Retired FBI agent urges rapid DNA testing in Nancy Guthrie case, stresses race against the clock: Every hour matters

An apparent large-scale operation Friday night tied to the disappearance of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie marks a “significant escalation” in the Arizona case, with investigators now racing to canvas neighborhoods and fast-track critical DNA evidence, according to a retired FBI agent.Acting on a lead, the Pima County SWAT team and the FBI on Friday executed a federal search warrant at a Tucson-area home roughly 2 miles from Guthrie’s home, detaining three people.A fourth person was detained after a traffic stop at a Culver’s restaurant parking lot in Tucson, and a gray Range Rover was searched and towed from the parking lot.Jason Pack, a retired FBI supervisory special agent with more than two decades of service, told Fox News Digital the developments have the “hallmarks of agents acting on specific, actionable intelligence.”However, Pack noted the real investigative work is just getting started.While the searches and interviews were ongoing Friday night, Pack said other teams of agents and analysts were likely already planning a full neighborhood canvas around the location that was searched.“They’ll be going door to door, looking to talk face to face with neighbors,” Pack said.“They want to identify patterns of life for each of the people detained.

… It will help corroborate or dispute whatever those who were detained are telling agents right now.If someone says ‘I wasn’t home that night,’ a neighbor’s Ring camera might tell a different story.

Investigators are building the box.”Aside from canvassing the area, Pack said the most pressing concern is likely processing new evidence collected from at least two locations Friday night.“DNA that doesn’t belong to Nancy Guthrie or anyone close to her has already been identified at her property.Gloves have been recovered.

Now you’ve got whatever was inside that Range Rover that warranted agents draping it with a tarp before the cameras could see,” he said.“All of that evidence n...