Nancy Guthrie Update: Expert Discusses Human Remains Found Nearby
An anthropology professor said ceramic artifacts near the skeleton suggest the remains are Native American and date to as many as 1,000 years ago.
- On May 7, YouTuber Alec Wysopal discovered human remains near the Tucson home of missing Nancy Guthrie. University of Arizona anthropologist James T. Watson confirmed the bones date back 1,000 years and are unrelated to Guthrie's disappearance.
- Natural erosion exposed the skeleton near an existing archaeological site in the Catalina Foothills. Watson identified the remains as prehistoric, dating between 650 and 1250 A.D., when the Hohokam people inhabited Arizona.
- Watson, the Arizona State Museum's curator of bioarchaeology, carefully excavated the skeleton along with ceramic artifacts. He stated, "The ceramics really sort of drove home that point," confirming the remains likely belong to an ancestral Native American.
- Authorities transferred the remains to the Tohono O'odham Nation, descendants of the Hohokam people. The Tucson Police Department clarified the discovery is part of a "prehistoric anthropological investigation" unrelated to any criminal case.
- Watson noted that hundreds of bodies are discovered annually in the harsh desert environment. Meanwhile, the FBI continues investigating Nancy Guthrie's disappearance, which Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos suggests may be approaching a breakthrough.
55 Articles
55 Articles
Expert weighs in on human remains found near Nancy Guthrie's house as search for her continues
An anthropologist says the skeleton discovered near Savannah Guthrie's missing mother's home in early May may be 1,000 years old.Nancy Guthrie in New York City on April 17, 2019; Nancy Guthrie's home in Tucson, Ariz., on March 2, 2026Credit: Nathan Congleton/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty; Justin Sullivan/GettyKey pointsA human skeleton was discovered around seven miles from Nancy Guthrie's home in Pima County, Ariz.Anthropologist James …
Skeletal remains discovered near Nancy Guthrie's home date back roughly 1,000 years, expert says
A skeleton unearthed in early May just five miles from the Arizona home of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie, mother of "Today" show host Savannah Guthrie, belongs not to a modern victim but to an ancient Native American buried roughly a millennium ago, a University of Arizona anthropologist has determined. The discovery, made by amateur investigator and livestreamer AJ Wysopal in the Catalina Foothills near Tucson, briefly raised hopes and fears in a c…
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