Arizona sheriff accused of blocking FBI from access to glove and DNA found inside Nancy Guthrie’s home as suspect description is released

The Arizona sheriff’s department, which is investigating the disappearance of Today Show host Savannah Guthrie’s 84-year-old mother, blocked the FBI from accessing a glove and DNA found at her home, a federal source has claimed.

Investigators comb the desert surrounding Nancy Guthrie’s $1 million home in the Catalina Foothills neighborhood of Tucson, Arizona I found a black glove on Wednesday This looks like the dress her kidnapper was wearing in the doorbell footage.

The Daily Mail states that a single glove found in a small bush was bagged and seized by authorities, but remains silent as to who the glove might belong to.

Federal authorities have since requested from Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos samples of gloves and DNA found at Nancy’s home that could be processed at the FBI’s national crime laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, a federal law enforcement official told Reuters.

But Nanos denied the request and instead sent the evidence to a private lab in Florida for testing, the source said.

“This risks further slowing down a case that is becoming more urgent by the minute,” the official said, claiming the Pima County Sheriff’s Department has already spent nearly $200,000 to send evidence to the Florida lab with which the department contracts.

He also mocked the department for ‘previous setbacks’ in the investigation and criticized Nanos for not requesting FBI assistance sooner.

“It is clear that the fastest way to get answers is to leverage federal resources and technology,” the official said. ‘Anything less will only prolong the Guthrie family’s pain and the community’s wait for justice.’

A creepy masked figure was seen outside Nancy’s house the day she disappeared

Meanwhile, federal agents have uncovered new information about the man captured on security camera footage the night Nancy was shot, in the hopes that “this updated statement will intensify the tips we’ve been receiving from the public.”

Federal agents said Thursday they have received more than 13,000 tips since the mother of three went missing in the early morning hours of Feb. 1.

Chilling security footage from that night showed a masked man wearing thick gloves trying to hide the Nest doorbell camera on Nancy’s front porch.

Federal authorities now say the suspect is a male with an average build, standing between 6 feet and 6 feet tall.

He was seen carrying a black, 25-litre Ozark Trail Hiker Pack backpack at the time.

“We hope this updated statement will focus on the tips we have publicly received,” the FBI said in a statement, noting that it had already received more than 13,000 tips since the mother of three went missing.

Anyone who provides tips leading to Guthrie’s location or the arrest and conviction of anyone involved in his kidnapping can now receive a $100,000 reward, up from the $50,000 reward the bureau previously offered.

At the same time, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department is expanding its request for surveillance video from Nancy’s neighbors in the Catalina Foothills, asking people to check for any video taken between 9 p.m. and midnight on Jan. 11 (about three weeks before Nancy went missing).

They also requested footage from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Jan. 31, hours before Nancy was abducted, and said a suspicious vehicle was seen in the area around that time.

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos reportedly blocked federal agents from accessing a glove and DNA found in his home.

Federal authorities now say the suspect was carrying a black 25-liter Ozark Trail Hiker Pack backpack similar to the one pictured

Investigators temporarily set up a white tent outside the home Thursday.

On Thursday, four officers were seen arriving at Guthrie’s home in an unmarked black vehicle and carrying a bag to a tent set up on the property, while others brought additional equipment.

The large tent covering the entrance to Guthrie’s home and the front porch where investigators previously found blood matching his DNA was removed about an hour after it was erected.

It’s not yet known what authorities are looking for, but forensic tents are typically set up when investigators want to hide a body, gun or other critical evidence.

But throughout the investigation, the front porch was routinely trampled on by authorities and family members. It was exposed to external factors because the blood splattered on the ground was dried by the sun.

A Pima County Sheriff’s source even told the Daily Mail: ‘This is amateur hour.’

Still, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department insists it has pieced together thousands of leads, with hundreds of detectives and federal agents assisting in the investigation.

Law enforcement checks vegetation around Nancy’s home on Wednesday

Investigators were also seen going through mail in daughter Annie’s mailbox on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, some federal agents were seen conducting an extensive search of the rugged brushland surrounding Guthrie’s home; Meanwhile, other investigators emerged from Guthrie’s oldest daughter’s home with a paper grocery stack and a white trash bag.

Someone still wearing blue protective gloves also picked up a stack of letters from Annie Guthrie and her husband Tommaso Cioni’s roadside mailbox. They then walked away without speaking to reporters.

Annie and Cioni were the last people to see Nancy, who came to their house for dinner the night before.

She was later reported missing the next day after she failed to show up at a friend’s house to watch virtual church services.

Nancy Her children have neither been seen nor heard from since they repeatedly appealed to the public for help finding their mother.

Her three children have since repeatedly asked for the public’s help in finding their beloved mother, and on Thursday, Savannah shared another heartbreaking video in tribute to her mother.

“Our lovely mother,” the television presenter wrote. ‘We will never give up on him. Thank you for your prayers and hope.’

The Daily Mail has reached out to the Pima County Sheriff’s Department for comment.