A Tucson couple said they found a pair of blood-stained gloves and a rock with dried blood in the Arizona desert a mile from the home of Nancy Guthrie, days after she was reported missing three weeks ago.
The couple, who asked to remain anonymous, stumbled upon the suspicious black gloves on the ground 10 feet apart in the Catalina Foothills of Tucson on Feb. 11, according a report by KVOA on Friday.
“Sure enough it was a black glove in the desert it appeared to have looked like it was ripped,” the wife told the outlet. “It also appeared to like it looked like it had blood on it. The blood appeared to be towards the wrist side of the glove and on the pointer finger. It looked like this was like used for something that could’ve possibly been what they were looking for.”
A glove as potential evidence took center stage in the case that has gone viral and gripped the nation in recent weeks as a pair were seen on the hands of an armed intruder captured in a ring camera video the night of the disappearance of the 84-year-old mother of Today show host Savanah Guthrie.
Drops of blood identified as belonging to Guthrie were discovered just outside the front door of the home in what some analysts say resembled blood-spatter in the pattern of a nose bleed rather than a more serious wound.
Several gloves have been found in the desert environment near Guthrie’s Tucson neighborhood by investigators, including at least one sent to a DNA lab for testing.
According to authorities, however, results did not produce a hit in the federal DNA database of known criminals or match other DNA found inside the Guthrie home. Further searches in genealogical data bases for possible matches to a suspect’s relatives are reportedly underway.
As for the couple’s find, “It didn’t just look like a regular glove. It looked like this was a glove used for something that could’ve possibly been what they were looking for,” the wife told the outlet.
A rock that the second glove was lying on appeared to have at least one blood splatter, according to the couple.
The concerned pair said they left the site alone, so as not to contaminate it, snapped some photos and then informed the Pima County Sheriff’s Department which is investigating the apparent abduction. Concerned about the forecasted rain, they also dialed 911.
Investigators interviewed the couple and evidence collection personnel remained at the scene until 2 a.m., according to the local news station.
The find was a potentially useful discovery, unlike some of the calls coming into authorities at the sheriff’s department and the FBI tip line at 1-800-CALL-FBI. A reward for information solving the case or the location of Guthrie has increased from $50,000 to more than $200,000.
The baffling Guthrie abduction case has generated so much interest that “tips” are reportedly overwhelming authorities as some are little more than “opinions” and “theories” about how to solve the case instead of actual evidence.
The Sheriff’s 911 Communications Center also reportedly continues to receive hundreds of daily calls, reporting more than 32,000 to date, 10,000 more than the same period from a year ago.
“People think the suspect is right-handed or left-handed, or whether it’s a man or it’s a woman,” a dispatcher told Tucson’s KOLD. “There are plenty of people calling in about the same thoughts or theories, so those are typically the type of things that we don’t want to hear about.
Investigators urge the public to submit only actionable tips to keep emergency lines available.
Contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the author of the New York Times true crime best seller House of Secrets and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.
