Few leads in Nancy Guthrie case after 11 days; investigators seek tips

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Investigators searching for Nancy Guthrie in the foothills outside Tucson, Arizona, said Wednesday that 11 days after the 84-year-old went missing, they still had not identified a suspect or even a person of interest. The lack of progress has fueled questions as local and federal investigators have not held a news conference in days, according to an Associated Press report that described how recent leads did not produce lasting momentum.

Authorities previously released surveillance video that showed what investigators described as a masked and apparently armed man at Guthrie’s doorstep the night she disappeared. They also detained a person for questioning Tuesday after what appeared to be a possible break, but the man was released hours later.

A former FBI profiler, Mary Ellen O’Toole, said it is not unusual for cases to look stalled early and later move forward. O’Toole, who worked on the yearslong search for the “Unabomber,” said that in investigations like the one into Guthrie’s disappearance, investigators often try to prompt the public to spot something investigators cannot see in the moment.

O’Toole said the surveillance-video release is intended to reach people who may have noticed unusual behavior or details that could connect to the suspect. She cited how police successfully identified people in other cases through a combination of public attention and tips, rather than through steady early breakthroughs.

In the “Unabomber” case, O’Toole pointed to the period when investigators ultimately arrested Theodore Kaczynski after a yearslong effort. She noted that Kaczynski carried out a 17-year bombing campaign that killed three people and injured 23 others, and she said his manifesto was published in The New York Times and The Washington Post before his arrest.

O’Toole also referenced how, in another matter, Luigi Mangione—whom the Associated Press report described as accused of shooting the CEO of UnitedHealthcare in New York—was arrested five days later after someone recognized him at a McDonald’s and called in a tip. She said the strategy is similar in Guthrie’s case: the public release of video, paired with the family’s plea for help, can help generate leads.

Investigators said DNA from blood on Guthrie’s porch matched her. They added that they will still be collecting evidence for comparison from a possible suspect, including hair or fingerprints, which have helped solve other cases, the report said.

The Associated Press report described how law enforcement solved another case involving the University of Idaho murders by using trace DNA found on a knife sheath left on one of the victims’ beds. In that matter, authorities said the DNA did not yield results in standard law enforcement databases and investigators instead used publicly available genealogy services to search for possible relatives, eventually getting leads through a chain that included tracking a car near the crime scene and following up with additional DNA testing.

O’Toole also said investigators may rely on tips even when progress seems limited at first, pointing to examples where case breaks came only after authorities shared identifying information. She referenced the Brown University shooting in 2025 as a case that initially did not appear to yield a clear suspect, before a tipster’s information helped lead investigators to a person of interest.

In that Brown University case, police later shared images of a person of interest, and a man started posting on Reddit that he recognized the individual and that police should look into a gray Nissan. The report said a source identified only as “John” in a police affidavit told investigators he had bumped into the person in a bathroom and noticed his clothing was “inappropriate and inadequate for the weather,” then saw him again acting nervous near the Nissan. John’s tip helped identify the shooter, Claudio Neves Valente, six days later, leading investigators to a storage unit where Valente was found dead from suicide, the report said.

The report said it was unclear whether John took a $50,000 reward offered in that case, and it noted that the FBI is offering the same amount for information in Guthrie’s apparent abduction and hoping that a tipster will come forward. The Pima County Sheriff’s Department said Wednesday that it has received nearly 18,000 calls since the day Guthrie was reported missing.

In a statement, FBI spokesperson Connor Hagan said, “Someone has that one piece of information that can help us bring Nancy home.”