What To Know About Nancy Guthrie’s Kidnapping And The Race To Find Her

Tuscon, Ariz : A man detained by police for questioning in the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie has been released while investigators hope that images of a masked person on her Arizona porch still will bring tips from the public to help solve her apparent abduction. 

The man told several media outlets early Wednesday that he was released after several hours and had nothing to do with the mother of NBC “Today” co-anchor Savannah Guthrie. He said he was a delivery man who works in the Tucson area. 

Authorities have not said what led them to stop the man. The Pima County sheriff’s department said deputies and FBI agents also searched a location Tuesday night in Rio Rico, an hour south of Tucson, where the man lives. 

Guthrie, 84, was reported missing on Feb. 1, and authorities say her blood was found on the front porch of her Tucson-area home. Purported ransom notes were sent to news outlets, but two deadlines for paying have passed. 

Here’s what to know about the case: 

New videos reveals an armed, masked person

The sheriff’s department said it received thousands of tips in the 24 hours after the FBI released videos Tuesday showing a person wearing a backpack and a gun holster at Nancy Guthrie’s door. The person’s gloved hand uses plants to try to block the camera’s view.

Investigators initially said there was no video available since Guthrie didn’t have an active subscription to the doorbell camera company, much to the frustration of the sheriff. But digital forensics experts kept working to find images in back-end software that might’ve been lost, corrupted or inaccessible.

The images show “an armed individual appearing to have tampered with the camera at Nancy Guthrie’s front door the morning of her disappearance,” FBI Director Kash Patel said. 

Shortly after the announcement, Savannah Guthrie posted several images with the caption: “We believe she is still alive. Bring her home,” with FBI and sheriff phone numbers. Within minutes, the post had thousands of comments. 

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said President Donald Trump watched the video and was in “pure disgust,” encouraging anyone with information to call the FBI. 

The FBI has posted digital billboards about the case in major cities from Texas to California. 

Initial pleas to kidnappers

There has been a marked shift in tone throughout the four videos the Guthrie family has released over the course of the last week. 

Initially, Savannah Guthrie and her two siblings seemed to be speaking to their mother’s alleged kidnapper directly, after multiple media outlets reportedly received ransom notes demanding money for Nancy Guthrie’s safe return. Authorities said the notes were being investigated seriously. 

The first two videos appeared to be in direct response to potential ransom notes.

“We are ready to talk. However, we live in a world where voices and images are easily manipulated,” Savannah Guthrie said in a video released Feb. 4. “We need to know without a doubt that she is alive and that you have her. We want to hear from you and we are ready to listen.” 

Camron Guthrie, her brother, reiterated that plea in another video the next day. 

No response from potential abductors

A second email related to Nancy Guthrie’s abduction was sent to Tucson television station KOLD on Friday afternoon, prompting a third video from the Guthrie family Saturday. 

“We will pay,” Savannah Guthrie said. 

But by Monday, she struck a bleaker tone, appearing alone and speaking directly to the public, not the abductor. 

“We are at an hour of desperation,” she said. “We need your help.” 

Connor Hagan, a spokesperson for the FBI, said that same day that the agency wasn’t aware of ongoing communication between Guthrie’s family and the suspected kidnappers. 

Crime scene in a quiet neighborhood

Nancy Guthrie lived alone in the upscale Catalina Foothills neighborhood, where houses are spaced far apart and set back from the street by long driveways, gates and dense desert vegetation. 

Savannah Guthrie grew up in Tucson, graduated from the University of Arizona and once worked at a television station in the city, where her parents settled in the 1970s. She joined “Today” in 2011. 

In a video last week, she described her mother as a “loving woman of goodness and light.”