The 14-year-old son of former NFL player Daniel Muir has been “missing and endangered” for more than two weeks, and Indiana State Police say the parents are now showing an “unwillingness to cooperate.”
Muir’s son Bryson was last seen leaving a relative’s Ohio home with his mother, Kristen, on June 16, police said. Shortly after their departure in a white 2015 Chevrolet Suburban, officers with Ohio’s Garfield Heights Police Department pulled over the vehicle, and Bryson wasn’t inside.
Two days later, Cass County Department of Child Services requested Indiana State Police investigate “allegations of domestic battery to Bryson” that allegedly occurred at the teen’s home — which is owned by religious nonprofit organization Servant Leader’s Foundation, as is the Chevrolet — in Logansport, about 80 miles north of Indianapolis.
After first being unable to contact Daniel and Kristen, Indiana State Police investigators were later able to make a site visit to the Logansport residence, where the Muirs were “beginning to show signs of cooperation.”
But on Friday, police issued a Silver Alert for Bryson after Daniel and Kristen backed out of an arrangement in which they were supposed to bring their son to meet investigators an hour before the scheduled meeting time, “which signaled an unwillingness to cooperate,” police said.
The Silver Alert for Bryson states the Black male is 6 feet, 2 inches tall, 185 pounds and was last seen wearing an orange Under Armor shirt and blue jeans. One of the two photos police included of Bryson in the alert shows the teen with a black eye and injured lip wearing an orange shirt.
Indiana State Police
Bryson’s grandmother and Kristen’s mother, Cheryl Wright, told Fox 59 and WTHR that she took that photo after picking up the boy a few days before his disappearance to find he had a black eye, fat lip and swollen face. She said he then stayed at her home until his mom came to pick him up on June 16, the last day he was seen.
Wright said she soon contacted police because Bryson told her his dad gave him the injuries, the outlets reported. The grandmother said after officers pulled over the vehicle minutes later to find Bryson gone, they told her the boy had likely been switched into a different vehicle quickly after he left her home.
Wright told Fox 59 she believes Bryson had been beaten by Daniel and that the family had “brainwashed” the teen into their lifestyle on the Logansport religious compound.
Fox 59 said it drove past the compound, which shows a “Welcome To Straitway Indiana Goshen” sign. A website for a Straitway Ministry lists Daniel as a pastor and “Goshen Community Head.”
Daniel played college football at Kent State before going undrafted in the 2007 NFL draft. He signed with the Green Bay Packers that year and went on to play or participate on the practice squad of multiple teams before leaving the game in 2014. Those teams included the Indianapolis Colts, St. Louis Rams, New York Jets, Kansas City Chiefs, Houston Texans and Oakland Raiders.
Police have asked the public to come forward if they have any information on Bryson, who they believe is in extreme danger and may require medical assistance. Indiana State Police Peru can be reached at 765-513-9907 or 911.
