Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - BOY, 4, VANISHES 5 YEARS AGO WITHOUT FAMILY REALIZING: WHERE'S HAYDEN

Starting point is 00:00:00 This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. A little boy, just four, vanishes five years ago without family realizing he's gone. Tonight, where's Hayden? I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. Where is four-year-old Hayden Maness from Indiana? The young child reportedly last seen at a family Christmas gathering in 2019. He's not been seen since. Mystery swirling around a little boy just four years old at the time he was last seen alive. How is it that family doesn't realize he's missing for five years? Police now playing catch up in a missing child case. Let it sink in. Four-year-old Hayden was last seen at a Christmas

Starting point is 00:01:08 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. 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 to make sense of what we are hearing tonight. That is from the Awareness Inc. on Facebook, everybody. If you want to find out more about Hayden and how you can help find him, it's Hayden Maness, age four, Indiana. First of all, take a listen to this. Recent reports of a missing child have many Muncie,

Starting point is 00:01:59 Indiana residents asking, how does a little boy disappear without anyone realizing for nearly five 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 joining me an all-star panel but first i want to go to to go to Brian Fitzgibbons is joining us. He is the director of operations for USPA Nationwide Security. He leads a team of highly trained investigators specializing in finding missing P a security.com Brian, in a nutshell, this trail is so cold, but crime stories is not giving up on trying to find out where is Hayden? Why does every hour, the hour, the minutes actually matter.

Starting point is 00:02:59 And now we're looking at five years before the family realizes he's missing. I mean. So often, Nancy, we talk about 48 hours being a long time in a missing child case. In this case, we're dealing with five years. So we're constructing a new timeline now as this show airs and gets national attention. A new timeline is going to begin of when people connected to this case begin talking about Hayden again. Joining me, in addition to Brian Fitzgibbons, an incredible panel joining us tonight, special guest Eric Hoffman. He is currently a prosecuting attorney in the 46th Judicial Circuit, Indiana, in the Delaware County Prosecutor's Office. He has been

Starting point is 00:03:42 investigating this case for so long. And because you're in the middle of an ongoing investigation, I understand that your hands are somewhat tied in everything you can say. But let me ask you a few general questions, Eric Hoffman. As Fitzgibbons just told us, literally, and it's hard to understand unless you're in the middle of it, every minute counts when a child goes missing. Just think about if a child's in a car, for instance, 60 mph, 60 miles an hour. That child is getting further and further and further away by the minute. Have you ever seen a case before this one where the family didn't realize the child was missing for five years?

Starting point is 00:04:29 No, no, I haven't, Nancy. And I think, as you said, each passing minute, particularly four years, makes the case and the investigation exponentially more difficult. If you know or think you know anything about the disappearance of Hayden, please dial Delaware County Sheriff's Department 765-747-7885. Now, hold on. Let's back it up just a moment. Let's back it up. Joining me right now, crime and justice reporter from the Star Press, Douglas Walker, joining us out of Muncie. Douglas, thank you for being with us. This case has been consuming you. Why?

Starting point is 00:05:10 Just the very odd circumstances that there would be such an incredible delay in making police aware of the fact that this child is missing. It just appears to baffle people as to how that could even possibly happen. You know, Douglas, by the way, guys, you're seeing a little graduation photo. It must have been from pre-K, pre, pre, pre-K, because a crime victim, project experiences that I had or crime victims that I represented practicing law for 13 years, most of it in inner city Atlanta, prosecuting felonies. But let me tell you, uh, not long after the twins were born, they were about 19 months. They just started walking. Okay. And we were in one of those giant super stores, babies or us,

Starting point is 00:06:13 I think it was. And some mom had, you know, guilted me out at the community pool because she made her own organic sunscreen. So I was trying to find organic suntan lotion, right? And I was had the twins with me. I was alone with them and I was on the very bottom shelf and it went from floor all the way to the ceiling practically. And I stood up and I said, well, twins, I don't see anything like that here. And there was Lucy, my little girl and no John David. I looked around for him. I couldn't find him. I picked Lucy up like a football and started running. I can still hear my tennis shoes on that linoleum floor and screaming, lock the doors. My baby is missing. Screaming, help me. I didn't wait five years to say John David's missing. I found him. He was playing a game. So I didn't fuss at him. I didn't want to traumatize him. I was traumatized.

