More than three decades after Anna Manning disappeared in 1992, her body has never been found. However, police in Kentucky revealed that a major development in the case might be on the way after remains were found at a property connected to the crime.
The Boyle County Sheriff’s Office said the remains were found on a property in Boyle County on Monday, May 25, and will be transported to a forensic laboratory for examination and identification, according to a Facebook statement.
While the discovery of the remains have been confirmed, authorities said that no official identification will be made until the investigation is complete and next of kin are notified.
While authorities did not reveal the address of where the remains were found, they said that the property was “previously identified as a potential site connected to the disappearance.”
The remains were found five days after investigators arrested Anna’s husband, Anthony Manning, and his mother, Barbara Manning, on May 20 in connection with Anna’s death.
A detective with the Boyle County Sheriff’s Office obtained indictments against both Anthony and Barbara on May 19, according to a Facebook statement from the sheriff’s office.
Anthony has since been charged with murder, tampering with physical evidence and abuse of a corpse, while Barbara was charged with complicity to murder, complicity to tampering with physical evidence and complicity to abuse of a corpse.
Both Anthony and Barbara are currently being held in the Boyle County Detention Center on $2 million cash bonds, according to the sheriff’s office.
Following their arrests, Anthony and Barbara’s attorney Ephraim Helton told WKYT that he does not believe there is evidence to back up his clients’ charges.
“But based upon what we’ve learned at this point, we do not believe the facts support murder,” Helton, who is representing the mother-son duo alongside partner Evan Rice, said.
Helton added that there won’t be much evidence in the case since many of the witnesses have died since Anna’s disappearance.
“So those fact witnesses, even if they’ve given statements or could’ve given statements if they’re deceased it won’t come into evidence because we can’t cross examine those statements,” he said.
Anna was just 23 years old when she was last seen on November 19, 1992, in Junction City, Kentucky, according to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System. However, she wasn’t formally reported missing until February 25, 1994.
As the investigation into the case continued over the years, authorities set their sights on a property on Spring Valley Road in Danville.
Authorities searched the property following Anthony and Barbara’s arrests, according to WKYT. Meanwhile, the same property was previously searched in 2016 after authorities served a warrant there. However, they found no evidence at the time.
The Boyle County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to Us Weekly’s request for comment regarding the case.
