Sheriff on Nancy Guthrie Case Gives Update, Says Investigators are ‘Definitely Closer’
In an interview with NBC News, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos shared updates on a car seen nearby on surveillance video, a backpack worn by the suspect and more.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos believes investigators are making progress as the search for Nancy Guthrie enters a new month.
Nanos spoke with NBC News correspondent Liz Kreutz on March 2 with some updates on the case involving the missing 84-year-old mother of TODAY co-anchor Savannah Guthrie.
Savannah, her sister, Annie, and Annie’s husband, Tommaso, were also seen March 2 placing flowers and a card at a growing tribute outside their mother’s home near Tucson, Arizona. The family continues to plead for help from anyone with information about her whereabouts and have offered a $1 million reward.
The handwritten message on their card read, “Though we are surrounded by so much darkness and uncertainty, our love burns bright. We love you Mommy. We miss you so much.”
Savannah also shared a photo on Instagram of yellow flowers from the memorial.
“We feel the love and prayers from our neighbors, from the Tucson community and from around the country 💛,” she wrote. “Please don’t stop praying and hoping with us. Bring her home.”
Nanos said the sheriff’s department now has a dedicated team from their homicide unit working with the FBI on the case. He added that he and his team are operating under the belief that Guthrie is still alive and are pursuing thousands of leads.
“I think the investigators are definitely closer,” he said.
Here are the latest updates.
Car Seen on Surveillance Video Not Identified
Kreutz asked Nanos about Ring camera video obtained by Fox News Digital that shows a car driving past a home in Guthrie’s neighborhood about 2.5 miles away from her house at 2:36 a.m. on Feb. 1. Guthrie was reported missing by her family hours later that day.
NBC News has not been able to independently verify the footage.
“Look, what I would tell you is this: We’re aware of it, and we’re looking into it, just like any other piece of evidence,” Nanos said.
He said authorities have not been able to identify the car in the footage.
“We’re looking at that vehicle as well as hundreds of thousands of other vehicles that were out driving that time of day,” Nanos said.
The Backpack Worn By the Suspect May Not Have Been Bought at Walmart
Investigators have not yet been able to identify the clothes worn by a man seen on doorbell camera video in front of Guthrie’s home wearing a ski mask, backpack and holster on the night she disappeared, according to Nanos.
The backpack the man is seen wearing is exclusively sold by Walmart, but Nanos says it may not have been bought at one.
“We’ve now learned that maybe it wasn’t purchased out of Walmart,” he told Kreutz. “That backpack is new, is exclusive to Walmart, but who’s to say I didn’t buy it and put it on eBay? … That’s what we’re looking at.”
Nanos added that there is still information authorities have not shared with the public.
“There’s so much that everybody wants to know, but I would be very neglectful, irresponsible as a police, law enforcement leader, to share that with everybody,” he said. “We have information on this case that we think is going to hopefully lead us to solving this case. But it takes time.”
No Leads from DNA Found at the Scene
Nanos said authorities are still having challenges trying to process mixed DNA found at Guthrie’s property.
He suggested to Kreutz that the mixture could be from several people. Experts have said that can make it difficult to extract a DNA profile for one individual.
Authorities have put some DNA into the national FBI data bank but received no hits. Nanos told Kreutz he still believes the DNA could be a viable lead but that it will take more time to extract an identification.
Nancy Guthrie neighbors’ Ring camera captures vehicles on possible route from crime scene
Homeowner says authorities never canvassed their neighborhood despite living on back road near Nancy Guthrie’s home
EXCLUSIVE: TUCSON, Ariz. — A resident in the Catalina Foothills neighborhood has a street-facing Ring camera that caught 12 cars passing by on the morning of Nancy Guthrie’s suspected abduction.
The recordings took place between midnight and 6 a.m. on Feb. 1, and some of the activity occurred near the 2:30 a.m. mark, which is around the time authorities said the 84-year-old Guthrie’s pacemaker device last synced with her iPhone.
The homeowners, Elias and Danielle Stratigouleas, told Fox News Digital that police had not canvassed their neighborhood in the 25 days since Guthrie is believed to have been taken from her bed in a home invasion kidnapping. The FBI and Pima County Sheriff’s Department have been alerted to the video. It was not immediately clear whether the video is of any use to the investigation or whether the vehicle had ever been on Guthrie’s street.
Guthrie is the mother of “Today” co-host Savannah Guthrie, a Tucson native.
Left: A still image from Ring camera video shows a vehicle passing a home near Nancy Guthrie’s on Feb. 1, the morning she is believed to have been abducted. Right: Nancy in an undated family photo. (Courtesy of Elias and Danielle Stratigouleas, Courtesy of NBC)
The Stratigouleas house is on a back road that leads out of Guthrie’s neighborhood, avoiding major intersections. And they live about 2.5 miles away from the crime scene, which is outside the 2-mile radius of neighbors who received a Ring alert asking for video taken from Jan. 1 to Feb. 2.
Their house is roughly a seven-minute drive from Guthrie’s address, according to Google Maps. One of their videos was recorded at around 2:36 a.m. on Feb. 1, which is roughly eight minutes after Guthrie’s pacemaker last synced with her iPhone, according to the sheriff’s timeline.
WATCH: Ring video shows vehicles on outskirts of Nancy Guthrie’s neighborhood morning of abduction
Danielle Stratigouleas said the number of cars passing that night was not unusual, but she and a friend found it “odd” that no one from law enforcement had visited her neighborhood.
