Hometown heroes: Native Manteno first-responder siblings reflect on career paths

For Manteno brother and sister Audis Edwards and Miranda Sinadinos, blood is not the only bond they share.They are also connected by a calling to serve, protect and save lives. And they do it in the same town.Sinadinos, 29, a 2015 graduate of Manteno High School, is a detective with the Manteno Police Department, while Edwards, 22, a 2022 MHS graduate, is a firefighter for the Manteno Fire Department.Today is National First Responders Day, observed annually on Oct. 28 to honor police officers, firefighters, paramedics, EMTs, 911 dispatchers and correctional officers.Being a first responder is a profession that tends to run in families.That wasn’t the case for this brother and sister, whose father, Mike Edwards, is a truck driver, and mother, Natalie Munoz, is a medical receptionist. They have one other sibling, a 15-year-old brother.Rather than following in the footsteps of parents, grandparents, aunts or uncles, their careers stemmed from their own interests.While in high school, both