Pima County’s sheriff is pushing back on reports that investigators believe Nancy Guthrie’s abduction was linked to a botched burglary.
In a segment on Sunday, local TV news channel Arizona’s Family credited an “inside source” as saying “that investigators believe this was a burglary gone wrong.”
That scenario has been among the possibilities suggested since the 84-year-old was seized from her Tucson home on January 31.
However, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos was quick to pour cold water on the report, saying the “inside source” was nothing to do with his department.
“It did not come from us,” the sheriff told Fox News. “No idea and even though that is one of many possibilities, we would never speculate such a thing. We will let the evidence take us to motive.”
Another source from within the investigative team also pushed back on the botched burglary suggestion, telling Fox News it was “not the working theory inside the unit” and that it was highly unusual for residential homes to be burgled after dark.
“Nighttime residential burglaries are so ridiculously rare. Crazy rare,” the source said, adding that nighttime burglaries were much more likely to target commercial buildings. Meanwhile, home burglaries are far more likely during the day.
The investigative source also doubted whether Guthrie’s home would have appealed as a target for burglary.
“We don’t have any indication that [Guthrie] really kept anything valuable there and if this was a burglary gone wrong, they don’t take the victim with them usually,” the source told Fox News.
“I guess anything is possible but my gut says it’s something else entirely.”
In another lead, Nanos confirmed that it was believed the clothing and face mask work by the suspect had been purchased at Walmart, telling CBS that investigators had spent several days reviewing surveillance footage at local stores.
This latest twist comes after the FBI reportedly said a glove found two miles from Nancy Guthrie’s home could match the gloves worn by a masked and “armed” suspect seen outside her front door the morning she vanished.
The glove has been sent for DNA testing. While investigators have received the preliminary results, they’re still waiting on official confirmation, the Associated Press reported.
The FBI has described the suspect as a man with an average build, 5’9” to 5’10” tall. He was wearing a black, 25-liter ‘Ozark Trail Hiker Pack’ backpack, the agency noted.
The agency has also announced a reward of $100,000 for information “leading to the location of Nancy Guthrie and/or the arrest and conviction of anyone involved in her disappearance.”
As the search for Guthrie entered its third week, her daughter, “Today” show co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, shared a striking new message in a video Sunday night in which she spoke directly to her mother’s abductor.
“It’s been two weeks since our mom was taken, and I just wanted to come on and say that we still have hope, and we still believe,” she said. “I wanted to say to whoever has her, or knows where she is, that it’s never too late. And you’re not lost or alone, and it is never too late to do the right thing, and we are here.”
“We believe in the essential goodness of every human being, and it’s never too late,” she added.
The disappearance of Nancy Guthrie has sparked a massive search involving state and federal law enforcement agencies.
The missing woman relies on daily medication, and there could be “fatal” consequences if she doesn’t take it, Sheriff Nanos has said.
When she vanished, police also flagged that she has high blood pressure, a pacemaker and cardiac issues.
