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Tag: tucson home

  • Guthrie investigators turn to Mexico, genealogy, pacemaker amid fears the trail is going cold

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    As the search for Nancy Guthrie stretches into its third week, there is growing concern that the trail to find the missing 84-year-old is rapidly growing cold.

    Investigators have detained two people since Guthrie was abducted from her Tucson-area home in the early hours of Feb. 1. But both were released after questioning and no suspects have been publicly identified.

    Authorities insist the case is still very much active, with the FBI receiving more than 20,000 tips. But the case is branching off into some new directions.

    Look at Mexico

    Law enforcement sources told The Times that investigators have been in touch with Mexican authorities in the case given Tucson’s proximity to the border, but there is no evidence that the abductors crossed with Guthrie.

    The sources spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the case candidly.

    The Guthrie home near Tucson is only about an hour’s drive from the border. Sources stressed the request for help from Mexico was to exhaust all options but there is not any clear evidence suggesting either Guthrie or the kidnappers are there.

    State of the investigation

    DNA on a glove discovered two miles away from Guthrie’s home that matched those worn by a masked man seen on Nest camera footage didn’t return any matches in the national DNA database used by law enforcement, CODIS. Biological evidence that was found at Guthrie’s home is still being tested but did not produce a match in CODIS, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos told Fox News this week.

    An anonymous donor this week gave $100,000 to 88-CRIME for information that would lead investigators to arrest the individual involved in Guthrie’s disappearance. This is in addition to the $100,000 reward for information being offered by the FBI.

    Nanos has tried to dispel concerns that investigators are hitting nothing but dead ends, telling NBC News that “as long as we have the ability to chase a lead, it’s not cold.”

    “We have thousands of leads we’re looking at,” he said. “We’re going to find Nancy, and we’re going to find who did this.”

    So far, experts say investigators’ best bet to solving the case quickly would be if someone recognizes the suspect in Nest video footage, a masked man seen on Guthrie’s porch the morning she was abducted.

    At 1:47 a.m. Feb. 1, the individual appears at the door of Guthrie’s home. The man is wearing a balaclava, gloves and a backpack. A gun is holstered by the man’s waist, positioned at the front of his body and easily visible.

    At one point, the man, whom authorities describe as approximately 5 feet 9 to 5 feet 10 with an average build, notices the camera on the front porch and tries to cover the lens with his hand. The man scouts around the patio and yard area, apparently for something to obstruct the camera before settling on some greenery found in the yard.

    In the video, the man is wearing a black, 25-liter Ozark Trail Hiker Pack backpack that can be purchased at Walmart, according to the FBI. Investigators have been working with Walmart leadership to see if they can identify who purchased the backpack.

    Authorities are also canvassing gun shops, showing the video released by the FBI to see if anyone recognizes him, according to the sheriff’s department.

    Investigators employ genetic genealogy

    DNA found inside the Guthrie home could also prove fruitful in the case, experts say.

    Although law enforcement did not get any hits in the federal database, they are also employing genetic genealogy in an effort to identify a suspect in the case.

    “If they actually have the suspect’s DNA — Nancy’s kidnapper’s DNA — he will be identified through genetic genealogy,” said CeCe Moore, a genetic genealogist and co-founder of DNA Justice. “It’s just a matter of time.”

    Authorities can compare DNA collected from Guthrie’s home with publicly accessible databases containing the genetic profiles of millions of people who have given them over for family history research and other reasons. From there, investigators can sometimes find distant relatives to help piece together a family tree that can point to a suspect.

    The technology has helped solve some of the nation’s most high-profile cases in recent years. Investigators used genetic genealogy to identify Joseph James DeAngelo Jr. as the Golden State Killer who terrorized California in the 1970s and 80s. It was also used to secure the conviction of Bryan Kohberger, who was sentenced to life in prison for murdering four college students in Idaho in 2022.

    There are limits to the technology, but law enforcement sources told The Times it’s probably the best way forward.

    Law enforcement does not have easy access to the roughly 50 million genetic profiles contained in Ancestry.com, 23andMe and MyHeritage databases. The companies have barred authorities from accessing such information and said they would release it only if compelled by a court order or warrant.

    Databases GEDmatch, FamilyTreeDNA and DNA Justice are open to law enforcement use but contain fewer than 2 million genetic profiles, Moore said.

