The search for Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of NBC’s Today show anchor Savannah Guthrie, has entered its third week, as investigators ask neighbors within a two-mile radius to send in any home video footage.
Nancy Guthrie was last seen on the evening of 31 January, when she was dropped off at her home in the Catalina foothills north of Tucson, Arizona, after having dinner with her older daughter and son-in-law. She was reported missing the following day, after she failed to arrive at a friend’s house to watch a church service.
Authorities have been investigating her disappearance as a kidnapping, and as of Sunday morning, two weeks since she was reported missing, no arrests have been made and no one is in custody.
Investigators have released doorbell camera footage recovered from Guthrie’s home, which showed a masked individual arriving in the early morning hours of 1 February, carrying a backpack and what appeared to be a holstered handgun.
On Thursday, the FBI released new details about the person in the video, describing them as “a male, approximately 5’9” – 5’10” tall, with an average build.”
As the search continues, authorities are requesting that residents within a two-mile radius of Guthrie’s home submit any surveillance footage recorded between 1 January to 2 February. They have asked neighbors to provide “all video footage that includes vehicles, vehicle traffic, people/pedestrians, and anything neighbors deem out of the ordinary or important”.
As the investigation enters its third week, and continues to draw huge national attention, some crime bloggers and True Crime podcasters have traveled to Arizona to cover the case.
On Saturday night, Arizona state representative Alma Hernandez, released a statement, saying that she was “sick of watching” the “insane speculation, lies, and BS by random wannabe journalists and YouTubers who have now caused more harm than good to this entire situation and put this serious case in jeopardy.
“Please GO HOME” she said. “Let law enforcement do their jobs. Stop following them during swat operations and playing detectives.”
Late on Friday night, law enforcement converged on an area around two miles from Guthrie’s home, where they searched a home, and also investigated a car at a nearby Culver’s parking lot.
On Saturday, the Pima county sheriff’s department confirmed that a federal court-ordered search warrant had been carried out at a residence in connection with the case. But they said that no arrests were made during the operation.
Authorities had briefly detained a man earlier in the week, but he was released after questioning.
Investigators have said that splashes of blood found on the front porch of Guthrie’s home tested positive for her DNA. They also said that additional DNA collected from her property, that does not match Guthrie or those in close contact with her, is undergoing testing, along with several gloves reportedly discovered several miles from her residence.
“All collected evidence has been submitted for laboratory analysis” officials said this week.
On Sunday, in a statement to NewsNation, the FBI said that they received preliminary results on Saturday from the lab on the gloves found around two miles from Guthrie’s house.
The bureau said that they are “awaiting quality control and official confirmation today” and said that “this process typically takes 24 hours from when the bureau receives DNA”.
The FBI has increased the reward to $100,000 for information that helps find Guthrie, or leads to an arrest and conviction of those involved in her disappearance. The bureau has said it has received more than 13,000 tips from the public about the case since 1 February.
There have also been unverified reports about ransom notes sent to several Arizona television stations, and celebrity news website TMZ.
Since Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance, Savannah Guthrie and her siblings have posted several videos on social media, pleading for help from the public in finding their mother.
A spokesperson for the Pima county sheriff’s department told CNN on Sunday that no news conferences are currently planned.
