Frustrated volunteers searching for missing Arizona grandmother Nancy Guthrie uncovered a torn black backpack Sunday just two miles from her Catalina Foothills home as questions continue to mount over the pace and direction of the official investigation.
Volunteers combing garbage-strewn desert ditches and homeless encampments near the 84-year-old's home discovered the SwissGear-branded backpack in a storm drain that doubles as a makeshift homeless camp, the New York Post reported.
The drain is located only a short drive from Guthrie's residence.
Volunteer Catherine Lopez found the bag around 11 a.m. and immediately called the Pima County Sheriff's Office. A deputy arrived roughly 15 minutes later.
Photos from the scene show Lopez lifting the backpack with a stick while on the phone with authorities, and another image shows a gloved deputy carefully collecting the item.
Two homeless individuals were reportedly inside the tunnel at the time, but fled when deputies arrived.
Investigators have previously identified a different backpack — a black Ozark Trail Hiker sold exclusively at Walmart — as potentially tied to a masked person captured on doorbell surveillance footage the night Guthrie disappeared.
Authorities have been working with Walmart to identify the purchaser of that bag, according to AZ Central. It is unclear whether Sunday's discovery is connected.
The backpack find comes as volunteer groups, including Mexico-based Madres Buscadoras de Sonora, have joined local residents in conducting independent searches.
AZ Central reported the group planned to organize a formal search after being contacted by a journalist friend of Guthrie's daughter, "Today" co-host Savannah Guthrie, who has publicly pleaded for information.
Volunteers gathered in a Hobby Lobby parking lot before fanning out. Some used metal rods to probe soil for possible burial sites — a tactic honed in searches for missing people in Mexico.
The Pima County Sheriff's Department, however, has urged private searchers to stand down.
In a series of posts Saturday on X, the department stated that volunteer groups were asked "to please give investigators the space they need to do their work," adding that "this work is best left to professionals."
The department also emphasized that private property laws apply and permission must be granted by homeowners.
Still, criticism of Sheriff Chris Nanos has grown as the case stretches past three weeks with no suspect publicly identified.
DNA evidence, including material found on a glove recovered two miles from Guthrie's home, remains under FBI analysis.
Authorities say hundreds of law enforcement personnel are still assigned to the case, but no new press conferences are scheduled.
As official updates slow, concerned citizens continue to step in — determined, as one volunteer put it, to leave no stone unturned in the search for Nancy Guthrie.
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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