Detectives in Nancy Guthrie's disappearance speak out on motive as family cleared as possible suspects
Detectives investigating the disappearance of Savannah Guthrie’s mother have ruled out her family as possible suspects.
Nancy Guthrie, 84, is believed to have been abducted in the middle of the night on January 31 from her home in Tucson, Arizona.
Her daughter, TODAY host Savannah Guthrie, has led a campaign for her safe return, and shared her message to her mom's kidnappers that it is 'never too late to do the right thing' calling for 'whoever has her, or knows where she is' to make themselves known.
Officials believe a masked, hooded person captured on Nancy’s doorbell camera kidnapped her.
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DNA was collected during the investigation and the profile was found to belong to someone other than Nancy or her ‘close contacts’, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department (PSCD) said on February 13. "Investigators are working to identify who it belongs to. We are not disclosing where that DNA was located," a statement shared with People read.
Following this update in the case, Savannah and her family members have been ruled out as suspects in her mother’s disappearance.
"To be clear ... the Guthrie family — to include all siblings and spouses — has been cleared as possible suspects," said Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos, in a statement on February 16. "The family has been nothing but cooperative and gracious and are victims in this case."
"To suggest otherwise is not only wrong, it is cruel," the statement continued. "The Guthrie family are victims plain and simple ... please, I'm begging you the media to honor your profession and report with some sense of compassion and professionalism."
The family had never been officially named as suspects by authorities.
Authorities previously said they found a glove about two miles from the scene that the FBI says ‘appears to match’ the gloves worn by the masked figure in the doorbell camera footage.
Sheriff Nanos said specialists in cloud-based video systems at Google are currently working to extract more crucial information from cameras at Nancy’s home.
“It's hard. It's like scratching through layers, think of it like you have eight layers of paint on your house,” he told the Daily Mail. “They want to go to the sixth or seventh layer and they have to be very delicate about it not to destroy what's there
Nanos also gave insight into investigating the motive for Nancy’s disappearance.
“This is somebody who's disappeared from the face of the Earth, and now we have a camera that says here's the person who did this,” he said.
“And that's what makes me say this is a kidnapping. The motivation for it is where we get stuck, right? Is it for money? I mean, we had the one demand where they asked for money. But is it really for money, or is it for revenge for something?”
As the search continues, local and national media outlets have received alleged ransom notes tied to the disappearance of Nancy. President Donald Trump has said Nancy Guthrie's alleged kidnappers will face 'severe' consequences, stating they will face the death penalty if Nancy is not returned safe and sound to her family.
He had previously expressed his thoughts on the situation, calling it 'terrible', and in a Truth Social post, he said he would be 'deploying all resources' to find her.
Trump told the New York Post that 'very, very severe — the most severe' federal punishment will be placed on the kidnappers if Nancy is found dead and ultimately concluded he would instruct the Department of Justice (DOJ) to seek the death penalty.
The FBI has urged anyone with tips or leads to call 1-800-CALL-FBI in addition to the Pima County Sheriff’s Office number, 520-351-4900.
Greg Harris