Investigators said DNA from someone other than Nancy Guthrie and people in close contact to her has been collected from her property.
Deputies said they are working to identify who the DNA belongs to, but have not said where it was found.
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Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos also said officials took cheek swabs from “different individuals we’ve talked to along the way,” which means they have DNA samples from people investigators might be interested in. The identities of those people have not been released, and investigators have not identified any suspects or persons of interest.
The sheriff said investigators now have more than 30,000 leads. “Someone out there knows who that man is,” Nanos said.
Thursday brought many new developments, including a suspect description and a plea for residents nearby Guthrie’s Tucson-area home to share surveillance camera footage of suspicious cars or people in the month before the 84-year-old’s disappearance.
RELATED: Backpack a clue in search for Nancy Guthrie
The FBI has used video footage gathered from cameras at and near the home of Nancy Guthrie to formulate a description of the suspect in her apparent kidnapping. They are looking for a man with an average build, 5’9″ to 5’10” with an average build. In the images, he appears to be carrying a black, 24-liter Ozark Trail Hiker Pack backpack.
The TODAY Show began with an update on the case Friday morning with a look at that backpack exclusively sold at Walmart.
The man arrested and charged with allegedly sending a fake ransom note to the Guthrie family will be arraigned this afternoon. Derrick Callella is due in court around 4 p.m. local time in Arizona, according to NBC.
Reward increased, gloves recovered
In a post on X on Thursday, FBI agents said the reward for information has increased up to $100,000.
The FBI says it has collected more than 13,000 tips since Feb. 1., and the sheriff’s office says it’s received at least 18,000.
Also on Thursday gloves have been recovered and were sent out for analysis, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said.
Savannah Guthrie: ‘We will never give up on her’
On social media Savannah Guthrie posted a compilation of old home videos with her mother with the message:” Our lovely mom. We will never give up on her. Thank you for your prayers and hope.”
FBI photos of masked person with backpack, gun holster
Earlier this week, authorities said they had stopped a man near the U.S.-Mexico border, just hours after the FBI released videos of a person wearing a gun holster, ski mask and backpack and approaching Nancy Guthrie’s home in Tucson. The man told media outlets early Wednesday that he was released after several hours and had nothing to do with Guthrie’s disappearance last week.
Authorities have not said what led them to stop the man Tuesday but confirmed he was released. The sheriff’s department said its deputies and FBI agents also searched a location in Rio Rico, a city south of Tucson where the man lives.
It was the latest twist in an investigation that has gripped the nation since Nancy Guthrie disappeared on Feb. 1. Until Tuesday, it seemed authorities were making little headway in determining what happened to her or finding who was responsible.
The black and white images released by the FBI showing a masked person trying to cover a doorbell camera on Guthrie’s porch marked the first significant break in the case. But the images did not show what happened to her or help determine whether she is still alive.
According to reports from CNN, investigators are looking at the type of backpack the person was carrying in Nancy Guthrie’s doorbell camera footage,
CNN said the backpack appears to be an Ozark Trail Hiker Pack. Ozark Trail is Walmart’s private-label outdoor brand.
FBI Director Kash Patel said investigators spent days trying to find lost, corrupted or inaccessible images.
Even though the images do not show the person’s face, investigators are hopeful someone will know who was on the porch. More than 4,000 calls came into the Pima County sheriff’s tip line within the past 24 hours, the department said Wednesday afternoon.
Authorities have said for more than a week that they believe Nancy Guthrie was taken against her will. She was last seen at home Jan. 31 and reported missing the next day. DNA tests showed blood on her porch was hers, authorities said.
Savannah Guthrie posted the new surveillance images on social media and said the family believes their mother is still alive.
The longtime NBC host and her two siblings have indicated a willingness to pay a ransom.
It is not known whether ransom notes demanding money with deadlines that have already passed were authentic, and whether the family has had any contact with whoever took Guthrie.
TMZ reported it received a message Wednesday from someone claiming to know the kidnapper’s identity and that they unsuccessfully tried to reach Savannah Guthrie’s brother and sister. The person asked for bitcoin in exchange for the information, TMZ said. The FBI did not immediately respond to a message.
Authorities have said Nancy Guthrie takes several medications and there was concern from the start that she could die without them.
Here is a timeline of events:
Saturday, Jan. 31
5:32 p.m. — Nancy Guthrie takes an Uber to her family’s home for dinner.
9:48 p.m. — Guthrie is dropped off at her Tucson, Arizona, home by a family member. The garage door opens and closes minutes later.
Sunday, Feb. 1
1:47 a.m. — The doorbell camera is disconnected.
2:12 a.m. — The camera’s software detects movement. Investigators initially said that there was no video available since Guthrie didn’t have an active subscription to the company. But digital forensics experts kept working to find images in backend software that might’ve been lost, corrupted or inaccessible.
