Volunteers Recover Backpack & Other ‘Items’ During Search for Nancy Guthrie
The search for Nancy Guthrie took a new turn Sunday as volunteers gathered near her Arizona home and recovered a backpack, even after authorities urged private groups to stay away.
According to AZ Central, nearly three weeks after Nancy vanished, about a dozen people met in a Hobby Lobby parking lot and set out with maps, determined to search the surrounding area.
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Photos shared by investigative reporter Jonathan Lee Riches, known as JLR, showed the group preparing to canvass the neighborhood.
Later that morning, Riches posted images of items reportedly discovered during the search, including a backpack and pieces of clothing. The backpack was handed over to deputies.Senior National Correspondent Brian Entin of NewsNation, who has closely covered the case since the beginning, also shared video from the scene.
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In his post, Entin wrote, “Volunteer searchers are canvassing the neighborhood around Nancy Guthrie’s house. They found a backpack that does not match the one in the surveillance video – but deputies came and picked it up. One searcher got emotional, saying her mom is around Nancy’s age.”
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Savannah Guthrie’s mother, Nancy Guthrie, remains missing nearly three weeks after she vanished from her Arizona home. As investigators work through complex new evidence, private volunteers searching the area say they have uncovered a fresh discovery.
Volunteers Recover Backpack Near Nancy Guthrie’s Home Despite Sheriff’s Warning
Brian Entin
@BrianEntin·Follow
Volunteer searchers are canvassing the neighborhood around Nancy Guthrie’s house. They found a backpack that does not match the one in the surveillance video – but deputies came and picked it up. One searcher got emotional saying her mom is around Nancy’s age.
2:38 pm · 22 Feb 2026
The search for Nancy Guthrie took a new turn Sunday as volunteers gathered near her Arizona home and recovered a backpack, even after authorities urged private groups to stay away.
According to AZ Central, nearly three weeks after Nancy vanished, about a dozen people met in a Hobby Lobby parking lot and set out with maps, determined to search the surrounding area.
Getty
Photos shared by investigative reporter Jonathan Lee Riches, known as JLR, showed the group preparing to canvass the neighborhood.
Later that morning, Riches posted images of items reportedly discovered during the search, including a backpack and pieces of clothing. The backpack was handed over to deputies.Senior National Correspondent Brian Entin of NewsNation, who has closely covered the case since the beginning, also shared video from the scene.
Getty
In his post, Entin wrote, “Volunteer searchers are canvassing the neighborhood around Nancy Guthrie’s house. They found a backpack that does not match the one in the surveillance video – but deputies came and picked it up. One searcher got emotional, saying her mom is around Nancy’s age.”
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The independent effort came despite a public warning from the Pima County Sheriff’s Department.
“Volunteer search groups have inquired about being in the area. Per the Sheriff, they were asked to please give investigators the space they need to do their work,” the department posted on X on Saturday, February 21.
Pima County Sheriff’s Department
@PimaSheriff·Follow
We appreciate their concern, and we all want to find Nancy, but this work is best left to professionals. PCSD has volunteer opportunities if they wish to get involved with the department. 2/3
4:33 pm · 21 Feb 2026
125Reply
“We appreciate their concern, and we all want to find Nancy, but this work is best left to professionals. PCSD has volunteer opportunities if they wish to get involved with the department,” the message continued.
Getty“Private property laws apply, and it is up to each individual property owner to grant permission for someone to search their property.”
Investigators Zero In on Masked Figure
As volunteers combed the area on foot, detectives stayed focused on a masked figure captured on Nancy’s doorbell camera the night she vanished.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said investigators are working to pinpoint the clothing worn by the individual, including the pants, shoes, and shirt or jacket seen in the footage. The person appeared to be wearing gloves.
GettyNancy, 84, has not been seen since January 31. Authorities believe she may have been taken from her home overnight.
The residence has been treated as a crime scene. Investigators confirmed they collected DNA evidence and found blood inside the home. Drops of blood on the front stoop were later confirmed to match Nancy.
Days earlier, Savannah Guthrie made an emotional appeal on social media, writing that it was “never too late” for anyone with information to come forward.
Authorities have also confirmed that members of Nancy’s family, including her siblings and their partners, have been cleared as suspects in the case.
DNA Evidence Under Ongoing Federal AnalysisNanos told NBC that the DNA collected at the scene is mixed, meaning it includes genetic material from more than one individual. That makes it more difficult to compare against national databases.
