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By Khaleda Rahman
National Correspondent
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Six months after Nancy Guthrie disappeared from her home, experts told Newsweek that the case is cooling off, though remains far from cold, with more leads and DNA evidence to assess in the next phase.
The 84-year-old mother of Today co-host Savannah Guthrie was last seen at her home in the Catalina Foothills near Tucson, Arizona, on January 31. She was reported missing the following day.
“This case is nowhere near cold only six months in. That is not a long time under these circumstances,” Jennifer Coffindaffer, a former FBI special agent, told Newsweek.
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Authorities believe Nancy Guthrie was kidnapped, abducted or otherwise taken against her will and said that drops of her blood were found near the front doorstep.
Later in February, the FBI released surveillance videos showing a masked man on her porch on the night she disappeared. But since then, there’s been no sign of her and authorities have not identified a suspect or provided the public with any major breakthroughs in a case that has captured national attention.
But while the absence of a publicized breakthrough has led some to believe the case is getting cold, experts say it remains active as long as investigators have leads to pursue, including tips, video and DNA evidence, even if it may be entering a more challenging stage.
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The Pima County Sheriff’s Department, which is leading the investigation, wrote on X on Thursday: "This week marks six months since Nancy Guthrie was taken from her home. This investigation remains active & ongoing. When a significant development occurs in this case, it will be shared publicly."
Sheriff Chris Nanos said a task force of investigators from the sheriff's office and the FBI "remains committed to finding Nancy and providing answers to her family."
"The analysis of DNA and digital evidence has been underway for the past six months. This work is complex and time-intensive, but investigators continue to pursue every credible lead," he said.
"As Savannah Guthrie recently said, it is never too late to do the right thing. Anyone with information is urged to come forward and help bring this case to a resolution."
‘Cooling’ But Not Cold
Kenneth Gray, a former FBI agent who is now a professor in the University of New Haven's Henry C. Lee College of Criminal Justice and Forensic Sciences, said a case is only cold “when all investigative leads have been exhausted and no one is actively working the case.”
“You might say this case is cooling, but not yet a cold case,” Gray told Newsweek. “All it takes is a good lead and the case will be off and running again.”
Jennifer Coffindaffer agreed, saying that experts are still reviewing DNA evidence that was recovered from Guthrie’s home that doesn’t belong to her or those in close contact with her.
On Thursday, Nanos told CBS News that a hair sample that underwent forensic testing after being discovered in Guthrie's home came back inconclusive. Nanos said there was blood and other DNA evidence found at the scene that is still being analyzed, but have not yielded any results so far.
Coffindaffer said that there are also thousands of leads that have likely still not been run down “due to the sheer volume of them.”
"Not to mention looking at every interview that has been conducted to deduce possible leads from those interviews that must be investigated,” she said. “They must run each one to ground.”
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Entering a Different Phase
The investigation “has gone beyond stale” even if it’s not officially a cold case, Peter S. Christiansen, a Las Vegas-based criminal defense attorney and founder of Christiansen Trial Lawyers, told Newsweek.
“After six months without a major public breakthrough, it's clear the investigation has entered a different phase,” Christiansen said.
He said the investigation has likely moved beyond its initial stage, though that does not mean there are no avenues for investigators to continue down.
"Early on, investigators are collecting physical evidence, reviewing surveillance, interviewing witnesses and running down every credible lead they have,” he said.
“By six months, most of those immediate avenues have been exhausted. The focus shifts to going back through the evidence, waiting on forensic testing, following up on any new information that comes in and hoping someone comes forward with the piece that moves the case forward.”
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How The Case Could Be Solved
Christiansen said that some of the biggest breaks in investigations can happen months or even years later. “But the reality is, the longer a case goes unsolved, the harder it gets. Memories fade. Leads dry up,” he said.
“At some point, investigators are waiting for that one new piece of evidence or one person who finally decides to talk. That's often what ends up breaking a case like this.”
Coffindaffer said there are several ways investigators could get a breakthrough.
It could come if investigators are able to identify a vehicle in surveillance footage recovered from Guthrie’s neighborhood, she said.
