Nancy Guthrie’s Family Cleared as Suspects in Week Three of Her Disappearance

More than two weeks into the search for Nancy Guthrie, 84, the mother of Today show host Savannah Guthrie, came an update that, to be quite frank, left many people upset. Authorities have cleared Nancy’s family as suspects, with the Pima County Sheriff’s Department issuing a statement. Essentially, that means her immediate family, including her children and their spouses, are not persons of interest.

To recap, Nancy went missing on Feb. 1 and hasn’t been seen or heard from since.

And a suspect hasn’t yet been identified as of this writing. So far, authorities only have a short surveillance clip showing the alleged abductor attempting to cover Nancy’s Nest camera with shrubbery. They also recovered a glove about two miles from the home.

Now, let’s get into the news about authorities clearing Nancy’s family as suspects and the statement released by the sheriff’s office.

There’s a lot that isn’t adding up about Nancy Guthrie’s missing persons case, including why it’s taking so long to get any leads. But police have confirmed that Savannah Guthrie, her siblings, and their spouses are not persons of interest.

Entering week three of the search for Nancy, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department announced in a statement shared on X (formerly Twitter) on Feb. 16, 2026, signed by Chris Nanos, that members of the family are not considered suspects in the case and have been cleared as such.

However, one commenter on the statement made a pretty valid point, writing, “Question — if you cannot tell us who participated in this crime, how can you definitively tell us who did not?” Because if there aren’t any solid leads, how can anyone really be cleared?

While it’s understandable that the family is struggling with the disappearance of their mother (and mother-in-law for some), there have been one too many cases of family members committing crimes against their own loved ones, either out of revenge, personal gain, or another illogical reason. So, it’s not far-fetched for people to point fingers at Nancy’s family since they had the easiest access to her.

On that same note, no innocent family wants a finger pointed at them either, especially when they’re already in such a vulnerable state.

So really, it seems people overall are confused about how the sheriff’s office has cleared all of Nancy’s loved ones when they still don’t have a suspect. Couple that with no clear motive to kidnap an 84-year-old woman, and you’ve really got a confusing situation.

So far, though, police have recovered a glove that was located about two miles away from Nancy’s home, which they say looks very similar to the one worn by the person captured on her Nest camera footage.

They also believe the bookbag worn by that person, who is presumed to be male, was purchased from Walmart, since the retailer is the exclusive seller of the Ozark Trail Hiker Pack Backpack, per CBS News.

Police aren’t only clearing the Guthrie family as possible suspects in the Feb. 16 statement issued on X — Sheriff Chris Nanos even went as far as saying he’s “begging” people to stop trying to make connections between the family and Nancy’s disappearance.

The statement begins, “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.”

From there, the statement gets a little more forward with the public: “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.”

In other words, the sheriff’s office wants people to be mindful of what the Guthrie family is going through, and also take their word at face value.