Starting point is 00:07:15 But five years. When did you first learn about this case, Douglas? The family of the missing boy initially took it to an Indianapolis television station. It's my understanding that perhaps sheriff's deputies would have preferred waiting to make things public, but that didn't happen. Wait, who wanted to wait to make it public? The sheriff's department, which is the primary investigator here, had not made an announcement concerning this. They found out that the boy was missing September and were investigating and apparently thought it would be in their best interest to not make an announcement as they attempted to talk to people somewhat quietly because so much time had passed.

Starting point is 00:08:02 So at any rate, I found out about it. Okay, see, that is, I guess, everything that I know about finding missing people. I don't understand that at all. Eric Hoffman, hypothetically speaking, why would LA law enforcement want to wait to make public a missing child? I think the investigation had just begun. It was September 5th of 2024. The Sheriff's Department brought me in on the case and we discussed it and interviews were ongoing. I think the information was coming in fast at that point. Certain things had to be checked. Certain people's credibility had to be corroborated before we were ready to go public and say this child is missing. Okay, Eric Hoffman, I know that there must be something you're not able to disclose

Starting point is 00:08:54 because when a child is missing and there's a chance to recover the child, that is a PR blitz to try to find the child. Now that's according to my experience and my great mentor, Mark Klass, whose daughter Polly went missing. And he actually schools parents about what to do if their child goes missing. And the number one thing is get it out on the media. But you're telling me LA law enforcement wanted to weigh witnesses' credibility. I'm trying to read between the lines what that could possibly mean about not alerting everyone that the child was missing. And I know your record, you have an incredible, a stellar record. So I know you have a reason for going along with this. Can you share that reason or is it confidential?

Starting point is 00:09:46 I can't get into too much of the specifics, but I think I would absolutely agree with you. Four years ago, that would be the first thing that we'd want to do is get Hayden's picture on the TV and get his story out there so people could call in. But again, we're talking about a four-year delay before law enforcement knows anything about it. You have to consider when in this investigation, there's really two outcomes or there's really two possibilities at this point. Is Hayden alive? Is Hayden dead? And so in investigating those two different possibilities, you know, the investigation can go those ways. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.

Starting point is 00:10:39 To Douglas Walker joining us, crime and justice reporter of the Star Press. Douglas, I just don't understand how the extended family, such as grandparents, aunts and uncles, didn't notice. Hey, we haven't seen him. We haven't seen a picture of him. He's not on a Christmas card. He's not at a little preschool graduation. We've got nothing. They didn't notice they have described a

Starting point is 00:11:14 estrangement with the boy's father dustin manis describing various situations where they invited him to to bring hayden to their homes at family gatherings holiday gatherings things of this nature and that he would indicate, sure, that will happen, and then they just simply didn't show up. And as such, the actual family members haven't seen him for five years. I was told that investigators have determined someone being aware of Hayden's presence as recently as the fall of 2020. So four and a half years of nothing. We are hearing from Douglas Walker from the Star Press, there may have been a sighting as recently as fall 2020. That makes the time period less, right? The time he's been missing. And you can

Starting point is 00:12:02 extrapolate from that sighting that even though he may not be with his bio parents, that he is alive somewhere. Now, this is my understanding. Let me go straight out to Dr. Cheryl Errett. She is a licensed clinical forensic psychologist specializing in trauma recovery. You can find her at AskDrCeryl.com. Dr. Eric, thank you for being with us. It's my understanding and everybody on the panel, correct me if I've got this wrong, that the son had a falling out with his father, Hayden's grandfather. Okay. They had a falling out. Of course, the son stomps out with Hayden and that that is why the family kind of chalked it off that the son's not bringing Hayden around. That's why they're not seeing him. You know, when families split and they have a problem, there are no more happy Thanksgivings and Christmases together.

