Nancy Guthrie Investigators Using Similar Genetic Testing That Caught Bryan Kohberger After Failed Glove Match

Investigators searching for Savannah Guthrie’s mom, Nancy Guthrie, are turning to similar technology once used to capture convicted murderer Bryan Kohberger.

A press release issued on Tuesday, February 17, by the Pima Sheriff’s Office confirmed the news after noting that a pair of gloves found two miles away from Nancy’s Arizona home on Thursday, February 12, did not “trigger a match” in the “national CODIS database.” (The database electronically compares DNA profiles.)

“Investigators are currently looking into additional investigative genetic genealogy options for DNA evidence to check for matches,” the statement read. (Investigative genetic genealogy — commonly abbreviated to IGG — was utilized in Kohberger’s 2022 arrest in relation to the Idaho college murders.)

According to the International Society of Genetic Genealogy, IGG involves “the science of using genetic and genealogical methods to generate leads for law enforcement entities investigating crimes and identifying human remains.”

Tuesday’s statement expanded on the results achieved through the gloves’ testing. “[It] did not match DNA found at the property. The DNA found at the property is being analyzed and further testing needs to be done as part of the investigation.” (Undisclosed DNA evidence was recovered directly from Nancy’s home after she was abducted in the early hours of February 1, per reporting by NBC News, while the glove was found two miles from Nancy’s home more than one week later.)

An article published by CNN in March 2025 reflected on the Kohberger case and how IGG was specifically used to secure crucial evidence against him. Kohberger, 31, was sentenced to four consecutive life terms without parole for the stabbing murders of four University of Idaho students in 2022. (Kohberger pleaded guilty to avoid the death penalty.)