A Case Gone Cold?: The Search For Nancy Guthrie Surpasses 25 Days

Gabrielle Apisa ‘27

During the early hours of Sunday, February 1st, 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie, mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie, was believed to have been abducted from her home in Tucson, Arizona. Since then, a rampant investigation—now surpassing a staunch 25 days—has been conducted by the Pima County Sheriff’s Department (PCSD) in coordination with the FBI. Despite the limited amount of physical evidence investigators currently have, NBC News reports that “the case is far from going cold.”

As released to the public on February 10th, Nest ™ camera footage from Ms. Guthrie’s front door has revealed a valuable, yet undeniably ambiguous description of the suspect: male, 5’9”-5’10”, and of average build, carrying a black Ozark Trail Hiker Pack (NewsNation). It is his behavior in the footage, however, that may be more telling to investigators; while tampering with the camera, the suspect made a crude effort to cover it with foliage. Thus, while he may have come with deliberate intent—with a motive investigators have not yet identified—the suspect is likely inexperienced.

Just a day after this footage was released, PCSD investigators recovered a black glove from a nearby desert area. Soon thereafter, forensic specialists extracted a DNA sample from the glove, which they submitted to CODIS (Combined DNA Index System)—an FBI-managed DNA database—only to find no known matches. What was once a promising lead for identification soon became a dead end.

And unfortunately, this wasn’t the only let down investigators have faced. After handling at least three detainments between Tuesday, February 10th and Saturday, February 14th, the FBI made no arrests. Since then, no new individuals have been detained.

Yet, Ms. Guthrie’s family refuses to give up hope. On Tuesday, February 24th, over three weeks after the abduction, Savannah posted to her social media, holding back tears while saying, “We still believe in a miracle. We still believe that she can come home.” In the same clip, she announced a “family reward” of up to $1,000,000—separate from the FBI’s $50,000 reward—for “any information that leads us to her recovery.”

Really, though, her offering of this large reward comes as no surprise. Just a few days after Ms. Guthrie’s abduction, when local news stations received ransom messages demanding millions in Bitcoin, the family stated that they were willing to pay for her return. In a 22-second video on Instagram, Savannah spoke directly to the unknown suspect, stating, “This is the only way we will have peace. This is very valuable to us and we will pay.”

Ms. Guthrie’s local community has displayed a similar tender sentiment in the wake of her sudden disappearance. The owner of Casas Adobes Flower Shop, located about 10 minutes from Ms. Guthrie’s home, noted, “We’ve seen some definite support from the community—reaching out in efforts to generate some hope through some flower deliveries” (KGUN). Along with these flowers, ribbons, cards, and messages—like the one that reads, “Dear Guthrie family, Your neighbors stand with you,”—have been placed outside of Ms. Guthrie’s home.

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has responded to the outpour of public concern with a reassuring statement: “As long as we have the ability to chase a lead, it’s not cold. We’re not going to give up. We’re going to find Nancy, and we’re going to find out who did this.”