Other ways include a person coming forward to identify the man seen in surveillance footage on Guthrie’s porch, whom the FBI have called a suspect.
Or DNA evidence could lead investigators to identify the perpetrator, she said.
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Savannah Guthrie's New Plea
In a video released Monday, Savannah Guthrie issued an emotional public appeal, urging anyone with information to come forward and help bring her home.
She said her family remains trapped in a "nightmare" as the search continues with no answers about her mother's whereabouts.
"It has been months since our mom was taken from us. Our family is in agony. We are in a nightmare that will not end," Guthrie said. "Nothing about our situation has changed. We have done our part and we will never stop looking for her.”
She also urged anyone who may know what happened to help investigators and her family locate her mother.
"So I'm asking you. Begging you to do the right thing now," she said.
"Make the right choice. Help us find her. Tell us where to look for her. I truly believe it is never too late to do the right thing.”
Savannah Guthrie's family is offering a $1 million reward for information that leads to her recovery, and a separate reward of more than $200,000 is available for information about her whereabouts or that could lead to the arrest and conviction of anyone involved in her disappearance.
Meanwhile, in an Instagram post on Saturday morning, Savannah acknowledged the sixth month anniversary of her mother's disappearance, writing: "Six months ago, someone took her out of her bed in the dead of night. We have lived every moment, every breath, and every heartbeat in agony and despair ever since. Every day, we wake up and try to be strong and go on - because that’s what our joyful and resilient Mom taught us to do. But make no mistake - our hearts are in ruins. Cam and Kristine, Annie and Tommy, Mike and me - we spend every waking moment thinking of her, longing for her, looking for her. There is a hole inside us that can never be filled.
"We are begging for help. We are desperate" she continued. "We need someone to come forward. Someone knows something. Someone suspects something. Someone recognizes the writing in the ransom demand notes. Someone has noticed something different, strange, troubling or just unusual - perhaps with someone they deeply love. Perhaps they are afraid to come forward. Perhaps they are conflicted. Perhaps they are angry or upset for being in this situation. There is a way out - to tell what you know. You can do so anonymously. The reward is available. There is a way to end this situation and do the right thing.... Please. Bring her home."
Savannah also criticized anyone following the story for "entertainment or for profit."
"You are not on her side - you are part of the harm perpetrated against her," she warned.
Sheriff Nanos Says Kash Patel Was ‘Misinformed’
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has again hit back at FBI Director Kash Patel over his comments about how the case has been handled.
Patel has repeatedly said that the FBI was kept out of the investigation for the first four days. “What we, the FBI, do is say, ‘Hey, we're here to help. What do you need? What can we do?' And for four days, we were kept out of the investigation,” Patel said in an episode of the Hang Out With Sean Hannity podcast in May.
In an interview on The Sharpe Exchange podcast this week, Nanos again denied that was the case.
“The representation that the FBI was held off and boy, we wish we'd have been there early on,” Nanos said. “That’s just not even accurate. They were there day one just as my team was.”
He added he thinks Patel is “misinformed.”
“Our detectives were called in after our search and rescue team recognized what they had, contacted our investigative teams, they immediately contacted the Violent Crimes task force and their representatives were there.”
Nanos said he believes Patel "heard information early on that just was inaccurate and he certainly doesn't owe me an explanation.”
Nanos has repeatedly come under fire over his handling of the investigation. On Friday, it emerged that a man who claims he was wrongfully detained in connection with Guthrie‘s disappearance, is suing the sheriff and Pima County.
A Phoenix law firm has filed a notice of claim on behalf of Carlos Palazuelos and two of his family members that is seeking a combined $3.25 million. Palazuelos said he was arrested at gunpoint on February 10 and held for seven or eight hours before being released without charge, according to the claim.
One of his family members, Daniel Maddox, says he was handcuffed and held under armed guard outside the family home during the same incident and another family member, Josefina Maddox, is seeking compensation for damage she alleges deputies caused while executing a search warrant at her home.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: John Fitzpatrick, Yannick Demoustier and Cristina Diciu.
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