    With fewer genetic profiles to work with there is more legwork involved, but Moore said it will probably be key to identifying a suspect.

    “It could happen in minutes, hours, days, weeks, but I don’t think it’ll stretch much longer than that because of all the resources available for this case,” she said.

    Searching for her pacemaker

    Law enforcement has also deployed “signal sniffer” technology in the search for Guthrie.

    Parsons Corp confirmed this week that the Pima County Sheriff’s Department requested its help early this month deploying BlueFly units to search for Guthrie. BlueFly is a Bluetooth and Wi-Fi sensor that can be used on air and ground vehicles for search and rescue operations in challenging environments, providing authorities with a heat map to identify signals within a specific area, according to the company.

    BlueFly can detect medical devices such as Guthrie’s pacemaker.

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    Hannah Fry, Richard Winton

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  • Second video offers more clues in Nancy Guthrie abduction as authorities seek more

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    Authorities are examining security camera footage from a home in the Tucson area near Nancy Guthrie’s property that shows a man wearing a backpack trying to scale a wall near a home the morning of her disappearance.

    The video, which was captured on a Ring camera about 1:54 a.m. Feb. 1, shows a bald man wearing a gray jacket and a backpack similar to the one worn by the masked man outside Guthrie’s door before she was abducted. Another video, which is also being reviewed, shows a man wearing a baseball cap and a black backpack pulling on a car door handle outside a home in the neighborhood the morning after the 84-year-old vanished.

    Sources told The Times the videos are being looked at as part of the investigation into Guthrie’s abduction. But it’s unclear whether or how they might be connected.

    Sheriff‘s officials have also asked residents to pull any video from Jan. 1 to Feb. 2 that includes vehicles, people or anything deemed “out of the ordinary” or possibly important to the investigation.

    Kimberlee Guluzian, a lecturer at Cal State Long Beach and a forensic consultant who spent decades as a crime scene investigator, said that in addition to reviewing videos, detectives probably are pulling data from license plate readers and cell towers to see who was in the area in the days and weeks before Guthrie’s kidnapping.

    It could be an indication that authorities suspect the person may have cased Guthrie’s home before the abduction, she said.

    “They’re trying to look for people or cars that typically aren’t in the area,” she said. “So if it was a rental car, they’re going to try to get a license plate and go back to the company to see who rented that vehicle. They’re just trying to find any lead possible at this point.”

    The latest piece of video evidence comes as Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos says more people are likely to be detained in the case.

    Guthrie was discovered missing from her home 12 days ago after she didn’t show up at a friend’s house to watch a church service. She was taken from her home without any of her medication, and it’s unclear how long she can survive without it.

    Guthrie’s children have been holding on to hope that their mother will be found. “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie, one of her daughters, posted a tribute to her mother on Instagram on Thursday morning.

    The short video shows a much younger Nancy Guthrie picking pink flowers in the garden with her elementary school-aged children. Guthrie smiles as one of her young daughters places the flowers near her nose, an invitation to smell the fragrant blossoms.

    “Our lovely mom. We will never give up on her,” Savannah Guthrie wrote in the caption. “Thank you for your prayers and hope.”

    The unusual case has seemingly hit a host of dead ends in recent days.

    Authorities on Tuesday detained a 36-year-old man after a traffic stop south of Tucson, but released him hours later. Deputies and FBI forensics experts and agents searched his family’s home overnight but did not locate Guthrie. Authorities have not said whether or how he might be connected to the case or what evidence led them to search his family’s home.

    A Sheriff’s Department spokesperson said the man’s detention “was part of follow-up on incoming leads.”

    Footage from the Nest camera outside Guthrie’s home led to roughly 4,000 new tips over the course of 24 hours, according to the Sheriff’s Department. Meanwhile, investigators on Wednesday scoured along roadways in the foothills north of Tucson for any evidence that could help them crack the case.

    Investigators discovered “several items of evidence including gloves” that are being tested, according to the Sheriff’s Department.

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    Richard Winton, Hannah Fry

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  • Who abducted Nancy Guthrie? A week after abduction, few answers as search grows more desperate

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    A week after Nancy Guthrie was abducted from her Tucson home, investigators spent the weekend searching at least two residences as more details emerged about a ransom note.

