More than a month after her disappearance, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos says he believes investigators are closing in on the kidnapper of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie from her Tucson, Arizona home, and an arrest is pending.
“I think the investigators are definitely closer,” Nanos said Monday. “I’ve said this from the beginning: I have full faith, full confidence, they’re going to solve this.”
Guthrie, the mother of NBC “Today” co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, vanished in the early morning hours of Feb. 1 after being dropped off at her Catalina Foothills home the night before following a family dinner. She failed to meet with friends the following morning, and family members who went to check on her found no trace of her. Investigators quickly declared her home a crime scene.
The sheriff said thousands of tips have poured in since her disappearance, and DNA evidence remains a key focus of the probe.
“We’re looking at a lot of DNA, but that’s still being researched and worked,” Nanos said.
Investigators are still working to identify an armed, masked man caught on doorbell camera footage the morning Guthrie disappeared. The FBI described the suspect as male, between 5-foot-9 and 5-foot-10, with an average build. He was seen carrying a black 25-liter Ozark Trail Hiker Pack — a backpack sold exclusively at Walmart when purchased new, though Nanos said investigators are also looking into whether the pack may have been bought through a resale website.
“What I’m saying is, there’s all kinds of angles,” Nanos said.
Despite the extended search and no arrest, the sheriff remained personally optimistic about Guthrie’s fate.
“I personally believe Nancy Guthrie is alive,” he said. “That’s my personal opinion, but that’s because I put faith in. That’s just who I am.”
On Monday, Savannah Guthrie and two siblings visited a growing memorial of yellow flowers that has formed outside their mother’s Tucson home, adding their own. The family left a note at the tribute reading in part: “Momma, We miss you so much! Our hearts are broken. We are standing on ash, scorched earth! But, mom, though we are surrounded by so much darkness and uncertainty, our love burns bright.”
Savannah Guthrie shared a photo of the memorial on social media.
The Guthrie family is offering a $1 million reward for Nancy’s recovery, announced Feb. 24. The FBI is separately offering $100,000, and an anonymous donor added $102,500, bringing the total reward to more than $1.3 million.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI.