TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Authorities investigating the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie released the first surveillance images Tuesday showing a masked person with what appeared to be a handgun holster on her porch the night she went missing more than a week ago.
Video released by the FBI shows the person wearing a backpack, long sleeves and pants and walking up to the door at the home of the mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie. The footage shows the person trying to cover a camera near the front door with their gloved hand before putting plants in front of the camera.
The images show “an armed individual appearing to have tampered with the camera at Nancy Guthrie’s front door the morning of her disappearance,” Patel said on X. In the videos, the person appeared to be wearing the holster attached to their front waist area.
This was the first major break in the investigation that has raised more questions than answers, including whether the 84-year-old who disappeared from her home in Arizona is still alive and comes as law enforcement and her family intensified calls for assistance from the public.
Up until now, authorities have released few details, leaving it unclear if ransom notes demanding money with deadlines already passed were authentic and whether the Guthrie family has had any contact with the abductors.
Savannah Guthrie posted several of the surveillance images with the caption: “We believe she is still alive. Bring her home,” and phone numbers for the FBI and county sheriff. Within minutes, the post had thousands of comments.
Investigators had been hopeful that cameras at the home would turn up some evidence about how she went missing, but the doorbell camera was disconnected early Sunday. And while software data recorded movement at the home minutes later, Nancy Guthrie didn’t have an active subscription, so none of the footage could be recovered, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos had said.
The new images released Tuesday were “recovered from residual data located in backend systems” after investigators had spent days trying to find images or video that may have been lost, corrupted, or inaccessible, Patel said.
The announcement follows heartbreaking messages made by Savannah Guthrie and her family over the past days that have shifted from hopeful to desperate as they plead with the apparent kidnappers to hand over their mother.
This image provided by the FBI shows surveillance images at the home of Nancy Guthrie the night she went missing in Tucson, Ariz. (FBI via AP)
It’s also unclear if ransom notes demanding money with deadlines that have already passed were authentic, or whether the Guthrie family has had any contact with the abductors.
This image provided by the FBI shows surveillance images at the home of Nancy Guthrie the night she went missing in Tucson, Ariz. (FBI via AP)
Guthrie and her family have posted a series of videos over the past week, each striking a different tone. The latest message from Savannah Guthrie, in which she appeared alone, was more bleak.
“We are at an hour of desperation,” she said Monday, telling the public: “We need your help.”
Authorities believe Nancy Guthrie was taken against her will from her house just outside Tucson. She was last seen there Jan. 31 and reported missing the next day after not attending church. DNA tests showed blood on Nancy Guthrie’s front porch was a match to her, and a doorbell camera was disconnected in the early hours of Sunday morning, the sheriff has said.
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Authorities say Nancy Guthrie needs daily medication because she is said to have high blood pressure and heart issues, including a pacemaker.
Investigators were in her neighborhood several times over the past few days and plan to keep working Tuesday as they expand the search and follow up on new leads, the sheriff’s department said
Three days after the search began, Savannah Guthrie and her two siblings sent their first public appeal to the kidnappers, telling them “we want to hear from you and we are ready to listen.”
In the recorded video, Guthrie said her family was aware of media reports about a ransom letter, but they first wanted proof their mother was alive. “Please reach out to us,” they said.
Law enforcement officials declined to say whether the letters sent to several media outlets were credible but said all tips were being investigated seriously.
The next day, Savannah Guthrie’s brother again told the kidnappers to reach out “so we can move forward.”
“Whoever is out there holding our mother, we want to hear from you. We haven’t heard anything directly,” Camron Guthrie said.
Then over the past weekend the family posted another video — one that was more cryptic and generated even more speculation about Nancy Guthrie’s fate.
“We received your message, and we understand. We beg you now to return our mother to us so that we can celebrate with her,” said Savannah Guthrie, flanked by her siblings. “This is the only way we will have peace. This is very valuable to us, and we will pay.”
Up to that point, the family’s first three videos addressed the kidnappers directly.
But just ahead of Monday’s deadline spelled out in a purported note, Savannah Guthrie urged people nationwide to be on the lookout “no matter where you are, even if you’re far from Tucson, if you see anything, if you hear anything.”
Her turn to the public comes as much of the nation is closely following the dramatic twists and turns involving the longtime anchor of NBC’s morning show.
The FBI this week began posting digital billboards in major cities from Texas to California.
