Former NFL Player Arrested After Missing Teen Found At Religious Compound

The missing 14-year-old son of former Indiana Colts lineman Daniel Muir has been found safe on Wednesday after a state police SWAT team entered his family home at a religious compound.

Bryson Muir appeared to be “safe and well” and was released into the care of Cass County child services, according to a press release from state police.

Bryson had been considered missing and endangered since last month after his grandmother told child services that she believed he was the victim of domestic battery by his father, according to previous reports by HuffPost. Authorities had been unable to locate the teen after his grandmother made the report.

Upon finding Bryson, authorities took his parents, Kristin Muir, 38, and Daniel Muir, 40, into custody on a preliminary charge of obstruction of justice.

Daniel Muir faces an additional charge of domestic battery, according to the press release.

“His face was battered. When I got him, he had a black eye and busted lip,” Cheryl Wright, Bryson’s grandmother, told Fox affiliate WXIN of the teen’s condition last month when she decided to alert authorities.

Wright told the outlet that Bryson was “brainwashed” into his parent’s lifestyle on a religious compound in Logansport, Indiana. 

Although Bryson had not been seen since June 16, police issued a silver alert for him on June 28 after his parents backed out of a plan to bring their son to authorities.

A WXIN news crew visited the Muirs’ property following Bryson’s disappearance and reported a sign for Straitway Truth Ministries.

The Tennessee-based organization is led by Pastor Charles Dowell and has 12 branches across the U.S. and Canada, according to its website. Daniel Muir is listed as pastor of the Indiana branch. 

The organization has been described as a cult and has drawn in several former NFL players as members, according to an investigation by Sports Illustrated. 

In a Youtube video posted following the arrests, Dowell spoke in front of a wall hung with camouflage gear and assault rifles and attempted to cast doubt on media reporting on the case.

He said that authorities entered the property with battering rams and a bearcat during morning prayers and compared the incident to the raid in Waco, Texas, in which authorities laid siege to a Branch Davidian cult compound in 1993 and more than 80 people died.

No one was injured during this week’s raid in Indiana, according to state police.

Sgt. Steven Glass told WXIN that the operation was “peaceful” because police came into contact with the Muirs immediately during the search.

“With anything of this nature, we have to be well prepared, to go into the unknown,” Glass told the outlet.

Need help? In the U.S., call 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) for the National Domestic Violence Hotline.