Arizona sheriff in Nancy Guthrie search defends sending DNA to Florida lab

An Arizona sheriff defended sending evidence in the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, the mother of “Today” show co-host Savannah Guthrie, to a lab in Florida for DNA testing over the FBI’s lab in Quantico, Virginia.

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos also said the results that investigators have received from DNA testing so far haven’t led to a suspect. Authorities believe Nancy Guthrie was forcibly taken from her Tucson home during the middle of the night nearly two weeks ago. 

Nanos told CBS News correspondent Jonathan Vigliotti in an interview Friday that his agency has been sending evidence to a Florida lab for years, and he doesn’t want samples sent to two different facilities.

“It adds a step that’s not needed,” Nanos said. “If you have two labs you’re looking at, and one’s bad or one’s better, that’s fine. That’s not the case here, nobody’s saying that.”

Nanos said the Florida lab has samples taken from the Guthrie family and people who have worked at Nancy Guthrie’s home to compare against the evidence that has been gathered during the investigation.

“Let’s just use one lab, they have it all, the reports are generated, those reports are shared between both agencies, and we keep moving,” Nanos said.

The sheriff didn’t provide details about what results investigators have gotten back from the lab amid the ongoing investigation.

“We did get some DNA back, and we are looking at all those things,” Nanos said. 

Asked if the results have led to a suspect, Nanos said, “Boy, I wish it did.  Not yet. We’ve got DNA, and it’s still working, that’s all I can tell you.”

DNA that wasn’t Nancy Guthrie’s or that of those in close contact with her was collected from the property, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said in an update Friday afternoon. Investigators are working to identify who it belongs to. The department isn’t disclosing where the DNA was found on the property.

Meanwhile, while Nanos said they haven’t received proof of life, he also added that “there has been no sign of death.” When asked if the suspect should be afraid, he responded: “I think the suspect should be afraid every night. We’re going to find you.”

The FBI released a description Thursday of a person it referred to as a suspect who was seen on video footage from Nancy Guthrie’s Nest home security camera on the morning of her disappearance.

The bureau described the individual as a male who is about 5 feet, 9 inches to 5 feet, 10 inches tall with an average build. In the footage, the person is wearing a ski mask, gloves and what the FBI said was a black, 25-liter Ozark Trail Hiker Pack backpack.

CBS News has learned the backpack is sold exclusively at Walmart. Sources with knowledge of the investigation told CBS News that law enforcement officials reviewed video at one Walmart location in Tucson. CBS News reached out to Walmart corporate offices, but a spokesperson declined to comment.

In addition to the description, the FBI doubled its reward to up to $100,000 for information leading to Guthrie’s location or the arrest and conviction of anyone involved in her disappearance. Guthrie was also added to the bureau’s list of its most wanted missing persons.

Investigators have issued a wider call for video footage from Guthrie’s neighbors. The Pima County Sheriff’s Department asked people who live within 2 miles of her home to provide authorities with all footage of vehicles, people or anything that seems out of the ordinary from New Year’s Day to Feb. 2, the day after Guthrie was reported missing.

Investigators recently found a pair of black gloves that are being tested for DNA, sources close to the investigation confirmed to CBS News. Nanos told CBS News on Friday that the gloves have been sent out for testing. 

In its update Friday, the sheriff’s department said “several” gloves have been found during the investigation, and that the closest gloves were found about 2 miles from Nancy Guthrie’s home. A glove seen in images from the New York Post resembles those seen in the security camera footage authorities released earlier this week.

The FBI said Wednesday that agents were conducting an “extensive search” along multiple roadways in the Catalina Foothills area where Guthrie lives.

On Thursday, Savannah Guthrie posted a message to social media featuring clips of a family home movie when her mom was younger, writing, “We will never give up on her.”