Glove found near Nancy Guthrie's home fails to produce DNA match

By Herbert Villarraga and Steve Gorman

TUCSON, Arizona, Feb 17 (Reuters) - One of the most promising leads yet in the investigation into the abduction of Nancy Guthrie proved a disappointment on Tuesday when DNA from a glove found near her Arizona home failed to score a match in a national database of genetic profiles.

The outcome, announced by the Pima County Sheriff's Department and FBI, marked a major setback for investigators as the search for the 84-year-old mother of television journalist Savannah Guthrie stretched into its 17th day.

Investigators had hoped a DNA sample retrieved from the glove last week would produce what forensic experts call a "hit" when it was submitted for comparison with known DNA profiles stored in a national database called CODIS, short for the Combined DNA Index System.

The glove was found discarded in a roadside field about two miles from the elder Guthrie's Tucson-area house. It resembled a pair worn by an armed man in a ski mask seen in video footage trying to disable her doorbell camera in the early morning hours shortly before she was abducted.

Guthrie's disappearance, treated by authorities as an apparent kidnapping for ransom, has drawn intense public interest around the globe, with media outlets following every twist and turn in the case.

Sheriff Chris Nanos has said he believes the man in the video is the likely perpetrator of the abduction and the primary suspect authorities are looking for.

'NO CONFIRMED CODIS MATCHES'

But the sheriff's department and FBI said on Tuesday that the CODIS analysis of the glove DNA came back negative.

"At this point, there have been no confirmed CODIS matches in this investigation," the sheriff's office said, adding that additional DNA evidence recovered at Guthrie's residence was "also being analyzed."

In other efforts, the sheriff's department said its investigators had been using a "signal sniffer" technology that produces a heat map to identify potential search targets within a given area. Parsons Corp, which designed the system, said it has been used by search teams in the Guthrie case operating by helicopter, ground vehicles and on foot.

Nancy Guthrie was last seen on January 31 when she was dropped off at her home near Tucson by her family after she had dined with them, and was reported missing by relatives the following day, authorities have said.

Nanos has said the elder Guthrie was extremely limited in her physical mobility and could not have left her home unassisted, leading investigators to conclude early on that she had been taken against her will.

FAMILY MEMBERS RULED OUT AS SUSPECTS

At least two purported ransom notes have surfaced since she vanished, both of them delivered initially to news media outlets. There has been no known direct contact between any suspects and Guthrie's family or authorities.

Savannah Guthrie, 54, co-anchor of the popular NBC News morning show "Today," has posted several video messages, along with her brother Camron Guthrie and sister Annie Guthrie, pleading for their mother's return and appealing for the public's help in solving the case.

On Sunday, Nanos released a statement declaring that immediate family members - all siblings and their spouses - have been ruled out as suspects in the case, saying "The Guthrie family are victims, plain and simple."

Traces of blood found on Guthrie's front porch were confirmed by DNA tests to have come from Guthrie, officials said last week. Law enforcement and family members have described her as being in frail health and in need of daily medication to survive. She also has a pacemaker.

Nanos told Reuters last week that no proof of life has surfaced since the abduction, but added that "there's not been any proof of death either," saying his working presumption is that Nancy Guthrie remains alive.