The FBI has matched DNA from a glove found two miles from the home of NBC host Savannah Guthrie’s mother to a masked individual suspected of kidnapping the 84-year-old more than two weeks ago.
Investigators told the Associated Press Sunday they’d found the item lying in a field near a road not far from Nancy Guthrie’s house in Tucson, Arizona. Preliminary test results came through on Saturday. Agents are now waiting for official confirmation of the match.
“It is never too late to do the right thing,” the Today show host said in a renewed appeal on Instagram. “And we are here. And we believe in the essential goodness of every human being, that it’s never too late.”
Guthrie’s mother has not been seen since Jan. 31, when she was dropped at her residence in the Catalina Foothills by her son-in-law, Tommaso Cioni. The family reported her missing before noon the following day.
Investigators say they found blood on the porch of the property. Details released by local police indicate the doorbell camera was disconnected around 1.47 a.m. on Feb. 1, and that the 84-year-old’s pacemaker app registered a disconnect from her phone approximately half an hour later.
Surveillance videos recovered from the scene further show an individual approaching the front door while wearing a ski mask and carrying a backpack. The FBI has confirmed that person as a suspect, describing him as roughly 5 feet 9 inches tall and of medium build.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Office told CBS Monday they believe the clothes and mask worn by the individual in the video were likely purchased from Walmart. Investigators have yet to identify the exact brands, having previously determined the person’s backpack was a black Ozark Trail Hiker.
Only Walmart sells that particular bag. The supermarket chain has reportedly now provided authorities with records of all sales of the item both online and in-store.
The sheriff’s office detained an individual for questioning following a traffic stop in Tucson last week. What had prompted the stop remains unclear, but the man was released a few hours later. Authorities carried out a search of a property about an hour south of the city later that afternoon.
The purported abductors have reportedly sent ransom notes to the media, issuing two deadlines for payment which have since passed. Guthrie’s family have raised additional concerns given the TV host’s mother requires daily medication to treat high blood pressure and ongoing heart issues.
The Daily Beast has contacted the FBI for comment on this story.
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