Arizona — Volunteer searchers fanned out looking for clues as the hunt for the missing 84-year-old mother of “Today” show cohost Savannah Guthrie entered its 22nd day.

Early on Feb. 22, volunteers gathered in the parking lot of a Tucson, Arizona, Hobby Lobby before beginning an informal search not far from Guthrie’s house. The group recovered a backpack that was handed over to deputies.

The Pima County Sheriff’s Department later said on Feb. 23 that the backpack found by volunteers does not appear to be a “viable lead,” noting that it seems to be a different brand than the one the suspect wore in the doorbell surveillance footage that the FBI previously released. The backpack also “appears to have been outside for much longer than three weeks” and “contained identification of a minor within it,” the sheriff’s department said.

Authorities had no updates on the investigation as of the morning of Feb. 22, according to Angelica Carrillo, a sheriff’s department spokesperson.

Later, outside of Guthrie’s home, Tucson resident Lupita Tello poked the dirt with a sharp metal rod soldered to a handle. After wiggling the rod in the dirt, Tello pulled it out and smelled the sharpened metal tip.

“If it smells bad like something decomposed, that’s where we start,” Tello said, showing reporters and true-crime streamers the main tool she uses in her searches for missing people in Mexico.

 

This will be the first time her group, Madres Buscadoras de Sonora, will search in the U.S. The group is a non-profit from Mexico, which aims to find lost and missing people in Sonora. Some people in the group joined to search for their missing sons and others for their missing brothers, among others.

Her group was told about Nancy Guthrie’s case recently by a journalist friend of Guthrie’s daughter, Savannah, and was asked to make flyers and search for her, Tello said.

The Pima County Sheriff’s Department told her the group had to ask for permission from the homeowners to search on private property, but it didn’t need a formal permit, Tello said.

Volunteer search groups like Tello’s have inquired about being in the area, said Carrillo. They were asked to give investigators the space needed to do their work and to contact the department to get involved with any volunteer opportunities, Carrillo said.

Madres Buscadoras de Sonora was planning an official search later in the week, Tello said.

As the afternoon sun beat down, several passers-by from out of town meandered by Guthrie’s one-story brick house in the Catalina Foothills. Some came from as far as Phoenix to see the home of the missing woman who has captured the world’s attention.

The volunteer searches started about a week after Savannah Guthrie posted on social media Feb. 15, pleading with anyone who might know of her mother’s whereabouts that it was “never too late to do the right thing.”

 

Investigators still reviewing Nancy Guthrie disappearance evidence

DNA found on Guthrie’s property was mixed, meaning it came from more than one person, making it harder to run through national databases, Pima County Sheriff Chris 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 man 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.

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.

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

A significant development in the Guthrie case came Feb. 10, when investigators recovered footage of a masked person captured by Guthrie’s doorbell camera on the night she went missing. Authorities were still looking for the person who was wearing gloves in the footage.

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

Investigators continued reviewing surveillance footage tied to key pieces of evidence, including a backpack possibly purchased from Walmart.

The Sheriff’s Department has said it was working with the retailer to help identify the purchaser. Legal experts note that stores routinely share transaction records and video footage with law enforcement during active investigations.

Carrillo said several hundred law enforcement personnel remain assigned to the case, with staffing levels changing based on investigative leads. The investigation will remain active until Guthrie is found or all leads are exhausted, she said.

Sheriff does not plan any media availability

Carrillo said no news conferences were planned, and the sheriff did not expect to have any media availability for the week of Feb. 23.

The sheriff’s last news conference was Feb. 5.