Detectives are also combing through surveillance video tied to key evidence, including footage of a backpack believed to have been purchased at Walmart.
Authorities said they are coordinating with the retailer to identify the buyer. Sheriff’s Department spokesperson Angelica Carrillo said there were no new developments to report as of the morning of February. 22.
“THE CASE JUST TOOK A SHOCKING TURN” — The FBI has reportedly announced a major development in the investigation into Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance
Nancy Guthrie Still Missing: Dramatic New Twist – FBI Summons Mystery Woman After Chilling Discovery at the Scene
(Exclusive Breaking Update – February 18, 2026 | Tucson, Arizona)
The case of Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of TODAY co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, has just taken a turn that has left investigators—and the entire nation—reeling.
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In the past hour, multiple law enforcement sources close to the investigation have confirmed to reporters: the FBI has issued an urgent summons for a woman to appear for immediate questioning after authorities discovered a piece of physical evidence described as “critically important” during a follow-up examination of the crime scene or adjacent areas late yesterday.
The woman in question is not a member of the Guthrie family, not one of the individuals previously detained during last week’s high-profile SWAT raid, and not someone previously flagged in any public tip line. Her sudden emergence into the spotlight is the direct result of something found that was serious enough to force federal agents to act without hesitation.
What exactly was discovered remains under tight wraps. Sources would only characterize it as “physical evidence of substantial investigative value” — something that could potentially reshape the entire narrative of what happened in the early morning hours of February 1, when:
– A masked intruder deliberately blocked the doorbell camera at 1:47 a.m. using yard brush.
– Nancy’s pacemaker wireless signal flatlined at 2:28 a.m.
– Blood confirmed as hers was left on the front porch.
This latest development arrives amid a painful series of setbacks and dead ends:
– Last Friday’s massive federal raid ~2 miles from Nancy’s Catalina Foothills home: SWAT teams, FBI agents, forensics vans everywhere. A gray Range Rover towed away. Multiple people detained and questioned. Everyone released. No charges. No Nancy.
– The black glove breakthrough: DNA from the glove (visually matching those worn by the suspect in surveillance video) was rushed into CODIS — only for Sheriff Chris Nanos to announce yesterday: no match in the national database.
– Helicopter-mounted Bluetooth scanners continue to fly low, slow grids over the desert, desperately searching for any remaining trace of the pacemaker signal. No confirmed detections.
– More than 30,000 tips have poured in. The reward stands at $100,000. Fake ransom demands (bitcoin texts to family and media outlets) have only added cruelty to the family’s suffering. The real abductor has never made contact.
Now the focus has shifted dramatically to this unnamed woman. Is she a witness who withheld vital information? Did she cross paths with the intruder unknowingly? Or—most disturbingly—does the newly uncovered evidence place her in closer proximity to the night of the abduction than anyone previously imagined?
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has not yet released an official statement regarding the summons, but sources emphasize that she is currently being treated as a person of interest for information, not as a formal suspect. The FBI task force, still staged in Tucson, is reportedly prioritizing her interview while forensic laboratories push through remaining evidence from the raid and the glove.
Savannah Guthrie’s anguish remains raw and public. In her most recent Instagram post yesterday, she wrote:
“It’s been over two weeks since our mom was taken from us. We still believe she is out there. We still have hope. If you know anything—anything at all—please come forward. It’s never too late to do the right thing.”
Outside Nancy’s home, the makeshift memorial continues to grow heavier: yellow flowers carpet the ground, ribbons flutter from every mailbox, the “Bring Her Home” banner is nearly buried under fresh handwritten prayers and messages. Neighbors say the entire Catalina Foothills community is holding its breath, praying, and refusing to give up.
Time is merciless. Nancy’s heart condition means every hour without her daily medications is a life-threatening gamble.
The next few hours — perhaps the next few minutes — could bring long-awaited answers… or plunge this already agonizing case into even deeper darkness.
Anyone with information is strongly urged to contact the FBI tip line at 1-800-CALL-FBI or the Pima County Sheriff’s tip line immediately. The $100,000 reward remains in full effect.
This is a rapidly unfolding story. We will continue to update as more information becomes available.
What do you think this mystery woman knows?
Is this the breakthrough the investigation has been desperately seeking… or yet another heartbreaking false lead?
Share your theories, prayers, and support for the Guthrie family in the comments below. Nancy is still waiting.
