Nancy Guthrie has been missing for almost two months and, due to the lack of substantial leads in the investigation, many have taken advantage of the stagnant developments to promote their own conspiracy theories.
A recent rumor has prompted local authorities to tackle the issue head-on, with the discovery of a woman’s body sparking speculation online that it could be the missing 84-year-old.
On Friday, March 28, the Scottsdale Police Department shared a statement onformerly known as Twitter, regarding the discovery of an unidentified woman’s body in an Arizona canal about 100 miles from Nancy Guthrie’s home in Tucson.
“A death investigation is underway after the body of an adult female was found in a canal near Indian Bend and Hayden Roads on March 28,” the statement begins. “Police and firefighters were first called to the scene at around 8am after a person walking along the canal saw the body in the water.”
“Scottsdale detectives and crime scene specialists responded to the scene to collect evidence and carefully document the scene,” the statement continued.
Authorities also shared the condition of the body and confirmed they were working to determine the identity of the deceased woman.
“Due to the condition of the body, investigators are initially unable to confirm if there are any traumatic injuries. The investigation is still in its early stages as detectives work to confirm the identity of the person and how they ended up in the canal,” the statement said.
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Retired FBI agent says Guthrie investigation ‘much more difficult’ as case drags on
On March 17, CBS News spoke with retired FBI Supervisory Special Agent Lance Leising, who told the outlet it would be difficult to continue the investigation without new leads.
“The lack of meaningful leads. That’s the first thing it tells me,” Leising said of the seemingly stalled investigation. “It becomes much more difficult to continue the investigation, keep it up to date and fight to find new leads. »
However, he noted that the lack of leads does not mean all hope is lost in the search for Guthrie, as the process “takes time.”
“Maybe you have multiple people within a single DNA family who could potentially be suspects. You need to investigate each of them independently,” he said.
“I would like to hope – and I’m sure the family is incredibly hopeful – that the silence is because they are on to something,” Leising continued. “They just need to investigate harder.”
Dates of two surveillance videos gave Guthrie’s investigation a new direction
According to PEOPLEinvestigators are now looking closely at video footage from the weeks preceding Guthrie’s disappearance, including January 11 and 24.
Neighbors in his Tucson community say authorities have recently asked about surveillance footage tied to those dates, suggesting it could be key to determining what led to Guthrie’s disappearance.
Images from January 11 had already been requested by authorities, including between 9 p.m. and midnight, indicating a specific window they believed could contain relevant activity.
Additionally, footage from January 31 between 9:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. was also requested, the day before Guthrie was last seen.
This renewed attention follows previously released footage showing a masked individual outside Guthrie’s front door in the early hours of February 1, who was described as being of medium build, carrying a backpack and appearing armed.
Pima County Sheriff Reveals Authorities ‘Know Why’ Nancy Guthrie Was Kidnapped
Sheriff Chris Nanos of the Pima County Sheriff’s Department shared in an interview with NBC News that he and other members of the sheriff’s department believe they “know why” Guthrie was kidnapped from her home.
“We think we know why [the kidnapper] “We did that and we think it was targeted, but we’re not 100 percent sure,” Nanos said March 12. “So it would be silly to tell people, ‘Don’t worry about it.’ You are not his target. You might be. Don’t think for a moment that because this happened to the Guthrie family that you are safe. No. Keep your cool.
Speaking about the details of a possible motive, Sheriff Nanos would not share them publicly.
“I think it came out from day one,” he told NBC News. “I think on day one we had strong beliefs about what happened, and those beliefs haven’t diminished. I’m not going to get into those theories. We have our beliefs. Everyone has theirs.”
Savannah Guthrie announced her official return to the “Today” show
On Friday, March 27, Hoda Kotb, who directed the Savannah Guthrie show first direct interview since the disappearance of his mothershared on the “Today” show that she will officially make her return to the show on Monday, April 6.
In the third part of the interview, Savannah explained her decision to return to the series because her mother, who went missing on February 1, is still missing.
“It’s hard to imagine doing it because it’s such a place of joy and lightness and I can’t come back and try to be something I’m not,” she said of returning to her co-anchor role. “But I can’t not come back because it’s my family. I think that’s part of my goal right now. I want to smile.”
“And when I do, it will be real. And my joy will be my protest. My joy will be my response,” she continued. “And being there is joyful. And when it’s not, I say so. I’ve been very grateful to have this family. I consider it my family, my big family, and when times are hard, you want to be with your family. And I want to be with my family.”
Savannah admitted how difficult it will be to return to the airwaves amid such extreme personal tragedy.
“I don’t know if I can do it. I don’t know if I’ll fit in there anymore, but I’d like to try. I’d like to try. I won’t be the same, but maybe it’s like that old poem, more beautiful in the broken places,” she told Kotb.