Starting point is 00:13:00 And very often that's the only time extended family sees the child, the grandchild. That's right, Nancy. And when we unpack this estrangement, I think we have to think about it with the father's addiction in mind. Because one of the things we know when people have active addictions to things like meth, cocaine, heroin. These are things that can really interfere with somebody being able to be a safe parent. But one of the other things we see is incredible denial. Denial that there's a problem. A lot of times the family wants to believe the best of the person who has the active addiction. And some of what we're hearing is that the estrangement had something to do with him feeling like they were judging him about his addiction. And some of what we're hearing is that the estrangement had something to do with

Starting point is 00:13:45 him feeling like they were judging him about his addiction. They wanted to take Hayden away. But the family knew about the addiction problems that Dustin was having. And what you want, especially when someone has had these problems, you want supervision. You want to know not just that they did the minimum in terms of probation or being able to get a child back, but you want to know, are they going to meetings? Can you see them? I mean, most single parents, even without this, really welcome extended loving, extended family health. It's a lot to have a little kid as a single parent. And one would really expect that if he were really doing what he said he was doing, he would want to have them around,

Starting point is 00:14:33 even if there was a falling out. Four-year-old Hayden Maness is critically missing, his family desperate for answers. Dad says CPS returned Hayden to his mom, but the story is not adding up. Where is Hayden? Why did it take relatives five years to realize he's missing? And when was the last time I can verify that he was seen? Listen. The father and son frequently visit family over the first year after Dustin regains custody. But after a fight with his dad, family members see less and less of Dustin and Hayden. The last time for the family's gift exchange

Starting point is 00:15:14 on Christmas Eve, 2019. When's the last time you saw Hayden? Christmas Eve, 2019 at our family gathering. He was getting presents. He was excited. That was the last last time. That is from WTHR 13. And the photos you were seeing were provided to the independent by Gary Maness. Straight out to Eric Hoffman joining us, prosecuting attorney 46 Judicial Circuit, Indiana, who has been investigating this case for months after he, like us, find out Hayden's

Starting point is 00:15:48 been missing for five years. When can we start our timeline? Eric, when do you believe is the last credible sighting of this little boy? I don't think we can pinpoint it to a particular date. I think the last, the credible information we have is would have been sometime between Christmas of 2019 and early 2020. Ben, thank you for being with us. You know, in some jurisdictions, I know in Alabama it's called Keeley's Law. In some jurisdictions, it's actually a crime not to immediately report your child missing. Did you know that that trend is catching fire across the nation? It's becoming a statute in the black and white letter of the law, Ben. Yeah, that is becoming a more common law across the nation to have reporting requirements for missing children for the obvious reasons. You know, time is of the essence when we're dealing with missing children.

Starting point is 00:16:57 And the more time that goes on, the harder it gets to find the right answers, find the conclusions that you need. And so those reporting requirements are becoming a popular trend nationally. In the seminal case that shocked our country, in the case of two-year-old Kelly Anthony, who goes missing near Orlando, Florida, we really don't know how long top mom Casey Anthony waited to report Kelly herself. There's something wrong. I found my daughter's car today and it smells like there's been a dead body in the damn car. Okay, what is the three-year-old's name? Kaylee. C-A-Y-L-E-E. Anthony. Just a few months short of being three, Kaylee goes missing. Now listen to top mom Casey Anthony's explanation. You last saw her a month ago? 31 days. From 31 days. Who has her? Do you have a name? Her name is Zenaida Fernandez Gonzalez. Who is that? Babysitter?

Starting point is 00:18:26 She's been my nanny for about a year and a half, almost two years. Why are you calling now? Why didn't you call 31 days ago? I've been looking for her and have gone through other resources to try to find her, which is stupid. I've been looking for her at... and have gone through other resources to try to find her, which is stupid. Okay. Did you hear that? Did you hear that obvious break in the sentence where top mom Casey Anthony is trying to think up what she can possibly say for waiting a month to report her child missing? All that's a lie. There is no Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez babysitter.

Starting point is 00:19:08 There is no babysitter. There is no nanny. In fact, her whole life was a lie. She would sit on her parents' sofa every day and eat chips while they paid for everything for Keely, took care of Keely, changed Keely's diapers, bought her clothes, bought her clothes, bought her food, housed her, loved her. She even had a fake uniform from Universal Studios and a

Starting point is 00:19:33 little name tag, right? And would pretend every day she was going to work. All a lie. She even took cops when they were trying to verify her job, her job, all the way to Universal. They went, yeah, there she is. They went through the security gate. They got with the cops in the car with her. She's continuing to lie, spinning it out, spinning it out. They get all the way to the building. They go to the door of the building to go talk to her employer. And right as they go in, she's like, oh, okay, you got me. I don't have a job.

