A new photo released by the FBI of a person taken from Nancy Guthrie’s doorbell camera. Savannah Guthrie and Nancy Guthrie on the Today show set in 2015.
(Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: FBI via AP, Don Arnold/WireImage via Getty Images)
The desperate search for Nancy Guthrie is now in its third week, with investigators hoping for a break in a baffling case that they appear no closer to solving.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department said on Tuesday that DNA recovered from gloves found about two miles from the 84-year-old’s home in the Catalina Foothills north of Tucson, Ariz., turned up no matches in the FBI’s national database. The gloves appeared to match those worn by a person seen in the video taken from Guthrie’s doorbell camera on the morning she was reported missing, according to police. Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos told NBC News that investigators are now pursuing genealogical leads based on partial DNA found at Guthrie’s home.
On Monday, the sheriff’s department said all members of the Guthrie family, including Nancy Guthrie’s adult children and their spouses, have been cleared as suspects.
“To suggest otherwise is not only wrong, it is cruel,” Nanos said in a statement. “The Guthrie family are victims plain and simple.”
Nancy Guthrie, the mother of Today show cohost Savannah Guthrie, was last seen at around 9:45 p.m. on Jan. 31, when she was dropped off at her home by family members following dinner, police said. She was reported missing around noon the next day after she did not show up at a friend’s house to watch an online church service.
Officials say they have received tens of thousands of tips since the investigation into her disappearance began. Anyone with information is encouraged to reach out to the Pima County Sheriff’s Department tip line at 520-351-4900 or the FBI tip line at 1-800-CALL-FBI.
Live80 updates
Mike Bebernes
Second $100,000 reward offered by an anonymous donor
The Tucson-based nonprofit 88-Crime announced Wednesday that it had received $100,000 from an anonymous donor to be used as a reward for information leading to Nancy Guthrie’s location. The new reward is in addition to the $100,000 sum that the FBI is offering.
88-Crime is a local chapter of Crime Stoppers, a nationwide community program that allows people to anonymously report information about criminal activity without potentially putting themselves at risk of punishment. The $100,000 donation will be added to the $2,500 reward the organization had previously offered.
On Monday, Milwaukee-based attorney Michael Hupy said he would provide $100,000 in reward money to Crime Stoppers. Hupy argued that the FBI’s tip line — which requires people to submit personal information like their name, email address and phone number — could be preventing someone from sharing crucial details with law enforcement.
88-Crime has not confirmed whether Hupy is the source of its new reward money.
Mike Bebernes
Additional DNA samples from Guthrie home are being analyzed, sheriff’s department says
Investigators are analyzing “biological evidence” collected from Nancy Guthrie’s home, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said on Wednesday. The genetic material belongs to multiple people, the department said, though it declined to say how many separate DNA profiles there are or who they might belong to.
On Tuesday, the department announced that a DNA sample gathered from a pair of gloves found roughly 2 miles from the Guthrie home did not return a match in the FBI’s national DNA database.
Dylan Stableford
Sheriff says the case has not gone ‘cold’
In his interview with NBC News, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos expressed hope of solving the Nancy Guthrie case, more than two weeks after she was reported missing.
“As long as we have the ability to chase a lead, it’s not cold,” Nanos said. “And we have thousands of leads we’re looking at.”
He added: “We’re going to find Nancy, and we’re going to find who did this.”
Dylan Stableford
‘Today’ show studio filled with yellow flowers in support of Savannah Guthrie
Savannah Guthrie’s “Today” show colleagues wore yellow ribbons on Wednesday.
(Courtesy of NBC/Today)
As the search for Savannah Guthrie’s mother, Nancy Guthrie, continues, people have been showing their support by leaving yellow flowers outside the 84-year-old Guthrie’s home in the Catalina Foothills north of Tucson, Ariz., and attaching yellow ribbons to trees in the neighborhood.
At the suggestion of a viewer, Savannah Guthrie’s NBC colleagues filled the Today show studio with yellow roses on Wednesday and wore yellow ribbons in solidarity.
“This is our missing mom,” Today cohost Carson Daly said.
Savannah Guthrie has not been on the show since her mother went missing.
Dylan Stableford
Investigators are trying to identify the suspect’s ‘unique’ gun holster, sheriff says
The ‘armed individual’ seen on Nancy Guthrie’s doorbell camera.
(FBI)
In a new interview with NBC News, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said investigators are canvassing gun shops in an effort to identify the person seen in the video taken from Nancy Guthrie’s doorbell camera. In the footage, the individual appeared to have a gun in a holster on the front of his waistband.
