Backpack found as seek for Nancy Guthrie reaches Day 22

TUCSON — Volunteer searchers fanned out in search of clues because the hunt for the lacking 84-year-old mom of “Today” present co-host Savannah Guthrie entered its twenty second day.

Early on Feb. 22, volunteers gathered within the parking zone of a close-by Hobby Lobby earlier than starting a casual search alongside Orange Grove Road not removed from Guthrie’s home. The group recovered a backpack that was handed over to deputies.

Later, exterior of Guthrie’s residence, Tucson resident Lupita Tello poked the dust with a pointy steel rod soldered to a deal with. After wiggling the rod within the dust, Tello pulled it out and smelled the sharpened steel tip.

“If it smells bad like something decomposed, that’s where we start,” Tello mentioned, exhibiting reporters and true-crime streamers the primary software she makes use of in her searches for lacking folks in Mexico.

This would be the first time her group, Madres Buscadoras de Sonora, will search within the U.S. The group is a nonprofit from Mexico, which goals to seek out misplaced and lacking folks in Sonora. Some folks within the group joined to seek for their lacking sons and others for his or her lacking brothers, amongst others.

Her group was instructed about Nancy Guthrie’s case lately by a journalist buddy of Guthrie’s daughter, Savannah, and was requested to make flyers and seek for her, Tello mentioned.

The Pima County Sheriff’s Department instructed her the group needed to ask for permission from the owners to go looking on non-public property, nevertheless it did not want a proper allow, Tello mentioned.

Volunteer search teams like Tello’s have inquired about being within the space, mentioned Angelica Carrillo, a Sheriff’s Department spokesperson. They had been requested to offer investigators the area wanted to do their work and to contact the division to get entangled with any volunteer alternatives, Carrillo mentioned.

Madres Buscadoras de Sonora was planning an official search later within the week, Tello mentioned.

As the afternoon solar beat down, a number of passers-by from out of city meandered by Guthrie’s one-story brick home within the Catalina Foothills. Some got here from so far as Phoenix to see the residence of the lacking lady who has captured the world’s consideration.

The volunteer searches began a couple of week after Savannah Guthrie posted on social media Feb. 15, pleading with anybody who may know of her mom’s whereabouts that it was “never too late to do the right thing.”

Investigators still reviewing evidence

Authorities had no updates on the investigation as of the morning of Feb. 22, according to Carrillo.

DNA found on Guthrie’s property was mixed, meaning it came from more than one person, making it harder to run through national databases, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said in an interview broadcast Feb. 21.

The FBI has additionally been analyzing DNA found on a glove found about two miles from Guthrie’s residence, however no outcomes have been launched.

Guthrie has been lacking since Jan. 31. Detectives had been pushing to identify a masked particular person captured on doorbell video the evening she disappeared and have mentioned they don’t seem to be ruling out the likelihood that more than one person may be involved.

Tips were flowing to the Sheriff’s Department and FBI lines. Authorities have urged the public to submit actionable tips only, not well-wishes or similar comments.

No suspect had yet been named, and complex DNA evidence was still undergoing lab analysis, Nanos said in an interview with NBC.

A big growth within the Guthrie case got here Feb. 10, when investigators recovered footage of a masked individual captured by Guthrie’s doorbell camera on the evening she went lacking. Authorities had been nonetheless in search of the one that was sporting gloves within the footage.

Investigators were getting closer to identifying articles of clothing the masked man was wearing, including the pants, shoes and shirt or jacket, the Pima County sheriff said.

Investigators continued reviewing surveillance footage tied to key items of proof, together with a backpack possibly purchased from Walmart.

What to know: Did they find Nancy Guthrie? Lab experts continue DNA analysis

The Sheriff’s Department has said it was working with the retailer to help identify the purchaser. Legal experts note that stores routinely share transaction records and video footage with law enforcement during active investigations.

Carrillo said several hundred law enforcement personnel remain assigned to the case, with staffing levels changing based on investigative leads. The investigation will remain active until Guthrie is found or all leads are exhausted, she said.

Intense media presence causes traffic reroute

The narrow asphalt street with no sidewalks was once a two-way street crowded with cameras, lights and reporters from around the world. Large SUVs carrying journalists from national outlets struggled to get around each other and at times got into skirmishes.

On Feb. 22, that chaos was a distant memory, as cars calmly drove one way down the street after law enforcement prohibited parking and installed signs telling drivers where to go.

Residents remained cautious of the media frenzy the neighborhood had seen for several weeks, illustrated by an indication posted on a pole down the road from Guthrie’s home.

“Dear media, this neighborhood needs space to process, heal and gather in,” the signal learn.

Since Feb. 1, media automobiles and onlookers have crowded the slim roadway, at occasions limiting entry for residents, trash assortment and emergency responders, county officers mentioned.

Scouring ideas: Hundreds of investigators reviewing thousands of Guthrie tips

Sheriff doesn’t plan any media availability

Carrillo mentioned no information conferences had been deliberate, and the sheriff didn’t anticipate to have any media availability for the week of Feb. 23.

The sheriff’s final information convention was Feb. 5.

Law enforcement has requested anybody with details about the case to contact 1-800-CALL-FBI, 520-351-4900, 88-CRIME or go to tips.fbi.gov.

Reach reporter Helen Rummel at hrummel@azcentral.com and reporter Rey Covarrubias Jr. at rcovarrubias@azcentral.com.

(This story has been up to date so as to add extra info.)

This article initially appeared on Arizona Republic: Backpack found as Nancy Guthrie search enters 22nd day