Search for Nancy Guthrie Enters Fifth Week: Why Police Have Stopped Using Cadaver Dogs?

Nancy Guthrie remains missing in Tucson, Arizona, more than five weeks after investigators say the 84-year-old mother of Today co-host Savannah Guthrie was believed to have been abducted from her home in the Catalina Foothills at about 2:30 a.m. on Feb. 1, and authorities say cadaver dogs used earlier in the inquiry are not currently being deployed.​

For context, no suspect has been publicly identified, Guthrie has not been found and the Pima County Sheriff's Department has said only that the dogs remain available if needed later. Sheriff Chris Nanos told Fox News Digital, 'They are available if needed in the future,' which is careful language and, in a case like this, revealing mostly for what it does not say.​

That absence has drawn attention because cadaver dogs were visible earlier in the investigation and then seemed to disappear. Betsy Brantner Smith, a retired police sergeant and spokeswoman for the National Police Association who is not involved in the case, told Fox News Digital there are several possible explanations for that shift, one of them being that investigators may have credible information suggesting Nancy Guthrie is still alive.​

Nanos has hardly opened the door wider. Asked last week about the prospects of finding her alive, he said, 'Anything is possible,' while declining to discuss specific leads or evidence. It is the sort of answer that gives nothing away and inevitably invites more scrutiny.​

Why Nancy Guthrie Remains at the Centre of a Tight-Lipped Inquiry

Smith suggested other practical reasons cadaver dogs may be on hold. Police may not yet have a reliable area to search, she said, or they may suspect Guthrie is hidden somewhere difficult for dogs to detect.

She also raised the possibility that investigators believe she may have been taken to Mexico, though she was speaking broadly about investigative options rather than from direct knowledge of the case.​

Her most telling remark was about what the public has not been told. 'I do believe that the sheriff's department has much more information that they are not releasing to the public,' Smith said, adding that one possible reason would be the existence of a solid suspect whom investigators do not want to tip off.

That is still speculation, and it is important to treat it that way, but it chimes with the unusually disciplined silence that has surrounded parts of this case.​ The practical reality is less dramatic and more procedural. Many sheriff's departments do not keep cadaver dogs of their own and instead borrow them from neighbouring agencies or federal partners.

In Guthrie's case, the sheriff's department sought K 9 assistance earlier from the local Border Patrol office, and later referred further questions about the dogs to Customs and Border Protection, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.​

What the Search Still Hinges On

The clearest public lead remains the Nest camera footage showing a masked intruder at Guthrie's doorstep on the morning of her suspected abduction. Authorities say the person in the video was about 5ft 9in to 5ft 10in tall, of medium build and carrying a black Ozark Trail backpack.​

That image has hung over the investigation for weeks because it offers just enough detail to fix itself in the mind, yet nowhere near enough to close the gap between suspicion and proof. Police have not publicly named a suspect, nor have they said whether the person on the footage has been identified.​

What they have said is that the case is far from cold. Authorities told Fox News Digital they will not treat it that way until they have exhausted viable leads, and they say tens of thousands of tips have already come in.

Savannah Guthrie has urged anyone with information to call 1 800 CALL FBI, and a combined reward of more than $1.2 million remains on offer for information leading to her mother's recovery.​

For now, that is where the case sits. Nancy Guthrie is still missing, the most visible search tools have changed, and the people running the investigation appear to know more than they are prepared to say in public.