PIMA COUNTY, Ariz. (TNND) — The sheriff leading the investigation into the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie revealed on Tuesday that he is holding onto hope that she is still alive after 18 days because nobody has proof that she isn’t.
“You have no proof, nobody does, that she’s not [alive],” Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos told Fox10 in an interview. “I’m going to have that faith. Sometimes that hope is all we have.”
As the search continues in its third week, concerns continue to arise about Nancy Guthrie’s heart condition and her required daily medication.
Officials said they turned to new technology in recent days to find a signal from her pacemaker using a high-tech Bluetooth signal detector. Helicopters have been circling the surrounding areas in hopes of picking up a connection to the pacemaker, which lost its connection to her phone at 2:28 a.m. on the night she was taken.
“It’s not a magic bullet, but it’s one more thing to try and find this poor woman,” Jody Weis, a retired FBI agent and former Chicago police superintendent, told the National News Desk.
When asked when the search might turn into a recovery effort, Nanos pointed to the 400 personnel currently deployed in the field.
“My team, 400 people out there in the field today, woke up this morning and went out there with the hope and the belief that they’re going to find Nancy, and she’s going to be OK,” Nanos insisted.
“Just let her go. It will work out better for you in the long run,” he pleaded. “Take her to a park. Take her to the hospital. Just let her go.”
The little bit of hope for a breakthrough was dashed on Tuesday when investigators announced the unknown male DNA found in a glove two miles from Nancy Guthrie’s home turned up no matches on the FBI’s database.
“DNA evidence from gloves found approximately 2 miles from Nancy Guthrie’s residence was submitted to CODIS & produced no matches. There is additional DNA evidence that was found at the residence that is also being analyzed,” the sheriff’s department wrote on X.
Nanos made clear on Monday that all members of Nancy Guthrie’s family have been cleared as suspects.
“The family has been nothing but cooperative and gracious and are victims in this case,” the sheriff said.
“Today” co-host Savannah Guthrie shared a new video on Sunday, saying she still has hope that her mother is alive.
“It’s been two weeks since our mom was taken. And I just wanted to come on and say that we still have hope. And we still believe,” she said. “And I wanted to say to whoever has her or knows where she is that it’s never too late.”
Investigators are also looking into a string of alleged ransom notes sent to local news outlets and TMZ, which said it received a fourth message from a man who claims to know who was behind Nancy Guthrie’s kidnapping and where she currently is, asking for payment in Bitcoin in exchange for the information.
Last week, investigators released surveillance video showing an armed, masked suspect at Nancy Guthrie’s front door the night she was abducted. The FBI later described the suspect as a male who is approximately 5 feet 9 inches tall to 5 feet 10 inches tall, with an average build.
FBI Phoenix said the FBI is increasing its reward from $50,000 to $100,000 for information that leads to Nancy Guthrie and/or the arrest and conviction of anyone involved in her disappearance.
The FBI urged anyone who has information about the case to call the agency at 1-800-CALL-FBI, as well as the Pima County Sheriff’s Department at 520-351-4900.
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