    The frantic search comes as Nancy’s daughter, NBC News anchor Savannah Guthrie, issued a second video appeal to the kidnappers. Sources told The Times the ransom note felt credible because it included details about a specific damaged property and the placement of an accessory in the home.

    The Times has not reviewed the note, but sources said it sought millions of dollars for her return.

    On Saturday, Savannah Guthrie made a new video plea to the kidnappers of her mother, saying “we will pay” for her safe return.

    “We received your message, and we understand,” Guthrie said in the new video posted Saturday afternoon. She sat next to her brother and sister. “We beg you now to return our mother to us so that we can celebrate with her. This is the only way we will have peace. This is very valuable to us, and we will pay.”

    Authorities were at Nancy Guthrie’s home again this weekend as well as at the property of another family member, sources said. They also removed Guthrie’s car from her home. The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.

    No one has been named as a person of interest or suspect.

    Guthrie was last seen by her family just after 9:45 p.m. last Saturday, which officials said matched with when her garage door opened and closed that night.

    About four hours later, at 1:47 a.m., officials said her doorbell camera disconnected. An empty frame for the camera had been previously noted at her home.

    Then at 2:12 a.m., the security camera software at Guthrie’s home detected a person — or an animal — on one of the home’s cameras, but Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said they have not been able to recover that footage and don’t know which camera recorded the movement.

    About 15 minutes later, at 2:28 a.m., Nancy’s pacemaker app shows a disconnect from the phone, Nanos said. That appears to be exactly when she left her home, as her phone was left behind.

    Her family went to check on her at home just before noon Sunday, after she hadn’t shown up for church. They found she was missing and almost immediately called 911, Nanos said.

    There has been no “proof of life” offered by the abductors, officials said several days ago. But Nanos said Thursday officials believed she was still alive.

    The letter, sent to TMZ and a local TV station in Tucson, contained a first deadline of 5 p.m. Thursday and a second demand with a Monday deadline, said Heith Janke, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Phoenix division. He declined to say what, if anything, was requested at each deadline, or whether there was a threat if the deadlines weren’t met.

    On Friday, the fifth day since Guthrie disappeared, Arizona news outlet KOLD reported it received a new note from the alleged abductor. The station did not report details from the new letter, but said that “the new note contains information the senders seem to think will prove to investigators they’re the same people who sent the first note.”

    Nancy Guthrie‘s children have been trying to publicly communicate with the abductors.

    Her son, Camron Guthrie, issued a video pleading with the kidnapper Thursday afternoon, around the time of the ransom letter’s first deadline.

    “Whoever is out there holding our mother, we want to hear from you,” he said. “We haven’t heard anything directly. We need you to reach out and we need a way to communicate with you so we can move forward.”

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    Richard Winton, Grace Toohey

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  • ‘Very strong’ clues in Nancy Guthrie abduction, Trump says, as authorities race against time to find her

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    Investigators again scoured the desert brush outside the Tucson home of Nancy Guthrie, the mother of “Today” anchor Savannah Guthrie, as officials were reviewing a new message that could be tied to her abduction.

    At the same time, President Trump said on Air Force One on Friday night that investigators have “very strong” clues, believing “we could have some answers coming up fairly soon.”

    “We have some things, I think that will maybe come out reasonably soon, from DOJ or FBI, or whoever, that could be, could be definitive. A lot has taken place in the last couple of hours. A lot of things have happened with regard to that horrible situation in the last couple of hours,” he said.

    Little is known about the new message and whether it has been tied to kidnappers.

    FBI and Pima County Sheriff’s officials confirmed they were aware of the message, and said they are “actively inspecting the information provided in the message for its authenticity.”

    Guthrie was last seen by her family just after 9:45 p.m. Saturday, which officials said matched with when her garage door opened and closed that night.

    About four hours later, at 1:47 a.m., officials said her doorbell camera disconnected. An empty frame for the camera had been previously noted at her home.

    Then at 2:12 a.m., the security camera software at Guthrie’s home detected a person — or an animal — on one of the home’s cameras, but Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said they have not been able to recover that footage and don’t know which camera recorded the movement.

    About 15 minutes later, at 2:28 a.m., Nancy’s pacemaker app shows that it was a disconnect from the phone, Nanos said. That appears to be exactly when she left her home, as her phone was left behind.

    Her family went to check on her at home, finding her missing, just before noon Sunday, after she hadn’t shown up for church. They almost immediately called 911, Nanos said.

