Pima County Sheriff Makes Announcement About Guthrie Family As Investigators Allegedly Float New Theory

As RedState previously covered, there was a notable development over the weekend in the case of Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old Arizona grandmother who was abducted from her home sometime between the late evening hours of January 31 and the early morning hours of February 1.

It centered around the issue of gloves - in particular, one glove with DNA evidence that was recovered around two miles from her Catalina Foothills home that "appears to match the gloves of the subject in the surveillance video" released to the public last Tuesday, according to an FBI spokesperson who spoke with NewsNation. Additional testing is reportedly being done on the glove, according to the FBI.

There was also a SWAT raid late in the evening on Friday night, where several people were detained, and a vehicle was hauled away. But ultimately, no arrests were made, according to the Pima County Sheriff's Office.

On Monday, as new theories were being floated about what could have happened to Mrs. Guthrie, motives, etc, President Donald Trump again weighed in on the case and said he hoped that the death penalty would be sought by the DOJ against the perpetrator(s) in the event that Guthrie, the mother of "Today Show" co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, had been murdered.

As we also reported, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos suggested the kidnapper(s) could have been motivated by "revenge" of some sort. But Nanos also made an announcement Monday related to the family that he is hoping puts to rest speculation on whether any family members were involved in Mrs. Guthrie's disappearance:

Breaking: Guthrie family members cleared as suspects, according to Pima County Sheriff Nanos.
"To be clear…the Guthrie family - to include all siblings and spouses - has been cleared as possible suspects in this case. The family has been nothing but cooperative and gracious and are victims in this case.
To suggest otherwise is not only wrong, it is cruel. The Guthrie family are victims plain and simple…please, I’m begging you the media to honor your profession and report with some sense of compassion and professionalism.”

The speculation surrounding the family emerged after there were sightings of law enforcement officers canvassing the neighborhood and searching the home of Annie Guthrie, the eldest daughter of Nancy Guthrie, in the days after her abduction. Tommaso Cioni, who is Annie's husband, dropped Mrs. Guthrie off at her home the night of January 31, and according to Nanos, is the last person to have seen her safe before she disappeared.

The Pima County Sheriff's Office and the FBI are also distancing themselves from a report from CBS 5 that talked about how purported investigators with the case were allegedly leaning towards a "burglary gone wrong" theory:

Investigators believe this was a burglary gone wrong. We’ve interviewed multiple experts since this began who said they don’t believe this was an intended kidnapping

Nanos told Fox News' Matt Finn that the theory "Did not come from us. No idea, and even though that is one of many possibilities, we would never speculate such a thing. We will let the evidence take us to motive."

Here's what the FBI told Finn:

The FBI tells me it has "no clue where that came from" in response to the new local news report that cites an inside source who says the Guthrie case was a burglary gone bad.
— Matt Finn (@MattFinnFNC) February 16, 2026

Anyone with information on the Nancy Guthrie case is urged to contact the sheriff's office tip line at 520-351-4900 or 1-800-CALL-FBI. They can also report tips to http://tips.fbi.gov.

Editor’s Note: Do you enjoy RedState’s conservative reporting that takes on the radical left and woke media? Support our work so that we can continue to bring you the truth.

Join RedState VIP and use the promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your VIP membership!