“We know he had a gun. We know he had a holster that had some pretty unique characteristics,” Nanos said. “We can’t quite identify it yet, but that’s being worked on. So naturally, we go to our gun shops everywhere and say: ‘Have you seen this guy? Can you help us identify this weapon? Can you help us identify this holster?’”
Authorities are also working with Walmart management to “identify and isolate” the individual who purchased the backpack seen in the surveillance footage, the sheriff’s department said. The FBI had identified the backpack as a black, 25-liter “Ozark Trail Hiker Pack,” which is sold exclusively by the retailer.
Dylan Stableford
Authorities have received over 40,000 tips since Nancy Guthrie went missing
The FBI and the Pima County Sheriff’s Department have fielded over 40,000 tips since Nancy Guthrie was reported missing on Feb. 1, according to the latest figures distributed by the sheriff’s department.
Investigators said the total number of calls to 911 and emergency and administrative lines from Feb. 1-16 was 28,586, including 20,968 nonemergency line calls.
The FBI’s National Threat Operations Center has received more than 18,000 tips related to the Guthrie case over the same period, the sheriff’s office said.
Mike Bebernes
Investigators turning to genealogy, partial DNA from Guthrie home after gloves return zero matches, sheriff says
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos told NBC News on Tuesday afternoon that the failure to find a match for DNA found on gloves discovered near Nancy Guthrie’s house is “not the end” of their attempts to use genetic material to find the person responsible for her disappearance.
“Now we start with genealogy and some of the partial DNA we have at the home,” he told the network.
He added that he believes that some of the DNA collected at the home may belong to the suspect, but that investigators won’t know for sure until it’s been cross-referenced against available DNA databases.
Dylan Stableford
Investigators are still processing evidence from last week’s search warrants, police say
In an aerial view, FBI and SWAT units execute a search warrant approximately two miles from Nancy Guthrie’s residence on Feb. 13.
(Brandon Bell via Getty Images)
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department said Tuesday that investigators are still processing evidence from two search warrants executed last week. Authorities searched a home near the edge of Nancy Guthrie’s Catalina Foothills neighborhood outside of Tucson, Ariz., on Friday night, and a residence in Rio Rico, Ariz., earlier in the week.
“The individuals who were questioned have been released, and no arrests have been made,” the sheriff’s department said. “As this investigation continues, you can expect to see similar activity.”
The department added that it “has not confirmed the number of leads investigators are actively pursuing.”
Dylan Stableford
Focus turns to Nancy Guthrie’s pacemaker and suspect’s backpack
As the search for Nancy Guthie entered its 17th day on Tuesday, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement that it is working with the manufacturer of the 84-year-old Guthrie’s pacemaker in an effort to “locate the device.” Police had said that Guthrie’s pacemaker stopped syncing with her Apple devices at approximately 2 a.m. the morning she was reported missing.
Separately, investigators are working with Walmart management to “identify and isolate” the individual who purchased the backpack seen in the doorbell camera footage released by the FBI, the sheriff’s department said. The FBI had identified the backpack as a black, 25-liter “Ozark Trail Hiker Pack,” which is sold exclusively by the retailer.
The sheriff’s department also said that investigators are “canvassing businesses and showing the doorbell video released by the FBI to determine whether the suspect appears familiar.”
Mike Bebernes
No match found for DNA from gloves discovered near Guthrie house, sheriff’s department says
Genetic material gathered from gloves that were found roughly two miles away from Nancy Guthrie’s house did not match anything in the FBI’s DNA database, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said Tuesday.
Other sources of DNA material are still being processed, the department said.
Mike Bebernes
Milwaukee attorney offers up $100,000 as an alternative to the FBI’s reward
Michael Hupy, an attorney and the president of the Milwaukee chapter of the nonprofit Crime Stoppers, has offered up a $100,000 reward for information leading to Nancy Guthrie’s location.
In an interview with a local news station, Hupy argued that the FBI’s system for providing tips surrounding the case — which requires people to submit personal information like their name, email address and phone number — could be preventing someone from sharing crucial details with law enforcement.
“This woman has been missing for two or three weeks. And no leads have amounted to anything,” he told Fox 6 in Milwaukee. “So if the person who knows who the perpetrator is doesn’t want his name exposed, wants a reward and has information that will lead to an arrest — Crime Stoppers is the perfect place to do it.”