A map details the neighborhood surrounding Nancy Guthrie’s home on Camino Escalante in Tucson, Arizona, and a secondary route through the Catalina Foothills down Camino Real leading to East River Road. (Fox News)
A Ring camera image taken from video shows a vehicle driving south on Camino Real at 2:36 a.m. on Feb. 1, the morning Nancy Guthrie is believed to have been abducted from a home nearby in the Catalina Foothills of Tucson, Arizona. (Courtesy of Elias and Danielle Stratigouleas)
The FBI and Pima County Sheriff’s Department have been alerted to the video. It was not immediately clear whether it is of any use to the investigation.
Retired NYPD detective and national security expert Pat Brosnan reviewed the video with his team. He tells Fox News Digital they believe the vehicle seen at 2:36 a.m. is a Kia Soul, based on its slanted roof, window design and rear-quarter glass. He also noted the vertical brake lights.
The rewards are still outstanding, and anyone with information they think may be relevant is asked to contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI.
The route itself had been flagged to Fox News Digital by another neighbor — who said she also saw a suspicious man walking in the area on Feb. 2, around the corner from what appeared to be an abandoned car. The young mother asked not to be named due to concerns for her children’s safety amid the unsolved kidnapping investigation.
WATCH: Path out of Nancy Guthrie’s neighborhood avoids major intersections
She described him as about 5 feet, 9 inches tall, Hispanic, with a close-trimmed beard and wearing a silver bracelet. He was smoking a cigarette near the intersection of Camino Juan Paisano and Piedra Seca, which is between Camino Real and Guthrie’s home.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department did not return multiple phone calls and emails about the man or the vehicle, a dark red Honda SUV that the neighbor said was moved after three days.
A neighbor of Nancy Guthrie’s spotted this dark red Honda near Camino Real on Feb. 2, the day after Nancy Guthrie’s suspected abduction nearby. She told Fox News Digital that it remained in place for a couple of days after deputies examined it. (Obtained by Fox News Digital)
A neighbor of Nancy Guthrie’s spotted this dark red Honda near Camino Real on Feb. 2, the day after Nancy Guthrie’s suspected abduction nearby. She told Fox News Digital it remained in place for about three days before it was moved. (Obtained by Fox News Digital)
Another unidentified man was spotted in mid-January, according to neighbor Aldine Meister.
“He didn’t have your typical walking gear on, and he had his hat pulled really far over his eyes,” she told Fox News Digital.
She said she saw the man walking in the neighborhood, near an intersection leading to Guthrie’s home — and hadn’t encountered him before or after.
Deputies examine a flyer taped to Nancy Guthrie’s mailbox on Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. (Michael Ruiz/Fox News Digital)
“He was kind of younger, and he just didn’t look like he was going out for a walk,” she added.
She mentioned it to her husband but did not report it to investigators until after Guthrie’s disappearance.
FBI agents canvass homes near Nancy Guthrie’s home in Tucson, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (Kat Ramirez for Fox News Digital)
Danielle Stratigouleas told Fox News Digital that she did see deputies searching what locals call a wash, a common terrain feature in the region, near her office, which is on Skyline Drive, another main road that borders Guthrie’s development.
North Campbell, which was extensively searched by authorities and volunteers, connects to both main arteries. Camino Real connects only to East River Road.
“I think it sounds smart, and if they even sort of knew the area or actually cased the area beforehand, that road behind Camino Real called Camino Escuela would be an even better idea,” she told Fox News Digital. “There’s never anybody on it, and never a police car to be seen.”
Fox News Digital approached five other homes with street-facing cameras on Camino Real. Three of the homeowners said they had not been visited by law enforcement, either. No one answered the door at the other two.
None said they had any notable video from Feb. 1.
Campbell also runs past the University of Arizona and is a much busier road, she said.
An undated photo of Nancy Guthrie and Savannah Guthrie was provided by NBC in response to the disappearance of the 84-year-old. (Courtesy of NBC)
“It’s always buzzing even on a Saturday night,” she added. “Camino La Brinca and Camino Piedra Seca also lead to Camino Real, and they’re a good way to get from Camino Zorella.”
The residents said they’re hoping more people outside the radius will check their cameras and submit anything that could help the FBI.
Guthrie is believed to have been forcibly abducted from her home on North Camino Escalante, according to the Pima County Sheriff’s Department.
In more than three weeks, police have not publicly identified any suspects, persons of interest or vehicles connected to the case. They briefly detained but later released several people and have towed multiple vehicles, including those belonging to family members and the detainees.
No one has been charged with a crime as of Thursday morning, however.
Exterior view of the front entrance of Nancy Guthrie’s home in Tucson, Arizona, Tuesday, February 3, 2026. (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)
The FBI and Google teamed up to recover doorbell camera footage even though her Nest device is physically unaccounted for, and she did not have a cloud subscription.
FBI Director Kash Patel released still images and video on Feb. 10.
The video shows a masked individual with gloves on, prowling on her front porch.
These two images were released by the FBI, recovered from Nancy Guthrie’s Nest doorbell camera. It’s unclear whether they show the same person. (FBI)
According to two sources with knowledge of the investigation, one of the doorbell images was taken on a different date than the others. It shows an individual who may be the same masked intruder at Guthrie’s doorstep, without an Ozark Trail backpack or holstered pistol.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has called the timeline surrounding the images speculation.
Savannah Guthrie is asking anyone with information in the case to dial 1-800-CALL-FBI or contact her directly.
