Volunteers in Mexico searched the Mariposa area west of Nogales on Thursday after an anonymous tip said Nancy Guthrie’s remains could be found near a stream close to the Arizona border. The search came up empty, according to the group that led the effort.
Buscando Corazones Nogales said Ramona Guadalupe Ayala Ortiz received a call saying Guthrie was buried in the area “in a grave over a stream,” and the volunteers returned to a spot they had already searched from April to May. Ortiz said that earlier work uncovered more than 25 unmarked graves containing the remains of at least 32 people, making the site one of the most sensitive areas in a long-running missing-person case.
The new search added movement to a case that has been active for more than 100 days, but it also underscored how much remains unknown. The Pima County Sheriff’s Department said it was aware of reports about the anonymous tip related to the Guthrie investigation, though it had not been contacted by Mexican authorities when it issued its statement.
The department said the investigation remained active and ongoing and that it would continue to follow up on any credible information. That leaves the Mariposa tip where many such leads end: with a specific place, a painful hope, and no evidence yet that it connects to the disappearance of the 84-year-old mother of Today host Savannah Guthrie.
Authorities have said they believe Nancy Guthrie was taken against her will after finding blood near the doorstep of her home in the foothills outside Tucson, Arizona, in February. The FBI later released surveillance videos showing a masked man on the porch that night. Since then, Savannah Guthrie and her siblings have posted multiple videos on social media and offered a US$1-million reward for information leading to their mother’s recovery.
For now, the search near Nogales has not changed the facts of the case. It has only sharpened the open question that has followed every new lead since February: whether any credible evidence will finally point investigators to Nancy Guthrie.
