Nancy Guthrie Sheriff Addresses Report a Suspect Was Finally Detained After Claims of a ‘Bombshell’ Breakthrough
Reports on the Nancy Guthrie investigation have been few and far between in the last few weeks. The investigation into the disappearance of Savannah Guthrie’s mom, who vanished sometime between the night of January 31 and the early hours of February 1, continues, but there has not been any big development at any point in the investigation. Police never identified a suspect or disclosed a motive. Until now?
In the past few days, there were reports that a person of interest had been detained in connection with the investigation. But sadly, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has confirmed that it is not so. Fox News Digital investigative reporter Michael Ruiz shared on X that Nanos’ response to that questioning had been pretty clear: “Nope.”
Related: Who are Savannah Guthrie’s siblings?
NewsNation contributor Jennifer Coffindaffer said the same. “According to Sheriff Nanos, no one was detained last night in Nancy’s case despite some people on social media reporting this,” she also wrote on X.
But where did the original reporting come from? Nancy Grace’s Crime Stories podcast, where it was reported that there had been a “bombshell” in the case. Grace was citing uncorroborated reports that a male had been detained for questioning south of Tucson, Arizona.
At the time, Crime Stories investigative reporter Dave Mack pointed to the fact that Hoda Kotb took over an interview with Anne Hathaway that Savannah Guthrie was set to conduct on Today as proof that she was pulled to be updated on the case. Reports from NBC had previously indicated there was a protocol for informing Savannah of any news on the investigation, so she wouldn’t be in a position to provide the news herself.
But now it seems that either had nothing to do with the investigation, or there’s something that isn’t being disclosed yet, but that’s not a positive ID on a suspect. This comes after confirmation that the FBI is examining “mixed” DNA samples recovered from the scene.
“There is no new DNA evidence in the Nancy Guthrie case. The FBI requested this material over two months ago,” an FBI official said. “The Pima County Sheriff’s Office sent it to a private lab in Florida. Eleven weeks later, that lab has now transferred an original hair sample to the FBI Laboratory for testing. We remain fully committed to this investigation.”
Nanos had said that investigators remain hopeful that the mixed DNA evidence will lead them to “somebody,” but that it could take a while.. “We listen to our lab, and our lab tells us that there’s challenges with it,” Nanos told NBC News in February. He also said it could take “weeks, months or maybe a year.”
Nancy was kidnapped by a masked assailant sometime between the night of January 31 and the early hours of February 1. And experts, at this point, believe she won’t be found alive. Dr. Gary Brucato, who specializes on analyzing criminal behavior patterns, said during a recent episode of The Interview Room that the statistics suggest she. “My sense is, this woman passed away during whatever it is that was supposed to happen,” Brucato said. He also shared statistics indicating the suspect (or suspects) is probably male, and the motive was probably financial gain.
