Anna Lee Manning’s aunt told the newspaper that her niece’s husband took her away from the family after they married in 1985.
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america today
More than 30 years after Anna Lee Manning disappeared without a trace, Kentucky State Police have arrested her husband and stepmother on suspicion of her murder.
Anthony Blaine Manning, 59, has been charged with murder, tampering with physical evidence and abuse of a corpse, the Boyle County Sheriff’s Office announced Thursday, May 21st. His mother, Barbara Ann Manning, 76, is charged with being an accessory to murder, tampering with evidence and abuse of a corpse.
The Mannings are being held on $2 million bail each pending court proceedings. USA TODAY is trying to determine if an attorney is available for comment.
Multiple news outlets have reported that police are digging behind Barbara Manning’s home to search for evidence. The sheriff’s office did not immediately respond to USA TODAY’s request to confirm that the search was ongoing.
WKYT-TV reported that the site is approximately 5 acres in size and that an excavator arrived and several holes were visible where the excavation took place.
Anna Lee Manning was 23 years old when she was last seen alive by someone other than her husband or stepmother on November 19, 1992, according to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System. One of her aunts, Elsie Williams, reported seeing her that day outside a jewelry store in Junction City, about an hour southwest of Lexington.
The women did not have a chance to speak, but Anna Lee Manning yelled at Williams, “You have to say something,” according to the missing persons database. Williams never found out what it was because he never saw his niece again.
“I’ve been praying every night for the last few months that I’d find her,” Williams, who is battling cancer, recently told WLEX-TV. “I wanted to find her before I die.”
Here’s what you need to know about this:
What do we know about Anna Lee Manning?
Not much information is available about Anna Lee Manning’s background, and her family did not immediately respond to USA TODAY’s request for more information about who she is.
She began living with her aunt when she was 13 and married Anthony Manning in 1985, according to archived news reports. That means she is about 17 years old.
Williams told the Advocate Messenger newspaper in 1994 that Manning wouldn’t let his wife see his family, and the couple was so estranged that Williams didn’t even know where they lived.
In April 1992, newspapers reported that Anthony and Anna Lee were estranged when Anthony was arrested on kidnapping charges. According to the newspaper, Anthony Manning went to the apartment with the couple’s 2-year-old daughter and told Anna Lee he wanted to have sex.
When she refused, the man handcuffed her, but she fled to a neighbor’s house, called police and accused him of kidnapping, the newspaper reported. He was later sentenced to six months in prison for false imprisonment, the newspaper said.
Mother-in-law’s property was searched earlier
In 2016, detectives were digging up Barbara Manning’s property in connection with the Anna Lee Manning cold case, but authorities released few details at the time.
Earlier that year, Boyle County Sheriff’s Deputy Phillip Dean told the Advocate-Messenger that he was actively working to solve the case.
“I was just intrigued,” he told the newspaper. “I started filing a lawsuit to see if I could give my family closure.”
Amanda Lee Myers is a senior crime reporter covering capital punishment, cold case investigations and breaking news for USA TODAY. Follow her on X at @amandaleeusat.
