Cops and SWAT teams swarm area near Nancy Guthrie’s home as sheriff says investigators ‘won’t quit’ even if search takes ‘years’
It’s been nearly two weeks since the 84-year-old vanished from her Arizona home in what police believe is a kidnapping
Law enforcement agencies carried out a late-night operation Friday at a residence about two miles from 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie’s home as part of the investigation into her disappearance, but did not make any arrests.
More than a dozen law enforcement vehicles, including SWAT and forensic teams, reportedly descended on a residence around two miles from Guthrie’s Arizona home. Several roads were closed for about four hours, but later reopened, according to CNN.
The 84-year-old mother of “Today” show anchor Savannah Guthrie was last seen at her home on January 31 and was reported missing the next day. Police believe she was abducted.
A Pima County Sheriff’s Department spokesperson confirmed “no arrests were made” during Friday’s search.
“Last night, a federal court-ordered search warrant was executed at a residence near E. Orange Grove Rd. and N. First Ave. in connection with the Guthrie case,” the spokesperson said Saturday. “The warrant was based on a lead we received.”
Separately, Friday night at a Culver’s restaurant in Tucson, also about two miles from Guthrie’s home, police searched and towed a silver or gray Range Rover following a traffic stop, Fox News Digital reported.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department spokesperson confirmed one person was questioned after a traffic stop Friday evening, but provided few other details.
“A traffic stop was also conducted, and a person was questioned but no arrests resulted from that incident. There are no further details available at this time,” the spokesperson said.
Investigators “won’t quit” their efforts to find Guthrie, even if it takes years, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos told The New York Times on Friday.
“Maybe it’s an hour from now,” he said. “Maybe it’s weeks or months or years from now. But we won’t quit. We’re going to find Nancy. We’re going to find this guy."
Police have yet to find Guthrie or her alleged abductor, but have been releasing new information about the case as the days go on.
Earlier Friday, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department revealed that DNA that doesn’t belong to anyone in “close contact” with Guthrie was found at her home.
In a statement shared with The Independent Friday, the sheriff’s department said, “DNA other than Nancy Guthrie’s and those in close contact to her has been collected from the property.”
Guthrie lives in the affluent and secluded Catalina Foothills just outside of Tucson.
The sheriff’s department said investigators are working to identify whose DNA was discovered. Police are not currently disclosing where exactly on the property the DNA was found.
In its statement, the sheriff’s department also refuted any reports that a glove was found inside Guthrie’s home or on her property.
“Several gloves have been located during the investigation. The closest gloves were found approximately two miles from the home,” the department said.
Early this week, authorities shared photos and video of a suspect in Guthrie’s disappearance, taken from a doorbell camera at the front of her house on the morning police believe she may have been taken.
The FBI Phoenix Field Office announced Tuesday that the “previously inaccessible” video shows “an armed individual appearing to have tampered with the camera at Nancy Guthrie's front door the morning of her disappearance.”
The suspect, who is yet to be identified, was wearing a ski mask and gloves. It’s unclear whether the gloves the suspect was wearing in the video match the gloves authorities found.
On Thursday, the FBI increased its reward to $100,000 for information “leading to the location of Nancy Guthrie and/or the arrest and conviction of anyone involved in her disappearance.”
The FBI has also shared a detailed description of the suspect, including the type of backpack he was wearing in the doorbell video.
“The suspect is described as a male, approximately 5’9” - 5’10” tall, with an average build. In the video, he is wearing a black, 25-liter ‘Ozark Trail Hiker Pack’ backpack,” the agency wrote on X.
On Thursday, Reuters reported, citing a law enforcement official with knowledge of Guthrie’s case, that Nanos was blocking the FBI from examining evidence.
The official claimed the FBI requested DNA and a glove to be processed at the agency's national crime lab in Virginia, but Nanos insisted on using a private Florida lab.
Nanos refuted the idea that he wouldn’t collaborate with the FBI, telling CNN’s Ed Lavandera his department and the bureau are “joined at the hip.”
“We want to find Nancy,” the sheriff added.
Savannah Guthrie and her siblings are desperate to find their beloved mother, offering to pay for her safe return.
There have been reports of ransom notes demanding millions of dollars in Bitcoin, but none have been verified by police.
"We received your message, and we understand. We beg you now to return our mother to us, so that we can celebrate with her," Savannah Guthrie said in a video posted Saturday, February 7, alongside her siblings, Annie and Camron Guthrie.
“This is the only way we will have peace. This is very valuable to us, and we will pay.”
Earlier this week, the sheriff’s department said a person was detained in connection with Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance. He was later released without charges.
A man named Carlos told local outlet ABC15 he was stopped by deputies for “kidnapping” Guthrie.
“They told me I was being detained for kidnapping, and I asked them, ‘Kidnapping of who?’” Carlos said.
As the investigation into Guthrie’s suspected kidnapping continues, Nanos holds out hope that she will be found.
“I believe she’ll be found,” the sheriff told Lavandera.
“We are working hard.”
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