As the search for missing 84-year old Nancy Guthrie, mother of Savannah Guthrie stretches into its third week, investigators say a new piece of possible evidence has emerged in what they are treating as a suspected kidnapping case.
Backpack found near Nancy Guthrie’s home
Authorities are now looking closely at a backpack that was discovered along a roadside near Guthrie’s home in the Catalina Foothills area near Tucson. Investigators are examining the backpack as potential evidence while continuing their search around the neighborhood.
Guthrie was last seen on February 1 and it has now been more than 20 days since she disappeared. Authorities have not said what or if anything was inside the backpack but one they confirmed is that the investigation is still ongoing.
Gloves discovered in desert terrain
The latest development follows an earlier discovery by an Arizona couple who found a pair of black gloves in the desert about a mile from Guthrie’s home.
The couple who asked to remain anonymous told the local broadcaster KVOA-TV that they found the gloves on February 11, which is about 10 days after Guthrie was reported missing. The gloves were located off Campbell Avenue and were lying about 10 feet apart.
“Sure enough, it was a black glove in the desert,” they told KVOA.
“It appeared to have looked like it was ripped. It also appeared to look like it had blood on it. There was two different colors. The blood was more towards the wrist side of the glove and on the pointer finger, it looked like it was ripped.”
The couple said that they did not touch the gloves because they did not want to disturb possible evidence. Instead, they took photos and contacted authorities.
The wife said, “It didn’t just look like a regular glove. It looked like this was a glove used for something that could’ve possibly been what they were looking for.”
Her husband also noticed something unusual beneath one of the gloves. “And also from the glove it looked like a blood drop on a rock underneath the glove was like dried blood or something. We didn’t move it or touch it. We immediately were like, we have to do something. So I was like I will call the sheriff department,” he said.
According to the reports of KVOA, the investigators arrived at the scene and questioned the couple and later allowed them to leave. The officials stayed in the area until around 2 am.
In a statement to the broadcaster, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said it could not confirm whether the gloves found by the couple were part of the items being tested. “We cannot confirm at this time. Detectives and agents have collected multiple gloves from the area and analysis is part of the investigation,” the department said.
Officials have earlier said that DNA found on other gloves did not match any profiles in the FBI’s database. They also confirmed that DNA recovered from at least one glove was different from the DNA collected inside Guthrie’s home.
