TUCSON, Ariz. — Detectives hunting for Nancy Guthrie have been handed their most “promising” lead yet, a former top cop told The Post — after Walmart handed over purchase records that could finally help crack the case.
Investigators are hoping to track down more information about the backpack and gun holster Guthrie’s alleged kidnapper was seen wearing in doorbell camera footage, both sold at Walmart.
“The backpack and the holster are both very promising leads,” Betsy Brantner Smith of the National Police Association told The Post, speaking from Pima County where she lives, after retiring in 2009 as a detective in Naperville, Ill.
But detectives in Pima County and the FBI still face a long, meticulous process of combing through thousands of hours of footage from various Walmart stores, Smith said.
“Remember, here in Arizona, we’re a constitutional carry state. So you can walk into your Walmart and buy a holster, ammo and all that kind of stuff,” she said.
The backpack worn in the eerie surveillance video taken the night Savannah Guthrie’s mother disappeared has been, as Smith said, “quasi-identified” as a black Ozark Trail Hiker. The bag is sold exclusively at Walmart.
Inside a nearby Walmart, the backpacks were sold locked behind glass and required a staff member with a scanner to open the cabinets, independent journalist JLR Investigates reported on Saturday.
“That’s a very, very hopeful lead, because of the SKU [stock keeping unit] number,” Smith explained.
The SKU number, a unique alphanumeric code typically 8-10 characters long, is customized by a retailer to every product to internally track inventory.
“You take the SKU, you figure out where this backpack was sold. And then, all you do is work backwards electronically,” Smith said.
Here’s the latest on Savannah Guthrie’s missing mom
- Savannah Guthrie missing mom live updates: Bombshell DNA breakthrough could be imminent as FBI runs glove evidence through national database
- Sheriff finally clears Nancy Guthrie’s family in kidnap case — but still doesn’t reveal a suspect
- Creep sends fourth Nancy Guthrie ransom note to TMZ — and founder Harvey Levin makes the writer an offer
- Trump threatens kidnappers with death penalty if Nancy Guthrie isn’t returned alive in call with The Post
“Every time you make a transaction at a store like Walmart, you’re being videoed. And so then they can go back through the transaction, how they paid for it — cash, credit card — as well as the video of that person. So it is a really hopeful lead,” she added.
“Walmart will have an SKU on this backpack, and then it’ll be what Walmart it went to. And then on and on and on and on and on, drilling down to this particular backpack,” Smith said.
“If I buy the backpack, rip the tags off a week later, and I take it back, they can still determine whether I purchased that backpack,” she explained.
However, Smith, who worked in law enforcement for over three decades, issued words of caution for those hoping the Walmart find would lead to a quick solve.
“We also have to understand that this person could have bought this backpack at the Goodwill store or stolen it from Walmart,” she said.
“If you’re going to commit a high-level crime where you’re carrying a gun, you might not be the kind of person who would pay for your backpack. So we have to prepare ourselves for that as well,” Smith added.
The timeline of the disappearance of Savannah Guthrie’s mom:
Nancy, 84, was last seen on the evening of Jan. 31 when she was dropped off at home after dinner and game night with her other daughter, Annie, and her son-in-law, Tommaso Cioni.
Last week, authorities released the first images of the suspect, showing a male wearing gloves, a mask, a zip-up fleece, and a backpack, approaching Nancy’s front door.
The figure, described by the FBI as likely “male, approximately 5’9″ – 5’10” tall, with an average build,” is seen holding a flashlight in his mouth as he tries to cover up the Nest camera with shrubbery.
He also has a gun holstered unusually at the front of his waist.
On Sunday, the FBI announced that they had sent a pair of gloves found around 2 miles from Nancy’s home by the side of the road for DNA testing.
The bureau received its preliminary results on Saturday and is now awaiting the final results.
However, the waters were muddied when the FBI said that a total of 16 gloves had been collected in various areas, most belonging to searchers who discarded them during the earlier hunt for Nancy.
Three people were detained Friday night about 2 miles from Nancy’s home.
Additional reporting by Jared Downing
