US investigators are reported to be coordinating with Mexican authorities as the search for Nancy Guthrie, the mother of American broadcast journalist Savannah Guthrie, enters its third week with no clear breakthrough.
Officials from the sheriff’s department in Arizona and the Federal Bureau of Investigation declined to confirm whether they had formally reached out to counterparts across the border. However, Guthrie’s family has contacted a Mexican non-profit that specializes in locating missing people in the region.
Investigators say they have reviewed roughly 40,000 tips since the 84-year-old was reported missing earlier this month. Despite repeated public appeals from her daughter, who presents for NBC, progress has remained elusive.
US outlet TMZ reported on Wednesday that the FBI had contacted Mexican authorities, suggesting investigators believed Guthrie may have been taken across the border. ABC News also cited law enforcement sources who said Mexican officials had been notified of her disappearance, though they stressed there was no evidence she had been transported out of the country.
A Mexican security official told the New York Times that the FBI had contacted authorities in Sonora—which borders Arizona—regarding a possible “purchase” linked to the case, but that lead has since gone cold. According to Fox News, it is routine for federal investigators to consult with Mexican counterparts in investigations conducted near the border.
The Searching Mothers of Sonora, a Mexican non-profit known for assisting in cases often tied to cartel violence, confirmed to CBS that a member of the Guthrie family had asked for help. Authorities have emphasized that there is no indication Guthrie was abducted by drug traffickers.
TMZ also said it received a new ransom email demanding about $6m (£4.5m) in cryptocurrency. The outlet reported that it forwarded the message to the FBI. It had previously passed along another email it described as a possible ransom note.
Guthrie was last seen on 31 January at her home in Tucson, after a relative dropped her off following an evening at her daughter’s nearby residence. Investigators believe she was abducted in the early hours of 1 February. Family members have been ruled out as suspects.
On Tuesday, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos told the BBC that DNA recovered from a glove found near Guthrie’s home did not match any profiles in an FBI database. The glove appeared similar to ones worn by a masked individual seen on surveillance footage the night she disappeared.
The sheriff said he remained confident Guthrie would be found, whether it took “10 days, 10 months, or worse,” and added that he believed she was being held somewhere close to her home. He also told CBS News that investigators have not ruled out the possibility that more than one person was involved.
Law enforcement sources say investigators are now using a device capable of detecting Bluetooth signals from Guthrie’s pacemaker. The tool—described as a “signal sniffer”—has been mounted on a helicopter. Guthrie’s pacemaker was disconnected from its phone app on the night she vanished.
