UPDATE 4/21/26 at 4:38 p.m. ET —
Ben Williamson, assistant director for public affairs at the FBI, has responded to ABC News’ report that potentially critical DNA has been recovered at Nancy Guthrie’s home.
“Still receiving inquiries on this: this is not new evidence or information,” he wrote via X on Monday, April 20, while reposting the outlet’s report. “FBI asked to test this DNA 2 months ago with the same technology we’ve always had – when the local Sheriff instead sent it to a private lab. Any further developments we will share as soon as appropriate.”
Original story:
The FBI is reportedly reviewing potentially critical DNA recovered from the home of Savannah Guthrie’s mom, Nancy Guthrie, amid her ongoing disappearance.
Sources familiar with the investigation told ABC News on Thursday, April 16, that a private Florida lab that works with the Pima County Sheriff’s Department recently sent the sample to the FBI.
The FBI is reportedly utilizing new technology to conduct advanced analysis on the DNA sample to see if it can point to Nancy’s abductor.
Us Weekly reached out to the FBI for comment.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department, meanwhile, said in a statement that they have worked with the FBI “since the beginning” of the investigation and “this is not new information.”
“As previously stated by the Sheriff, the private laboratory we utilize in Florida continues to share information with the FBI laboratory and other partner labs across the country,” the statement to Us read on Thursday. “DNA analysis remains ongoing, and this investigation is active.”
Nancy, 84, was reported missing in February by a family member who called 911. The FBI then released black-and-white images from Nancy’s doorbell security camera of a man in a ski mask on her porch the morning of her disappearance. Authorities have yet to name a suspect in her case.
Days later, news broke of a search warrant out for a man identified as Luke Daley. He was then detained for hours and released without being charged. His mother was also detained by law enforcement while their home was searched for a possible connection to Nancy’s abduction.
Amid the ongoing search, Savannah, 54, confirmed that her family’s reward for Nancy’s recovery had been increased to $1 million. (Nancy shared daughters Annie and Savannah and son Camron with late husband Charles Guthrie, who died in 1988 after a heart attack.)
Savannah, for her part, said in her first interview since Nancy’s disappearance that she still has “hope” for resolution in the case. While the family is unsure of what a motive might be in abducting Nancy, Savannah became emotional while wondering if the kidnapping was due to her fame. (Savannah returned to the Today show earlier this month.)
“Honestly, we don’t know anything. We don’t know anything. So, I don’t know that it’s because she’s my mom and somebody thought, ‘Oh, that lady has money, we can make a quick buck,’” she told Hoda Kotb in an interview that aired in March on Today. “That would make sense, but we don’t know. … It’s just too much to bear to think that I brought this to her bedside. That it’s because of me. I have to say, I’m so sorry, Mommy.”
NewsNation senior national correspondent Brian Entin, who has been covering this story from the beginning, exclusively told Us Weekly earlier this month that he doesn’t believe the case is going cold.
“If I felt like it was going cold, I would tell you. I just don’t,” he told Us. “We have the picture of the suspect. Something is going to break. And I know for us, it feels like forever. It’s now been more than two months. But when I talk to these detectives, they break cases five, 10 years later. I don’t think it’s going to be that long in this case, but I do think for sure there’s going to be a break.”
Read the full article here
