Shocking Discovery Near Daughter’s Home Sparks New Questions in Nancy Guthrie Case

An independent journalist has claimed to have found a new clue in the Nancy Guthrie case that could bring a new twist to the investigation. Jonathan Lee Riches, an independent journalist who has been closely following the case, said he discovered a pair of tan pants in a desert wash that resemble the ones worn by Guthrie in one of her photos.

What makes the clue even more intriguing is that the pants were found at a short distance from the home of Annie Guthrie and Tommaso Cioni. Annie Guthrie and Cioni are Guthrie's daughter and son-in-law, who were reportedly the last people to see the 84-year-old woman before her disappearance.

Apart from the garment, Riches said he also noticed a knee brace at the scene and informed authorities. “Pants & knee brace found in a wash by Annie Guthrie & Tommaso's home. We notified authorities,” Riches wrote on X.

He later shared a picture to showcase the similarity between the pants he found and the ones Guthrie wore during a visit to her daughter Savannah Guthrie's morning show studio on Today. The post sparked discussion on social media, with many saying the clue could change the entire kidnapping case.

However, others pointed out that Guthrie was taken from home around 2 a.m., and therefore may have been wearing a nightgown rather than pants at the time of abduction. The Pima County Sheriff's Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have not yet released any statement on whether the pants have been collected as potential evidence in the case.

It is also not clear whether Guthrie used a knee brace. The only medical device she is known to have is a pacemaker, which was implanted to treat her heart condition.

Since the beginning of the investigation, Riches has suggested that Annie Guthrie and Cioni could be involved in Guthrie’s kidnapping, a claim not backed by official evidence.

Guthrie had dinner with Annie Guthrie and Cioni before her disappearance on January 31. Cioni dropped her back at her home in the Catalina Foothills shortly before 10 p.m. Four hours later, her doorbell camera was disconnected, and she was kidnapped from her home.

Officials have said family members have been cleared of suspicion in the kidnapping. Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said in a statement, “The family has been nothing but cooperative and gracious and are victims in this case.”

“To be clear ... the Guthrie family — to include all siblings and spouses — has been cleared as possible suspects in this case,” he added.

Some experts have also warned the public not to believe everything YouTube investigators like Riches say about the case.

Meanwhile, the search for Guthrie continues more than 40 days after her disappearance. Investigators are analyzing DNA evidence and surveillance camera footage from a neighbor's home to gather more clues about what happened that night.

As the kidnapper remains at large, authorities said the suspect could strike again and target another individual. “We believe that it was targeted, but we, we can't, we're not 100% sure of that. So it'd be silly to tell people, ‘Yeah, don't worry about it. You're, you're not his target,’” Nanos said in an interview with NBC News.