On a summer morning in Bancroft, Iowa, the community was shaken by a tragic event that unfolded within a home on South Morehouse Street. On July 12, 2019, Amy Lynn Manna, a 30-year-old Caucasian female, was found deceased in her residence. The initial 911 call reported two deceased individuals, but upon arrival, officers from the Bancroft Police Department discovered a third body.
The investigation, led by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, soon unraveled the grim details of
what had transpired. Manna, along with another victim, 22-year-old Mason Alrik Cederwall, had been fatally shot. The state medical examiner's office determined that the cause of death for both Manna and Cederwall was homicide by gunshot wounds. The third individual found at the scene was identified as 30-year-old Austin James Bernhard, also of Bancroft. His death was ruled a suicide from a single gunshot wound.
Investigators determined that Bernhard was Manna's ex-boyfriend and that the incident was a double murder-suicide. The motive appeared to be linked to a prior domestic dispute. Just days earlier, on July 4, 2019, Bernhard had been arrested on charges of assault and burglary in an incident that had also involved Manna and Cederwall. Following the tragic events of July 12th, law enforcement assured the public that there was no ongoing threat. The perpetrator of the homicides, Austin James Bernhard, died by his own hand at the scene of the crime, and as such, no arrests were made in connection with the murders of Amy Lynn Manna and Mason Alrik Cederwall.