Crime Stoppers is a community program that allows people to anonymously report information about criminal activity without potentially putting themselves at risk of punishment. Hupy said that the $100,000 reward would be paid out through the Tucson Crime Stoppers chapter.
Dylan Stableford
What happened in the investigation over the long weekend
A Pima County officer is seen outside of Nancy Guthrie‘s home on Saturday, Feb. 14.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
There were a few developments in the search for Nancy Guthrie over Presidents’ Day weekend. Here’s a quick recap:
Friday night: Authorities swarmed a home on the edge of Nancy Guthrie’s Catalina Foothills neighborhood north of Tucson, Ariz., as they carried out a search warrant. Additionally, a person was questioned during a traffic stop. No arrests were made.
Sunday: The FBI said in a statement that gloves found about two miles from Guthrie’s home appeared to match the ones worn by the suspect in the doorbell camera footage. The DNA from an unknown male was lifted from one of the recovered gloves, the statement said, and will be entered into the bureau’s national database.
Sunday night: Savannah Guthrie posted another video to Instagram, pleading with her mother’s apparent abductor. “It is never too late to do the right thing,” she said.
Monday: Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos released a statement saying that all members of the Guthrie family, including the missing 84-year-old’s adult children and their spouses, have been cleared as suspects. “To suggest otherwise is not only wrong, it is cruel,” Nanos said. “The Guthrie family are victims plain and simple.” The statement came amid ongoing speculation about Nancy Guthrie’s daughter, Annie Guthrie, and her son-in-law, who police said had dinner with her the night before she was reported missing.
Dylan Stableford
Sheriff explains why he released statement clearing Guthrie family as suspects
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos was asked by NBC News why he decided to release a statement on Monday clearing Nancy Guthrie’s family, including her children and their spouses, as suspects in the case.
“Because sometimes we forget we’re human and we hurt, and kindness matters,” Nanos said. “It is every cop’s duty to stand up and be that voice for our victims. I’m not going to sit in silence when others are attacking the innocent. Isn’t that what the badge represents?”
Mike Bebernes
All members of the Guthrie family have been cleared as suspects, sheriff’s department says
No one in Nancy Guthrie’s family is being considered a potential suspect in her disappearance, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department wrote in a statement Monday afternoon.
“The family has been nothing but cooperative and gracious and are victims in this case,” the department wrote.
In the days following Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance, there had been ample online speculation surrounding her immediate family, with specific rumors centering around her son-in-law. Monday’s statement makes clear that he and all other members of the family are not suspected of being involved.
Dylan Stableford
Trump threatens death penalty in Nancy Guthrie case if she isn’t returned alive
President Trump said that he would direct the Department of Justice to seek the “most severe” federal punishment against those responsible for Nancy Guthrie’s apparent abduction if she isn’t returned alive.
The president made the comments in a phone interview with the New York Post on Monday, more than two weeks after the 84-year-old mother of Today show cohost Savannah Guthrie was reported missing.
When asked if that meant the death penalty, Trump said, “The most, yeah — that’s true.”
Neia Balao
Savannah Guthrie posts new video: ‘It’s never too late to do the right thing.’
On Sunday, Savannah Guthrie posted a video on Instagram urging for her mother’s safe return.
“It’s been two weeks since our mom was taken, and I just wanted to come on and say that we still have hope and we still believe,” Guthrie said. “And I wanted to say to whoever has her or knows where she is that it’s never too late, and you’re not lost or alone. It’s never too late to do the right thing.”
Guthrie added, “We are here, and we believe. We believe in the essential goodness of every human being.”
Neia Balao
DNA of an unknown male found on glove near Nancy Guthrie’s home
The FBI confirmed to ABC News that the DNA of an unknown male was lifted from a glove that appeared to match the ones worn by the suspect in doorbell camera footage from Nancy Guthrie’s home, taken on the morning she went missing. It was reportedly found about 2 miles away from her house.
Kate Murphy
Glove found near Nancy Guthrie’s home appears to match those worn by suspect in doorbell camera video
A glove found near Nancy Guthrie’s home appears to match the gloves worn by the masked person seen in the FBI-released doorbell camera footage, according to multiple news outlets that cited the FBI.
The glove, which contained DNA, was one of several that investigators found while searching near her home. Most of the gloves belonged to searchers who had discarded them while working in the area, the FBI said.
“The one with the DNA profile recovered is different and appears to match the gloves of the subject in the surveillance video,” the FBI said in a statement, adding that it’s waiting on final test results from the glove, which could take about 24 hours.
