LOS ANGELES - Detectives searching for the kidnapped mother of a top US TV news anchor said on Feb 5 that blood discovered on her doorstep belonged to the missing 84-year-old woman, in the latest twist in a case that has gripped America.

Ms Nancy Guthrie, mother of NBC News Today co-host Savannah Guthrie, is believed to have been kidnapped from her home in Tucson, Arizona, some time o n late Jan 31 or early Feb 1 , sparking a massive hunt and a race against time to find her.