Starting point is 00:20:15 I don't work here anymore. And for all this time, she's laid out on the sofa, having chips and pretzels and pizza, telling her parents she's working. And now we know what else she was lying about. Um, she says that she's been looking for Kaylee. Hey, top mom, why don't you look about 10 houses down from the Anthony home where you were mooching off your parents and that swampy area with trash in it. That's where Kelly was, double bagged in trash bags from your home. She was acquitted. That said, that shocked the country into realizing there's something very wrong when time goes by and no one reports a child missing. I mean, Eric Hoffman, you're investigating this case. Douglas Walker, you are intimately familiar with the facts. Eric, five years?

Starting point is 00:21:14 What do relatives have to say about why they never raised a flag of alarm? I don't know why they didn't. Whatever reason they didn't is strictly with them. I don't know. Certainly, I think it is reasonable to report that immediately. Again, I think this four years has done nothing but hinder the investigation. And I do see some similarities between this case and the case, the Anthony case, from the facts and from the evidence. Now, what are those similarities, Eric? I don't know that I can go into all of the evidentiary facts that we've gathered this far, but some of the similarities that are publicly known are that we have a young child

Starting point is 00:21:59 who has not been seen for quite some time. There is some suspicion around the custodial parent, that being Dustin Maness, and some things that he said that were easily proven to be lies. And then there were some evidentiary facts after that that are somewhat similar. Mystery swirls around the strange disappearance of missing Indiana boy Hayden Maness, last seen by his family over five years ago. Yeah, mystery swirls all right

Starting point is 00:22:35 because the family just realizes he's missing and then a chance encounter. 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. Straight out to Eric Hoffman, veteran trial lawyer in the prosecutor's office. Tell me

Starting point is 00:23:18 about that chance meeting. It's my understanding that the two grandmothers met up at a grocery store by happenstance and started discussing Hayden. And then at some point in time after that, on September 5th of 2024, is when the welfare check was called in with the police department. And that is the first time that we know that there's any issue with Hayden in terms of him being missing or any foul play. So they just happen to see each other at the grocery store. I know in my hometown, which actually I live far out of the town in rural Bibb County, you would actually run into everybody at the Piggly Wiggly, the grocery store. So I get it. They run into each other and one tells the other that Dustin's mother, the bio mom, now has custody.

Starting point is 00:24:13 Isn't it true, Eric Hoffman, that police run down the bio dad and Hayden's not there? And he tells officers the very same story that Hayden has been moved and placed with his bio mom. So we get it from the horse's mouth. Right, Eric? Yes. In fact, on the fifth, the very same day that the welfare check call comes in, police officers go to the last known address of Dustin Maness. And that very same day they were able to find Dustin. And they interviewed him at the police station. They took him to the sheriff's department and re-interviewed him. And he had a very specific place where he says Hayden was and how he got there.

Starting point is 00:24:58 He said that DCS and the sheriff's department removed Hayden from him several years ago and gave him, Hayden that is, to his birth mother. And obviously within a day or two, that was easily proved false. He was not telling the truth. Now, you heard Eric Hoffman describe, and he knows this case better than any of us, these photos from Hayden Maness' family, two news outlets, that the great-grandma, the family meet at the grocery. They state that the bio dad says, bio mom has her. I don't have him. I don't have him. The dad's tracked down. He says the same thing. But Eric tells us that is not true.

Starting point is 00:25:51 That the bio dad is lying. And it brings to mind another case that hit national headlines. The case of Harmony Montgomery. Both the bio parents are like this listen last time she was enrolled in any type of school from my understanding is yet to be confirmed is down in massachusetts but again she's seven right now so 2019 five years old probably right around that kindergarten time frame. Again, we've spoken with family members and we'll continue to do so. I know I keep coming back to that, and that's a fair question, right?

Starting point is 00:26:33 Did we speak to mom? Did we speak to dad? Did we speak to this brother? What we're speaking to is any and all family members that come to our attention and ones that we are seeking out as well. That is a Manchester, New Hampshire police chief, Alan Aldenberg, desperately interviewing bio mom, bio dad, extended family. The last time anybody got a good sighting of Harmony Montgomery, her uncle saw her father assault her, attack her, giving her a black eye, making her clean the bathroom with her toothbrush. Listen to this. Harmony Montgomery is missing for two years before anyone begins to look for her. The search for five-year-old Harmony leads to the family of Adam Montgomery, Harmony's father,

Starting point is 00:27:20 telling police they called social services several times, worried about Harmony, but nobody would help. Police tracked down Adam Montgomery, and he tells police Harmony's mother in Florida has Harmony. Police explain she is the one who called for help finding her daughter. More than two years has passed since Harmony was last seen. That puts us at a disadvantage, and the public's help is greatly needed. Brian Fitzgibbon's USPA Nationwide Security. Look at this. These are all cases of children that go missing and months, years pass before anyone notices. How many children are out there missing, likely dead, right now that no one realized they're missing? It's a great point, Nancy.

