TUCSON, AZ (AZFamily/KOLD/Gray News) – The Pima County Sheriff’s Department said Tuesday that DNA evidence gathered from a pair of gloves found near Nancy Guthrie’s home yielded no results.
“There were no DNA hits in CODIS. At this point, there have been no confirmed CODIS matches in this investigation,” PCSD said in an emailed statement.
However, “additional DNA evidence that was found at the residence” is also being analyzed. It’s unclear when those results could come back.
“PCSD has not confirmed the number of leads investigators are actively pursuing. Regarding gun shops, investigators are canvassing businesses and showing the doorbell video released by the FBI to determine whether the suspect appears familiar,” the sheriff’s department added.
There are no news conferences scheduled by the Pima County Sheriff’s Department for Tuesday.
Search goes high-tech
As the search for the 84-year-old enters its third week, the FBI used new technology that could help locate her using signals from her pacemaker.
Law enforcement is working with a device known as a “signal sniffer” that uses an amplifier to find Bluetooth signals and identify the unique MAC [Media Access Control] address of Guthrie’s pacemaker using a directional antenna.
“It’s got software running in it, continuously scans, and if it doesn’t recognize (hers), it just eliminates it until it locks onto the right one,” said Morgan Wright, CEO and founder of the National Center for Open and Unsolved Cases.
Wright, who also analyzes true crime cases on Substack, said the process is similar to walking around with Guthrie’s cellphone and waiting for a Bluetooth connection request but on a much larger scale.
The FBI has been attaching the device to low-flying helicopters, according to Wright, as they continue to search for Guthrie, who was last seen Jan. 31.
However, Wright believes the helicopters could interfere with the signal’s reception and not get low enough to connect. That’s why he and cybersecurity expert Dave Kennedy developed the device for a drone instead.
“We could fly a whole fleet of drones because you can program them to do a search grid, use AI [artificial intelligence] to program them to do a search grid, and cover a huge area with three or four drones,” Wright said.
The new device also has a much higher level of detecting a signal, with a range of about 1,000 feet.
“Instead of trying to make the haystack smaller, it’s using a bigger magnet to pull that needle out,” Wright said.
Wright said the FBI is now working to get the technology in the air and believes it could be a turning point in narrowing down the timeline of Guthrie’s disappearance and where she might be now.
“The pacemaker, it’s not the only piece that will do it, but it’s one of the most vital pieces,” Wright said. “It generates all the additional events and actions, comes from the behavior of that pacemaker.”
Wright said pacemaker telemetry data could serve as an unbiased witness in the case.
“The pacemaker is the most unbiased witness we have – why? Because it’s sending telemetry data,” Wright said.
The FBI has the prototype of the new device and could start using the drones within the next few days, according to Wright.
Parsons Corporation with BlueFly technology issued a statement to Arizona’s Family on its “signal sniffer” work in the Guthrie case.
“At the beginning of February, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department requested our support, and we immediately began deployment of BlueFly® units and personnel to Arizona to assist with the search for Nancy Guthrie. BlueFly® is a Bluetooth and Wi-Fi sensor intended for search and rescue operations in challenging environments. The technology has been used on a variety of air and ground vehicles, and on foot in austere terrain. It provides first responders with a heat map to identity signals within a search area. BlueFly® was used on Feb. 3 during the Pima County Sheriff’s Department Search and Rescue helicopter search over the Guthrie neighborhood. The technology was subsequently used for additional search operations by helicopter, ground vehicles, and on foot. Due to the sensitivity of the investigation, we will not provide additional details on ongoing operations.”
Tracking down the evidence
PCSD said on Tuesday that investigators are still working with Walmart management to identify the person who bought the backpack seen in Guthrie’s doorbell surveillance video, a brand sold exclusively through that retailer.
The backpack, a 25-liter “Ozark Trail Hiker Pack,” can be seen in surveillance videos released of a masked person outside Guthrie’s front door the night she vanished. In addition to the backpack, the person was wearing a ski mask, long pants, a jacket and gloves.
Authorities say it’s also possible that the suspect’s clothing was bought at Walmart, but none of those items are exclusive to the retailer.
The FBI said the suspect in the surveillance footage is a man who is about 5 feet, 9 inches, tall with a medium build.
See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it.
Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here with a brief description.
Copyright 2026 KTVK/KPHO. All rights reserved.
