Investigators believe botched burglary likely led to Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance, source says

TUCSON, Ariz. (KPHO/Gray News) - Investigators believe the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie was the result of a botched burglary, according to an inside source.

Former law enforcement experts who reviewed the doorbell camera footage told AZFamily the incident did not appear to be a planned kidnapping.

On Sunday, an inside source told the station that investigators believe this was a burglary gone wrong. That source also says the “widespread investigative belief is Nancy could be alive.”

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos responded to that report by saying “motive is hard to place right now without a suspect in custody, so everything is just speculative.”

Investigators are now waiting for DNA evidence results from a Range Rover SUV that was towed from a Tucson-area Culver’s restaurant late Friday.

The most recent update in the investigation came on Sunday when the FBI announced that a glove containing DNA near her home appears to match those worn by the suspect.

The agency says the gloves were found about two miles away from her home in a field near the side of the road, KPHO reported.

The gloves arrived at a private lab in Florida Friday after they were sent off on Thursday.

The FBI reported that they received preliminary results of a DNA profile on Saturday, and they’re now awaiting “quality control” and official confirmation before putting the profile into the national database.

The process reported takes 24 hours.

Nearly 16 gloves were found in various spots near the house, most of which were searchers’ gloves that had been discarded, the FBI said.

The discovery was revealed days after investigators had released surveillance videos of the masked person outside Nancy’s front door.

The Pima County Sheriff’s Department also shared the photos.

“The video was recovered from residual data located in backend systems,” Patel wrote, saying the images show “an armed individual appearing to have tampered with the camera at Nancy Guthrie’s front door the morning of her disappearance.”

The video shows the suspect walking slowly to Guthrie’s front porch. The person’s head is hung low as if they are trying to hide their face.

This was the first major break in the investigation that has raised more questions than answers, including whether the 84-year-old who disappeared from her home.

Authorities say her blood was found on the front porch. Purported ransom notes were sent to news outlets, but two deadlines for paying have passed.

On Thursday, the FBI called the person a suspect. It described him as a man about 5 feet, 9 inches tall with a medium build. The agency said he was carrying a 25-liter “Ozark Trail Hiker Pack” backpack.

Authorities have expressed concern about Nancy Guthrie’s health because she needs vital daily medicine.

Earlier in the investigation, authorities had said they had collected DNA from Nancy property, which doesn’t belong to Guthrie or those in close contact with her.