Black gloves found roughly two miles from Nancy Guthrie's home, once considered potential evidence in her disappearance, have been traced via DNA analysis to a person working at a nearby restaurant.
The Pima County Sheriff's Department confirmed to USA TODAY on March 4 that the individual "is not considered part of this investigation."
It's a dead end in a case that has produced precious few live ones.
Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of "Today" show anchor Savannah Guthrie, has not been seen since Saturday, January 31. She was first reported missing on February 1. The Pima County Sheriff's Department has said they believe she was taken from her home outside of Tucson against her will.
The gloves had drawn attention because of their apparent connection to surveillance footage of a suspect near Guthrie's home. An FBI spokesperson told USA TODAY on February 15 that investigators collected approximately 16 gloves in various areas near the house. Most turned out to be discarded by searchers themselves.
"Investigators collected approximately 16 gloves in various areas near the house. Most of them were searchers' gloves that they discarded in various areas when they searched the vicinity. The one with the DNA profile recovered is different and appears to match the gloves of the subject in the surveillance video."
That statement suggested the recovered DNA profile could match the gloves worn by the suspect captured on doorbell video. But the DNA led investigators not to a kidnapper, but to a restaurant employee across the street.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos was blunt about it:
"The owner of the glove, we found working at a restaurant across the street. It has nothing to do with the case."
More than two weeks passed between the DNA evidence arriving at a private laboratory in Florida on February 13 and the sheriff's department confirming the results publicly. By February 17, the department had already shared that there were no DNA hits in CODIS, the FBI's national DNA database, and that the glove DNA did not match samples from Guthrie's home.
The FBI has named one suspect: a male, approximately 5'9" to 5'10" tall, with an average build, seen in surveillance and doorbell footage. On February 12, the Bureau posted on social media about a black, 25-liter "Ozark Trail Hiker Pack" backpack connected to the suspect, which investigators have reportedly treated as one of the most promising leads.
The sheriff's department confirmed that lab analysis remains underway on other DNA evidence. Notably, investigators have identified DNA in Guthrie's home that does not belong to her or her inner circle. No updates have been provided on that analysis.
Savannah Guthrie has said a $1 million reward is on the table for any information that leads to her mother. The FBI is separately offering $100,000, and the Pima County Attorney's Office anonymous tip line, 88-CRIME, has put out $102,500.
Combined, the rewards exceed $1.2 million. In missing persons cases, money talks. But it only works if someone knows something and decides to come forward.
More than a month has passed since Nancy Guthrie vanished. The glove lead is closed. The backpack lead remains open. DNA from inside her home sits in a lab somewhere, unmatched and unexplained.
Cases like this one carry a particular gravity. An 84-year-old woman, living outside Tucson, was apparently taken from her own home. No arrest. No named person of interest beyond a physical description and a backpack brand. The machinery of federal and local law enforcement is engaged, but the public-facing results so far amount to ruling things out rather than closing in.
There is no political villain here, no policy failure to dissect. There is an elderly woman who is missing, a family offering everything they have for answers, and an investigation that just lost one of its most visible threads.
The unknown DNA inside that home remains the question that matters most. Until investigators answer it, the silence tells its own story.