Daijiworld Media Network – Tucson

Tucson, Feb 13: An Arizona sheriff is blocking the Federal Bureau of Investigation from accessing key evidence in the investigation into the abduction of Nancy Guthrie, mother of US television journalist Savannah Guthrie, a US law enforcement official familiar with the case told Reuters on Thursday.

The FBI had requested physical evidence — including a glove and DNA samples recovered from the home of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie — to be processed at its national crime laboratory in Quantico, Virginia. However, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has insisted on using a private forensic laboratory in Florida instead, the official said.

According to the official, outsourcing the forensic analysis has effectively denied the FBI access to crucial evidence, delaying its ability to assist in the probe. The sheriff’s office did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.

In a daily press update earlier in the day, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said investigators had “recovered several items of evidence, including gloves,” and that all viable evidence had been submitted for analysis. No further details were provided.

Under US law, the Pima County Sheriff holds primary jurisdiction over the case, and the FBI can participate only if formally invited by the county authorities. The official said the county has spent approximately $200,000 so far to send evidence in the Guthrie case to the Florida lab.

“It risks further slowing a case that grows more urgent by the minute,” the official said, citing earlier setbacks in the investigation. The official also criticised the sheriff for not seeking FBI assistance sooner, stating that leveraging federal resources and technology would be the fastest route to answers.

Nancy Guthrie was last seen on January 31 after family members dropped her off at her home near Tucson following dinner. She was reported missing the next day. Authorities have said she had extremely limited mobility and could not have wandered off unassisted, leading investigators to conclude early on that she had likely been abducted by force.

Traces of blood found on her front porch were confirmed through DNA testing to belong to her. Officials and family members have described her as being in frail health and dependent on daily medication.

At least two purported ransom notes have surfaced since her disappearance, both initially delivered to news outlets and setting deadlines that have since expired. No proof of life has emerged.

Savannah Guthrie, 54, co-anchor of Today on NBC News, has released video appeals alongside her siblings, urging her mother’s captors to release her and asking the public for assistance. She has also indicated a willingness to meet ransom demands.

In a significant development on Wednesday, authorities released doorbell camera footage from Nancy Guthrie’s residence showing an armed individual wearing a ski mask and gloves attempting to disable the camera around the time she is believed to have been abducted.

A black latex glove recovered from a roadside is undergoing forensic examination. Investigators are reportedly considering facial recognition analysis of the video footage to identify a suspect.

Meanwhile, the FBI has doubled its reward for information leading to Nancy Guthrie’s location, or to the arrest and conviction of those responsible, to $100,000.