The FBI said it is looking for a man who is 5’9″ to 5’10” tall, with an average build, and who was wearing an Ozark Trail backpack on Nancy Guthrie’s porch the night she disappeared.
Add NBC News to Google
Updated
By NBC News
What we know
SUSPECT DETAILS: The FBI provided new details about the suspect seen in videos on the porch of Nancy Guthrie’s home the morning she disappeared. Authorities said they are looking for a male who is 5’9” to 5’10” tall, with an average build, and said he was wearing a black, 25-liter Ozark Trail Hiker Pack backpack.
DNA COLLECTED: The sheriff tonight said that authorities are working to identify who DNA collected from Guthrie’s property belongs to. The sheriff said it was not from Guthrie or someone in close contact to her, the department said.
REWARD INCREASED: The FBI has increased the reward for information leading to an arrest or conviction to $100,000. The agency says it has fielded more than 13,000 tips from the public since Feb. 1, when the mother “TODAY” co-anchor Savannah Guthrie disappeared from her home.
ARIZONA SEARCH: The Pima County Sheriff’s Department says investigators combing the foothills around Guthrie’s neighborhood have recovered several items, including gloves that have been submitted for DNA testing.
‘WE WILL NEVER GIVE UP HOPE’: Savannah Guthrie shared home movie footage of her mother and their family on social media, writing: “Our lovely mom. We will never give up on her. Thank you for your prayers and hope.”
28m ago / 7:50 PM EST
YouTuber turns heartbroken neighborhood into his workplace
Reporting from Tucson, Ariz.
Jimmy Williams, host of YouTube true crime channel Dolly Vision, has spent five days camped outside Nancy Guthrie’s home. Today, he sat under an umbrella surrounded by a small cooler, laptop, ring light, earbuds and a phone.
Jimmy Williams sits outside Nancy Guthrie’s home in the Catalina Foothills community on Friday. Alicia Victoria Lozano / NBC News
He arrives to the upscale neighborhood every day around 5 a.m. and livestreams to nearly 89,000 followers until noon, he said. Then he goes back to his hotel for two hours of rest before returning to his post until nightfall, he said.
This is Williams’ “full-time job.”
“Anywhere there’s a mystery or something to try to figure out, I try to do my best. I consider myself an armchair detective, an internet sleuth, he said.
Williams, who flew in from Virginia, said he was captivated by this case. He’s not alone. Since arriving, Williams said his audience has included people from all over the world. Followers have had pizza and other food delivered to him near Guthrie’s house this week, which earned him a scolding from local law enforcement, he said.
Williams plans to stay in town “until we get more answers.”
“Every minute matters,” he said. “We’ve seen the pictures of the guy in the ski mask; he didn’t look like a friendly man.”
2h ago / 6:53 PM EST
DNA from someone other than Guthrie, those close to her was taken from property
DNA from someone other than Nancy Guthrie and those in close contact to her has been collected from her property, the Pima County Sheriff’s Office said tonight.
Investigators are working to identify who the DNA belongs to, officials said, noting they will not disclose where it was located.
2h ago / 6:24 PM EST
What we know about Nancy Guthrie’s health
The sheriff has said Guthrie does not have cognitive issues, characterizing her as “sharp as a tack.” However, he said, she has limited mobility and needs to take medication daily or “it could be fatal.”
“She is mobile. It’s a challenge for her to get, as the family says, she couldn’t walk 50 yards by herself,” he said.
She has a pacemaker — a device typically implanted under the skin to regulate heartbeat — which disconnected from its monitoring app on her phone early on Feb. 1.
In an emotional video posted to her Instagram page, Savannah Guthrie pleaded for her mother’s return, noting her health is fragile.
“She lives in constant pain. She is without any medicine. She needs it to survive, and she needs it not to suffer,” Savannah Guthrie said in the video, flanked by her sister, Annie, and brother, Camron.
4h ago / 5:04 PM EST
True crime devotees visit Guthrie’s neighborhood as they await break in case
Reporting from Tucson, Ariz.
Darla Rodriguez drove nearly two hours from Phoenix to visit Nancy Guthrie’s home today. The self-proclaimed true crime enthusiast said she has been glued to news coverage of the woman’s disappearance.
“There’s so much speculation about, you know, the why, and possible suspects,” she said. “So it’s just trying to peel back an onion, you know, with so many layers and possibilities.”
Rodriquez said she has been a fan of “Today” co-host Savannah Guthrie since her 2019 interviews with Jeffrey Epstein survivors. She said she was struck by her unflinching look inside the story and her respect toward the victims. She wanted to offer that same respect to Guthrie.
“What’s scary is thinking that you’re just home … in this beautiful neighborhood, and somebody comes in and just does this,” she said. “That’s unbelievable.”
6h ago / 3:11 PM EST
No gloves found in Guthrie’s home, sheriff says
Reporting from Tucson, Ariz.
No gloves were found at Guthrie’s residence, Sheriff Nanos told NBC News today. His comments clarify previous reports that a pair of gloves was found at the home.
The closest glove was found 2 miles from Guthrie’s house, he said, adding that only one pair of gloves was found that close.
7h ago / 1:52 PM EST
No news conferences expected today
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department is not holding any news conferences today. The department said there will be a briefing called only if and when there are updates to share.
8h ago / 1:14 PM EST
Ring doorbell cameras can save video for up to 180 days
While most Ring users have their footage saved for 30 days, those who own the products can set different durations of how long they want video to be stored — up to 180 days, the company’s founder told NBC News.
“It’s really up to the customer on how they’ve how they’ve set it up,” Jamie Siminoff said, “But for sure, I would say we still are in the window of where we should have the data — that our customers should still have the video to be able to share if they do have it, especially in this case.”
Although Ring cameras typically activate and record only when motion is detected, 24/7 recording is available, and users can adjust settings to always record.
Unfortunately, a lot of the homes near Guthrie’s residence are far from the street and are obscured by shrubbery, Siminoff said, so collecting video data of cars on the road might be hard in this case.
8h ago / 12:23 PM EST
Video evidence is crucial to this kind of investigation, Ring doorbell camera founder says
Video evidence, like from a doorbell camera, has become a crucial piece of investigations such as the one into Guthrie’s disappearance, said Jamie Siminoff, the chief inventor and founder of Ring doorbell cameras.
“I just think we’re seeing that video footage is the most important thing in solving these crimes,” he said, also pointing to how footage helped locate the Brown University shooter.
Siminoff said that although Guthrie’s house had a Nest camera, Ring is relevant in this case because others in the neighborhood may have had Ring cameras.
Investigators have asked community members to submit any video relevant to the Guthrie case, including footage from doorbell cameras that may show vehicles in the area around the time she went missing.
People stop to look at flowers and notes yesterday at the entrance to Guthrie’s home. Brandon Bell / Getty Images
Siminoff explained how that works. Local police departments can send community alerts to neighbors via the Ring app, prompting them to upload video footage.
There is also a Neighbors app that people in the neighborhood use as a social media platform to discuss community happenings as well as crime and safety. Siminoff said police have also put a similar request out on that app.
“We’re seeing our systems used pretty heavily for this, as we’ve seen it in other serious cases,” he said.
In order to send Ring video to the police, those who get the alert can look through their footage, select relevant video clips, and upload them through the system. A digital audit trail makes it “super easy and efficient,” Siminoff said.
