Backpack discovered as search for Nancy Guthrie reaches Day 22

Tucson — The search for the missing 84-year-old mother of “Today” show co-host Savannah Guthrie entered its 22nd day, as the strong afternoon sun beat down on a handful of reporters, true crime streamers and volunteer searchers on Nancy Guthrie’s street in the Catalina Foothills.

Searches started nearly a week after the news anchor posted on social media, pleading with anyone who knew her mother’s whereabouts that it was “never too late.”

Investigators were getting closer to identifying articles of clothing the masked man on Nancy Guthrie’s porch was wearing, including the pants, shoes and shirt or jacket, the Pima County sheriff said.

No suspect had yet been named, and complex DNA evidence was still undergoing lab analysis, Sheriff Chris Nanos said in an interview with NBC.

Authorities had no updates on the investigation as of the morning of Feb. 22, according to Angelica Carrillo, spokesperson for the Sheriff’s Department.

DNA found on Guthrie’s property was mixed, meaning it came from more than one person, making it harder to run through national databases, Nanos said in an interview broadcast Feb. 21.

The FBI has also been analyzing DNA found on a glove discovered about two miles from Guthrie’s home, but no results have been released.

Guthrie has been missing since Jan. 31. Detectives were pushing to identify a masked individual captured on doorbell video the night she disappeared and have said they are not ruling out the possibility that more than one person may be involved.

Several passersby from out of town meandered by Guthrie’s one-story brick house.

Some came from as far as Phoenix to see the home of the missing woman who has captured the world’s attention. Two members of Madres Buscadoras de Sonora, a volunteer search group from Mexico, were also in front of the house exploring the area ahead of a search they are planning later in the week for Guthrie.

On Feb. 22, some volunteers gathered in the parking lot of a nearby Hobby Lobby for an informal search-and-rescue effort, which later recovered a backpack. It was handed over to deputies.

Tips were flowing to the Sheriff’s Department and FBI lines. Authorities have urged the public to submit actionable tips only, not well-wishes or similar comments.