The Pima County Sheriff's Department and the FBI have fielded around 40,000 to 50,000 leads so far.
The investigation into Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance entered the third week yesterday without any publicly named suspects or persons of interest.
Video released by the FBI last week from a doorbell camera outside Guthrie’s front door on the morning she went missing showed a possible subject, who officials have said appears to be a man who is 5’9″ to 5’10” tall.
Authorities confirmed the suspect was carrying a backpack sold exclusively at Walmart. The suspect was wearing clothing that may also have been purchased there, but it did not appear to be sold exclusively at Walmart. He was also wearing a mask and gloves.
Officials have identified DNA from an unknown male on gloves that match those worn by the person in the video and were found two miles from Guthrie’s home. They are now in the process of submitting the DNA into a national database to try to find a match.
DNA that does not belong to Guthrie or anyone close to her was found at her home, but officials are still trying to work out who it belongs to. All members of the Guthrie family were cleared as suspects, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos confirmed yesterday.
On Monday, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said claims that the case was a burglary gone wrong and that reports suggesting otherwise are false.
Nanos told NBC News affiliate KVOA that between 40,000 and 50,000 leads have come in through his department and the FBI. The FBI is offering a $100,000 reward for any information that leads to Guthrie or to the arrest of someone responsible for her disappearance.
The FBI announced last week that it was upping its reward and offering $100,000 for information that either leads to Guthrie or to the arrest of anyone involved in her disappearance.
As of this announcement Thursday, the FBI had received 13,000 tips from the public in relation to this case. Yesterday, Sheriff Nanos told NBC News affiliate KVOA that officials now have between 40,000 and 50,000 leads between the sheriff’s department and the FBI.
For years, Savannah Guthrie has given “TODAY” show viewers a firsthand look at her close and loving relationship with her mother. This access to their closeness is perhaps what has gripped the nation in the case of Guthrie’s disappearance.
As former “TODAY” co-anchor Hoda Kotb put it, “She’s like all of our moms.”
More than two weeks since Guthrie went missing, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said her family and their spouses are cleared as suspects. Meanwhile, officials are awaiting DNA results from inside the home and from a nearby glove.
Asked why he made the statement, making clear the Guthrie family, including all siblings and spouses, are not being treated as suspects, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos told NBC News he felt it was his duty to do so.
“Because sometimes we forget we’re human and we hurt, and kindness matters. It is every cop’s duty to stand up and be that voice for our victims. I’m not going to sit in silence when others are attacking the innocent. Isn’t that what the badge represents?” he said.
In the earlier message, Nanos said 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,” Nanos continued. “The Guthrie family are victims plain and simple.”
Trump told the New York Post today that Guthrie’s abductors would face “the most severe” federal consequences if she were found dead.
Asked by the Post if that meant the Justice Department would request the death penalty in that situation, Trump answered: “The most, yeah — that’s true.”
In response to an inquiry from NBC News about the statements, the White House said: “Refer you to the NYP interview.”
It is not yet clear whether a case against the abductors would be brought in federal court.
Authorities made a potential breakthrough in the Guthrie case with the discovery of a glove containing DNA evidence roughly 2 miles from her house. The glove appeared consistent with a glove worn by a person seen in doorbell camera footage from the morning Guthrie disappeared, according to a source familiar with the investigation.
But a DNA expert told NBC News that it is too early to say whether this is a key piece of evidence.
“I think we need to use a lot of caution about jumping to conclusions with the glove,” said Cece Moore, a genealogist with Parabon Nanolabs. “If there were other aspects of that glove that tied it to Nancy or somebody that’s already been looked at as a person of interest, then it would rise very quickly in priority.”
“But at this point, it’s more like a hail Mary.”
A federal law enforcement official said today that agents conducted a canvass of gun stores “several days ago” as part of the Guthrie investigation.
The official said that no canvass was done today. If a specific lead requires additional canvassing, it could be possible, the official noted.
“Things are still very fluid and we are out on many leads,” the official said.
The federal official noted that this is part of the regular investigative process. The official further cautioned that too much public exposure or reporting on specific steps being taken by law enforcement “whether accurate or inaccurate, gives the perpetrator a window into the investigation. That’s not helpful.”
From Guthrie’s driveway in Tucson to communities across the country, people all over the United States are showing their support for Savannah Guthrie’s mother, who has now been missing for more than two weeks.
The sheriff said all members of the Guthrie family have been cleared as possible suspects, calling claims otherwise “cruel.” Meanwhile, investigators are analyzing a glove found 2 miles from Guthrie’s home that the FBI says contains unknown male DNA.
NBC News