A San Francisco forensics lab that helped crack the Long Island serial killer case is believed to be part of the search for answers after Nancy Guthrie's suspected abduction in Tucson, Arizona. The FBI now has a hair sample collected from inside Guthrie's home, and the material has been sent for more advanced testing after an earlier round of private-lab work in Florida.
Guthrie has been missing since Feb. 1, and her disappearance has remained unresolved for more than 11 weeks. An FBI official said Thursday that among the evidence gathered from her home was a hair sample that had first been sent by the Pima County Sheriff's Department to DNA Labs International in the days after the suspected kidnapping. That sample is now with the FBI, and Astrea Forensics could be on the shortlist of specialized private labs that may help investigators search for a match.
The possible role for Astrea comes with a clear pedigree. The lab is linked to the Gilgo Beach case, where Rex Heuermann pleaded guilty earlier this month after his defense failed to overcome DNA evidence collected from rootless hair samples. CeCe Moore said she was pretty confident investigators would want to use Astrea, adding that the FBI used the lab for the Gilgo case and that she had not seen any successful cases yet from DNA Labs International in rootless hair analysis. She said DLI has been trying to refine its own work in the field, but the record so far favors the lab tied to the New York investigation.
Allison Winter said that if there is a chance the case can be solved through that lab, it should be sent there without question. The pressure on investigators is sharp because the case has already sat unanswered for more than 11 weeks, and the forensic path they choose next could shape whether the search for Guthrie moves closer to an answer or stalls again.
The practical next step is simple: the FBI will decide whether to lean on the private lab network that helped break the Gilgo Beach case, or keep the testing in-house. Either way, the hair sample taken from Guthrie's home has become one of the most important pieces of evidence in a case that has so far produced none of the answers her family is waiting for.
