Backpack discovered as search for Nancy Guthrie reaches Day 22
Helen Rummel, Sarah Lapidus and Rey Covarrubias Jr., Arizona Republic
5 min read
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Backpack discovered as search for Nancy Guthrie reaches Day 22
TUCSON — Volunteer searchers fanned out looking for clues as the hunt for the missing 84-year-old mother of “Today” show co-host Savannah Guthrie entered its 22nd day.
Early on Feb. 22, volunteers gathered in the parking lot of a nearby Hobby Lobby before beginning an informal search along Orange Grove Road not far from Guthrie’s house. The group recovered a backpack that was handed over to deputies.
Later, outside of Guthrie’s home, Tucson resident Lupita Tello poked the dirt with a sharp metal rod soldered to a handle. After wiggling the rod in the dirt, Tello pulled it out and smelled the sharpened metal tip.
“If it smells bad like something decomposed, that’s where we start,” Tello said, showing reporters and true-crime streamers the main tool she uses in her searches for missing people in Mexico.
What appears to be a blue sweater lies on a rock in the front yard of Nancy Guthrie’s home near Tucson on Feb. 5, 2026. Nancy Guthrie, mother of “Today” show anchor Savannah Guthrie, is missing and was last seen the evening of Jan. 31, 2026.
Updates: The latest on Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance
Laura Gargano, a neighbor, speaks to members of the press on Feb. 5, 2026, after providing information to private security personnel related to the suspected kidnapping at Nancy Guthrie’s residence, following the disappearance of Guthrie, the 84‑year‑old mother of U.S. journalist and television host Savannah Guthrie, outside Tucson.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos gives an update on the search for Nancy Guthrie on Feb. 1, 2026.
View the scene of Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance near Tucson, Arizona
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What appears to be a blue sweater lies on a rock in the front yard of Nancy Guthrie’s home near Tucson on Feb. 5, 2026. Nancy Guthrie, mother of “Today” show anchor Savannah Guthrie, is missing and was last seen the evening of Jan. 31, 2026.
Updates: The latest on Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance
This will be the first time her group, Madres Buscadoras de Sonora, will search in the U.S. The group is a non-profit from Mexico, which aims to find lost and missing people in Sonora. Some people in the group joined to search for their missing sons and others for their missing brothers, among others.
Her group was told about Nancy Guthrie’s case recently by a journalist friend of Guthrie’s daughter, Savannah, and was asked to make flyers and search for her, Tello said.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department told her the group had to ask for permission from the homeowners to search on private property, but it didn’t need a formal permit, Tello said.
Volunteer search groups like Tello’s have inquired about being in the area, said Angelica Carrillo, a Sheriff’s Department spokesperson. They were asked to give investigators the space needed to do their work and to contact the department to get involved with any volunteer opportunities, Carrillo said.
Madres Buscadoras de Sonora was planning an official search later in the week, Tello said.
As the afternoon sun beat down, several passers-by from out of town meandered by Guthrie’s one-story brick house in the Catalina Foothills. Some came from as far as Phoenix to see the home of the missing woman who has captured the world’s attention.
The volunteer searches started about a week after Savannah Guthrie posted on social media Feb. 15 pleading with anyone who might know of her mother’s whereabouts that it was “never too late to do the right thing.”
Investigators still reviewing evidence
Authorities had no updates on the investigation as of the morning of Feb. 22, according to Carrillo.
DNA found on Guthrie’s property was mixed, meaning it came from more than one person, making it harder to run through national databases, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said in an interview broadcast Feb. 21.
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The FBI has also been analyzing DNA found on a glove discovered about two miles from Guthrie’s home, but no results have been released.
Guthrie has been missing since Jan. 31. Detectives were pushing to identify a masked individual captured on doorbell video the night she disappeared and have said they are not ruling out the possibility that more than one person may be involved.
The FBI released these images of the backpack that the suspect in the Nancy Guthrie kidnapping was wearing. The suspect is described as a male, approximately 5’9” – 5’10” tall, with an average build. In the video, he is wearing a black, 25-liter “Ozark Trail Hiker Pack” backpack.
See the masked intruder: FBI releases image of intrude at front door of Nancy Guthrie’s house
The FBI released these images of the backpack that the suspect in the Nancy Guthrie kidnapping was wearing. The suspect is described as a male, approximately 5’9” – 5’10” tall, with an average build. In the video, he is wearing a black, 25-liter “Ozark Trail Hiker Pack” backpack.
New images from a Nest camera show an armed individual appearing to have tampered with the camera at Nancy Guthrie’s front door on the morning of her disappearance.
Recognize this backpack? FBI says Nancy Guthrie suspect was wearing it
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The FBI released these images of the backpack that the suspect in the Nancy Guthrie kidnapping was wearing. The suspect is described as a male, approximately 5’9” – 5’10” tall, with an average build. In the video, he is wearing a black, 25-liter “Ozark Trail Hiker Pack” backpack.
See the masked intruder: FBI releases image of intrude at front door of Nancy Guthrie’s house
Tips were flowing to the Sheriff’s Department and FBI lines. Authorities have urged the public to submit actionable tips only, not well-wishes or similar comments.
No suspect had yet been named, and complex DNA evidence was still undergoing lab analysis, Nanos said in an interview with NBC.
A significant development in the Guthrie case came Feb. 10, when investigators recovered footage of a masked person captured by Guthrie’s doorbell camera on the night she went missing. Authorities were still looking for the person who was wearing gloves in the footage.
Investigators were getting closer to identifying articles of clothing the masked man was wearing, including the pants, shoes and shirt or jacket, the Pima County sheriff said.
Investigators continued reviewing surveillance footage tied to key pieces of evidence, including a backpack possibly purchased from Walmart.
What to know: Did they find Nancy Guthrie? Lab experts continue DNA analysis
The Sheriff’s Department has said it was working with the retailer to help identify the purchaser. Legal experts note that stores routinely share transaction records and video footage with law enforcement during active investigations.
Carrillo said several hundred law enforcement personnel remain assigned to the case, with staffing levels changing based on investigative leads. The investigation will remain active until Guthrie is found or all leads are exhausted, she said.
