Law enforcement is asking anyone with information to contact 1-800-CALL-FBI or the Pima County Sheriff’s Office tips.fbi.gov. (520-351-4900) or 88-CRIME.
A glove found near Nancy Guthrie’s home was seen as a potential lead in the investigation into the 84-year-old woman’s alleged kidnapping, but the investigation has stalled.
“It turns out the owner of the glove works at a restaurant across the street. He has no connection to the incident,” Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos told Tuscon news station KVOA.
In a March 4 statement to USA TODAY, the Sheriff’s Office said, “Sheriff Nanos stated in a recent interview that the black gloves found approximately two miles from Nancy Guthrie’s home were traced through DNA analysis to an individual working at a restaurant in the area.”
“That individual is not considered a subject of this investigation,” the statement continued. “Laboratory analysis of other DNA evidence is ongoing.”
Authorities previously said the gloves appear to visually match those seen on surveillance footage from Guthrie’s home and worn by a man the FBI has identified as a suspect in the case.
Status of DNA testing in the Nancy Guthrie case
The DNA results came more than two weeks after they arrived at a private laboratory in Florida for testing on February 13th.
In a Feb. 15 statement to USA TODAY, a spokesperson for the FBI’s Office of Public Affairs said, “Investigators collected approximately 16 gloves in various areas near the home, most of which were searcher gloves that had been discarded in various areas as they searched the area. The DNA profiles recovered are different and appear to match the subject’s gloves seen in surveillance video.”
In a Feb. 17 update, the Sheriff’s Office announced that the gloves had “no DNA hits in CODIS, the FBI’s national DNA database.” The DNA also did not match samples taken from Guthrie’s home.
Law enforcement previously confirmed that DNA not belonging to her or her inner circle was found in Guthrie’s home. They have not provided any updates on this analysis.
Nancy Guthrie, 84, the mother of Today anchor Savannah Guthrie, has been missing since Saturday, January 31st. She was first reported missing the next day, February 1st. The Pima County Sheriff’s Office said they believe she was taken from her home outside Tucson against her will.
Investigators have clues about Nancy Guthrie kidnapping suspect
The FBI has only named one suspect, describing the man seen in the doorbell video from Guthrie’s home as “a male of average build, approximately 5 feet 9 inches to 5 feet 10 inches tall.” The agency’s Feb. 12 social media post also focused on a “black 25-liter Ozark Trail Hiker Pack backpack” that he was wearing.
As Nanos previously said, investigators consider the backpack “one of the most promising leads,” but the sheriff noted that the backpack is exclusive to Walmart (previously seen as a clue that authorities could subpoena the big-box retailer to go after it), but did not rule out the possibility that the suspect bought the backpack second-hand elsewhere.
Savannah Guthrie said there is a $1 million reward “for any information” leading to her mother’s recovery, and the FBI is offering a $100,000 reward. The Pima County Prosecutor’s Office’s anonymous tip line, 88-CRIME, has independently posted a reward of $102,500.
