Latest on Nancy Guthrie Case: Sheriff Teases Major Breakthrough in Kidnapping Case

Investigators searching for Nancy Guthrie say they are making progress nearly 100 days after her disappearance from her home in Arizona. Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos told Fox News Digital on Friday that authorities were moving closer to solving the case, which is being treated as a suspected abduction.

Asked whether investigators were making progress, Sheriff Nanos nodded and replied: “We are.” He described recent developments as “really great” but declined to provide further details.

The disappearance of the 84-year-old has drawn national attention because she is the mother of Savannah Guthrie, co-host of NBC’s Today programme, and because the case remains unsolved more than three months later.

Public interest in the investigation has intensified ahead of Mother’s Day in the United States on Sunday. Authorities say Nancy Guthrie disappeared from her home in the Catalina Foothills area near Tucson in late January. Investigators have repeatedly said they believe she was abducted and have not announced any arrests or publicly identified suspects.

The sheriff’s latest comments came after a sergeant with the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said in an interview released on Thursday that family members had initially believed Guthrie may have “walked away” after she disappeared.

However, Sheriff Nanos said during a February press conference: “The family wants everybody to know this isn’t somebody who just wandered off.”

According to investigators, Nancy Guthrie was last seen on 31 January after visiting her daughter’s home. Authorities said she returned to her residence at about 9:48pm after being driven there by her son-in-law.

The following morning, family members contacted police after she failed to attend church. Deputies responding to the home said surveillance systems had recorded unusual overnight activity, including movement outside the property and the disconnection of a camera.

Investigators later revealed that a ransom note demanding payment in bitcoin had been found. The note reportedly included details about the clothing Guthrie had been wearing. Blood discovered outside the home was later confirmed to belong to her.

In the days following her disappearance, the FBI announced rewards totalling up to $100,000 for information leading to her recovery. Authorities also released surveillance footage showing a masked individual outside the home and said they were investigating whether the suspect may have had an accomplice.

DNA evidence collected during the investigation has so far not led to any confirmed suspects. Officials said one glove recovered near the scene contained DNA from an unidentified man, though no match was found in national databases. Another glove initially thought to be connected to the case was later traced to a restaurant worker with no known involvement.

Authorities have also used specialised tracking technology in an attempt to detect signals from Guthrie’s pacemaker. In March, Savannah Guthrie said in her first public interview since the disappearance that her family was “in agony” and appealed for anyone with information to come forward.

She returned to the Today programme in April after several weeks away, describing the move as part of her sense of purpose while the search for her mother continued.

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