A Wisconsin attorney has doubled the reward for information leading to Nancy Guthrie and her kidnappers.
Michael Hupy, president of Milwaukee Crime Stoppers, announced in a Facebook post that he was sending $100,000 to the Tucson branch of the organization.
He made the announcement a day after criticizing the investigation in another Facebook post complaining about the anonymous “tip” received by tabloid entertainment outlet TMZ by someone demanding money to identify Guthrie’s kidnappers.
“Someone said he knew who the perpetrator was but didn’t want to expose who he was by giving a tip. He wants a reward,” Hupy wrote. “All this can be accomplished through Crime Stoppers by giving an anonymous tip and anonymously getting a reward. I’m very disappointed at how this is being handled. Maybe I should put up the reward!”
The FBI has already announced a $100,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the case. Meanwhile, Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie, has been missing from her Arizona home for nearly three weeks. She was last seen on the night of January 31 after having dinner with her daughter Annie and her son-in-law Tommaso Cioni.
On Tuesday, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department announced that it finally sent a DNA analysis on a glove found two miles from Guthrie’s home to the FBI so the federal agency could search its massive database, but there was no match, as CrimeOnline reported. The sheriff’s office has refused to allow the FBI to conduct its own analysis on evidence found in the case, sending all that to a private DNA firm in Florida.
DNA found inside the home, which did not match Guthrie or any of her family members, also did not match that found on the glove.
The glove, the sheriff’s office said, resembled the gloves a suspect was wearing in doorbell camera footage from Guthrie’s front door on the night she was taken. Investigators found the glove two weeks after the disappearance, when they searched the area.
Investigators said they are also working with Walmart to identify people who may have purchased the Ozark Trail Hiker Pack the suspect was wearing. The pack is largely sold by Walmart, but not exclusively as some outlets have said.
Two ransom notes have been received by media outlets since Guthrie’s disappearance. They demanded millions in Bitcoin and set deadlines — the last one passed on February 9. Savannah Guthrie has released several videos, some with her brother and sister, asking for proof of life before they pay any ransom. It’s not known if any proof of life has been provided.
Also on Tuesday, the sheriff’s office said that “the Guthrie family — to include all siblings and spouse – has been cleared as possible suspects in this case.”
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[Featured image: Nancy Guthrie and suspect/FBI]
