The reward for information about the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie has increased to more than $200,000 between the FBI and local officials.
Nancy, mother of Today show star Savannah Guthrie, has been missing for more than two weeks. The 84-year-old was last seen at her home in the affluent Catalina Foothills outside of Tuscon, Arizona, on January 31. Police believe she was abducted as she slept.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement shared with The Independent that 88-CRIME, a tip line run by the local attorney’s office, received an anonymous donation of $100,000 Wednesday. This is a dramatic increase to the $2,500 reward local officials were initially offering.
The reward offered by local officials is separate from the $100,000 reward that the FBI promised in an X post for “information leading to the location of Nancy Guthrie and/or the arrest and conviction of anyone involved in her disappearance.”
Authorities have shared photos and video of Nancy’s suspected kidnapper obtained from her home’s doorbell camera. The video showed “an armed individual appearing to have tampered with the camera at Nancy Guthrie’s front door the morning of her disappearance,” the FBI’s Phoenix field office wrote on X last week.
The suspect — described by authorities as a 5’9” to 5’10” man with an “average build” — was wearing a ski mask and gloves in the video.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department announced Tuesday DNA from a set of gloves found two miles away from Nancy’s home “did not trigger a match” in the FBI’s national DNA database and “did not match DNA found at the property.”
Investigators are continuing to examine “biological evidence” found at Nancy’s house, the sheriff’s department told The Independent, adding that an undisclosed number of DNA profiles “are currently under lab analysis.”
On Sunday, Savannah posted a video to Instagram where she said her family remains hopeful that Nancy will be found.
“I wanted to say to whoever has her, or knows where she is, that it’s never too late,” a visibly distraught Savannah said. “It is never too late to do the right thing.”
There have been reports of ransom notes in connection with Nancy’s disappearance, demanding millions of dollars in Bitcoin. Police are yet to verify any of these notes.
Savannah and her family have offered to pay for Nancy’s safe return, with the TV host saying in a February 7 Instagram video, “We received your message, and we understand. We beg you now to return our mother to us, so that we can celebrate with her. This is the only way we will have peace. This is very valuable to us, and we will pay.”
Authorities also have shared photos of the backpack the suspected kidnapper wore in the doorbell video, describing it as a 25-liter ‘Ozark Trail Hiker Pack’ backpack.
Pima County Sheriff’s Chris Nanos told The Associated Press Monday the suspect’s backpack is sold exclusively at Walmart and that authorities are working with the retailer’s management “to develop further leads.”
There have also been unverified reports that the FBI has contacted Mexican authorities in connection with the case. Tucson is about an hour’s drive from the Mexican border.
Nanos has also made clear that no one in the Guthrie family is suspected of being involved in Nancy’s disappearance.
He said in a statement shared on social media Monday the family “has been cleared as possible suspects in this case. The family has been nothing but cooperative and gracious and are victims in this case. To suggest otherwise is not only wrong, it is cruel.”
