Nancy Guthrie Update Today: Expert Makes Bold Call on Investigation

As the search for Nancy Guthrie stretches past the one-month mark with no suspects identified, a prominent forensic scientist is calling for a fresh approach — and he's confident the evidence to crack this case is still out there.

Peter Valentin, chair of the Forensic Science Department at the University of New Haven's Henry C. Lee College of Criminal Justice and Forensic Sciences, appeared Friday on Fox News' Crime and Justice podcast with Donna Rotunno to share his assessment of where the investigation stands, and what he believes needs to happen next.

"What I would suggest is that you go into that house with the best people in each discipline in forensics," Valentin said. "Go into that house and scrutinize that house, looking for the trace evidence that must exist, or hopefully still exists."

'Where Is It? What Is That Evidence?'

Valentin's core argument is straightforward: if someone entered Nancy Guthrie's Tucson home and forcibly removed her in the early morning hours of February 1, they left something behind. Finding it is the key to moving the case forward.

"Because if people went into that home, and we believe they did, to take her from that house, there must be evidence of their presence in that home. Where is it? What is that evidence? We need to find it," he said.

Crucially, Valentin cautioned investigators not to look only for the most obvious forms of evidence. DNA profiles and latent fingerprints may not be what breaks this case open. "It's probably some of the things that we've probably not used as much — the hair, the fibers, the other kinds of trace evidence," he said. "But we've got to start cobbling together all the forensic evidence we have at our disposal to move this case forward, because otherwise it might not move forward."

'It Isn't Cold Yet'

The call for fresh forensic eyes comes at a critical moment. Fox News Digital previously reported that DNA recovered inside Nancy's home came back to individuals with a reason to be there — ruling out those samples as leads. DNA from a suspicious glove found two miles from the home was also tested, but didn't match any samples from inside the house or any known criminals in the FBI's CODIS database.

Investigators also received a fresh lead this week when a Ring camera belonging to a neighbor roughly 2.5 miles from Nancy's home captured 12 cars passing by in the early morning hours of February 1 — some of them around 2:30 a.m., the same time Nancy's pacemaker last synced with her iPhone. The FBI has since reviewed the footage and determined it does not appear to be a viable lead.

Despite the setbacks, Valentin was clear: the case isn't over. "It isn't cold yet," he said.

Anyone with information is urged to call 1-800-CALL-FBI. Tips can be submitted anonymously.