More people are likely to be detained in connection with the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie as investigators work through thousands of calls and tips in the search for the 84-year-old.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos told 13 News that more people are likely to be questioned following the release of video footage showing an armed individual approaching the front door of Guthrie’s Tucson home the morning she was abducted.
Guthrie was discovered missing from her home 12 days ago after she didn’t show up at a friend’s house to watch a church service. She was taken from her home without any of her medication and it’s not clear how long she can survive without it.
Guthrie’s children have been holding onto hope that their mother will be found. “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie, one of Nancy’s daughters, posted a tribute to her mother on Instagram on Thursday morning.
The short video shows a much younger Guthrie picking pink flowers in the garden with her elementary school aged children. Guthrie smiles as one of her young daughters places the flowers near her nose, an invitation to smell the fragrant blossoms.
“Our lovely mom. We will never give up on her,” Savannah Guthrie wrote in the caption. “Thank you for your prayers and hope.”
The unusual case has seemingly hit a host of dead ends in recent days.
Authorities on Tuesday detained a 36-year-old man after a traffic stop south of Tucson, but released him hours later. Deputies and FBI forensics experts and agents searched his family’s home overnight but did not locate Guthrie. Authorities have not said if or how he might be connected to the case or what evidence led them to search his family’s home.
A Sheriff’s Department spokesperson said the man’s detention “was part of follow-up on incoming leads.”
But footage from the Nest camera outside Guthrie’s home led to roughly 4,000 new tips over the course of 24 hours, according to the Pima County Sheriff’s Department. Meanwhile, investigators on Wednesday scoured along roadways in the foothills north of Tucson for any evidence that could help them crack the case.
Investigators discovered a black glove roughly a mile and a half from Guthrie’s home that is being tested for DNA evidence, sources told The Times. However, it’s not clear at this point whether it’s connected to the woman’s disappearance.
