Ex-NFL Star and Wife Arrested Amid Child Abuse Accusations

A 14-year-old boy who had gone missing was found and pronounced “safe and well,” but a relative stepped in and accused the parents of child abuse, which led to their arrest.

Indiana State Police put out a silver alert last Friday in the search for a missing 14-year-old boy. His maternal grandmother, Cheryl Wright, resides in Cleveland, Ohio, and the youngster had been living with her for a few days in the middle of June. Anxieties set in for Wright the moment she laid eyes on her grandchild.

He showed up with a bruised face, a black eye, and a broken lip. The youngster was hesitant to discuss his injuries with Wright, but he did say that his father, Daniel Muir, a 40-year-old former NFL defensive lineman, was to blame.

The child was to be picked up from Wright’s residence by his mother, Kristin Muir, 38, on June 16. Wright promptly reported the alleged abuse to the police.

When the police eventually stopped her car, the child was nowhere to be found. Police speculate that they most likely switched the boy to another car after leaving his grandmother’s.

Weeks he was passed with no sign of the boy. Even though he went missing, his parents were not always cooperative with the authorities, according to the police.

A home in Logansport, Indiana, is located on a large tract of property about 80 miles north of Indianapolis. It is actually owned by the Servant Leader’s Foundation, also called Straitway Truth Ministries. This Tennessee-based religious group has been described as a cult by some. Everyone in the family lives here. According to their website, they consider themselves Hebrew Israelites.

The grandmother has concerns about the organization, saying that her grandchild is so conditioned or brainwashed to their way of living that he wants to go back. Wright and her daughter were trying to convince him to leave the cult when he bolted from the house.

The Indiana State Police (ISP) tracked the boy to the cult’s property. The Muirs allegedly promised to meet with investigators at noon that day with their kid but then “backed out” an hour before the meeting, which ISP took as “an unwillingness to cooperate.”

The Swat squad of the Indiana State Police arrived at the Muirs’ residence at 6 a.m. on Wednesday to carry out the search and arrest orders. Daniel and Kristin Muir were located there, together with their son, who was 14 years old and “appeared safe and well,” according to the public statement from ISP.

At that point, Mr. and Mrs. Muir were apprehended. Level 6 felony obstruction of justice is one charge against each of them, and Daniel Muir also faces a misdemeanor domestic assault charge.