Nancy Guthrie case: Pima County Sheriff's Department finds human remains in desert; officials yet to establish link

Pima County Sheriff's Department said Monday (local time) that human remains were discovered in a desert near West Ajo Way and South La Cholla Boulevard in Arizona, about 15 miles from the Tucson home of missing 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie, mother of journalist Savannah Guthrie, reported CNN. Officials stressed that there is no evidence linking the remains to Guthrie's disappearance and said they appear to have been at the site for a considerable time.

The development comes as the search for Guthrie and those responsible for her alleged kidnapping appears to have stalled, with investigators yet to uncover significant new leads. Savannah Guthrie has continued sharing videos appealing to the public for information about her mother. In July, authorities released the complete contents of a ransom note and a subsequent letter sent to Guthrie’s family, stating that she had died.

In the meantime, investigators continue to run lab analyses on DNA found at Nancy Guthrie's home in Tucson.

Nancy Guthrie missing case: What we know

Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of Today show host Savannah Guthrie, was reported missing on 1 February. She was last seen on 31 January, before she was apparently abducted from her home in Arizona’s Catalina Foothills without her critical medications or phone.

Days after her disappearance, authorities released security camera footage showing an armed, masked man at Guthrie's front door on the night of her abduction. Since then, investigators have come forward with several theories; however, none of them has led them to Guthrie or those who apparently kidnapped her. In the meantime, Savannah Guthrie has been sharing videos on her Instagram account, seeking the public's help to provide leads about her mother, stating that the family is in an "unending nightmare." Simultaneously, her family announced a $1 million reward for information leading to Nancy Guthrie's recovery.

Amid the ongoing investigation, several news media outlets reportedly received ransom notes, including one sent a day after 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie was reported missing, in which the sender demanded a $4 million ransom in bitcoin and wrote, “Hello Savannah, we have your mother.” The sender also promised to return Nancy Guthrie to a "safe drop-off location" in Tucson within 12 hours of receiving the payment.

The note also included details about Guthrie's white Apple Watch and the floodlights on her back porch, prompting the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to take it seriously.

The second note, which came just four days later, reportedly said, "We never intended to hurt her; that was not our intention. She perished shortly after she was taken. We believe it was heart-related. She is buried in nature now."

Earlier this month, Savannah Guthrie posted another video on her social media accounts, stating that her family was “desperate” and “begging for help." Alongside a photo of her mother, she wrote, "We are begging for help. We are desperate. We need someone to come forward. Someone knows something. Someone suspects something. Someone recognizes the writing in the ransom demand notes."

She added, "Someone has noticed something different, strange, troubling, or just unusual - perhaps with someone they deeply love," she wrote. "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.”

However, it remains to be seen whether the authorities can determine if the human remains are related to the Nancy Guthrie investigation.