Nancy Guthrie update: Arizona Sheriff denies blocking FBI access to evidence in Savannah Guthrie's mother abduction case

An Arizona sheriff is preventing the FBI from obtaining crucial evidence in the investigation into the kidnapping of U.S. television journalist Savannah Guthrie’s mother, hindering the agency’s ability to support the case, a U.S. law enforcement official familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday (local time).

Outsourcing forensic analysis to a Florida contractor, effectively denying the access of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to crucial evidence in the case, is delaying the FBI ability to assist in the case, according to the official.

A spokesperson for the sheriff did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request by email seeking comment.

In an earlier daily press briefing, the sheriff’s department said investigators had “recovered several items of evidence, including gloves,” and added that all usable evidence has been sent for analysis. The department did not provide further details.

The Pima County sheriff’s office has primary jurisdiction over the case, meaning the FBI can only participate if formally invited by the county; without such a request, the bureau is legally barred from joining the investigation. The official added that the county has spent about $200,000 so far to send evidence in the Guthrie case to a Florida laboratory, Reuters reported,

“It risks further slowing a case that grows more urgent by the minute," the official told Reuters, citing unspecified “earlier setbacks” in the investigation.

The official also criticised the sheriff for not seeking FBI assistance in the investigation sooner.

"It’s clear the fastest path to answers is leveraging federal resources and technology. Anything less only prolongs the Guthrie family’s grief and the community’s wait for justice,” the official said.

Tensions between the FBI and the sheriff’s department have surfaced as the search for Nancy Guthrie entered its 12th day, with investigators ramping up efforts to find leads in what is believed to be a ransom kidnapping.

Authorities said Nancy Guthrie was last seen on January 31, when family members dropped her off at her home after dinner. Relatives reported her missing the next day, Reuters reported.

The sheriff said the elderly Guthrie had very limited mobility and would not have been able to travel far from her home on her own, prompting investigators to quickly determine that she had likely been abducted by force

Since Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance, at least two alleged ransom notes have emerged. Both were first sent to news outlets and set deadlines that have since passed. However, no proof that she is alive has been made public since the abduction.

Savannah Guthrie, 54, co-anchor of the popular NBC News morning show "Today," has posted several video messages with her brother and sister, appealing to their mother's captors for her return, pleading for the public's help in solving the case, and even asserting a willingness to meet ransom demands, Reuters reported.

The video was recorded around the time investigators believe Guthrie was forcibly taken from her residence.

According to a former FBI agent, investigators were likely aiming to apply facial recognition technology to the footage to generate a composite image of a suspect, which could then be compared against a national database that includes U.S. drivers holding Real ID licenses, as reported by Reuters.

Law enforcement officials said on Thursday that a black latex glove was found discarded on a roadside was recovered and undergoing forensic examination.

The FBI on Thursday doubled the reward offered for information leading to the location of Nancy Guthrie, or arrest and conviction of a suspect in her abduction, to $100,000.

(With inputs from Reuters)