TUCSON, Ariz. — Human remains were discovered in a desert area roughly 15 miles from the home of Nancy Guthrie, the missing mother of NBC “Today” show co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, but authorities said Monday there is no indication the remains are connected to her disappearance, which has now stretched more than six months without an arrest.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement posted to social media Monday afternoon that Search and Rescue deputies were responding to reports of human remains found in a desert area near West Ajo Way and South La Cholla Boulevard in southwest Tucson. “The remains appear to have been at the location for an extended period of time,” the department said. “At this time, there is no indication they are connected to the Nancy Guthrie investigation.” The department added that additional information would be released as it becomes available.
According to CNN, deputies were seen at the reported location Monday, on a hillside covered in saguaro cacti overlooking a busy four-lane highway in southwest Tucson. The residential area sits just outside the city limits, one turn off Ajo Way, leading to a handful of homes with long driveways. The sheriff’s department declined to answer CNN’s questions regarding who discovered the remains, when they were located, or the basis for officials’ early determination that the find appeared unconnected to the Guthrie case.
Nancy Guthrie, 84, vanished from her home in Tucson’s Catalina Foothills neighborhood sometime between the night of Jan. 31 and the early morning hours of Feb. 1. According to investigators, she was apparently kidnapped from her residence without her phone or critical medications. A source has told CNN that investigators do not currently have a leading theory regarding a motive for her disappearance.
Monday’s discovery is not the first time remains have surfaced in the vicinity of the Guthrie investigation without ultimately being connected to the case. On Feb. 7, less than a week into the search for Guthrie, deputies responded to a separate discovery of human remains near Irvington and San Joaquin roads. At the time, the sheriff’s department said there was “nothing criminal” about that earlier find, and the department’s cold case unit had responded to that scene.
The search for Guthrie has continued for more than six months without a named suspect, person of interest, or identified vehicle connected to her disappearance. In July, nearly six months after she went missing, officials released the full contents of a ransom note and a separate follow-up letter addressed to the Guthrie family, which claimed Nancy Guthrie had died. Authorities released the documents publicly in hopes of generating new leads in the case.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has continued to describe the investigation as active despite the lack of a break in the case. “We have so much DNA to sort through. We have so much, in terms of video evidence, to look at,” Nanos said in comments shared as part of a “Today” show news segment. “So I’m still positive that we’re going to resolve this case.”
The investigation has drawn extensive national attention given Guthrie’s family connection to one of American television’s most recognizable morning news programs. The Guthrie family has publicly appealed to those responsible for Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance, offering full cooperation in exchange for information. Savannah Guthrie has personally offered a $1 million reward for information leading to her mother’s safe recovery, while the FBI has separately offered an additional $100,000 reward, and the nonprofit organization 88-CRIME has offered a further $102,500, bringing the total reward pool available to more than $1.2 million for information leading to a resolution of the case.
Investigators have pursued numerous leads throughout the monthslong search, including reviewing extensive doorbell camera footage, DNA evidence and hundreds of individual tips submitted by the public. In February, investigators recovered a pair of black gloves along a road roughly a mile and a half from Guthrie’s home, matching the description of gloves worn by an individual seen tampering with a camera at Guthrie’s front door on the morning of her disappearance, according to prior reporting citing the New York Post. Separately, authorities have had to publicly dispute unverified claims circulating on social media, including a viral video purporting to show a 911 call reporting a ski mask discovered roughly 135 miles from Tucson that matched the description of clothing worn by a person of interest in the case. A Pima County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson told Fox News Digital the department had “not been advised of anything like that” regarding the alleged ski mask discovery, adding, “so this cannot be confirmed.”
The department has continued providing periodic updates on the investigation’s status even in the absence of major breakthroughs. Earlier in the case, the sheriff’s department noted in a public statement that “the Nancy Guthrie investigation is ongoing,” while emphasizing that “no suspects, persons of interest, or vehicles have been identified” and that press briefings would be scheduled only if significant developments occurred.
Anyone with information related to Guthrie’s disappearance is urged to contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI or the Pima County Sheriff’s Department directly at 520-351-4900.
As of Monday evening, authorities had not provided further details regarding the identity of the remains found near West Ajo Way and South La Cholla Boulevard, nor had they indicated when a formal identification process, which would typically involve the county medical examiner’s office, might be completed. The sheriff’s department’s characterization that the remains had been at the location for an extended period suggests any eventual identification could take additional time, particularly if forensic testing is required to determine both the identity of the individual and the circumstances surrounding their death.
This remains an active and ongoing investigation, and authorities have said further updates will be released as new information becomes available, both regarding the discovery of the remains near Tucson and the broader search for Nancy Guthrie, which continues more than six months after her disappearance first drew national attention.
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