Starting point is 00:28:09 And especially when you're dealing with folks in active addiction, unwinding timelines, unwinding locations from witness statements of anybody who might have been around Dustin Maness around the time that Hayden was last seen, is going to become more and more complex for investigators. Four-year-old Hayden Maness has been missing five years. Is there any chance in finding him? There has been a recent sighting of him, which many believe is credible, which gives me hope. Then there is the reunification process. Did you hear the grandfather Hayden's grandfather say, I didn't want him to be given back to his bio dad, my son, I didn't want that. And they did it anyway. Listen to this would-be adoptive mom who fostered a beautiful little girl for years before she was snatched away and given back in a reunification with the mother, the bio mom. Listen.

Starting point is 00:29:18 A family friend contacted us and said, hey, I know of a foster child that is most likely going to be put into adoption. Is this something that you're interested in doing? And my husband and I looked at each other across the couch and we just were like, yeah, let's do it. And we weren't sure at first if it was going to be a long-term situation or a short-term, but as the years went by, we were like, wow, like this is actually happening. Like we're going to get to adopt her. And we love the time that we had with Oakley. That's Jamie Jo Hiles, Oakley's foster mom. And she had her hopes, her and her husband, they both had their hopes up that they were really going to be the forever home for baby Oakley. And just like in Hayden's case, bio mom, in this case, bio dad has a drug problem.

Starting point is 00:30:08 Mom had gone to the rehab classes that she was ordered to go to. And shortly after she went to those rehab classes, she became pregnant and stayed clean. And I don't know if it's because she had stayed clean for so long or what kind of law happens but she was able to get oakley and her siblings back while speaking with jamie joe she choked up from here i could see you swallow at that last sentence why it never gets easier to talk about this because my husband and I grieved the loss of Oakley. And then to find out that she was missing, it still hurts our hearts and it doesn't make sense to us. And it never will make sense to us why we didn't get to have her with us permanently. In fact, Jamie Jo and her husband were so convinced they were getting Oakley, they actually agreed to take Oakley's new little baby sibling as well.

Starting point is 00:31:12 They were going to have a whole family, a house full of children. In the spring, we were asked by our social worker, Angela Freeze, if we would be interested in taking the new baby when it was born. And my husband and I were like, yes, we would be interested in taking Oakley's younger sibling. And then the next month at the next health and safety visit, we were told, never mind, like that's not an option anymore. And then it slowly kind of came to that, oh, she's going to be returned. And when my husband and I went to fight it with the Grace Harbor Department of Children, Youth and Families, we were told she's not your daughter. You need to let go of this. Oakley is dead at the hands in the care of her bio mom. You know, I wonder, Eric Hoffman, your thoughts on reunification.

Starting point is 00:32:08 Why do they even call it that? That's such a euphemism like domestic violence and make it sound so cozy. Domestic violence. I've had so much domestic violence translation, homicides of women and children, that it's enough to just make you gag. Same thing here. Reunification. It sounds so good. It's BS. I'm against reunification. Why do we keep putting the desires of two deadbeat parents over the well-being of the child. Look at Hayden. He's gone.

