As we enter week four of Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance from her home in Tucson, Arizona, there have been multiple updates, including the FBI releasing footage of a masked suspect outside of Guthrie’s home and the collection of DNA evidence from within her home. Still, there has been no major breakthrough. Genetic genealogist CeCe Moore has shed light on how the sample is challenging to work with and why it is taking so long for conclusive results.
Why Results from the DNA Sample Are Taking So Long
GettyOn February 20, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos revealed that the DNA sample that was collected from within Guthrie’s home was “mixed,” NBC News reports. “We listen to our lab, and our lab tells us that there’s challenges with it.” Nanos also said results could take anywhere from “weeks, months or maybe a year.” This came after an earlier statement in which he said law enforcement believed they had “some DNA there that may be our suspect, but we won’t know that until that DNA is separated, sorted out, maybe admitted to CODIS, maybe through genetic genealogy.”
Moore, who is the chief genetic genealogist at Parabon Nanolabs, has shed more light on the language in Nanos’ statement. “A complex mixture is much more difficult to work with,” Moore told People. “The more people you get in that DNA (sample), particularly unknown people’s DNA, the harder it is to just isolate one person’s out of that.”
In her interview with People, Moore praised the technicians at the lab who work with the Pima County Sheriff’s Office. “They’re very, very good at what they do. So if they are struggling with it, that tells me it’s a very difficult sample,” she said.
Moore explained how the DNA evidence is “less likely to be a blood sample or something that is a really good source of DNA.” Instead, she believes the sample could be saliva. “It looked like he may have had a bite flashlight in his mouth,” she said of the suspect in the video footage, which has been widely circulated by the media. “When you see him bending over toward the camera, I think it’s very possible saliva could have been left because of that.”
The Chances of Catching the Suspect Based on DNA
GettyAs for the likelihood of the kidnapper being caught based on the DNA sample? “If I was the kidnapper, I would be extremely worried right now. Particularly if I knew there was some kind of altercation, or I knew I touched things in there,” Moore said.
The search for “Today” anchor Savannah Guthrie’s 84-year-old mother, who has health problems, is still underway. She has been missing since February 1, and her alleged abduction has deeply impacted her loved ones. Friends, family, and neighbors have been sharing heartbreaking comments about what a wonderful and well-liked person Guthrie is, while they hold onto hope that she will be found alive and well.
