Nancy Guthrie update: Expert explains why Tucson desert remains are unlikely to solve the missing mom case
The latest human remains were found in a desert area near West Ajo Way and South La Cholla Boulevard on August 17. The discovery raised questions because of the ongoing search for Nancy Guthriewho disappeared from her Tucson home months ago, on February 1. However, authorities said there is “no indication” that the remains are connected to her case. Experts also say identifying remains in the Arizona desert can be difficult because of the harsh conditions.
Earlier, remains were also found on August 13 in Tucson, which were also were not related to 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie case.
Why every discover raises questions
Ever since Nancy Guthrie disappeared from her Tucson home nearly seven months ago, Pima County chief medical examiner Greg Hess says the first question he asks whenever remains arrive is whether they could be hers. “Every time somebody found a body in the wash or somewhere else in southern Arizona over the past few months, there’s speculation that it’s the person everybody’s interested in,” Hess told CNN.
Human remains were found last week about 15 miles from where Savannah Guthrie’s mother lived. Authorities said there was “no indication” the remains belonged to Guthrie but stopped short of fully ruling out a connection.
Nancy Guthrie update: Human remains found in Tucson desert; Pima County sheriff responds
Why remains are commonly found in Tucson
Pima County has for years ranked among the highest in the nation for unidentified human remains, according to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (house). Harsh desert conditions, heat and animals speed up decomposition and many remains that arrive at his office are fully or partially skeletonized, Hess says.
Bradley Bartos, assistant professor at the University of Arizona, said most of the roughly 150 sets of remains discovered in Pima County every year turn up after monsoon season ends in late September, since monsoons free remains from wedged positions and push them into more discoverable places. “Those same reasons explain why there is very low probability those recently discovered remains will turn out to be related to the Nancy Guthrie case,” Bartos said.
Hess said he has always been able to quickly rule out that remains found in Pima County belonged to Nancy Guthrie. His office receives up to 5,000 death reports each year and stores about 600 sets of human remains, the most of any county in the US.
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Why damaged remains complicate the case
Miller said authorities saying there is no indication remains are tied to the Guthrie case, and officially ruling it out, are “two different things.” “The first requires an investigative judgment based on what they see, but the second requires actual scientific evidence,” he said. “Authorities understand that ruling out a connection before they are certain would only draw more criticism to a case where they have already heard their share.”
However, the scientific evidence needed to rule out a connection could be complicated if remains are damaged, Miller said. With a complete set of remains, a forensic pathologist could quickly determine whether bones belonged to a male or female, but without one, that task becomes harder.
The condition of the remains found last week is not clear. Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said the remains had already been at the location “for an extended period of time” when they were found. According to Hess, human remains can become skeletal much faster in the desert than in other places, sometimes within a month or two.
The remains can also become damaged by the sun and animals, lose recognizable features and be scattered across large areas. This can make it harder for families and police to identify them and understand what happened, per CNN.
Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of NBC “Today” co-host Savannah Guthrie, disappeared from her Tucson, Arizona, home on February 1. Investigators have continued to search for her and are treating the case as a possible kidnapping for ransom. The investigation remains active, with authorities still working to determine what happened to her.
