CATALINA FOOTHILLS, Ariz. (KGUN) — No one in the Guthrie family is a suspect in the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie — that’s the word late today from Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos.
Sheriff Nanos issued a plea for people to stop spreading hurtful conspiracy theories.
Nanos had said in prior press conferences and interviews that he did not think the Guthrie family had anything to do with Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance, but he also emphasized that they couldn't be ruled out.
The message today from PCSD: Take the Guthrie family off your suspect list.
Watch KGUN 9's Executive Reporter Denelle Veselik talk to Craig Smith about the Guthrie case so far:
“To be clear…the Guthrie family - to include all siblings and spouses - has been cleared as possible suspects in this case," a statement posted to social media said. "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 focus now is on a black rubber glove found within two miles of Nancy Guthrie’s house.
It’s described as similar to the gloves the intruder wore the night Nancy Guthrie disappeared. A lab did find DNA from a man on the glove, but there was no match to anyone in the FBI's DNA database.
Most of the people in the database have been arrested and have gone through the criminal justice system.
Attorney Natasha Wrae is well-versed in DNA evidence. She worked with DNA as a molecular biologist before she became a lawyer.
Wrae wonders what possible connection the glove has to the Guthrie case.
“Is it within the two weeks that we know that Miss Guthrie has been missing?" Wrae asks. "So, of course, we're going to want to know if it actually has any sort of time reference with respect to her going missing. If it does, what sort of exposure does it have to the elements; sun, rain, animals, anything of that nature that could have contaminated it.
"DNA is pretty hardy, but if it has been exposed, it has been contaminated. It certainly can degrade it to the point where it is no longer usable.”
The FBI can still add the unidentified DNA to the database in case it matches other unidentified DNA collected another crime scene in the future.
A relatively new way to use DNA can come from DNA genealogy services like Ancestry.com or 23andMe. Investigators in California used that method to find a serial killer in what had been regarded as a cold case.
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Craig Smith is a reporter for KGUN 9. With more than 40 years of reporting in cities like Tampa, Houston and Austin, Craig has covered more than 40 Space Shuttle launches and covered historic hurricanes like Katrina, Ivan, Andrew and Hugo. Share your story ideas and important issues with Craig by emailing craig.smith@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook and Twitter.
