More than a month after 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie disappeared from her Tucson home, volunteers armed with a metal detector spent hours scanning the ground outside her property while investigators quietly returned a vehicle they had seized from her older daughter. No suspect has been publicly identified. No person of interest has been named. And a combined reward of over $1 million from the FBI, local authorities, and the Guthrie family remains unclaimed.
On Tuesday, two podcasters arrived at the Guthrie home with a metal detector, a garden spade, and a vinyl brush. They scanned a roadside easement at the front of the property, searching for any jewelry or small items that could have been dropped, Fox News Digital reported. The pair remained on scene for hours.
Alex Zabel, a Tucson resident who has been volunteering in the search for Nancy Guthrie since Feb. 2, told Fox News Digital what drove them there:
We didn't find anything, but we're just trying to do as much as we can without trespassing.
Zabel and his volunteer partner, a female searcher who asked to remain anonymous, said the device they used could detect objects up to 15 feet underground. They were part of a larger group that organized a volunteer neighborhood search last month, though authorities said the effort yielded no evidence of value.
Zabel told Fox News Digital he remains hopeful about the Tucson community's ability to help:
They say it takes a village. We could use all these searchers.
While the podcasters worked outside, three unidentified men were inside the Guthrie home. The two groups were not believed to be connected, and the men inside the home likely had permission from Nancy's family. They did not comment as they left.
Separately, a spokesperson for the Pima County Sheriff's Department told Fox News Digital that a vehicle belonging to Nancy's older daughter, Annie, was being returned to the family. Investigators had taken the vehicle weeks earlier as part of the ongoing investigation into Nancy's disappearance.
Sheriff Chris Nanos has said that Nancy's adult children and their spouses are not suspected in the crime that led to her disappearance. Savannah Guthrie, the "Today" co-host and Nancy's daughter, and her brother-in-law Tommaso Cioni joined the sisters Monday to place flowers at a growing tribute near the foot of Nancy's driveway.
The central piece of publicly known evidence remains Nest doorbell camera video showing a masked man on Nancy Guthrie's front steps around the time of her disappearance. He is described as being of average height and build and was wearing a black Ozark Trail backpack. Investigators have not publicly confirmed who this individual is or whether he has been identified.
Nancy Guthrie, 84, is believed to have been taken from her Tucson home in the early hours of Feb. 1. Authorities have not publicly identified a suspect, a vehicle, or any persons of interest. No charges have been filed. No arrest has been announced.
The combined reward from the FBI, local authorities, and the Guthrie family stands at over $1 million. It has not been claimed. Savannah Guthrie is asking anyone with information to call 1-800-CALL-FBI.
Investigators will need to identify the masked man captured on doorbell camera footage. They will need to establish how the individual accessed the property, whether any physical evidence connects him to the scene, and where Nancy Guthrie was taken. Authorities have not publicly confirmed whether additional surveillance footage from neighboring properties exists or has been reviewed.
The return of Annie's vehicle suggests that at least one line of forensic inquiry tied to the family has been closed, consistent with Sheriff Nanos's public statement clearing the children and their spouses. But that only narrows the field. It does not fill it.
An 84-year-old woman disappeared from her own home in the middle of the night, and more than a month later, the people doing the most visible searching are volunteers with a metal detector on a public easement. The over $1 million reward signals how seriously the family and federal authorities are taking this case. What the public still lacks is any indication that investigators are closing in on the person responsible.
