More than eleven weeks after 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie was kidnapped from her Tucson, Arizona, home, the FBI has received DNA evidence collected from the residence, including test results from a hair sample, as investigators press to identify whoever took the mother of "Today" co-host Savannah Guthrie on the morning of February 1, 2026.
Sources familiar with the investigation told Fox News Digital that the bureau now possesses the hair-sample data alongside other DNA material gathered from Guthrie's property. The Pima County Sheriff's Department confirmed the cooperation in a post on X, though it pushed back on the suggestion that the FBI's involvement was new.
The development matters because, despite weeks of forensic work, no suspect has been publicly identified. DNA recovered from the scene, including a complex mixture that experts believe contains genetic material from three or more people, has so far failed to produce a match in the FBI's national CODIS database. The question hanging over the case is whether advanced testing and fresh samples can break through where earlier efforts stalled.
The forensic picture in the Guthrie case has been tangled from the start. Blood found on the front porch of Guthrie's home traced back to her. An FBI-released image showed an armed individual who appeared to have tampered with the front-door camera on the morning she vanished. Investigators recovered a suspicious glove about two miles from her home that appeared similar to gloves worn by a masked suspect captured on Guthrie's Nest doorbell camera.
That glove initially looked like a promising lead. Breitbart reported that the FBI said the glove contained DNA and appeared to match those worn by the masked person outside Guthrie's front door the night she vanished, with preliminary test results received on a Saturday pending official confirmation.
But the glove lead went cold. The Pima County Sheriff's Department later disclosed that the DNA from the glove produced no CODIS matches. The Washington Times reported the department's blunt assessment: "There were no DNA hits in CODIS." The department added: "At this point, there have been no confirmed CODIS matches in this investigation."
That meant the gloves, despite their visual resemblance to the suspect's gear, did not point investigators toward anyone already in the national criminal database. It was a setback, but not necessarily the end of the road for that evidence.
The Washington Examiner confirmed the CODIS dead end and noted that the FBI had described the recovered gloves as distinct from other gloves found near the scene. Authorities stressed that additional DNA evidence found at the residence was still being analyzed and that further testing was needed.
Earlier in the investigation, the sheriff's department bypassed FBI labs in favor of a private Florida facility for DNA analysis, a decision that drew scrutiny over timelines and coordination.
One of the central forensic challenges has been a mixed DNA sample recovered from the home. Authorities said the mixture was not strong enough to develop a profile suitable for CODIS. Experts believe it contains genetic material from at least three individuals, with at least one contribution coming from a male.
CeCe Moore, a leading investigative genetic genealogist at Parabon Nanolabs, told Fox News Digital she would expect the mixture to include Nancy Guthrie's own DNA along with that of two or more unknown individuals.
"I would assume it would be Nancy plus two or more unknowns."
Moore also addressed whether the hair sample might be entangled in the same mixed-sample complications. She indicated it would not, saying the hair evidence would be handled separately once cleaned for contamination.
"Not after it is cleaned for contamination. They have that process in good shape, but it can take some time."
That distinction is significant. If the hair sample yields a clean, single-source DNA profile, or even a cleaner partial profile, it could give investigators something the mixed sample has not: a usable genetic fingerprint to run against databases or to feed into genetic genealogy techniques that have solved other cold cases in recent years.
As the FBI worked to gather evidence from the home, investigators also obtained the final surveillance footage of Guthrie from hours before she vanished, adding another layer to the timeline they were building.
The Pima County Sheriff's Department moved quickly to frame the FBI's receipt of DNA data as routine rather than a new development. In a post on X, the department stated:
"PCSD has worked with the FBI since the beginning of the Guthrie investigation. This is not new information."
A second post elaborated on the lab arrangement:
"The private lab we utilize in Florida continues to share information with the FBI lab & other partner labs across the country. DNA analysis remains ongoing."
The department's tone suggested an effort to manage expectations and push back against any implication that the FBI had only recently become involved in the forensic side of the case. Whether that framing holds up depends on what the FBI does next with the evidence it now possesses, and how quickly results come.
The New York Post reported that the FBI is using newer, advanced DNA analysis technology on the existing sample, and that about two dozen investigators remain engaged in the search for a breakthrough. Multiple additional labs are also involved.
Meanwhile, the FBI continued pulling new surveillance images from Guthrie's property well into the second month of the investigation, yet no suspect was named.
Just The News reported that the FBI was still awaiting quality control and official confirmation before entering an unknown male DNA profile into CODIS. That step, uploading a clean profile to the national database, is where a match could surface if the suspect has any prior criminal record or if a relative's DNA is already in a genealogy-linked database.
The fact that investigators have identified at least one male contributor in the DNA mixture, combined with the doorbell camera footage of an armed, masked individual at Guthrie's front door, gives the case a clear suspect profile even without a name. The gap between that profile and an arrest is what advanced DNA testing is supposed to close.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos had previously acknowledged that DNA recovered from the scene had not yet led police to a suspect in the February 1 kidnapping. Eleven weeks later, that remains the case.
A combined reward of more than $1.2 million has been offered in connection with Guthrie's disappearance. A million of that comes from the Guthrie family for their mother's recovery. The family has asked anyone with information to call 1-800-CALL-FBI.
A retired FBI agent warned weeks ago that a kidnapper, and likely a killer, was walking free as the search dragged on. That warning has only grown more urgent with time.
For all the forensic activity, major questions remain unanswered. No one has been arrested. No suspect has been publicly named. The mixed DNA sample from the home has not produced a usable CODIS profile. The glove DNA came back empty. And while the hair sample now sits with the FBI, it is unclear how long advanced testing will take or whether it will yield a clean enough result to move the case forward.
The investigation has involved road closures, forensic searches, the towing of a vehicle, and the work of multiple labs across the country. Yet the 84-year-old woman at the center of it all has not been found.
Eleven weeks is a long time for a family to wait. It is an even longer time for a suspect to remain free. The DNA may eventually speak, but so far, the silence from the evidence has been as loud as anything in this case.
An 84-year-old woman was taken from her own front porch, and the people responsible are still out there. All the technology in the world means nothing if it doesn't lead to a door getting kicked in and handcuffs going on.
