UPDATE (July 3, 2024): Bryson Muir has been located. His parents are in custody.
LOGANSPORT, Ind. — The grandmother of Bryson Muir, a Logansport 14-year-old last seen over two weeks ago who may be being abused by his ex-NFL player father, is speaking out after she first reported to police that her grandson had a black eye the last time he was seen.
Bryson, the subject of an Indiana State Police Silver Alert last Friday, was last seen 15 days ago in Ohio. He is the son of former Colts defensive lineman Daniel Muir, who is now a person of interest after failing to cooperate with police on Bryson’s disappearance.
“It is a very difficult situation,” said Cheryl Wright. “We’re all very sick about him. It hurts my heart.”
Wright, Bryson’s grandmother, initially tipped off police about potential abuse Bryson was facing just minutes before he was last seen by anyone other than his parents. She said she believes Bryson was beaten by his father, Daniel, and that her grandson has been “brainwashed” into the Muir’s lifestyle on a large religious group compound in Logansport.
Grandma’s report
Wright last saw Bryson on June 16 when he was leaving her home outside Cleveland, Ohio, with his mother, Kristen Muir, in a white 2015 Chevrolet Suburban.
“He was here for two days, Thursday evening to Sunday morning,” Wright said. “His mom came to get him. I didn’t want to let him go.”
The child’s grandmother reported to police that the child had a black eye and might be being abused by his parents. She even took a picture of Bryson.
“His face was battered. When I got him he had a black eye and busted lip,” Wright said. “His whole face was swollen. I can only imagine how many times he had been hit in the face for it to be like that.”
Wright told FOX59/CBS4 that Bryson said it was his father, Daniel, who had given him the black eye. He did not tell his grandma what led up to him being hit and did not want to talk about what happened. This caused her to call local police.
“I didn’t want to let him go,” Wright said. “I tried to call the police because he had been abused. It hurts me that anyone could be beaten like that. It hurts me that my daughter would allow anyone to do that to her child.”
ISP Capt. Ron Galaviz said it was just minutes between when the son and mother left the home and when local police pulled over her Suburban. Wright said she was told officers found Kristen’s car before it had even gotten on the freeway.
However, officers said Bryson was not found inside the car with his mother.
“It was minutes, it wasn’t a very long period of time whatsoever,” Galaviz said. “But in that period of time, Bryson wasn’t able to be found. We don’t know where he went.”
Wright was given an explanation from police.
“The officers believe that he had probably been switched into another car,” Wright said.
Investigation into parents
Two days later, the Cass County Department of Child Services asked ISP troopers to look into allegations of domestic battery inflicted upon Bryson at a home in Logansport. This was after the department wasn’t able to get ahold of the family.
Up until Thursday, ISP had been unable to get ahold of the Muir parents despite going out to the family’s home along the 1700 block of West US 24 in Logansport several times.
Then, on June 27, Capt. Galaviz said that detectives had made contact with Daniel and Kristen Muir and that they were “beginning to cooperate” with ISP’s investigation. However, Bryson was still nowhere to be found.
“Bryson is so conditioned or brainwashed to their way of living that he wanted to go back,” the child’s grandma said Monday. “As I tried to get my daughter to leave he ran out of the house and left with them.”
Meet-up arrangement and Silver Alert
Last Friday afternoon, ISP declared an official Silver Alert for Bryson, who they said is still considered to be missing and in danger.
Police said that Daniel and Kristen Muir had agreed to bring their son to meet with ISP investigators at the Peru Post. The arrangement was scheduled for 12 p.m. Friday, ISP said.
However, at around 11 a.m., the Muirs reportedly “backed out” of the arrangement. ISP said this “signaled an unwillingness to cooperate” with police.
“He is our primary concern, his well-being and safety are of utmost importance,” ISP Capt. Ron Galaviz said.
Logansport property, possible cult connections
State Police said the Muir’s Logansport property is owned by the Servant Leader’s Foundation, a nonprofit religious group. The Chevy Suburban driven by Kristen Muir is also owned by the Servant Leader’s Foundation.
FOX59/CBS4 crews recently went to the home, located off a secluded two-lane road in rural Logansport and surrounded mostly by trees. A long gravel driveway is cut off near the road by a fence marked with multiple no-trespassing and private property signs.
There are no signs outside the home with the name Servant Leader’s Foundation, but there is one right past the fence that says “Welcome To Straitway Indiana Goshen.” A crest on the sign has an “S” on a shield with two swords forming an X behind the shield.
A Google search of Straitway will lead you to Straitway Truth Ministries, a Tennessee-based religious group that some online have labeled a cult. On the Straitway Truth Ministries website, the group states it is a “nation of Hebrew Israelites who are commandment keepers; obedient to Yah (God) and our savior, Jesus the Christ.”
Straitway’s official YouTube page features a video published four months ago of a man who appears to be former Colts defensive tackle Daniel Muir preaching from a stage to a cheering crowd.
In the video, Muir holds up a picture of himself and fellow former Colts defensive end Robert Mathis while discussing a place called Goshen.
Further information
Bryson is described by ISP as a 6’2″, 185-pound Black male with black hair and brown eyes. The child was last seen with a black eye and wearing an orange Under Armor shirt and blue jeans.
Police are urging anyone with information on Bryson’s whereabouts or his parents to contact the Indiana State Police Peru post at (800) 382-0689 or call 911.
No other information has been provided by ISP as of 3:15 p.m. Monday. No arrests have been made.
This article contains additional reporting by Eric Graves.