Backpack discovered as search for Nancy Guthrie reaches Day 22

TUCSON — Volunteer searchers fanned out looking for clues as the hunt for the missing 84-year-old mother of “Today” show co-host Savannah Guthrie entered its 22nd day.

Early on Feb. 22, volunteers gathered in the parking lot of a nearby Hobby Lobby before beginning an informal search along Orange Grove Road not far from Guthrie’s house. The group recovered a backpack that was handed over to deputies.

Later, outside of Guthrie’s home, Tucson resident Lupita Tello poked the dirt with a sharp metal rod soldered to a handle. After wiggling the rod in the dirt, Tello pulled it out and smelled the sharpened metal tip.

“If it smells bad like something decomposed, that’s where we start,” Tello said, showing reporters and true-crime streamers the main tool she uses in her searches for missing people in Mexico.

This will be the first time her group, Madres Buscadoras de Sonora, will search in the U.S. The group is a non-profit from Mexico, which aims to find lost and missing people in Sonora. Some people in the group joined to search for their missing sons and others for their missing brothers, among others.

Her group was told about Nancy Guthrie’s case recently by a journalist friend of Guthrie’s daughter, Savannah, and was asked to make flyers and search for her, Tello said.

The Pima County Sheriff’s Department told her the group had to ask for permission from the homeowners to search on private property, but it didn’t need a formal permit, Tello said.

Volunteer search groups like Tello’s have inquired about being in the area, said Angelica Carrillo, a Sheriff’s Department spokesperson. They were asked to give investigators the space needed to do their work and to contact the department to get involved with any volunteer opportunities, Carrillo said.

Madres Buscadoras de Sonora was planning an official search later in the week, Tello said.

As the afternoon sun beat down, several passers-by from out of town meandered by Guthrie’s one-story brick house in the Catalina Foothills. Some came from as far as Phoenix to see the home of the missing woman who has captured the world’s attention.

The volunteer searches started about a week after Savannah Guthrie posted on social media Feb. 15 pleading with anyone who might know of her mother’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 also been analyzing DNA found on a glove discovered about two miles from Guthrie’s home, but no results have been released.

Guthrie has been missing since Jan. 31. Detectives were pushing to identify a masked individual captured on doorbell video the night she disappeared and have said they are not ruling out the possibility 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 significant development in the Guthrie case came Feb. 10, when investigators recovered footage of a masked person captured by Guthrie’s doorbell camera on the night she went missing. Authorities were still looking for the person who was wearing gloves in 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 pieces of evidence, including 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 wary of the media frenzy the neighborhood had seen for several weeks, illustrated by a sign posted on a pole down the street from Guthrie’s house.

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

Since Feb. 1, media vehicles and onlookers have crowded the narrow roadway, at times limiting access for residents, trash collection and emergency responders, county officials said.

Scouring tips: Hundreds of investigators reviewing thousands of Guthrie tips

Sheriff does not plan any media availability

Carrillo said no news conferences were planned, and the sheriff did not expect to have any media availability for the week of Feb. 23.

The sheriff’s last news conference was Feb. 5.

Law enforcement has asked anyone with information about the case to contact 1-800-CALL-FBI, 520-351-4900, 88-CRIME or visit tips.fbi.gov.

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

(This story has been updated to add more information.)

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