2:28 a.m. — Her pacemaker app disconnects from her phone.
11:56 a.m. — Her family checks on her after learning she did not attend church.
12:03 p.m. — The family calls 911 to report a missing person.
12:15 p.m. — Investigators arrive and launch a search operation, including the use of drones and search dogs.
6:46 p.m. — The Pima County Sheriff’s Department posts on social media to announce Guthrie’s disappearance.
Monday, Feb. 2
Authorities announce in the morning that they believe Guthrie was kidnapped, abducted or otherwise taken against her will.
KOLD-TV says it received an email Monday night that appears to be a ransom note. The note includes a demand for money with a deadline set for 5 p.m. Thursday and a second one for Monday, investigators said.
Savannah Guthrie posts a message on Instagram on Monday night asking for people’s prayers.
Tuesday, Feb. 3
A person familiar with the investigation tells The Associated Press that investigators found signs of forced entry at Nancy Guthrie’s home.
President Donald Trump tells reporters that the situation is “terrible.”
Wednesday, Feb. 4
After turning back Guthrie’s property to her family earlier in the week, authorities return to the home for a “follow-up investigation.”
That evening, Savannah Guthrie posts a video on social media in which she tells her mother’s kidnapper that her family is ready to talk but wants proof their mom is alive.
Thursday, Feb. 5
Officials reveal that a DNA test of blood found on the home’s front porch showed it came from Nancy Guthrie.
The FBI offers a $50,000 reward for information about Guthrie’s whereabouts.
Tucson TV station KOLD receives a new message, via email, tied to the Guthrie case. The station says it can’t disclose its contents. The FBI says it’s aware of a new message and is reviewing its authenticity.
Investigators return to Guthrie’s neighborhood to gather more evidence. The president of the Catalina Foothills Association, a neighborhood group, thanks residents in a letter for being willing to speak with law enforcement, share camera images and allow their properties to be searched.
Saturday, Feb. 7
Savannah Guthrie releases another video on social media directly engaging with her mother’s potential abductors.
“We received your message, and we understand. We beg you now to return our mother to us so that we can celebrate with her,” she said, flanked by her siblings. “This is the only way we will have peace. This is very valuable to us, and we will pay.”
Sunday, Feb. 8
Detectives and FBI agents do follow-up work at multiple locations, the sheriff’s department says. An investigator is seen using a pole to search an underground tank behind Nancy Guthrie’s home.
Monday, Feb. 9
Savannah Guthrie posts another video on Instagram, saying her family is at an “hour of desperation” and they believe Nancy Guthrie is still out there. Savannah Guthrie asked for prayers and for people to report anything they might see or hear to law enforcement. No ransom note was mentioned.
A spokesperson for the FBI said the agency was not aware of ongoing communication between Nancy Guthrie’s family and the suspected kidnappers, despite a deadline set for Monday evening.
Tuesday, Feb. 10
The FBI says it managed to recover doorbell camera video of what it described as an armed person tampering with a camera at Guthrie’s front door.
Video showed the person wearing a backpack and ski mask with holes for the eyes and mouth. The person tries to cover a camera near the front door with their gloved hand before ripping out a plant from the yard to block the camera’s view.
Following the FBI’s announcement, Savannah Guthrie posts images of the apparent kidnapper on Instagram. She writes: “We believe she is still alive. Bring her home,” and includes phone numbers for the FBI and county sheriff.
Later, the Pima County sheriff’s department says a person was detained for questioning during a traffic stop south of Tucson. The man is released. He tells reporters that he made deliveries in the Tucson area.
The sheriff’s department also says it searched a location in Rio Rico, a city south of Tucson, with the help of the FBI.
On Tuesday, Savannah Guthrie said she and her family believe the mother is still alive. “We believe she is still out there. Bring her home,” she said.
Wednesday, Feb. 11
Authorities confirm the man detained a day earlier was released but did not say what led them to stop him or conduct the search.
FBI agents and Pima County sheriff’s deputies knock on doors and search the desert terrain in the neighborhoods surrounding the homes of Nancy Guthrie and her oldest daughter, Annie Guthrie, whom she had visited just hours before disappearing. Several hundred people are now assigned to the investigation, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said.
Thursday, Feb. 12
Investigators ask residents in a 2-mile (3.2-kilometer) radius of Nancy Guthrie’s home to share any camera footage and report any suspicious activity they noticed in the month before she disappeared.
The FBI later doubles the reward for information that would lead to Nancy Guthrie or an arrest and conviction of whoever was responsible for kidnapping her to $100,000.
The agency also describes the person who was seen in surveillance video from Guthrie’s porch the night she went missing as a male with an average build and about 5-foot, 9-inches tall. In the video, the FBI says he is wearing a black, 25-liter “Ozark Trail Hiker Pack” backpack.
