Former NFL Player and His Wife Were Arrested After Their Son Was Found at a Religious Compound
Daniel Muir’s 14-year-old son was last seen on Tuesday. On Wednesday, a state police SWAT team went to his family’s home at a religious community and found him safe.
A news release from state police said that Bryson Muir seemed to be “safe and well” and was given to Cass County child services to care for.
Bryson had been missing and thought to be in danger since last month, when his grandmother told child services that she thought his father had hit him, according to earlier HuffPost stories. After the teen’s grandma reported him, the police were unable to find him.
When police found Bryson, they arrested his parents, Kristin Muir, 38, and Daniel Muir, 40, on a preliminary charge of obstructing justice.
The press statement says that Daniel Muir is also being charged with domestic battery.
“He had cuts on his face.” When Bryson’s grandma Cheryl Wright got him, he had a black eye and a broken lip. That’s what she told Fox affiliate WXIN last month when she called the police.
Wright told the news source that Bryson was “brainwashed” into living like his parents did on a religious farm in Logansport, Indiana.
Bryson hadn’t been seen since June 16, so on June 28, police put out a silver alert for him because his parents didn’t show up to a plan to turn him in.
After Bryson went missing, a WXIN news crew went to the Muirs’ farm and saw a sign for Straitway Truth Ministries.
The website for the Tennessee-based group says it has 12 branches in the U.S. and Canada and is led by Pastor Charles Dowell. It says that Daniel Muir is the leader of the Indiana branch.
A report from Sports Illustrated says that the group has been called a cult and has attracted several former NFL stars as members.
After being arrested, Dowell released a video on YouTube in which he spoke in front of a wall covered in camouflage gear and assault rifles. In the video, he tried to discredit the news stories about the case.
He said that police broke into the property with battering rams and a BearCat during morning prayers. He compared it to the 1993 raid in Waco, Texas, where police besieged a Branch Davidian cult stronghold and killed more than 80 people.
State police in Indiana say that no one was hurt during this week’s raid.
According to Sgt. Steven Glass, the operation was “peaceful” because the cops talked to the Muirs right away during the search.
“For something like this, we need to be ready to go into the unknown,” Glass told the news source.