The investigation into the abduction of Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of TODAY show co-host Savannah Guthrie, absorbed a significant setback on Day 32 as one of its most-watched pieces of physical evidence was definitively eliminated — while a former law enforcement insider publicly questioned the leadership of the sheriff overseeing the case.
Black Glove DNA Traced to Innocent Restaurant Worker
The Pima County Sheriff's Department confirmed on Wednesday, via a post to X, that the individual identified through DNA recovered from a black glove found approximately two miles from Nancy Guthrie's Tucson home is "not part of this investigation." The glove had drawn intense public attention because it visually resembled the gloves worn by the masked man seen approaching Guthrie's home in doorbell camera footage on the night of her disappearance.
Speaking to Tucson NBC affiliate KVOA, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said investigators had actually suspected early on that the glove was unrelated. "We knew that at that time, we believed wholeheartedly that those gloves belonged to a restaurant and guess what? The owner of the glove, we found working at a restaurant across the street," Nanos said, according to WCVB. "It has nothing to do with the case."
The elimination of the black glove narrows the biological evidence picture but does not close it entirely. Nanos confirmed that other gloves collected during the investigation have been sent to a forensic laboratory in Florida for DNA analysis. However, he cautioned that results will take time due to the complexity of what analysts are working with. "It's a challenge because we know we have DNA, but now we have to deal with that mixture and how we're going to separate it," Nanos told KVOA. Mixed DNA samples — containing genetic material from more than one individual — require specialized analysis techniques and significantly extend processing timelines.
Former SWAT Commander Raises Alarm Over Sheriff's Leadership
As investigators work through a painstaking evidence review, scrutiny of Sheriff Nanos himself intensified Wednesday following comments made by a former senior official within his own department. Bob Krygier, a retired Pima County SWAT commander with nearly 30 years of service, appeared on the Surviving the Survivor podcast and delivered a pointed critique of Nanos's fitness to lead the investigation.
Krygier revealed that a departmental morale survey conducted at the Pima County Sheriff's Office several years ago produced a striking result. "We did a morale poll a couple years ago — 98% of the department gave a vote of no confidence to the sheriff for various reasons," Krygier said, according to the International Business Times. "Think about that number. This isn't Mayberry. We need to do better." He added that Nanos did not seek to address or improve upon the poll's findings.
Krygier also took aim at Nanos's public communication during press briefings, describing it as erratic and ineffective. "He is not the best one to deliver those messages most times," Krygier said. "He gets wrapped up in his thoughts, he gets emotional. Even if he's not getting pushback he sometimes just repeats himself over and over."
Nanos has not publicly responded to Krygier's remarks. The sheriff has continued to appear regularly in media interviews, maintaining that the investigation is actively progressing. In comments to NBC News this week, Nanos insisted that investigators are "definitely closer" to identifying a suspect and that the case "can absolutely be solved."
Sheriff Describes Scale of Vehicle Analysis Underway
In a separate NBC News interview, Nanos offered the most detailed on-record characterization yet of one aspect of the investigation: the effort to identify a vehicle captured on a Ring camera near the scene. The sheriff confirmed that investigators are examining that vehicle alongside "hundreds of thousands of other vehicles that were out driving that time of day" — a statement that underscores both the breadth of the surveillance review and the challenge of narrowing it down to a meaningful lead.
Nanos also addressed the tension between public pressure for information and the requirements of a sound prosecution. "There's so much that everybody wants to know, but I would be very neglectful, irresponsible as a police, law enforcement leader, to share that with everybody," he told NBC News. "We have information on this case that we think is going to hopefully lead us to solving this case. But it takes time."
NBC Confirms Savannah Guthrie Plans to Return to TODAY
In what NBC described as its first public comments on the subject, the network confirmed Wednesday that Savannah Guthrie "plans to return to the show on air" while continuing to support her family and assist in the effort to bring her mother home. NBC also confirmed that Savannah visited Studio 1A at Rockefeller Center — the longtime home of the TODAY show — for the first time since her mother's abduction, stopping by to thank her colleagues in person, according to WCVB.
The 54-year-old anchor, who had been in Tucson for several weeks assisting with the search, has not announced a specific return date. Earlier this week, Savannah, her sister Annie Guthrie, and brother-in-law Tommaso Cioni were seen at a makeshift memorial outside Nancy's home, where the family laid yellow flowers and embraced in what witnesses described as an emotional scene.
The family has offered a $1 million private reward for information leading to Nancy's return or recovery, in addition to a separate $100,000 reward posted by the FBI. Nancy Guthrie was last seen on January 31 and was reported missing the following day. Drops of her blood were found on her front porch. No arrests have been made in connection with her disappearance, and no suspect has been publicly identified.
What to Watch Next
With the black glove lead now closed, attention turns to the DNA results from the Florida laboratory — specifically whether analysts can successfully separate the mixed DNA samples recovered from other gloves found during the investigation. The timeline for those results remains unclear. Legal analyst Peter S. Christiansen told Newsweek on Thursday that the investigation appears to be entering its "most critical" phase, with law enforcement focused on building an evidentiary record that can withstand courtroom scrutiny. Whether Sheriff Nanos will face additional internal or public pressure over leadership concerns raised by Krygier is also worth monitoring as the case passes its one-month mark with no arrest in sight.