DISCOURAGING

Troubling Update Revealed in Nancy Guthrie Case

DNA test results of hair found in Guthrie’s home have come back.

DNA testing of hair from the home of Nancy Guthrie has not led investigators closer to a suspect in her disappearance, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said Thursday.

Nanos told ABC News about the discouraging forensic development in the investigation into Today show host Savannah Guthrie’s 84-year-old mother, who has been missing since early February,

“The hair was done... and there was nothing,” Nanos said.

The FBI’s Phoenix office also confirmed the news in a statement to NBC News, saying that “all hair had been resolved and it does not point to a suspect” in the investigation. It declined to comment further.

Nanos said finding DNA on hair is “extremely rare.” He added to NBC News, “Hair doesn’t produce DNA like touch DNA or bodily fluids.”

Meanwhile, a mixed DNA sample retrieved from Guthrie’s Tucson-area home contains up to four people, Nanos told ABC. Labs in multiple states—including the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia—are working on singling out the contributors, but it remains to be seen whether that is possible.

ONE STEP CLOSER

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“My understanding is there are at least five, maybe six, labs across the country that are working on all of this,” Nanos explained. “We have some of the brightest minds in the nation, if not the world, working on this.”

What’s also unclear is the number of suspects who played a role in Guthrie’s Feb. 1 disappearance. Guthrie’s doorbell camera captured a masked, backpack-wearing figure on her doorstep hours before she was reported missing—as well as a masked person on a prior day—but further evidence has been hard to come by.

“I don’t think anybody’s here ready to say it’s one guy, it’s 10 guys,” Nanos said. “Did he have help? Could have.”

Nanos credited Savannah Guthrie for continuing to comment publicly on the ordeal. On Monday, she released a video addressing her mother’s kidnapper or kidnappers.

“The world can be a cruel and unforgiving place, and I know that you have tried to do things the right way. So I’m asking you, begging you to do the right thing now. Make the right choice. Help us find her. Tell us where to look for her. I truly believe it is never too late to do the right thing,” she said.

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Nanos reiterated: “Somebody in our community, somebody out in this world knows something. Call us, tell us, give us that information. Somebody knows where Nancy’s at. We need their help.”

Despite multiple ransom notes and the high-profile nature of the matter, authorities have been unable to produce any consequential leads into her disappearance.

Amid criticism of the sheriff’s handling of the stalled investigation, Nanos told People in May that the department is getting closer to answers.

“Every day our DNA labs are working with our investigators and they’re coming up with different ideas and different thoughts of how to help them make this DNA work for us,” Nanos said. “How can we do more with what we have? And so that’s why I say it is—I think we’re getting closer.”

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