The reward for information about Nancy Guthrie assumed abduction has more than doubled to $202,500 after a mystery donor matched the initial $100,000 as the desperate search continues for a 19th day Thursday.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department announced Wednesday that the local attorney’s office tip line, 88-CRIME, received the six-figure donation — dramatically increasing the paltry $2,500 reward that was being offered by local officials, according to a press release obtained by the Independent.
The FBI, which is also assisting in the investigation, last week doubled its own separate reward to $100,000 “for information leading to the location of Nancy Guthrie and/or the arrest and conviction of anyone involved in her disappearance,” making for a total of $202,500.
The 84-year-old mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie is believed to have been kidnapped from her home in Tucson, Arizona while she slept during the early morning hours of Feb. 1.
The Sheriff’s Office announced Wednesday that it had uncovered new “biological evidence” that does not belong to Guthrie during a search of the Catalina Foothills house, and DNA profiles are under lab analysis.
It’s not clear what the evidence is, when exactly it was discovered, or whether it has been shared with the FBI.
Despite thousands of tips from the public and video footage of a masked, armed suspect at her front door the night she disappeared, investigators have yet to identify any suspects three weeks into the frantic search for the missing woman.
The search has since stretched into Mexico, with federal investigators reaching out to Mexican authorities amid speculation that she was taken south of the border, which is just an hour’s drive from Guthrie’s home.
The Guthrie family is still holding out hope she is alive, and Savannah Guthrie made another plea for her safe return on Sunday. The family has repeatedly offered to pay her ransom.
“I wanted to say to whoever has her, or knows where she is, that it’s never too late,” Savannah said in a video posted to social media. “It is never too late to do the right thing.”