More than three weeks after Nancy Guthrie vanished, the case remains unsolved and an Arizona family says they have been caught in a nightmare of false online accusations. Social media users wrongly linked Dominic Evans, a local teacher, to the 84-year old’s kidnapping, leading strangers to gather outside the family’s Tucson home and leaving them frightened and in hiding.
Who is Dominic Evans?
Dominic Evans is a 48-year old elementary school teacher in Tucson, Arizona. He plays drums in a band called Early Black with Tommaso Cioni, Nancy Guthrie’s sons in law. He said he met Nancy Guthrie only once in 2011 when he brought his oldest son to her home for an Easter egg hunt.
Evans graduated from the University of Arizona and has been teaching for years. In 1999, he was arrested for drunkenly taking a calculator and a watch from a bar. He later served a year and a half of probation. Online users also pointed to a past drunken driving conviction.
After Nancy Guthrie disappeared on February 1, online speculation first focused on Cioni. Soon after, attention shifted to Evans. Some people claimed he resembled a masked man seen in doorbell camera footage from the night Guthrie vanished. The images were posted online analyzing his eyes, brows and lashes and comparing them to the man in the footage.
According to the reports of The New York Times, he said “I feel like someone’s taken my name,” continuing, “But for what reasons? I don’t know — monetary, clickbait, to be relevant, entertainment — but there are innocent people that get hurt.”
Evans family living in fear
As rumors spread online, people started gathering outside the family’s home. One night, Evans and his wife reportedly hid in their bedroom with the lights off. They were reportedly too scared to bring their young sons home because cars stayed outside until early morning.
According to The New York Times, “It was all night looking through the window, trying to not let any light out of our home,” Andrea, wife of Dominic, said. She said she had been “scared numb.”
Their 6-year old son reportedly had to spend the night away from home because people believed his father was involved in Nancy’s disappearance. Days later, more journalists and onlookers reportedly came to their neighborhood. After reports that a SWAT vehicle had left the sheriff’s headquarters, another crowd reportedly gathered outside their house.
“This one felt really, really, really scary, because it was like everyone was waiting for someone to come to our house,” Andrea told the publication.
Evans later spoke with the FBI and the Pima County Sheriff’s Department for about 40 minutes. He said he was home with his family the night Guthrie disappeared and has not heard from investigators since.
Sheriff Chris Nanos, who is leading the investigation with the FBI, said in an interview that he was upset by the false claims. “He’s going through hell, and it is horrible,” Sheriff Nanos said. “And I don’t know what to tell him except he probably should be speaking with some attorneys and sue some of these people for libel.”
“I wish I could jump out and defend every single one of them that’s been falsely accused,” he added.
Meanwhile, more than three and a half weeks after Nancy disappeared from her home, the Guthrie family has raised the reward to $1 million for information that could help find her.
