TUCSON, Ariz. — The FBI’s decision to increase the reward for information on Nancy Guthrie’s whereabouts is drawing analysis from multiple former FBI officials, who say the move reflects both strategy and investigative progression nearly two weeks into the case.

Retired Supervisory Special Agent of the FBI Scott Duffey told Fox News Digital that the increase may be designed to target someone close to whoever is responsible.

“I believe this is the right time to increase the reward,” Duffey said. “My belief is the FBI started high to attract a family member, friend, or colleague of the attackers. The public is typically there to help regardless of an award.”

Drawing on his experience working fugitive cases involving smaller rewards — typically between $2,500 and $5,000 — Duffey said valuable tips often came from insiders.

DNA SPLATTER SUGGESTS NANCY GUTHRIE WAS BLEEDING FROM ‘EITHER THE HANDS OR FACE,’ EXPERT SAYS

“When I worked crimes with lower-level reward amounts, the contacts were from friends or family members. This was typically in fugitive work,” he said.

He noted that the FBI’s Top Ten Most Wanted list carries million-dollar rewards for the same reason.

“You are seeking ‘inside’ information,” Duffey said.

ELITE FBI VIDEO UNIT THAT WORKED KOHBERGER CASE SPOTTED AT NANCY GUTHRIE HOME

While leads in the Guthrie case appear steady, Duffey cautioned they may not be meaningful.

“Leads are steady, but probably bogus leads or leads that are considered little value,” he said.

He also emphasized that reward money alone does not solve cases, pointing to a Brown University case that was ultimately resolved because someone “just did the right thing,” not because of reward money.

POLICE REQUEST NEIGHBOR SURVEILLANCE FOOTAGE FROM NARROW TIMEFRAMES BEFORE NANCY GUTHRIE VANISHED

Former FBI agent Nicole Parker said increasing the reward is fundamentally about motivating stronger tips.

“So people are more inclined to give more information because if they get more money, then it might be worth it for them,” Parker said. “They’re hoping to generate more quality, credible tips that might lead to the arrest and the location of Nancy Guthrie. And that’s all it comes down to.”

Parker also suggested the move may counter outside attempts to monetize information — referencing a person who allegedly sought Bitcoin in exchange for details.

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Former FBI supervisory special agent Joe Cardinale described the increase not as desperation, but as a natural escalation.

“It’s just a progression of events,” Cardinale said. “You’re now into day 13, almost two weeks into this investigation. We still do not have Nancy Guthrie back.”

Cardinale said increasing the reward may prompt people to re-check security footage and reconsider small details.

ADVANCED VIDEO EQUIPMENT SEEN AT NANCY GUTHRIE HOME AS EXPERTS BREAK DOWN ITS POSSIBLE ROLE

“Increasing it just makes people want to go out there, look at their cameras more, do what they have to do and say, ‘Listen, I’m going to check my cameras. I’m going to see what happens.’”

He also addressed speculation surrounding the Bitcoin demand.

“If I have information, this is how this works,” Cardinale explained. “You contact the FBI. They keep it quiet. If your information leads to the arrest of that person, you’re assigned a number, and you get that money.”

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He noted that legitimate reward procedures prevent extortion attempts.

“If someone is demanding Bitcoin upfront and doesn’t have information, they can be arrested for extortion,” he said.

Cardinale also pointed to investigative developments on the ground.

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“They’re extending the perimeter of their search,” he said, suggesting investigators may be working to eliminate the possibility that another individual seen near a vehicle, possibly carrying two backpacks, is connected.

If that person was located miles away from the original scene, Cardinale said investigators would need to rule it out.

“They should be using dogs, drones, helicopters if they have to, and do grid searches,” he said. “This time they’ll be looking for evidence along the way as well.”

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Cardinale also noted investigators appear to be carefully protecting forensic details, including measurements and physical comparisons gathered from surveillance footage.

“They don’t want anybody knowing what they’re zeroing in on,” he said.

Nancy Guthrie disappearance timeline:

January 31, 2026

Between 9:30–9:45 p.m. – Family drops Nancy off at home

9:50 p.m. – Garage door closes (per authorities)

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February 1, 2026

1:47 a.m. – Doorbell camera disconnects

2:12 a.m. – Security camera detects motion

2:28 a.m. – Pacemaker disconnects from phone application

11:56 a.m. – Family checks on Nancy after she misses weekly church livestream gathering

12:03 p.m. — 911 called

12:15 p.m. — sheriff’s deputies arrive at home

Stepheny Price covers crime, including missing persons, homicides and migrant crime. Send story tips to stepheny.price@fox.com.

TUSCON, Ariz. — Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said that his department did not recover a glove from Nancy Guthrie’s home and rejected reports of friction between his office and the FBI.

“We have no glove. We never found a glove on that property,” Nanos told Fox News Correspondent Matt Finn in an interview Friday.

Nanos also forcefully denied claims that his department has not been cooperating with federal authorities.

“That’s absolutely crazy,” he said when asked about reports that he was reluctant to involve the FBI. “Why would we be reluctant to get all the partners who have great resources and offer them to us?”

