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TUCSON, Ariz. — More than a month into the search for Nancy Guthrie, officials continue to chase thousands of leads as her family leans on the “love and prayers” from their Arizona community and beyond.
“I think the investigators are definitely closer,” Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said in an interview Monday about the progress of the case.
“I’ve said this from the beginning: I have full faith, full confidence, they’re going to solve this,” Nanos said, adding that there have been “thousands” of leads since Guthrie, 84, the mother of “TODAY” co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, disappeared.
Guthrie was reported missing Feb. 1 after she didn’t show up at a friend’s home in Tucson to watch an online church service. She was last seen around 9:45 p.m. Jan. 31 after having had dinner with her family, officials said.
The FBI has joined local law enforcement in the search, and the Guthrie family is offering a $1 million reward for her recovery.
On Monday, Savannah Guthrie, with her sister and brother-in-law, visited the growing tribute of yellow flowers outside their mother’s home and left their own.
Savannah Guthrie shared a photo on social media of the flowers and other items left in support of the family. She once again thanked people from the area and across the country for their love and support.
“We feel the love and prayers from our neighbors, from the Tucson community and from around the country,” she wrote, adding, “please don’t stop praying and hoping with us. bring her home.”
Her family left a note, reading in part.
“Momma, We miss you so much! Our hearts are broken. We are standing on ash, scorched earth! But, mom, though we are surrounded by so much darkness and uncertainty, our love burns bright.”
In announcing the $1 million reward on Feb. 24, Savannah Guthrie said that while her family believes her mother “can come home,” they also “know that she may be lost” and may “already be gone.”
Nanos was optimistic Monday. “I personally believe Nancy Guthrie is alive,” he said. “That’s my personal opinion, but that’s because I put faith in. That’s just who I am.”
Last month, the FBI released video from Guthrie’s porch showing a masked, armed man with a backpack appearing to tamper with a doorbell camera the morning she disappeared.
Authorities have described the man as a suspect, but he has not been publicly identified. In the video, he can be seen wearing a distinctive gun holster and an Ozark Trail backpack sold at Walmart.
That backpack is exclusive to Walmart when it is bought new, but Nanos said investigators are also considering whether it might have been purchased through a resell website.
“What I’m saying is, there’s all kinds of angles,” he said.
Nanos also said that DNA is critical to the case and that authorities are “looking at a lot of DNA, but that’s still being researched and worked.”
The FBI said it is looking for a male who is 5 feet 9 inches to 5 feet 10 inches tall, with an average build. He was wearing a black, 25-liter Ozark Trail Hiker Pack backpack based on the video, it said.
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