Nancy Guthrie Family Cleared; Sheriff Rebukes Speculation as FBI Doubles Reward to $100,000 for Masked Suspect

The family was cleared in the first few days. So, why did it take two weeks to tell the public?

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos confirmed on Monday that every member of Nancy Guthrie's family, including all siblings and spouses, had been ruled out as suspects shortly after her 1 February disappearance. The delay in announcing it? That came down to online sleuths who wouldn't stop pointing fingers.

'Not one single person in the family is a suspect,' Nanos told KOLD News 13. 'So I am telling everyone, effective today, you guys need to knock it off, quit. People are hurting. They are victims.'

The 84-year-old mother of 'Today' show host Savannah Guthrie vanished from her Tucson, Arizona home more than two weeks ago. Since then, true-crime influencers and amateur detectives have flooded TikTok, Instagram, X, and YouTube with accusations. Some posted photos. Others named names. None of it was true.

What Forced the Sheriff's Hand

According to CNN, Monday's statement was a direct response to 'armchair detectives' who have 'wildly and sometimes irresponsibly' speculated about suspects. The speculation exploded after a cable news presenter suggested a family member was a 'prime suspect'. That claim spread fast. It had no official backing.

Law enforcement tried to make this point privately at first. But the finger-pointing happened mostly in a 'parallel universe of true-crime influencers and amateur sleuths.' Going public became the only option.

'The Guthrie family are victims plain and simple,' Nanos stated. 'To suggest otherwise is not only wrong, it is cruel.'

A longtime friend of Savannah Guthrie told CNN: 'Let's hope this puts an end to the reckless and malicious nonsense.'

The Real Lead: A Glove Two Miles Away

While social media spun theories, investigators chased actual evidence. A glove recovered about two miles from Nancy Guthrie's home appears to match those worn by a masked suspect caught on her doorbell camera the morning she disappeared.

The FBI confirmed the glove contains DNA from an 'unknown male'. It's now in CODIS, the bureau's national database holding over 16 million offender profiles. That database has helped solve more than 758,000 investigations.

According to the FBI, searchers found around 16 gloves across areas near the residence. Most belonged to volunteers combing the desert for clues. But this one, found in a field near the roadside, looked different. It matched what the suspect wore in the footage.

Helicopters Hunting a Pacemaker Signal

The search has gone high-tech. A 'signal sniffer' device, mounted on a Pima County Sheriff's Department helicopter, has been flying low over Tucson. Its job is to detect emissions from Nancy Guthrie's pacemaker.

Her pacemaker disconnected from its phone app at 2:28 a.m. on the night she went missing. That was roughly 40 minutes after her doorbell camera went offline at 1:47 a.m.

'I do know that the pacemaker sends off a very short-distance alert,' former FBI special agent Maureen O'Connell told NewsNation. 'So they're going to have to get really close.'

$100,000 Reward and 18,000 Tips

The FBI has doubled its reward to $100,000 (£73,000) for information leading to Nancy Guthrie's location or an arrest. The bureau has received more than 18,000 tips since the investigation started, with over 4,000 coming in the past week alone.

The suspect? Described as a male, around 5 feet 9 inches to 5 feet 10 inches tall, average build. He wore a black 25-litre Ozark Trail Hiker Pack backpack. That backpack is sold only at Walmart. Investigators are working with Walmart to trace the purchase.

Nancy Guthrie was last seen around 9:30 p.m. on 31 January. Her son-in-law dropped her off at her Catalina Foothills home after a family dinner. She was reported missing the next morning after she didn't show up at church. Blood matching hers was found on the porch.

The family has been '100% cooperative,' Nanos said. And they were cleared in the first few days. The public just didn't know it until now.