He added: “We don’t hold information from anybody that’s going to help us. Why would we do that? There are no egos here. This is all about finding Nancy.”

FORMER FBI AGENT CALLS HOLSTER SETUP IN NANCY GUTHRIE CASE ‘INCREDIBLY AMATEUR AND UNSAFE’ 

Nanos said he contacted the FBI the next working day after Guthrie went missing and said that federal agents are embedded with his team.

“They sit right next to the FBI. Come to my office, and I’ll show you — they’re sitting right there with my team,” he said. “They are there every minute of the day, and they want to find her.”

On the handling of evidence, Nanos defended his department’s decision to use a long-standing private lab rather than splitting evidence between facilities, including the FBI’s crime lab in Quantico, Virginia.

He said the Guthrie family DNA markers and other swabs were already sent to that lab early in the investigation, making it more efficient to continue using the same facility.

“Why split your evidence to two different labs that could create a conflict, but more importantly, it adds that additional step?” he said. “This lab has this piece; this lab has that piece. Now they’ve got to converge those two pieces to make an elimination or identification. No, just send it to one lab, let’s go.”

“They’re both great labs. They both have great equipment and smart people. We trust the FBI’s crime lab. We’ve used them before. But in this case, we just started with this lab,” he said. “It’s just that simple.”

Regarding ransom notes, Nanos said the FBI is taking the lead.

“All the ransom stuff we’ve given to the FBI — they’re the experts on that,” he said. “It would be very inappropriate for me to comment on something that I told them to do.”

Authorities “believe it’s a kidnapping,” Nanos said, while saying that investigators are considering all possibilities.

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“You always consider all possibilities,” he said. “But yeah, the obvious is what? It is an obvious kidnapping.”

When asked whether anyone has been ruled out, Nanos said investigators may deprioritize individuals but remain open to revisiting leads.

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“Nobody’s really ever eliminated,” he said.

The sheriff also rejected criticism that investigators released the crime scene too soon.

“We remove the evidence, we swab evidence, we take evidence, and we go,” he told Finn. “We got all the evidence that was there to gather.”

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Cleaning blood from a scene, he added, “is not what we do.”

Nanos said deputy vehicles currently stationed outside the home are there at the family’s request for security.

Those cars “are there because the family said they can’t — they don’t want to be at the house and they’ve asked, can we provide security, so nobody breaks into the home,” he said.

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Nancy Guthrie disappearance timeline:

Jan. 31, 2026

• Between 9:30–9:45 p.m. — Family drops Nancy off at home
• 9:50 p.m. — Garage door closes (per authorities)

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Feb. 1, 2026

• 1:47 a.m. — Doorbell camera disconnects
• 2:12 a.m. — Security camera detects motion
• 2:28 a.m. — Pacemaker disconnects from phone application
• 11:56 a.m. — Family checks on Nancy after she misses weekly church livestream gathering
• 12:03 p.m. — 911 called
• 12:15 p.m. — Sheriff’s deputies arrive at home

TUCSON, Ariz. — A single backpack has become a critical focal point in the investigation into Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance, prompting federal authorities to comb through Walmart sales records and store surveillance footage in search of a break.

Investigators are working with Walmart’s corporate security team while agents canvass stores across the Tucson metropolitan area, according to retired Supervisory FBI Agent Jason Pack, who described the strategy as a methodical effort to narrow the universe of possible suspects.

“They’re attacking this issue on several fronts,” Pack told Fox News Digital. “They are working with Walmart corporate security and simultaneously canvassing the stores in metro Tucson. Walmart should be able to trace back all sales of the backpack over a specific period of time. That will create many regional leads as agents track down and account for every single backpack. They’ll also want to recover video from the stores where they were sold.”

Authorities have not publicly detailed how many of the backpacks were sold or over what timeframe they are focusing, but the approach reflects a standard federal investigative technique. Fox News Digital has reached out to Walmart Corp. for additional information.

Former FBI agent John Nantz explained how anything that “ties a subject to the crime is critical in building a case for prosecution.”

Likening the purchase history analysis used in the indictment of Brian Cole Jr., who allegedly planted two live pipe bombs outside the Democratic National Committee and the Republican National Committee, Nantz said Cole’s arrest came after investigators developed critical evidence from his purchase history.

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Large retailers maintain SKU-level sales records that capture the date, time and location of each purchase, along with payment method information. 

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By isolating sales within a defined window, agents can create a list of purchasers and then prioritize leads based on physical descriptors.

Pack said retail forensics can be decisive when combined with other evidence.

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“When you can match a product to a person through both data and video,” he said, “you begin to shrink the suspect pool quickly.”

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Nancy Guthrie disappearance timeline:

Jan. 31, 2026

Between 9:30–9:45 p.m. — Family drops Nancy off at home

9:50 p.m. — Garage door closes (per authorities)

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Feb. 1, 2026

1:47 a.m. — Doorbell camera disconnects

2:12 a.m. — Security camera detects motion

2:28 a.m. — Pacemaker disconnects from phone application

11:56 a.m. — Family checks on Nancy after she misses weekly church livestream gathering

12:03 p.m. — 911 called

12:15 p.m. — Sheriff’s deputies arrive at home