Crystal and Justin's former truck stop coworker really solidifies it for me. Because in late summer of that year she and her fellow co-workers noticed that the dumpster started to smell awful. More so that usual.



The fact that her and her father have conflicting and inconsistent stories make me think she knows more than she does. But that he honestly doesn't. Not telling her father what really happened makes me think just maybe it's because he would do the right thing. Far too late for it mean anything, but you know what I mean.

Very interesting interaction at 16:30. I cannot understate how much I appreciate the reporter pressing Crystal's father!

Could it be that there is a bit of cognitive dissonance happening there? Similar to the daughters of Suzanne Morphew? I am choosing to hope that is the case here instead of assuming there is malice here. I hope he isn't another person in the way of Justice for Hayden.

According to Crystal's father, Law Enforcement " took a little tiny section of a the floor out of the master closet that was in the mother in law's quarters" (Is he referring to his daughter here? its such a weird way to say it)

Did anyone catch the mention of forensic testing at the 30:00 mark? Does anyone know if you can be charged with murder without a body in the state of Indiana? Google has given me conflicting answers and I don't do ChatGPT.

I really really appreciate the investigative reporting done here. I just hope it does not impede the investigation and justice for Hayden <3

I believe that all states in the US can charge with murder, without a body.

But, specifically, Indiana does.

https://www.indystar.com/story/news/crime/2021/02/26/indianapolis-crime-how-murder-cases-work-when-victim-missing/4540872001/

 

[mlhenn]

Hayden Ian Lee Manis – The Charley Project

Last updated July 25, 2025; date of disappearance corrected, picture added, details of disappearance updated.

 

[AngTxGal]

Hayden Ian Lee Manis – The Charley Project

Last updated July 25, 2025; date of disappearance corrected, picture added, details of disappearance updated.

This case of Hayden Manis makes me nauseated and livid. Too similar to Harmony Montgomery.
The court system failed this child, the proof is in the fact that no one knows where he is.
Children should never be returned to unsafe homes with addicts who cannot care for children.

ALL adults in Indiana are mandatory reporters. Several adults had suspicion/ and/or evidence this child was harmed and they told no one.
It has been since near August 2020.
Why does mandatory reporter not mean mandatory in the case of young children?
Children are not belongings, property, or pets- children are human beings with civil rights.

IMO

 

[legalmomma]

13 Investigates: New details suggest missing Muncie boy is dead, body put in trash compactor

13 Investigates reported the Muncie child had been missing for nearly five years before anyone brought his disappearance to the attention of police.

www.wthr.com

Extensive timeline and story

 

[Judy Sleuth]

...

According to Crystal's father, Law Enforcement " took a little tiny section of a the floor out of the master closet that was in the mother in law's quarters" (Is he referring to his daughter here? its such a weird way to say it)

...

In reference to the info and question you posted earlier, some people refer to a "mother-in-law suite" (or maybe mother-in-law quarters) as a separate space in a home that has its own bedroom, bathroom, and sometimes other private space, separate from the main living quarters. It's not the same as a master suite, but might have the same kinds of features.

It originates from wanting to share the house with an older relative (sometimes, a mother-in-law) while still having some autonomy from them, and they from you.

So I don't think he's talking about quarters that belonged to a particular individual/woman, but rather to a space in a house that would typically be given that general name.

 

[tlcya]

13News: “Is Crystal Hall a person of interest in this case?”
Hoffman: “Yes.”
13News: “Why?”
Hoffman: “I’m not necessarily calling her a suspect, that she harmed or did anything to Hayden. I’m not going to confirm or deny that. But she’s most definitely a person of interest because she lived with him. She was Dustin’s girlfriend. She’s given us statements. I don’t want to go into those statements [because] it’s an open investigation, but for her not to be a person of interest wouldn’t make much sense given the facts.”
[snip]
“I think we should assume from that there is a corpus delicti issue,” Jackson-Lindsay said. “They have this confession but they do not believe, even circumstantially, they have enough other evidence to charge this particular person, first of all, with that crime of disposing of the body, but even more so, of being responsible for the death of that body that was disposed.”

13 Investigates: New details suggest missing Muncie boy is dead, body put in trash compactor

 

[NervousNellie]

It's such a sad and tragic case but it is refreshing to see good reporting and police work.

 

[tlcya]

It's such a sad and tragic case but it is refreshing to see good reporting and police work.

yes, I am so happy this local news outlet has continued to follow up on this child's case. So many times we read about disappeared littles and then interest just fizzles from MSM. Shortly after the case falls from everyone's radar. Manis deserves to stay on the radar. They all do

 

[Pennysmom1]

 

[Pennysmom1]