Nancy Guthrie investigators turn to Mexico, genealogy, pacemaker amid fears trail going cold
As the search for Nancy Guthrie enters its third week, there are growing concerns that the trail to finding the missing 84-year-old woman is quickly growing cold.
Investigators have arrested two people since Guthrie was abducted from her Tucson home in the early hours of February 1. But both were released after questioning and no suspects have been publicly identified.
Authorities insist the case is still very active, with the FBI having received more than 19,000 tips. But the matter takes a new direction.
Look at Mexico
Law enforcement sources told the Times that investigators were in contact with Mexican authorities in the case given Tucson’s proximity to the border, but there is no evidence that the kidnappers crossed the border with Guthrie.
The sources spoke on condition of anonymity to candidly discuss the matter.
The Guthrie home in Tucson is only about an hour’s drive from the border. The source stressed that Mexico’s request for help was intended to exhaust all options, but there is no clear evidence to suggest Guthrie or the kidnappers are there.
Status of investigation
DNA on a glove discovered 2 miles from Guthrie’s home that matched one worn by a masked man seen in Nest camera footage returned no matches in the national DNA database used by law enforcement, CODIS. Biological evidence found in Guthrie’s home is still being tested but did not produce a CODIS match, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos told Fox News this week.
This week, an anonymous donor donated $100,000 to 88-CRIME for information that would allow investigators to arrest the individual involved in Guthrie’s disappearance. This is in addition to the $100,000 reward offered by the FBI for information.
Nanos tried to allay concerns that investigators would only hit dead ends, telling NBC News that “as long as we have the ability to pursue a lead, it’s not cold.”
“We are looking at thousands of leads,” he said. “We’re going to find Nancy, and we’re going to find out who did this.”
So far, experts say the best way for investigators to quickly solve the case would be for someone to recognize the suspect in the Nest video footage showing a masked man seen on Guthrie’s porch the morning of his kidnapping.
At 1:47 a.m. on February 1, the individual showed up at the door of Guthrie’s home. The man is wearing a balaclava, gloves and a backpack. A gun is worn at the man’s waist, positioned at the front of his body and easily visible.
At one point, the man, who authorities describe as between 5’9″ and 5’10” with a medium build, noticed the camera on the porch and tried to cover the lens with his hand. The man apparently looks around the patio and yard for something that would obstruct the camera before settling on some greenery found in the yard.
In the video, the man is wearing a black 25-liter “Ozark Trail Hiker Pack” backpack that can be purchased at Walmart, according to the FBI. Investigators have been working with Walmart management to see if they can identify who purchased the backpack.
Authorities are also checking gun stores, showing the video released by the FBI, to see if anyone recognizes him, according to the sheriff’s department.
Investigators use genetic genealogy
DNA found inside the Guthrie home could also prove helpful in this case, experts say.
Although law enforcement has not found any answers in the federal database, they are also using genetic genealogy to try to identify a suspect in the case.
“If they actually have the suspect’s DNA – that of Nancy’s kidnapper – he will be identified through genetic genealogy,” said CeCe Moore, a genetic genealogist and co-founder of DNA Justice. “It’s just a matter of time.”
Authorities can compare DNA collected from Guthrie’s home to publicly available databases containing the genetic profiles of millions of people who have given them away for family history research and other reasons. From there, investigators can sometimes find distant relatives to help them piece together a family tree that could point to a suspect.
Technology has helped solve some of the nation’s most high-profile cases in recent years. Investigators used genetic genealogy to identify Joseph James DeAngelo Jr. as the Golden State Killer who terrorized California in the 1970s and 1980s. It was also used to secure the conviction of Bryan Kohberger, who was sentenced to life in prison for the murders of four college students in Idaho in 2022.
There are limits to the technology, but law enforcement sources told The Times it’s probably the best path forward.
Law enforcement does not have easy access to the approximately 50 million genetic profiles contained in the Ancestry.com, 23andMe and MyHeritage databases. The companies barred authorities from accessing the information and said they would only release it if compelled to do so by a court order or warrant.
The GEDmatch, FamilyTreeDNA and DNA Justice databases are open to law enforcement, but contain fewer than 2 million genetic profiles, Moore said.
With fewer genetic profiles to work with, it involves more legwork, but Moore said it will likely be key to identifying a suspect.
“It could happen in minutes, hours, days, weeks, but I don’t think it will last much longer because of all the resources available to this case,” she said.
Looking for your pacemaker
Law enforcement also deployed “signal sniffing” technology to search for Guthrie.
Parsons Corp confirmed this week that the Pima County Sheriff’s Department requested its help earlier this month to deploy BlueFly units to search for Guthrie. BlueFly is a Bluetooth and Wi-Fi sensor that can be used on aerial and ground vehicles for search and rescue operations in harsh environments, providing authorities with a heat map to identify signals in a specific area, according to the company.
BlueFly can detect medical devices like Guthrie’s pacemaker.