    An earlier ransom note appears to be at the center of the effort to find her.

    Although the entire note has not been released, some details that were included have been shared publicly. The letter contained a first deadline of 5 p.m. Thursday and a second demand with a Monday deadline, said Heith Janke, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Phoenix division. He declined to say what, if anything, was requested at each deadline, or if there was a threat if the deadlines weren’t met.

    Nancy’s son, Camron Guthrie, released a video statement pleading with the kidnapper Thursday afternoon, around the time of the ransom letter’s first deadline.

    “Whoever is out there holding our mother, we want to hear from you,” he said. “We haven’t heard anything directly. We need you to reach out and we need a way to communicate with you so we can move forward.”

    Harvey Levin, founder of celebrity news website TMZ, has reviewed one of the three identical letters that were sent to media outlets and told CNN on Thursday that “the Monday deadline is far more consequential.”

    TMZ reported receiving the alleged note earlier this week via email, and said the letter demanded millions in cryptocurrency for Guthrie’s release. Levin said Thursday night that TMZ had confirmed the bitcoin address was real.

    The family and authorities are particularly worried because Nancy Guthrie has many physical ailments and requires a daily medication that she appears to be without. Officials said they haven’t yet received any proof that Guthrie is alive, but they are operating on that assumption — despite real concerns she could be dead.

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    Richard Winton, Grace Toohey

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  • In tearful video, Savannah Guthrie addresses possible kidnapper: ‘Ready to talk’

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    Savannah Guthrie and her two siblings posted a tearful video Wednesday in which they pleaded for the return of their mother, Nancy Guthrie, and asked her possible kidnapper to communicate with them.

    “We live in a world where voices and images are easily manipulated. We need to know, without a doubt, that she is alive and that you have her. We want to hear from you, and we are ready to listen. Please reach out to us,” Guthrie says in the video posted to Instagram.

    She says she is aware of reports of a ransom demand and that the family is ready to talk.

    Guthrie, the “Today” co-anchor, expresses concern for her mother’s health. “She lives in constant pain. She is without any medicine. She needs it to survive and she needs it not to suffer.”

    Guthrie describes her mother as “kind, faithful, loyal, fiercely loving.”

    “She loves fun and adventure. She is a devoted friend. She is full of kindness and knowledge. Talk to her, and you’ll see.”

    “Mama, if you’re listening,” Annie Guthrie says, “we need you to come home, we miss you.”

    Authorities have been looking for 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie for four days.

    There was evidence that someone had forced their way inside her Tucson home, and there was blood on the premises, according to law enforcement sources not authorized to speak about the case publicly. Images reviewed by The Times showed a trail of blood droplets near the front door of the home.

    On Wednesday morning, amid rumors swirling online about who could be involved, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said investigators still had not identified a suspect or person of interest.

    “While we appreciate the public’s concern, the sharing of unverified accusations or false information is irresponsible and does not assist the investigation,” the sheriff said in a social media post.

    The statement comes as details of the case have trickled out and after several news outlets reported receiving possible ransom notes requesting money in exchange for Nancy Guthrie’s release. The Sheriff’s Department said it was aware of those notes but did not verify their authenticity.

    “We have nothing else to go on but the belief that she is here, she’s present, she’s alive, and we want to save her,” Nanos told NBC during an interview Wednesday.

    On Tuesday, the sheriff said investigators still “don’t know where she is” and called for anyone who had had contact with her to come forward.

    Nancy Guthrie was last seen by family members around 9:30 p.m. Saturday, according to officials, when she was dropped off at her home in the Catalina Foothills, a community just north of Tucson.

    The following morning, family members were notified around 11 a.m. that their mother hadn’t shown up for church, prompting them to go to her house to check on her. She was nowhere to be found.

    Soon after, family members reported her missing.

    Local authorities said they immediately found “concerning circumstances” at the house, and later said Nancy Guthrie might have been forcibly taken in the middle of the night.

    “We do believe Nancy was taken from her home against her will,” Nanos said at a news conference Tuesday.

    In Wednesday’s Instagram video, Savannah Guthrie says, “Our mom is our heart and our home. She is 84 years old. Her health, her heart, is fragile. … We will not rest, your children will not rest, until we are together again.”

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    Richard Winton, Clara Harter, Grace Toohey

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