Starting point is 00:32:49 He could be dead because of reunification. The grandfather wanted him. Papa wanted him. But, oh, H-E-L-L-N-O. We couldn't do that. And now he could be dead. I agree with you, Nancy. I think I can speak for most of the prosecutors, if not all the prosecutors in the state of Indiana, that reunification, that particular word, is nauseating. It is particularly nauseating in

Starting point is 00:33:10 this case. From what I know of it, I do not think that the Department of Child Services should have ever given Hayden back to Dustin Maness. Hayden should have stayed with his grandfather, Gary Maness, and we would be in a totally different place today. I can't speak for DCS. I don't know why they would have given him back. But again, that word reunification is nauseating. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. crime stories with nancy grace social media is littered with rumors and theories on what happened to hayden some extremely disturbing one post accuses manis and his ex-girlfriend in great detail of abusing hayden and killing the boy when his condition deteriorated to a point of requiring intense

Starting point is 00:34:01 medical attention the now deleted post claims the couple then buried Hayden's body in their backyard to decompose for six months before disposing of the remains in a gas station dumpster. To Eric Hoffman joining us, veteran trial lawyer, prosecutor, 46th Judicial Circuit, Indiana, on this case, what about these rumors? I know you cannot comment on specific facts, but let me ask you this. Are those rumors that Hayden was abused and killed, are they grounded in any shred of credible evidence? Was there a sighting? Is there some tangible evidence that that's true? We have heard those rumors from multiple sources. We are considering them as a part of the

Starting point is 00:34:51 investigation as potentially being true in terms of physical evidence or something to corroborate these rumors or these stories or these allegations. it's almost impossible now, four years later, to define that cooperation that a prosecutor would need to go into court with. Have you brought out cadaver dogs to that gas station dumpster? You did. Yes, we've used cadaver dogs at multiple locations in Delaware County. Any hits? No.

Starting point is 00:35:20 Ben Powers, joining us, veteran trial lawyer at legalpowers.com. What are your thoughts on reunification with bio parents that have already lost their child for very good reason? I don't think that the child should just be given back without any type of oversight or any type of check-in or any type of follow-up. I mean, they clearly have exhibited that they're not able to care for themselves, much less a child. And when you overlay drug addiction into that, there definitely needs to be some oversight. And so it does sound like in this situation, DCS failed Hayden, failed Hayden's family by not requiring his father to continue to show progress, to continue to show sobriety.

Starting point is 00:36:06 Instead, they just gave him back. And even worse, they gave him back during COVID lockdowns. Ben, when they first took Hayden away from the dad, they found Hayden in a motel room littered with heroin. And yet they gave him back. Yeah, there's no reason that he gets a benefit of the doubt i mean have you ever heard when you don't know a horse look at his track record if you don't know what the bio dad's going to do look at what he's already done eric hoffman have you been in touch with the bio dad's girlfriend and if so could she elucidate this at all?

Starting point is 00:36:46 The Sheriff's Department investigators have been in touch with BioDad's girlfriend. She gave multiple interviews with sheriff's detectives, some of which contain conflicting information. And she has spoken with them on multiple occasions. Well, did she shed any light on where Hayden could be? She did, but again, what she did tell the Sheriff's Department was somewhat contradictory or inconsistent. Well, you know what? It sounds like a bunch of wet cats in a barrel.

Starting point is 00:37:20 You've got drug-addled bio dad. You've got relatives that haven't seen the child in five years but don't realize he's missing. And by the way, speaking of the relatives, we invited the grandparents on to make a heartfelt plea to you about finding Hayden and they told us that they didn't think we, Crime Stories, would cover the case the way they wanted it covered. How many ways are there to cover a missing child case? That said, Douglas Walker, where does the case stand now? Dustin Maness was questioned in September, gave investigators an account of the child being returned to its birth mother. That didn't happen. In November, he was stopped for a traffic offense. The officer that night noted that he appeared to be extremely nervous to the point of being afraid, he wrote in a report.

Starting point is 00:38:32 And Dustin told him that he was frightened because he had recently been questioned about the disappearance of his son. They ultimately found heroin and meth in his possession. He was arrested and charged with low-grade felony drug possession charges, was in jail under a $30,000 bond. A few weeks later, a family member came forward with that money. He was released from the Delaware County Jail. Four days after that, he fatally overdosed. Spoke to the coroner yesterday. He said he died of an acute mixed drug intoxication. So any possibility of further exploring the situation with Dustin Maness is not going to happen. He's gone.

Starting point is 00:39:29 And a person close to the case yesterday told me he felt like they were chasing ghosts and trying to get this solved. It's so trite to say we're not giving up, but we're not. If you know or think you know anything about this baby boy, Hayden, dial 765-747-7885. Nancy Grace signing off.

Starting point is 00:40:02 Goodbye, friend.

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Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - BOY, 4, VANISHES 5 YEARS AGO WITHOUT FAMILY REALIZING: WHERE'S HAYDEN

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