Ryan Hanafin

Introduction

Ryan Hanafin is a 22-year-old from Reading, Massachusetts, who became the subject of an hours-long, two-state manhunt after his mother, 49-year-old Andria Hanafin, was found shot to death inside the family’s home early on October 8, 2026. Hanafin was gone from the household along with his car when his father discovered the body and called 911; by that afternoon, Vermont State Police had pulled him over roughly 170 miles away in Warren, Vermont, and taken him into custody. He has been charged with being a fugitive from justice and remains a person of interest — not a charged defendant — in the homicide investigation into his mother’s death.

Background Information

Hanafin lived in the family home on Center Avenue in Reading, a Boston suburb, along with his parents and two younger siblings. Reporting identifies him as the couple’s oldest child; a 13-year-old brother was home, unharmed, on the night of the shooting, and a sister was away at college. Hanafin owned several guns legally and held a Massachusetts license to carry, which authorities suspended the morning after the killing. He was known to have connections to the Warren, Vermont area, where he was believed to frequent, and no significant police history with the family or the house had been recorded before the shooting, according to the district attorney.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Person of interest, not an adjudicated defendant. Hanafin’s only charge is being a fugitive from justice. He has not been charged with his mother’s death, and nothing here is a finding of guilt; officials describe an active homicide investigation with the exact circumstances still under investigation.

Andria Hanafin was found dead from an apparent gunshot wound inside the kitchen of the family’s Reading home at around 12:38 a.m. on Thursday, October 8, after her husband, Matthew, returned home from work and called 911. She was pronounced dead at the scene. The couple’s 13-year-old son told police he had last seen his mother alive around 5 p.m., left to spend time with friends, and returned about 9 p.m., going straight to his room. Hanafin, 22, was missing from the household along with his black 2010 Dodge Charger, which police said was last seen driving on I-93 toward Tewksbury around 7:25 p.m. Wednesday. Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan said authorities believe this is a case of domestic violence, though the exact circumstances remain under investigation, and officials said there was no known police contact with the family before the killing.

The manhunt crossed a state line by afternoon. Massachusetts State Police tipped Vermont authorities that Hanafin was believed to be in the Warren area; troopers from the Berlin Barracks searched there with the Washington County Sheriff’s Department, and about two hours later spotted the Charger and stopped it on Route 100 south near the Sugarbush Access Road at 2:30 p.m. Hanafin was arrested without incident and transported to the Berlin Barracks. Officials described him during the search as armed and dangerous, and urged the public not to approach him.

At a news conference, District Attorney Ryan disclosed that Hanafin had a license to carry that was suspended that morning, said he had access to several guns he legally owned, and said he had no known mental health issues. Officials did not reveal a motive. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner was conducting an autopsy, with the cause of death believed to be a gunshot wound.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The immediate consequence was his arrest and detention: Hanafin was charged with being a fugitive from justice and ordered held without bail at the Northeast Regional Correctional Facility in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, with an arraignment scheduled for Friday afternoon in Vermont Superior Court in Barre. Reading police confirmed he had been located and taken into custody and said there was no further risk to public safety. In Reading itself, the school department held classes with increased police patrols and moved elementary recess indoors, while neighbors confronted the killing of a mother remembered in a family friend’s fundraiser as someone with “a heart of gold” who “genuinely cared about others.”

Current Status

As of the latest reporting on October 9, 2026, Hanafin is held without bail in Vermont ahead of his arraignment that afternoon. He has been charged only with being a fugitive from justice; NBC Boston noted he has not been named a suspect in his mother’s death, and that suspects in out-of-state crimes typically face extradition hearings before returning to face charges where the conduct occurred. The homicide investigation remains active with the district attorney’s office treating the case as domestic violence while the autopsy and the review of circumstances continue. No murder charge had been filed against Hanafin, and no attorney information was immediately available, at the time of writing.

Impact on Their Career/Life

At 22, Hanafin’s life is now defined by the fugitive charge, the suspension of his gun license, and his detention in Vermont while Massachusetts builds its homicide case. Whatever the investigation concludes, the documented sequence — his mother found shot in the family kitchen, his overnight flight toward the Vermont area he was known to frequent, and his capture after a multistate alert — has made the Hanafin name the center of a domestic-violence homicide investigation in a town where police had recorded no significant history with the family.

Sources

• New York Post, “Massachusetts mom Andria Hanafin found shot to death inside home — son Ryan Hanafin arrested in Vermont,” Oct. 9, 2026 — source
• NBC Boston, “Reading mother found dead, son sought as person of interest,” Oct. 9, 2026 — source
• NBC5 (Vermont) / WPTZ, “Man wanted in mother’s murder apprehended in Vermont Thursday,” Oct. 9, 2026 — source