Husband, mother-in-law busted in woman's cold-case murder amid backyard dig: police
Kentucky estranged husband and his mother face murder charges in a cold case after Anna Lee Manning's 1994 disappearance dating back to 1992.
More than three decades after Kentucky woman Anna Lee Manning disappeared, authorities have arrested her husband and his mother in connection with what investigators now believe was her murder.
Anthony Blaine Manning, 59, of Harrodsburg, was indicted May 18 on charges of murder, tampering with physical evidence and abuse of a corpse, according to Boyle County court records and the Boyle County Sheriff’s Office.
His mother, Barbara Ann Manning, 76, was also indicted on charges of complicity to murder, complicity to tampering with physical evidence and complicity to abuse a corpse.
Jail records show both were booked into the Boyle County Detention Center on May 19 and are being held on $2 million cash bonds.
Anna Manning was reported missing on Feb. 25, 1994, though investigators believe her death dates back to 1992.
The arrests mark a major breakthrough in one of Boyle County’s longest-running cold cases.
On May 19, Detective Ray with the Boyle County Sheriff’s Office announced the indictments, saying the investigation into Anna Manning’s disappearance remains ongoing.
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Authorities spent Wednesday digging behind a home on Spring Valley Road belonging to Barbara Manning, searching for evidence connected to the case.
Investigators have not confirmed whether human remains have been found.
Anna Lee Manning was just 23 years old when she disappeared from Junction City, Kentucky, according to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs).
The database states Manning was last seen on Nov. 19, 1992, standing outside Chinn’s Jewelry Shop on North Third Street.
Her aunt, Elsie Williams, later recalled seeing Anna that day.
"She shouted out to her aunt and said she had something to tell her," the NamUs case file states.
Williams never learned what Anna wanted to say. She never saw her niece again.
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NamUs records show Anna was 5 feet tall and weighed about 108 pounds at the time of her disappearance. Her case was entered into the national missing persons database in 2013.
Family members told local outlet LEX 18 they have believed for decades that Anna Manning’s body was buried on the property.
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"I’ve been praying every night for the last few months that they would find her," Williams told the outlet.
Williams, who said she is battling cancer, told the outlet finding her niece before she dies has become deeply important to her.
"I wanted to find her before I died," she said. "There ain’t nobody left."
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Williams also alleged Anthony Manning had been abusive during his relationship with Anna and said she had concerns about him early on.
"He was a nice looking boy, but I knew a lot about the family," Williams told LEX 18. "I didn’t want her with him."
According to the outlet, Williams said Anna endured a difficult childhood and struggled with mental health challenges as a teenager.
This was not the first time investigators searched the Spring Valley Road property. Detectives also excavated areas there in 2016 after leads again pointed authorities to the location.
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One volunteer assisting investigators, Crystal Williams, told reporters she remembered there being an old well on the property years ago.
"I was trying to help them locate where that well’s at," she said.
When asked whether she believed investigators were close to finding Anna, she responded, "Yes."
The Boyle County Sheriff’s Office thanked several agencies assisting in the investigation, including the Danville Police Department, Junction City Public Works, Boyle County Public Works and Danville/Boyle County Emergency Management.
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Fox News Digital reached out to the Boyle County Sheriff's Office and Williams for additional comment but did not immediately receive a response.
The Boyle County Sheriff’s Office is asking anyone with information related to the case to contact investigators at 859-238-1220.
