The discovery comes days after Anna Manning’s husband was arrested for alleged murder
Credit: Boyle County Sheriff’s Office/Facebook
NEED TO KNOW
- Human remains were discovered on a property connected to the 1992 disappearance of Anna Manning, according to authorities
- Anna’s husband, Anthony Manning, was arrested on suspicion of murder, and her mother-in-law, Barbara Manning, was arrested on suspicion of complicity to murder
- Anna was 23 years old when she vanished in Kentucky more than three decades ago, and investigators say the case remains ongoing
For more than three decades, the disappearance of Anna Manning remained an unsolved mystery in Kentucky. Now, investigators say they may be closer than ever to answers.
Human remains have been discovered on a property connected to Anna’s disappearance, according to local outlet WKYT, marking a major development in a case that dates back to 1992.
The remains were recovered from a property in Boyle County and will be transported to a forensic laboratory for examination and identification, the Boyle County Sheriff's Office said in a statement. Authorities said no official identification will be made until the investigation is complete and next of kin have been notified.
The discovery came just days after investigators arrested Anna’s husband, Anthony Manning, and his mother, Barbara Manning, in connection with the case.
Credit: Boyle County Detention Center
On May 19, 2026, Detective Ray with the Boyle County Sheriff’s Office obtained indictments against both Anthony and Barbara, according to a Facebook statement from the sheriff’s office that PEOPLE confirmed through official documents.
Anthony has been charged with murder, tampering with physical evidence and abuse of a corpse, according to the sheriff’s office. Barbara was charged with complicity to murder, complicity to tampering with physical evidence and complicity to abuse of a corpse.
Both are currently being held in the Boyle County Detention Center on $2 million cash bonds, according to the sheriff’s office.
Credit: Boyle County Detention Center
The arrests brought renewed attention to a case that began more than 30 years ago, when Anna disappeared at just 23 years old. She was last seen on Nov. 19, 1992, in Junction City, Ky., according to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs).
Though Anna vanished in 1992, the Boyle County Sheriff’s Office said she was officially reported missing on Feb. 25, 1994.
As investigators continued pursuing the cold case over the years, attention repeatedly turned to a property on Spring Valley Road in Danville.
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Authorities searched the property at 148 Spring Valley Road following the arrests. The Boyle County Sheriff’s Department, Emergency Management and public works crews all responded to the scene, according to WKYT.
Public works crews reportedly arrived with an excavator, while several holes could be seen across the more than 5-acre property where digging had taken place, the outlet reported.
The same property had previously been searched in 2016 after authorities served a warrant there, though nothing was found at the time.
The case file also includes details of an earlier incident involving Anna and Anthony before her disappearance.
A 1995 newspaper article stated that Anthony turned himself in after Anna signed a kidnapping warrant against him. He allegedly arrived at his estranged wife’s apartment with their daughter, handcuffed Anna and led her out the back door before she escaped to a neighbor’s home and contacted police, according to the NamUs database. Anthony later served 192 days in jail in connection with that incident.
Authorities have not confirmed whether the remains discovered this week belong to Anna. The Boyle County Sheriff’s Office said the investigation remains ongoing and encouraged anyone with information related to the case to contact investigators.
PEOPLE has reached out to the Boyle County Sheriff’s Office for comment.
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