Four Months Missing: Fresh Lead Sparks Urgent Search for Nancy Guthrie
A NEW search effort has been launched in Mexico for Nancy Guthrie after a volunteer group received a tip months after she disappeared.
Volunteers and authorities have been following up on tips as they continue to look for Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of Today show co-host Savannah Guthrie, who vanished in February.
Savannah Guthrie’s mother Nancy (left) has not been seen since she was abducted from her home in Arizona on February 1Credit: NBC
A new search was underway in Nogales, Mexico, after a volunteer group received anonymous tips about where Guthrie’s body might beCredit: KPNX
Three search efforts have since been conducted in MexicoCredit: KPNX
The Pima County Sheriff’s Office, which is leading the investigation in Arizona said it is aware of the anonymous tip in MexicoCredit: Getty
Guthrie was abducted from her home in Arizona in the middle of the night on February 1 after her daughter Annie and her husband Tommaso Cioni, dropped her off around 10pm.
Several months of search efforts have ensued, with authorities still unsure of who may have abducted the woman.
The biggest breakthrough in the case came in February when security camera footage was released showing a masked and armed man outside of Guthrie’s front door around 2am the night she vanished.
A new search effort was launched in Nogales, Mexico, where Mexican authorities, college students and the collective Buscando Corazones gathered, according to NBC affiliate KPNX.
Today’s Savannah Guthrie drops over $500k on P.I.s to find mom Nancy
Search teams conducted a third search on Wednesday as they continue to follow up on anonymous tips, including one received in May.
The group gathered in the remote Mariposa area, which is located roughly 5.5 miles southwest of the Mexico-Arizona border.
The search ended just before 5pm with no sign of Guthrie.
Ramona Guadalupe Ayala Ortiz, the leader of Buscando Corazones told KPNX that a man called her anonymously, instructing her to look for Guthrie near a stream and under a tree.
Ayala Ortiz said the volunteer group narrowed down the search location on Wednesday after previously searching two streams.
Local, state and federal officials joined Wednesday’s search to ensure the group’s safety rather than taking part in the investigation.
Criminal justice students also took part in the effort.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Office, which has been leading the search for Guthrie, said they are aware of the anonymous tip, but they have not been contacted by Mexican authorities.
Ramona Guadalupe Ayala Ortiz, the leader of Buscando Corazones, said the group narrowed down a search locationCredit: KPNX
The search effort involved the volunteer group, college students and Mexican authorities who were there to ensure the group’s safetyCredit: KPNX
Nancy Guthrie was taken from her home in the middle of the night and was last seen when her daughter Annie dropped her off around 10pmCredit: Facebook/Nancy Guthrie
A surveillance camera at Nancy Guthrie’s home captured a masked and armed man outside of her front door on the night she disappearedCredit: AFP
Buscando Corazones did not immediately respond to The U.S. Sun’s request for comment about Wednesday’s search.
Ayala Ortiz previously spoke with The U.S. Sun, saying the group first received an anonymous tip on May 16 and launched an immediate search of the Mariposa area before returning for a second time after another tip came in.
“Anonymous tips are brief, you know? When it reached us, it said, ‘The lady from the other side is buried in a clandestine grave over by El Mariposo.’ Just like that,” she said.
The volunteer group had been searching the wider area for months looking for other missing people.
While Ayala Ortiz said her team discovered graves on April 25, she said the information they received about Guthrie pointed to a different section of the region.
“The information I have is that she is not in that specific area where I found the clandestine cemetery; it’s another place. That is, it’s in El Mariposo, but you enter through other hills and other creeks,” she told The U.S. Sun.
“It’s very close to the border, just kilometers away.
“For example, if you come from the other side, you cross and immediately that whole area is Mariposo. But practically, it is minutes away from the border line.”
Ayala Ortiz revealed she knew little about the Guthrie case before the tip arrived, but said searchers were told the missing woman had a pacemaker, which could help them identify her remains.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Office recently told The U.S. Sun that the Guthrie investigation remains active and ongoing.
“Forensic analysis of video and DNA evidence remains underway,” the department said.
Canada 6 Qatar 0
Ismael Kone injury updates as star suffers horror leg break as hosts win
“If and when there is a significant development in this case, it will be shared with the public.”
A glove containing a DNA profile was found at Guthrie’s house and has since undergone forensic testing.