The hunt for missing 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie has entered a critical new phase but a veteran FBI agent is warning that investigators risk losing precious time as key DNA evidence is being shipped nearly 2,000 miles away.
Jason Pack, a retired FBI supervisory special agent with more than two decades of experience, has described the case as one where ‘every hour matters.’
Law enforcement has scrambled to process forensic evidence collected during dramatic raids, traffic stops and searches tied to the disappearance of the mother of Today show anchor Savannah Guthrie.
Pack stressed the situation is now a race against the clock.
‘That decision should have been made days ago. Which lab, which courier, what’s the turnaround?’ Pack told Fox News, expressing frustration at the apparent delays in getting critical evidence processed.
He warned that authorities cannot afford to hesitate particularly when Guthrie, who has serious medical needs, remains missing.
‘In a case involving a vulnerable 84-year-old woman who is without her heart medication, where every hour matters, you don’t wait for FedEx on Monday morning,’ Pack said.
His comments come amid growing scrutiny over the Pima County Sheriff’s Department’s decision to use a private forensic laboratory in Florida, 2,000 miles from Tucson, instead of the FBI’s own world-class crime lab in Quantico, Virginia.
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Nancy Guthrie, 84, disappeared from her $1 million home in the early hours of February 1 and remains missing
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Retired FBI agent Jason Pack warned the Nancy Guthrie case is now a ‘race against the clock’
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‘That eliminates days of waiting,’ he said, referring to cases where FBI aircraft are used to immediately transport evidence.
‘If the FBI has the lead, Quantico is the logical answer, and I’d expect evidence to be wheels-up before the sun sets today.’
He reiterated that, in a time-sensitive investigation, delays can be devastating.
‘Authorities cannot afford to lose a weekend debating how to process evidence,’ Pack said.
The decision to send evidence across the other side of the country has been defended by Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos, who said the FBI agreed it was best to continue using the same contracted laboratory already working on the case.
Authorities have not confirmed when the newly obtained evidence will arrive at the lab, or how long results might take.
The warnings come as investigators dramatically escalated their search late on Friday night, sealing off roads and deploying heavily armed SWAT teams and FBI agents to a home about two miles from Guthrie’s upscale Catalina Foothills residence.
The operation marked what Pack called a ‘significant escalation’ – a signal investigators may be acting on specific intelligence rather than chasing blind leads.
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The FBI agent said the FBI Laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, could process evidence faster in urgent cases
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A SWAT operation unfolds at a home in Tucson, Arizona on Friday night – but no-one was arrested as a result, CNN reported
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A terrifying figure in a ski mask and black gloves is seen on Nancy’s doorbell camera on the night of her disappearance
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Nancy and Savannah are pictured together at a gala event in 2012. Savannah has pleaded for her mother’s release
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Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos, above, has not provided a timeline for the next update, as the FBI is requesting that information remain withheld
‘This has the hallmarks of agents acting on specific, actionable intelligence,’ Pack said.
Agents detained multiple individuals during the operation and stopped a gray Range Rover in a nearby Culver’s parking lot.
The SUV’s contents were examined, concealed from public view under a tarp, and the vehicle was ultimately towed away for further forensic analysis.
But Pack cautioned that the dramatic searches represent only the beginning of the real investigative work.
‘They’ll be going door to door, looking to talk face to face with neighbors,’ he said.
‘They want to identify patterns of life for each of the people detained. If someone says, “I wasn’t home that night,” a neighbor’s Ring camera might tell a different story. Investigators are building the box.’
Such urgency stems from chilling forensic evidence already recovered from Guthrie’s home.
Authorities have confirmed that DNA belonging to an unidentified individual – someone not known to Guthrie or her family – was found at her property.
Gloves were also recovered nearby, raising the possibility that the perpetrator left behind critical trace evidence.
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Multiple ransom notes have been sent demanding up to $6million for Nancy’s release. Savannah Guthrie, her sister Annie and brother Camron are pictured during one of their videos
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Guthrie, 84, requires daily medication, raising concerns about her safety
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A person is seen placing flowers in front of Nancy Guthrie’s home in Tucson, Arizona on Friday
‘DNA that doesn’t belong to Nancy Guthrie or anyone close to her has already been identified at her property. Gloves have been recovered,’ Pack said. ‘All of that evidence needs to get to a lab.’
Nancy Guthrie vanished from her Tucson home more than two weeks ago on January 31.
Authorities say blood was found on her front porch, and surveillance footage captured a masked individual wearing gloves and a backpack outside her door on the night she disappeared.
Her family, including her daughter Savannah, have issued several emotional public appeals for her safe return.
Savannah described her mother as a ‘loving woman of goodness and light.’
Investigators have received tens of thousands of tips and deployed hundreds of agents in the massive search effort, but no arrests have been announced.
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