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As the search for Nancy Guthrie enters its fourth week, authorities have not yet identified a suspect and there’s been no sign of the 84-year-old mother of TODAY co-anchor Savannah Guthrie. In the latest development, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos told NBC News’ Liz Kruetz in an interview that aired on TODAY Feb.
23 that he believes investigators are getting closer to identifying more items of clothing worn by a man who was seen wearing a balaclava, gloves and a holstered weapon on the doorbell camera at Nancy Guthrie’s home the morning she disappeared. He also spoke about the ongoing process involving mixed DNA found at the scene. Nancy Guthrie was last seen around 9:45 p.m. on Jan. 31 after she was dropped at her home following dinner with her family. A friend alerted her family on Feb. 1 when she did not show up at the friend’s house for a planned visit to watch a livestreamed church service. The Pima County Sheriff’s Department, which believes Nancy Guthrie was taken against her will from her home, said Feb. 16 that it has cleared the Guthrie family as possible suspects in the case. Here are the latest updates from investigators and where the case stands. Police Are Closer to Identifying More Clothing Worn By Man in Surveillance Video After the FBI released footage of the man captured on Nancy Guthrie’s doorbell camera, NBC News learned the backpack he wears in the footage is sold exclusively at Walmart. Nanos told NBC News on Feb. 22 that investigators are getting closer to identifying the shoes, pants, shirt and jacket worn by the man captured on the doorbell camera. The masked suspect can also be seen wearing a unique-looking gun holster in an unusual position between his legs in the video. Nanos told Kreutz on Feb. 19 that authorities have been showing a picture of the holster to local gun shop owners to see if anyone recognizes the suspect or remembers selling the holster. NBC News also spoke to one local gun shop owner who said the FBI visited him with a list of about two dozen pictures. ‘Challenges’ With When DNA Might Be Able to ID a Suspect Investigators have previously found mixed DNA at the scene of Nancy Guthrie’s home that did not match her DNA or a person in the FBI database. Now the question is how long it could take for testing to identify whose DNA it is. “Our lab tells us that there’s challenges with it, and we understand those challenges, but our lab also knows that the technology is moving so fast and in such a frenzy that they think some of this stuff will resolve itself just in a matter of weeks, months or maybe a year,” Nanos told Kruetz on Feb. 23. The Pima County Sheriff’s Department told NBC News that “as with any biological evidence, there can be challenges separating DNA.” Nanos told Kreutz on Feb. 20 that investigators have now turned to genetic genealogy, which combines DNA analysis and looking at genealogical records and publicly available databases, to identify the suspect in the case. Using genetic genealogy has worked in identifying high-profile criminals like Joseph DeAngelo, known as the Golden State Killer, and Bryan Kohberger, who received four consecutive life sentences for killing four University of Idaho students in 2022. CeCe Moore, chief genetic genealogist at Parabon, a lab specializing in forensic genetic genealogy, told NBC News on Feb. 20 that it could take anywhere from days to weeks for the DNA at the scene to be processed. However, she is optimistic it will yield a match. “If I was the kidnapper, I would be extremely concerned right now,” Moore said. “Because using investigative genetic genealogy, he will be identified.” DNA analysis of a glove found two miles from Nancy Guthrie’s home in Tucson did not yield any hits in the FBI’s database either. The Suspect on the Surveillance Video Could Have an Accomplice The Pima County Sheriff’s Department said it’s possible the man seen on the doorbell camera video was not working alone. “Investigators are not ruling out the possibility that more than one person may be involved,” the department said in a statement on Feb. 22. “You saw the video I saw, is there more than one?” Nanos told Kreutz on TODAY on Feb. 23. “There could be, but that doesn’t mean there is.” Volunteers Helped Search Nancy Guthrie’s Neighborhood Over the weekend of Feb. 21-22, search teams were again canvassing Nancy Guthrie’s neighborhood, while a group of volunteers set out throughout the Catalina Foothills. The volunteers found a backpack, but it’s not the brand the FBI said was worn by the suspect in the surveillance video. The Pima County Sheriff’s Department wrote on X on Feb. 21 that volunteer groups had inquired about searching the area, but the department is asking people to “give investigators the space they need to do their work.”
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